Max Lucado Daily: Let your light shine
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” Matthew 5:16, NIV
Did you notice the first five letters of the word courteous spell court? In old England, to be courteous was to act in the way of the court. The family and servants of the king were expected to follow a higher standard.
So are we. Are we not called to represent the King? Then “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Genesis 17
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, “I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I’ll make a covenant between us and I’ll give you a huge family.”
3–8 Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.
Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: You’ll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that ‘I’m making you the father of many nations.’ I’ll make you a father of fathers—I’ll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I’m establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I’m giving you and your descendants this land where you’re now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I’ll be their God.”
9–14 God continued to Abraham, “And you: You will honor my covenant, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor, the covenant that pulls in all your descendants: Circumcise every male. Circumcise by cutting off the foreskin of the penis; it will be the sign of the covenant between us. Every male baby will be circumcised when he is eight days old, generation after generation—this includes house-born slaves and slaves bought from outsiders who are not blood kin. Make sure you circumcise both your own children and anyone brought in from the outside. That way my covenant will be cut into your body, a permanent mark of my permanent covenant. An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people—he has broken my covenant.”
15–16 God continued speaking to Abraham, “And Sarai your wife: Don’t call her Sarai any longer; call her Sarah. I’ll bless her—yes! I’ll give you a son by her! Oh, how I’ll bless her! Nations will come from her; kings of nations will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell flat on his face. And then he laughed, thinking, “Can a hundred-year-old man father a son? And can Sarah, at ninety years, have a baby?”
18 Recovering, Abraham said to God, “Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!”
19 But God said, “That’s not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I’ll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.
20–21 “And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I’ll also bless him; I’ll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He’ll father twelve princes; I’ll make him a great nation. But I’ll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year.”
22 God finished speaking with Abraham and left.
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all his servants, whether house-born or purchased—every male in his household—and circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins that very day, just as God had told him.
24–27 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised the same day together with all the servants of his household, those born there and those purchased from outsiders—all were circumcised with him.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, February 09, 2025
by Mike Wittmer
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 2:11-18
But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.
14–15 The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.
16–18 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.
Today's Insights
Ephesians 2:11-22 is theologically rich. Like a cord of three strands, this passage brings together three key doctrines of the faith in Jesus: teaching about Christ (Christology), the church (ecclesiology), and the Holy Spirit (pneumatology). Jesus, through His reconciling work, is the source of our peace with God (vv. 14, 16) and through Him two disparate groups—Jews and gentiles—could become one new humanity (vv. 14-15). The church is indeed one body and a new family (vv. 14-18) “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (v. 20). The Holy Spirit has been and is at work in forming and sustaining the church. He facilitates our decision for salvation (v. 18) and indwells the church that Jesus is building (v. 22).
Jesus Our Peace
He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. Ephesians 2:17
Joan groaned when she saw Susan’s social media post. The photo showed ten church friends smiling around a restaurant table. For the second time this month, they were having a grand time—without her. Joan blinked away tears. She didn’t always get along with the others, but still. How strange to attend church with people who didn’t include her!
How strangely first century! But Jesus desires unity and came to heal our division. From the church’s beginning, people who didn’t get along were to find common ground in Him. Jews looked down on gentiles for not keeping the law, and gentiles loathed Jews for thinking they were better. Then Jesus “made the two groups one”; He “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands” (Ephesians 2:14-15). Keeping the law no longer mattered. What counted was Jesus. Would Jew and gentile unite in Him?
That depended on their response. Jesus “preached peace to” gentiles “who were far away and peace to [Jews] who were near” (v. 17). Same message, different application. Self-righteous Jews needed to admit they weren’t better, while snubbed gentiles needed to believe they weren’t worse. Both needed to stop fretting about the other and focus on Christ, who was creating “in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace” (v. 15).
Feeling snubbed? That hurts. It’s not right. But you can be a peacemaker as you rest in Jesus. He’s still our peace.
Reflect & Pray
When have you felt snubbed? How can you be a peacemaker?
Dear Father, when I’m snubbed, I’ll rest in Your Son.
Learn more about the beauty and unity of the community God has brought together through Jesus.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, February 09, 2025
The everlasting God . . . will not grow tired or weary. — Isaiah 40:28
When we are physically exhausted, it’s as though all our strength and vitality have left us. Spiritual exhaustion is similar: we feel as though we’ve come to the end of our ability to be of service to God. This kind of tiredness never arises through sin, always through service, and it happens when we’re getting our supply from the wrong source.
Jesus told Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17), but he didn’t give Peter anything to feed them with. The nourishment was Peter himself. He had to be made broken bread and poured-out wine for souls who hadn’t yet learned to draw directly on God. We must offer ourselves like this as well, because other souls must draw from us before they draw directly on the Lord. But we must be very careful about where we find our own nourishment. If we don’t get it from God, before long we will be completely exhausted.
Have you betrayed yourself into exhaustion by the way you’ve been serving God? Continually go back to your motivations and examine the source of their power. If you find yourself saying, “Oh, God, I’m so exhausted,” remember that he saved and sanctified you in order to exhaust you. Exhaust yourself in service for God, but remember to take your supply from him: “All my fountains are in you” (Psalm 87:7).
Leviticus 6-7; Matthew 25:1-30
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6).
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
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