Max Lucado Daily: YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO - November 28, 2024
Suppose you were to stand on a stage while a film of every secret and selfish moment of your life was projected on the screen behind you. Would you not scream for the heavens to have mercy? And would you not feel just a fraction of what Christ felt on the cross? The icy displeasure of a sin-hating God.
The Bible says Christ carried all our sins in his body. See Christ on the cross? That’s a gossiper hanging there. See Jesus? Embezzler. Liar. Bigot. “Hold it, Max! Don’t you lump Christ with those evildoers.” I didn’t. He did. More than place his name in the same sentence, he placed himself in their place. And yours! With hands nailed open, he invited God, “Treat me as you would them.” And God did.
“My God my God, why did you abandon me?” Why did Jesus scream those words? Simple – so that you’ll never have to.
Nextdoor Savior: Near Enough to Touch, Strong Enough to Trust
Ezra 7
Ezra Arrives
1–5 7 After all this, Ezra. It was during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia. Ezra was the son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the high priest.
6–7 That’s Ezra. He arrived from Babylon, a scholar well-practiced in the Revelation of Moses that the God of Israel had given. Because God’s hand was on Ezra, the king gave him everything he asked for. Some of the Israelites—priests, Levites, singers, temple security guards, and temple slaves—went with him to Jerusalem. It was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
8–10 They arrived at Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king’s reign. Ezra had scheduled their departure from Babylon on the first day of the first month; they arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month under the generous guidance of his God. Ezra had committed himself to studying the Revelation of God, to living it, and to teaching Israel to live its truths and ways.
11 What follows is the letter that King Artaxerxes gave Ezra, priest and scholar, expert in matters involving the truths and ways of God concerning Israel:
12–20 Artaxerxes, King of Kings, to Ezra the priest, a scholar of the Teaching of the God-of-Heaven.
Peace. I hereby decree that any of the people of Israel living in my kingdom who want to go to Jerusalem, including their priests and Levites, may go with you. You are being sent by the king and his seven advisors to carry out an investigation of Judah and Jerusalem in relation to the Teaching of your God that you are carrying with you. You are also authorized to take the silver and gold that the king and his advisors are giving for the God of Israel, whose residence is in Jerusalem, along with all the silver and gold that has been collected from the generously donated offerings all over Babylon, including that from the people and the priests, for The Temple of their God in Jerusalem. Use this money carefully to buy bulls, rams, lambs, and the ingredients for Grain-Offerings and Drink-Offerings and then offer them on the Altar of The Temple of your God in Jerusalem. You are free to use whatever is left over from the silver and gold for what you and your brothers decide is in keeping with the will of your God. Deliver to the God of Jerusalem the vessels given to you for the services of worship in The Temple of your God. Whatever else you need for The Temple of your God you may pay for out of the royal bank.
21–23 I, Artaxerxes the king, have formally authorized and ordered all the treasurers of the land across the Euphrates to give Ezra the priest, scholar of the Teaching of the God-of-Heaven, the full amount of whatever he asks for up to 100 talents of silver, 650 bushels of wheat, and 607 gallons each of wine and olive oil. There is no limit on the salt. Everything the God-of-Heaven requires for The Temple of God must be given without hesitation. Why would the king and his sons risk stirring up his wrath?
24 Also, let it be clear that no one is permitted to impose tribute, tax, or duty on any priest, Levite, singer, temple security guard, temple servant, or any other worker connected with The Temple of God.
25 I authorize you, Ezra, exercising the wisdom of God that you have in your hands, to appoint magistrates and judges so they can administer justice among all the people of the land across the Euphrates who live by the Teaching of your God. Anyone who does not know the Teaching, you teach them.
26 Anyone who does not obey the Teaching of your God and the king must be tried and sentenced at once—death, banishment, a fine, prison, whatever.
Ezra: “I Was Ready to Go”
27–28 Blessed be God, the God-of-Our-Fathers, who put it in the mind of the king to beautify The Temple of God in Jerusalem! Not only that, he caused the king and all his advisors and influential officials actually to like me and back me. My God was on my side and I was ready to go. And I organized all the leaders of Israel to go with me.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, November 28, 2024
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Micah 7:18-20
Where is the god who can compare with you—
wiping the slate clean of guilt,
Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
to the past sins of your purged and precious people?
You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,
for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most.
And compassion is on its way to us.
You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
You’ll sink our sins
to the bottom of the ocean.
You’ll stay true to your word to Father Jacob
and continue the compassion you showed Grandfather Abraham—
Everything you promised our ancestors
from a long time ago.
Today's Insights
Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea, ministered to both Israel and Judah during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (750-686 bc). He prophesied about Israel’s destruction by the Assyrians, which happened in his lifetime (722 bc), and the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and Judah’s exile by the Babylonians more than a hundred years later (586 bc). His prophecy that “Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble” (Micah 3:12) led King Hezekiah (716-687 bc) to repent (Jeremiah 26:18-19).
Micah’s name means “Who is like the Lord?” At the end of his prophecy, he uses a play on words and asks, “Who is a God like you?” (Micah 7:18)—a question asked often in the Old Testament (see Exodus 15:11; 1 Kings 8:23; Job 36:22; Psalm 35:10; 89:6; 113:5). Reminiscent of God’s own self-revelation in Exodus 34:6-7, Micah proclaims that God is the compassionate God who forgives sins (Micah 7:18-19) and the faithful God who keeps His covenant with His people (v. 20).
Pardoned by God -Lisa M. Samra
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin . . . ? Micah 7:18
Today's Devotional
Around the national Thanksgiving holiday, the US president welcomes two turkeys to the White House before granting them a presidential pardon. Instead of being served as the main dish of the traditional Thanksgiving meal, the turkeys safely live out the rest of their lives on a farm. Although the turkeys can’t comprehend the freedom they’ve been granted, the unusual annual tradition highlights the life-giving power of a pardon.
The prophet Micah understood the significance of a pardon when he wrote a strong warning to the Israelites still in Jerusalem. Similar in form to a legal complaint, Micah recorded God bearing witness against the nation (Micah 1:2) for desiring evil and indulging in greed, dishonesty, and violence (6:10-15).
Despite these rebellious acts, Micah ends with hope rooted in the promise that God doesn’t stay angry forever but instead “pardons sin and forgives” (7:18). As the Creator and Judge over all, He can authoritatively declare that He won’t hold our actions against us because of His promise to Abraham (v. 20)—ultimately fulfilled in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Being pardoned from all the ways we fail to live up to God’s standards is an undeserved gift that brings immense blessings. As we grasp more and more of the benefits of His complete forgiveness, let’s respond in praise and gratitude.
Reflect & Pray
What are the benefits of the pardon God offers? How does it prompt gratitude?
May I live, merciful Father, in gratitude because of the pardon You’ve offered me.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, November 28, 2024
The Bounty of the Destitute
All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. — Romans 3:24
The gospel of God’s grace awakens an intense longing in the human soul, but also an equally intense resentment. We resent the revelation that we are justified freely by God’s grace, that there’s nothing we have to do to receive it. Human beings take a certain pride in giving, but receiving is a different matter. To come and accept something freely offered to us offends our pride. I’ll gladly give my life to martyrdom; I’ll gladly give myself in consecration. But don’t humiliate me by placing me on the same level as the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do for my salvation is to accept it as a gift through Jesus Christ.
We have to realize that we can’t earn or win anything from God. We must either receive his grace as a gift or go without. The greatest blessing spiritually is the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we arrive at this knowledge, our Lord is powerless to help us. He can do nothing for us if we think we’re sufficient without him. As long as we believe ourselves to be rich, as long as we possess anything resembling pride or independence, we won’t be able to enter his kingdom. We have to enter it by the door of destitution.
Are you knocking at the door of destitution now? Are you spiritually hungry? Only when we get spiritually hungry do we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes effectual in us the very nature of God. By the Spirit, God imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, the life that puts the “beyond” within us. The instant the “beyond” is inside us, it rises to the “above,” lifting us into the domain where Jesus lives.
Ezekiel 33-34; 1 Peter 5
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Jesus Christ can afford to be misunderstood; we cannot. Our weakness lies in always wanting to vindicate ourselves.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, November 28, 2024
You Got Mail...For Thanksgiving - #9884
Okay, so they won't deliver mail on Thanksgiving. But it still might be a good day for someone you love to get mail. Possibly hand-delivered by you!
Now, in our world, you know that rare means something is valuable, like antiques, baseball cards, all kinds of collectibles. The less there is of something, the more valuable it is. How about "thank you." Yeah, that's rare.
When Jesus healed ten lepers of their deadly, defacing disease, only one came back to say thanks out of ten. Seems to be how it always is with thank you's. Maybe one thanks for every ten things you should be grateful to God for, or to each other. That's why you can really light up someone's life this Thanksgiving by giving them some thanks in writing, where it can really sink in; where they can go back to it on their dark day.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Got Mail - For Thanksgiving."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 4:29. It's a favorite of mine. In fact, many years ago we had our family memorize this, and well, we wanted everybody to kind of program their heart, and their mind, and their relationships - including me - with this verse. It simply says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is useful for building others up." So, the Bible encourages us to use our words to build other people up. We should be in the construction business. And nothing can be more powerful in building people up than words of encouragement, words of gratitude, words that say "thank you," and isn't this a great time to be doing that?
Now, here's the kind of letter you might write. It might be to someone very close to you, or someone you used to be close to until something happened; or someone you pray for but you can't seem to break through to them. In any case, it's just hard to be hard when someone's thanking you for who you are.
Now, we're pretty good at thinking of things we don't like about someone. But something good happens in your heart when you make yourself sit down and you start writing about that person's strengths, and their contributions to your life and to other lives. And something good happens in their life when they get your gratitude in a letter. You are indeed, like the Bible says, building them up.
I've actually seen hard hearts begin to thaw. I've seen closed hearts begin to open when someone who loved them dared to write a letter that, well, went something like this (I'll give you the parts of the letter). Here we go.
First of all, "I love you..." Just expressing your affection, your love for them. Now, you've got to fill in the blanks on it. I can't do that for you. But "I love you..." You take it from there. Second part of the letter, "Thank you for..." You've got to do the rest. But think about the specific qualities that you appreciate about them, or experiences or actions, maybe it's just small things. Maybe, you know, they're not always that way. But you have seen that light; a glimmer of that light. Think of the things you can encourage in them that you've seen that you can thank them for. Maybe good things were recent; maybe they were years ago, but there are some things you've got to be thankful for in that person. The third part of the letter goes, "I'm sorry for..." That's the hard part. What are some of the things you wished you'd done differently? Put it there, "I'm sorry for..."
And then, "I wish we could..." That's the last part of the letter. "I wish we could..." How would you like your relationship to be from now on? However it's been recently, however it's been in the past, how would you like it to be in the future? "I wish we could..."
See, if you will open your heart like this, there's a chance they might open theirs. And honestly, there's no better time than Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season to reach out with this gift that only you can give. Because no one can hear all those nice things people say about them at their funeral.
Why don't you give them their bouquets while they can still smell the flowers, and don't wait for the funeral? And, well, my friend, Happy Thanksgiving.
