Max Lucado Daily: MAKE A PLAN - June 12, 2025
You can’t control the weather. You aren’t in charge of the economy. You can’t un-wreck the car. But you can map out a strategy. Remember, God is in this crisis.
Ask God to give you two or three steps you can take today. Seek counsel from someone who’s faced a similar challenge. Ask friends to pray. Most importantly, make a plan. You’d prefer a miracle for your crisis? You’d rather see the stormy sea turned glassy calm in a finger snap? God may do this. Then again, he may say, “I’m with you. I can use this for good. Now let’s make a plan.”
God’s sovereignty doesn’t negate our responsibility. It empowers it. So don’t let the crisis paralyze you. Trust God to do what you can’t. Obey God, and do what you can.
Exodus 11
Strike Ten: Death
1 11 God said to Moses: “I’m going to hit Pharaoh and Egypt one final time, and then he’ll let you go. When he releases you, that will be the end of Egypt for you; he won’t be able to get rid of you fast enough.
2–3 “So here’s what you do. Tell the people to ask, each man from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor, for things made of silver and gold.” God saw to it that the Egyptians liked the people. Also, Moses was greatly admired by the Egyptians, a respected public figure among both Pharaoh’s servants and the people at large.
4–7 Then Moses confronted Pharaoh: “God’s Message: ‘At midnight I will go through Egypt and every firstborn child in Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl working at her hand mill. Also the firstborn of animals. Widespread wailing will erupt all over the country, lament such as has never been and never will be again. But against the Israelites—man, woman, or animal—there won’t be so much as a dog’s bark, so that you’ll know that God makes a clear distinction between Egypt and Israel.’
8 “Then all these servants of yours will go to their knees, begging me to leave, ‘Leave! You and all the people who follow you!’ And I will most certainly leave.”
Moses, seething with anger, left Pharaoh.
9 God said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s not going to listen to a thing you say so that the signs of my presence and work are going to multiply in the land of Egypt.”
10 Moses and Aaron had performed all these signs in Pharaoh’s presence, but God turned Pharaoh more stubborn than ever—yet again he refused to release the Israelites from his land.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, June 12, 2025
by inn Collier
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Hebrews 13:15-21
Let’s take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus’ name.
16 Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
17 Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?
18–21 Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we’re doing or why, but it’s hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon.
May God, who puts all things together,
makes all things whole,
Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
up and alive from the dead,
Now put you together, provide you
with everything you need to please him,
Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
All glory to Jesus forever and always!
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Today's Insights
The letter to the Hebrews is anonymous. This, however, hasn’t prevented centuries of scholarly speculation as to the identity of the author, which includes Paul, Luke, Apollos, as well as Barnabas, Priscilla, Silas, and Philip the evangelist. While human authorship can be debated, the divine authorship of the Holy Spirit is unquestioned. The audience for the letter was Jewish believers who’d been through great hardship and were in danger of abandoning their faith in Jesus the Messiah due to their struggles. This letter encourages them to keep on believing and trusting in God, with a series of warnings to that effect (2:1-3; 3:7–4:11; 6:4-6; 12:25-26). To encourage them, the author sets out to show the superiority of Jesus over everything—angels, Moses, Joshua, the priesthood, the sacrificial system, and more. And not only is He superior; He’s also the model of true sacrifice and generosity. As we practice generosity, we reflect His heart.
A Generous Heart
Do not forget to do good and to share with others. Hebrews 13:16
When soccer star Sadio Mané from Senegal was playing for Liverpool in the English Premier League, he was one of the world’s highest-paid African players, making millions of dollars per year. Fans spotted a picture of Mané carrying an iPhone with a cracked screen and joked about him using the damaged device. His response was unflustered. "Why would I want ten Ferraris, twenty diamond watches, and two jet planes?” he asked. “I starved, I worked in the fields, played barefoot, and didn't go to school. Now I can help people. I prefer to build schools and give poor people food or clothing. . . . [Give] some of what life has given me."
Mané knew how selfish it would be to hoard all his prosperity when so many of his neighbors back home struggled under crushing conditions. Hebrews reminds us that this generous way of life is for all of us, not only for those who are wealthy. “Do not forget to do good and to share with others,” the writer says, “for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (13:16). Nurturing a generous heart isn’t only the right thing to do, but according to Scripture, generosity also makes God smile. Who doesn’t want to make God pleased?
Generosity isn’t defined simply by how much we give. Instead, generosity refers to the posture of our heart. One thing we can do that’s “pleasing to [God]” (v. 21) is to simply open our hands and share what we have.
Reflect & Pray
How have you shown generosity? What helps you cultivate a generous heart?
Dear God, thank You for the generous heart You’ve shown me. Please help me to be generous too.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Come with Me
They said, “Rabbi . . . , where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went . . . and they spent that day with him. — John 1:38-39
Some of us never spend more than a day with Jesus before our worries and self-interest come flooding in. We break our fellowship with the Lord, imagining that it is impossible to abide in him when circumstances are hard. We have to learn that there is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.
“You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (John 1:42). God writes our new name in the places where he has erased our pride and self-sufficiency. Some of us have the new name only in spots—like spiritual chicken pox. When we have our best spiritual mood on, we act like saints. But don’t look at us when we’re not in that mood!
Disciples are those who have the new name written all over them. Their pride and self-sufficiency have been completely erased. Pride is the deification of self, but there are many forms of pride. Today, many of us are prideful not like the Pharisee, who was obsessed with his own virtue, but like the tax collector, who was so humble he “would not even look up to heaven” (Luke 18:13). To say “Oh, I’m no saint” sounds humble to human ears, but humility before people may be unconscious blasphemy before God. It means that you think God can’t make you righteous, that you’re so weak and hopeless the atonement can’t reach you.
Why aren’t you righteous? Either you don’t want to be or you don’t think God can accomplish it. There would be no problem, you say, if God had taken you to heaven the instant you were saved. That is just what he will do! “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23). Make no excuses. Let Jesus be everything, and he will take you home with him not only for a day but for always.
Ezra 3-5; John 20
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.
Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Parenting in Bite-Sized Chunks - #10024
Man, when I see my grown children eat now, it surprises me they ever needed help! But they did. And, of course, they're doing great now all by themselves. But there was a time when they had to be fed. And then I watched that with my grandchildren. See, sometimes - especially the very little ones - they need help, especially when they have this big piece of meat or chicken placed in front of them.
If you're little and you can barely see over the top of the table, a piece of meat on your plate looks like this pretty daunting challenge! You can imagine as you sit there you might be going, "How do I tackle that?" So, Dads come or Moms come and cut that meat into little pieces that the little guy can handle. That's how you tackle it.
Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Parenting in Bite-Sized Chunks."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 118:24. It's a familiar verse, probably one you've sung or maybe memorized. But let's apply it to life's great challenge called parenting. "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." I have repeated here that scriptural impression that life is meant to be handled in days. It comes up over and over again, not just here. David said, "This is the day...I'm going to handle life as days."
But all through the Bible it talks about these 24-hour bite-sized chunks that we're supposed to do. It talks about strength that comes as your days come; picking up your cross daily, getting mercies that are new every morning. The Bible says "our inward man is renewed day by day," and then the Psalmist comes along and says, "I've got this day the Lord made." Not this year, not this month, not this life - I've got this day.
Now, that's really helpful when it comes to the challenge of parenting. Man, you look at all that needs to be done in your child's life. They need to know that they're loved by you. You say, "Oh, there's so much to learn about discipline. They've got weaknesses I really need to work on! They've got strengths they don't believe they have, and I really need to build them up. And they have so much to learn about the Lord. There's so much to learn about life, and I have so much to get done in their life." And you look at all you need to accomplish in their lives and you're overwhelmed; you're paralyzed like a little child looking at this big piece of meat on his plate.
But you've got to cut it into bite-sized chunks called days. Your mission is simply to have a good day with your child. Don't try to put a whole life, or even a whole month together. Have one good day. One day where you show your child demonstrated affection, where you debrief each other's day; one good day where you just have some laughs with each other. One day where you deal with one piece of an issue in your life or their life. One day when you give them a specific compliment. One day where you touch the Lord together and talk to Him together about something.
And then let the Lord stitch those days together into a tapestry that makes a life. See, we tend to be paralyzed by guilt over the past or anxiety over the future. Our fears. Why not trust the Lord to cover both of those, and you have a good day today. That's how you build a better future.
So, don't be overwhelmed by that whole piece of things you need to do as a parent. Just take it one bite at a time.
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