Max Lucado Daily: NOTHING IN BETWEEN - November 27, 2024
Make no mistake, Jesus saw himself as God. And he leaves us with two options: accept him as God, or reject him as a megalomaniac. There’s no third alternative. Oh, but we try to create one! Suppose you came across me standing on the side of the road. I can go north or south. You ask me which way I’m going. “I’m going sorth. I can’t choose between north and south, so I’m going both. I’m going sorth!” “You can’t do that,” you reply. “You have to choose.”
When it comes to Christ, you’ve got to do the same. Call him crazy, or crown him as king. Dismiss him as a fraud, or declare him to be God. Walk away from him, or bow before him, but don’t play games with him. He is either hope or all hype. But nothing in between.
Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust
Ezra 6
So King Darius ordered a search through the records in the archives in Babylon. Eventually a scroll was turned up in the fortress of Ecbatana over in the province of Media, with this writing on it:
Memorandum
In his first year as king, Cyrus issued an official decree regarding The Temple of God in Jerusalem, as follows:
3–5 The Temple where sacrifices are offered is to be rebuilt on new foundations. It is to be ninety feet high and ninety feet wide with three courses of large stones topped with one course of timber. The cost is to be paid from the royal bank. The gold and silver vessels from The Temple of God that Nebuchadnezzar carried to Babylon are to be returned to The Temple at Jerusalem, each to its proper place; place them in The Temple of God.
6–7 Now listen, Tattenai governor of the land beyond the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, associates, and all officials of that land: Stay out of their way. Leave the governor and leaders of the Jews alone so they can work on that Temple of God as they rebuild it.
8–10 I hereby give official orders on how you are to help the leaders of the Jews in the rebuilding of that Temple of God:
1. All construction costs are to be paid to these men from the royal bank out of the taxes coming in from the land beyond the Euphrates. And pay them on time, without delays.
2. Whatever is required for their worship—young bulls, rams, and lambs for Whole-Burnt-Offerings to the God-of-Heaven; and whatever wheat, salt, wine, and anointing oil the priests of Jerusalem request—is to be given to them daily without delay so that they may make sacrifices to the God-of-Heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11–12 I’ve issued an official decree that anyone who violates this order is to be impaled on a timber torn out of his own house, and the house itself made a manure pit. And may the God who put his Name on that place wipe out any king or people who dares to defy this decree and destroy The Temple of God at Jerusalem.
I, Darius, have issued an official decree. Carry it out precisely and promptly.
13 Tattenai governor of the land across the Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their associates did it: They carried out the decree of Darius precisely and promptly.
The Building Completed: “Exuberantly Celebrated the Dedication”
14–15 So the leaders of the Jews continued to build; the work went well under the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo. They completed the rebuilding under orders of the God of Israel and authorization by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The Temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16–18 And then the Israelites celebrated—priests, Levites, every last exile, exuberantly celebrated the dedication of The Temple of God. At the dedication of this Temple of God they sacrificed a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, and four hundred lambs—and, as an Absolution-Offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. They placed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their places for the service of God at Jerusalem—all as written out in the Book of Moses.
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover.
20 All the priests and Levites had purified themselves—all, no exceptions. They were all ritually clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for the exiles, their brother priests, and themselves.
21–22 Then the Israelites who had returned from exile, along with everyone who had removed themselves from the defilements of the nations to join them and seek God, the God of Israel, ate the Passover. With great joy they celebrated the Feast of Unraised Bread for seven days. God had plunged them into a sea of joy; he had changed the mind of the king of Assyria to back them in rebuilding The Temple of God, the God of Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
1 John 1:5-7
Walk in the Light
5 This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.
6–7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.
Today's Insights
Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe points out how God reveals Himself through His creation, but there’s additional—and vital—revelation. Wiersbe notes that we also have “the Word of life” (1 John 1:1), which is Christ Himself. And we have the eyewitness testimony of the apostles, including John, who tells us, “[That] which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (v. 1). John wanted us to know the truth of his message. He writes, “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us” (v. 2). This is the heart of the gospel message. Jesus appeared on earth as one of us, and eternal life is only through Him.
Christ’s Light Shines Bright
God is light. 1 John 1:5
Today's Devotional -Patricia Raybon
When the lights went out on the streets of Highland Park, Michigan, a passion for another light source—the sun—found a home there. The struggling town lacked funds to pay its utility company. The power company turned off the streetlights and removed the lightbulbs in 1,400 light poles. That left residents unsafe and in the dark. “Here comes a couple of children right now, on their way to school,” a resident told a news crew. “There are no lights. They just have to take a chance on walking down the street.”
That changed when a nonprofit group formed to install solar-powered streetlights in the town. Working together, the humanitarian organization saved the city money on energy bills while securing a light source that helped meet residents’ needs.
In our life in Christ, our reliable light source is Jesus Himself, the Son of God. As John the apostle wrote, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). John noted, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (v. 7).
Jesus Himself declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). With God’s Holy Spirit guiding our every step, we’ll never walk in darkness. His light always shines bright.
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced the light of Jesus in your life? Today, who can you tell about Him?
Let Your light shine bright, dear God, in every corner of my life.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
The Consecration of Spiritual Energy
. . . through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. — Galatians 6:14
When I brood on the cross of Christ, I become a person who is concentrated on and dominated by Jesus Christ’s interests. My focus is taken off myself and my own holiness. I’m no longer trapped in my private, subjective viewpoint. I’m identified with my Lord’s view-point and interests.
Our Lord wasn’t a recluse or an ascetic; he didn’t cut himself off from society. He was so much in the ordinary world that the religious people of his day called him a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). And yet our Lord maintained an inward separateness all the time. On a fundamental level, he lived in a world apart from this one. Everything he did, he did for the glory of his heavenly Father, devoting every thought and action to God.
We, too, must devote every ounce of spiritual energy God gives us to doing his work, letting nothing interfere; this is how we consecrate our lives to him. Sanctification is God’s part; consecration is our part. We have to deliberately decide to have God’s interests as our interests. The way to solve perplexing problems is to ask, “Is this the kind of thing that interests Jesus Christ? Or is it something the spirit of the devil would embrace?”
A counterfeit version of consecration is the conscious cutting off of certain activities and pleasures with the idea of storing up spiritual power for use later on. This is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has prevented the sins of a great many people, yet there’s no emancipation, no fullness in their lives. The ascetic, reclusive religious life is entirely different from the robust holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ preached that we are to be in the world but not of it—detached fundamentally, not externally: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).
Ezekiel 30-32; 1 Peter 4
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Who You Are and Why You're There - #9883
As a general rule, I don't do hospitals. Oh, I visit other people in hospitals, but I don't stay in them. God has blessed me with wonderful health over the years. But there was a time I had such an intense bout with the flu that I ended up badly dehydrated. The doctor was concerned enough about me that he put me in the hospital, yeah, put me in the hospital to stay for a short time, actually, to get rehydrated with intravenous fluids. Now I've got to tell you, I was not a happy camper when they told me they were going to admit me to the hospital. Oh, I tried to be nice on the outside, but inside I was like mrrr-mrrr-mrrr-mrrrr. Well, then my wife reminded me of something she said I had told her once or twice. (See, I hate this! I hate it when my own words come back to haunt me. I can't argue with myself!) She said, "Remember who you are and remember why you're here."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Who You Are and Why You're There."
Actually, God gave me a tremendous opportunity to sow some Gospel seed in the hospital staff while I was there; the hospital I "no way" wanted to be in. But as I finally woke up to the fact that I had been assigned there by God and not by dehydration, I began to take advantage of the opportunities to show and tell about the love of Jesus. One nurse wanted a copy of all my books. She said, "You know, it's been really good having you here. Just think of the influence you've had on all us heathens." I said, "No, Betty - not heathen. People God loved so much that He sent His Son to die for you."
What helped me see what was really going on in my undesirable situation was that challenge, which was actually the Mordecai Challenge. Maybe you're a candidate for the Mordecai Challenge where you are right now. In our word for today from the Word of God in Esther 4:14, we find a Jewish young woman named Esther providentially placed in the position of being Queen of Persia. No one knows she's Jewish, and she's in this great position which her Cousin Mordecai is asking her now to totally lay on the line.
In a palace plot, Esther's people - God's people - have been targeted for annihilation. Only Esther was in a position to get to the king and plead for the lives of her people. But the law called for anyone who went unbidden into the throne room of the king to be put to death. And Esther hasn't heard from the king for a month. Now here's that Mordecai Challenge in Esther 4:14, "Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
Okay, here is what I was told in the hospital, "Remember who you are. Remember why you're there." Esther realizes she has been placed where she is to save lives, and she risks hers to rescue them. And her people live because of it. Right now, God may be saying to you about your situation - where you work, where you go to school, the sport you're in, the club you're in, the situation you're in, the neighborhood you're in, the jam you're in, "You have been put in this position for such a time as this. Use that position to tell people about My Son."
I guess in a sense, we're all Esther. God has placed us where we are in order to save some lives there; lives that Jesus died for. And God has put those people within your reach through your situation so you can give them a chance to be rescued. How are you doing on the real reason you're there?
Remember who you are - Christ's personal ambassador to the people around you - and don't forget why you're there: to help some of those people around you be in heaven with you forever.
