Max Lucado Daily: MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD - August 28, 2024
Want to know what’s coming next? Then consider what came first. God’s designs for you and me were unveiled in Scripture’s opening pages. Eschatology, the study of end things, begins with protology, the study of first things.
Our story begins like this: “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground’” (Genesis 1:26 NLT).
By this point God had created much. Stars sparkled at night. The air was sweet with the fragrance of flowers and the music of birds. Animals roamed the valley. But creation, albeit magnificent and mighty, was not made in the image of God. That privilege was reserved for the likes of you and me.
What Happens Next
Ezekiel 21
A Sword! A Sword!
1–5 21 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, now face Jerusalem and let the Message roll out against the Sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel. Say, ‘God’s Message: I’m against you. I’m pulling my sword from its sheath and killing both the wicked and the righteous. Because I’m treating everyone the same, good and bad, everyone from south to north is going to feel my sword! Everyone will know that I mean business.’
6 “So, son of man, groan! Double up in pain. Make a scene!
7 “When they ask you, ‘Why all this groaning, this carrying on?’ say, ‘Because of the news that’s coming. It’ll knock the breath out of everyone. Hearts will stop cold, knees turn to rubber. Yes, it’s coming. No stopping it. Decree of God, the Master.’ ”
8–10 God’s Message to me: “Son of man, prophesy. Tell them, ‘The Master says:
“ ‘A sword! A sword!
razor-sharp and polished,
Sharpened to kill,
polished to flash like lightning!
“ ‘My child, you’ve despised the scepter of Judah
by worshiping every tree-idol.
11 “ ‘The sword is made to glisten,
to be held and brandished.
It’s sharpened and polished,
ready to be brandished by the killer.’
12 “Yell out and wail, son of man.
The sword is against my people!
The princes of Israel
and my people—abandoned to the sword!
Wring your hands!
Tear out your hair!
13 “ ‘Testing comes.
Why have you despised discipline?
You can’t get around it.
Decree of God, the Master.’
14–17 “So, prophesy, son of man!
Clap your hands. Get their attention.
Tell them that the sword’s coming down
once, twice, three times.
It’s a sword to kill,
a sword for a massacre,
A sword relentless,
a sword inescapable—
People collapsing right and left,
going down like dominoes.
I’ve stationed a murderous sword
at every gate in the city,
Flashing like lightning,
brandished murderously.
Cut to the right, thrust to the left,
murderous, sharp-edged sword!
Then I’ll clap my hands,
a signal that my anger is spent.
I, God, have spoken.”
18–22 God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, lay out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take. Start them from the same place. Place a signpost at the beginning of each road. Post one sign to mark the road of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites. Post the other to mark the road to Judah and Fort Jerusalem. The king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road and he decides by divination which of the two roads to take. He draws straws, he throws god-dice, he examines a goat liver. He opens his right hand: The omen says, ‘Head for Jerusalem!’ So he’s on his way with battering rams, roused to kill, sounding the battle cry, pounding down city gates, building siege works.
23 “To the Judah leaders, who themselves have sworn oaths, it will seem like a false divination, but he will remind them of their guilt, and so they’ll be captured.
24 “So this is what God, the Master, says: ‘Because your sin is now out in the open so everyone can see what you’ve been doing, you’ll be taken captive.
25–27 “ ‘O Zedekiah, blasphemous and evil prince of Israel: Time’s up. It’s “punishment payday.” God says, Take your royal crown off your head. No more “business as usual.” The underdog will be promoted and the top dog will be demoted. Ruins, ruins, ruins! I’ll turn the whole place into ruins. And ruins it will remain until the one comes who has a right to it. Then I’ll give it to him.’
28–32 “But, son of man, your job is to prophesy. Tell them, ‘This is the Message from God, the Master, against the Ammonites and against their cruel taunts:
“ ‘A sword! A sword!
Bared to kill,
Sharp as a razor,
flashing like lightning.
Despite false sword propaganda
circulated in Ammon,
The sword will sever Ammonite necks,
for whom it’s punishment payday.
Return the sword to the sheath! I’ll judge you in your home country,
in the land where you grew up.
I’ll empty out my wrath on you,
breathe hot anger down your neck.
I’ll give you to vicious men
skilled in torture.
You’ll end up as stove-wood.
Corpses will litter your land.
Not so much as a memory will be left of you.
I, God, have said so.’ ”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Today's Scripture
Genesis 12:1-5
Abram and Sarai
1 12 God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.
2–3 I’ll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I’ll make you famous;
you’ll be a blessing.
I’ll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I’ll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you.”
4–6 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.
Insight
Genesis 12 records God’s call of Abram—later renamed Abraham (17:5)—an event central to the biblical story. The chosen nation of Israel would come through Abraham (Isaiah 41:8), and from Israel would come the Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would save humanity and the world. But the story begins small, with one man commanded to “Go” (Genesis 12:1) and then promised that “all peoples on earth [would] be blessed through [him]” (v. 3). But he was given no details as to how. Later, Abraham is commanded by God to “take” his beloved son Isaac and offer him “as a burnt offering” (22:2). After Abraham demonstrated that he’d obey (though God provided a substitute sacrifice), the promises first given in Genesis 12 were given to him a second time (22:15-18). In the New Testament, we’re told that God’s redemption story continues through believers in Jesus, who are included in God’s people and chosen to reveal who He is to the world (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Learn more about God’s promise to Abraham. By: Monica La Rose
Worth the Wait
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Genesis 21:5
Talk about a layover. Phil Stringer waited eighteen hours to board a flight that was delayed due to thunderstorms. His patience and perseverance paid off, however. Not only did he get to fly to his destination and make it on time for important business meetings, but he was also the only traveler on the flight! All the other passengers gave up or made other arrangements. Flight attendants gave him whatever food items he desired, and Stringer adds, “I did sit in the front row, of course. Why not when you have the whole plane to yourself?” The outcome was definitely worth the wait.
Abraham also endured what must have felt like a lengthy delay. Way back when he was known as Abram, God told him that He would make him “into a great nation” and that “all peoples on earth [would] be blessed through” him (Genesis 12:2-3). Only one problem for the seventy-five-year-old man (v. 4): how could he become a great nation without an heir? His waiting was left wanting at times, however. He and wife Sarai tried to “help” God fulfill His promise with some misguided ideas (see 15:2-3; 16:1-2). And when he “was a hundred years old . . . Isaac was born to him” (21:5). His faith was later celebrated by the writer of Hebrews (11:8-12).Waiting can be hard. And, like Abraham, we might not do it perfectly. But as we pray and rest in God’s plans, may He help us persevere. In Him, it’s always worth the wait. By: Tom Felten
Reflect & Pray
What are you waiting for? How can you rest and persevere in God’s strength?
Dear God, please help me wait and persevere in You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
What’s the Good of Prayer?
Lord, teach us to pray. — Luke 11:1
Prayer isn’t part of natural human life. It’s often said that those who don’t pray will suffer; I question it. What suffers is the life of Christ inside them, because the life of the Son of God is nourished not by food but by prayer.
When we are born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born inside us. Whether we starve this life or nourish it through prayer is up to us. Our ordinary views of prayer—as a way of getting blessings for ourselves from God or of having an emotional experience—are not found in the Bible. The Bible views prayer as a way of getting to know God himself.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). We grumble before God; we are apologetic or apathetic, but we ask very few things. Our Lord says, “Unless you change and become like little children” (18:3). What wonderful audacity a child has! The child of God goes to God with every concern and desire, ready to lay it all out before him and ask. We don’t do this unless we are at our wits’ end. Before then, we think asking is cowardly or weak. Praying in our moment of need isn’t cowardly; it’s the only way we can get in touch with the reality of God. Be yourself before God. Lay before him what you’re at your wits’ end about, the issue you know you can’t deal with yourself. As long as you are self-sufficient, you don’t need to ask him for anything.
It isn’t so much that prayer changes things as that prayer changes me, and then I change things. Prayer isn’t a question of altering external circumstances but of working wonders in our disposition. One of God’s amazing gifts is that prayer on the basis of the redemption has the power to entirely transform a person’s perspective.
Psalms 123-125; 1 Corinthians 10:1-18
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances.
Not Knowing Whither, 900 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
How Serving Opens Hearts - #9818
Hundreds of thousands of Kurdish people had fled Saddam Hussein's Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, and they were spread over miles of mountainside on the Turkish border. Christian agencies were flooding in with food, medical help and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But most of the Christian workers connected with the people there only from trucks and distribution points, where they handed out food and blankets. But the missionaries from one particular mission organization really broke through the barrier that others were encountering when they tried to talk about Jesus. They had a unique way of getting close to the people and winning their respect and their trust. You ready to hear their radical outreach strategy? These missionaries picked up the garbage. See, it was everywhere on those mountainsides, and it was getting pretty gross. Nobody wanted to do the garbage, but those who were willing to were the ones those people listened to.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How Serving Opens Hearts."
What opened doors and hearts among those needy people on that Iraqi mountainside is the same thing that will open doors and hearts where you are - a willingness to win the right to be heard by being there for people's garbage.
It's what Jesus did. In Philippians 2:5-7, our word for today from the Word of God, He tells us: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross."
This is the Jesus who touched the lepers that no one else would touch, who stopped for people that everyone else walked by, who washed the dirty feet of His followers, who defined His day by the needs of people who came to Him for help, and who allowed men He had made to beat Him and crucify Him. The King of heaven came to us as a servant and He stole our hearts away.
You have neighbors who really need your Jesus, coworkers, friends and family members. How are you ever going to get them interested in the Jesus who is their only hope? By serving them; by being there to help them with the garbage of their lives. In Jesus' name, be there when their health levels them, when their marriage is struggling or over, when they lose a loved one. Be there when all the funeral folks have gone home. Be there when they're struggling financially, when they don't have enough help, when their business is in trouble, when their kids are in trouble, or when they've lost their reputation and nobody wants to be around them any more.
Their moment of loss is your moment of loving opportunity to show them Jesus' love in action. When others walk out, you walk in. Then you will be ultimately in a position to explain to them where this love comes from. You're just loving them like you've been loved. By a Jesus who had poured everything out for you, because He died on a cross to clean up all the garbage of your life and the garbage of theirs.
First, you show them Jesus by serving them in the midst of their garbage. You win the right to be heard by being there to help pick up the pieces and pick up the garbage. Initially, they may not be interested in your message, but who can be against someone who picks up their heavy burden and helps them carry it; who is there when nobody else is? You can't be against that. It's that kind of love that will open their heart to the greatest love of all!