Max Lucado Daily: The Economy of Heaven
“A crown is being held for . . . all those who have waited with love for him to come again.” 2 Timothy 4:8
We understand that in the economy of earth, there are a limited number of crowns.
The economy of heaven, however, is refreshingly different. Heavenly rewards are not limited to a chosen few, but “to all those who have waited with love for him to come again.” The three-letter word all is a gem. The winner’s circle isn’t reserved for a handful of the elite but for a heaven full of God’s children.
Job 10
To Find Some Skeleton in My Closet
1 10 “I can’t stand my life—I hate it!
I’m putting it all out on the table,
all the bitterness of my life—I’m holding back nothing.”
2–7 Job prayed:
“Here’s what I want to say:
Don’t, God, bring in a verdict of guilty
without letting me know the charges you’re bringing.
How does this fit into what you once called ‘good’—
giving me a hard time, spurning me,
a life you shaped by your very own hands,
and then blessing the plots of the wicked?
You don’t look at things the way we mortals do.
You’re not taken in by appearances, are you?
Unlike us, you’re not working against a deadline.
You have all eternity to work things out.
So what’s this all about, anyway—this compulsion
to dig up some dirt, to find some skeleton in my closet?
You know good and well I’m not guilty.
You also know no one can help me.
8–12 “You made me like a handcrafted piece of pottery—
and now are you going to smash me to pieces?
Don’t you remember how beautifully you worked my clay?
Will you reduce me now to a mud pie?
Oh, that marvel of conception as you stirred together
semen and ovum—
What a miracle of skin and bone,
muscle and brain!
You gave me life itself, and incredible love.
You watched and guarded every breath I took.
13–17 “But you never told me about this part.
I should have known that there was more to it—
That if I so much as missed a step, you’d notice and pounce,
wouldn’t let me get by with a thing.
If I’m truly guilty, I’m doomed.
But if I’m innocent, it’s no better—I’m still doomed.
My belly is full of bitterness.
I’m up to my ears in a swamp of affliction.
I try to make the best of it, try to brave it out,
but you’re too much for me,
relentless, like a lion on the prowl.
You line up fresh witnesses against me.
You compound your anger
and pile on the grief and pain!
18–22 “So why did you have me born?
I wish no one had ever laid eyes on me!
I wish I’d never lived—a stillborn,
buried without ever having breathed.
Isn’t it time to call it quits on my life?
Can’t you let up, and let me smile just once
Before I die and am buried,
before I’m nailed into my coffin, sealed in the ground,
And banished for good to the land of the dead,
blind in the final dark?”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, March 02, 2025
by Bill Crowder
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Psalm 32:1-7
Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—
you get a fresh start,
your slate’s wiped clean.
2 Count yourself lucky—
God holds nothing against you
and you’re holding nothing back from him.
3 When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.
4 The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.
5 Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”
Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.
6 These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray;
when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts
we’ll be on high ground, untouched.
7 God’s my island hideaway,
keeps danger far from the shore,
throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.
Today's Insights
Psalm 32 has traditionally been classified as one of seven penitential (repentant) psalms. Other psalms in this category are Psalms 6, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. In Psalm 32, the psalmist acknowledges the serious impact of unconfessed sin on the body: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. . . . My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” (vv. 3-4). This emphasis on the impact of sin on our bodies can be found in other psalms of repentance. In Psalm 38, for example, we read, “Because of your wrath there is no health in my body” (v. 3). The focus in Psalm 32, however, is the joy and peace to be found for all who turn to God for forgiveness (vv. 1-2, 5).
Learn the true meaning of Biblical peace
Jesus—Our Place of Rest
Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29
In 1943, a camp in rural Maryland called Shangri-La was purchased as a retreat for US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Rustic, quiet, and remote, it provided “an opportunity for solitude and tranquility,” according to the White House website, “as well as an ideal place to work and host foreign leaders.” When Dwight Eisenhower became president, he renamed this retreat Camp David in honor of his father and his grandson, and the name stuck. Aside from increased security measures, there has been very little modernizing of the camp. It remains the perfect place for US presidents and their families to escape and rest.
Believers in Jesus also have a retreat where we can find rest in the midst of our turbulent world. In Psalm 32:7, King David wrote, “You [God] are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” David recognized that God was his true place of safety.
Jesus welcomes us to find rest and restoration in Him. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).
He can be our place of rest any time, every time, and all the time.
Reflect & Pray
What robs you of peace and rest? How might you seek to find rest in Jesus?
Loving God, I’m tired. This world is tough, and sometimes I feel like the very life is drained from me. Please help me to be more intentional about coming to You and finding rest in Your gracious presence.
Discover how prayer can give you peace and rest.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, March 02, 2025
Have You Felt the Hurt of the Lord?
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, … you know that I love you.” — John 21:17
Have you ever felt the hurt of the Lord in the very center of your being—the place where your real sensitivity lies? The devil never hurts us there. Sin never hurts us there. Human emotion never hurts us there. Nothing gets through to this place but the word of God.
A third time Jesus asked if Peter loved him. Peter was hurt because he was waking up to an amazing fact: he did love Jesus, all the way through to the core of his being. Peter had begun to see what Jesus’s patient, repeated questioning meant. It meant that Peter no longer belonged to himself. It meant that, for Peter, there was no one in heaven above or on earth below except Jesus Christ. It meant that Peter could never delude himself again. It was a revelation to Peter to realize how much he truly did love the Lord, and with amazement he said, “You know that I love you.”
How skillful, patient, and direct was Jesus Christ with Peter! Our Lord’s questions always reveal us to ourselves, but he never asks until the right time. Peter did not know how much he loved Jesus until the patient, painful questions came. Probably once in each of our lives, the Lord backs us into a corner and hurts us with this probing question, until we realize that we do love him, far more deeply than any mere declaration can tell.
Numbers 26-27; Mark 8:1-21
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
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