Max Lucado Daily: VICTORY OVER SIN - August 13, 2025
The Holy Spirit will give you power over the struggle of sin. Many Christians can relate to these words of the apostle Paul: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24 ESV). This sobering confession is the exclamation point on the apostle’s remembrance of his life before he followed Christ. Each day was a day of defeat.
Many people feel the same way today. If that is you, observe what Paul says just a few verses later. Romans 8 is Paul’s great statement of liberation. In contrast to the previous chapter, he speaks of victory and assurance and grace. The difference? Chapter 7 was life under the old law. Chapter 8 is life in the Spirit.
The point? Victory over sin is the result of the presence of God’s Spirit within us.
Help Is Here
Leviticus 4
The Absolution-Offering
1–12 4 God spoke to Moses: “Tell the Israelites, When a person sins unintentionally by straying from any of God’s commands, breaking what must not be broken, if it’s the anointed priest who sins and so brings guilt on the people, he is to bring a bull without defect to God as an Absolution-Offering for the sin he has committed. Have him bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting in the presence of God, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and slaughter the bull before God. He is then to take some of the bull’s blood, bring it into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before God, before the curtain of the Sanctuary. He is to smear some of the blood on the horns of the Altar of Fragrant Incense before God which is in the Tent of Meeting. He is to pour the rest of the bull’s blood out at the base of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He is to remove all the fat from the bull of the Absolution-Offering, the fat which covers and is connected to the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is around them at the loins, and the lobe of the liver which he takes out along with the kidneys—the same procedure as when the fat is removed from the bull of the Peace-Offering. Finally, he is to burn all this on the Altar of Burnt Offering. Everything else—the bull’s hide, meat, head, legs, organs, and guts—he is to take outside the camp to a clean place where the ashes are dumped and is to burn it on a wood fire.
13–21 “If the whole congregation sins unintentionally by straying from one of the commandments of God that must not be broken, they become guilty even though no one is aware of it. When they do become aware of the sin they’ve committed, the congregation must bring a bull as an Absolution-Offering and present it at the Tent of Meeting. The elders of the congregation will lay their hands on the bull’s head in the presence of God and one of them will slaughter it before God. The anointed priest will then bring some of the blood into the Tent of Meeting, dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of it seven times before God in front of the curtain. He will smear some of the blood on the horns of the Altar which is before God in the Tent of Meeting and pour the rest of it at the base of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. He will remove all the fat and burn it on the Altar. He will follow the same procedure with this bull as with the bull for the Absolution-Offering. The priest makes atonement for them and they are forgiven. They then will take the bull outside the camp and burn it just as they burned the first bull. It’s the Absolution-Offering for the congregation.
22–26 “When a ruler sins unintentionally by straying from one of the commands of his God which must not be broken, he is guilty. When he becomes aware of the sin he has committed, he must bring a goat for his offering, a male without any defect, lay his hand on the head of the goat, and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the Whole-Burnt-Offering in the presence of God—it’s an Absolution-Offering. The priest will then take some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. He will burn all its fat on the Altar, the same as with the fat of the Peace-Offering.
“The priest makes atonement for him on account of his sin and he’s forgiven.
27–31 “When an ordinary member of the congregation sins unintentionally, straying from one of the commandments of God which must not be broken, he is guilty. When he is made aware of his sin, he shall bring a goat, a female without any defect, and offer it for his sin, lay his hand on the head of the Absolution-Offering, and slaughter it at the place of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will take some of its blood with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. Finally, he’ll take out all the fat, the same as with the Peace-Offerings, and burn it on the Altar for a pleasing fragrance to God.
“In this way, the priest makes atonement for him and he’s forgiven.
32–35 “If he brings a lamb for an Absolution-Offering, he shall present a female without any defect, lay his hand on the head of the Absolution-Offering, and slaughter it at the same place they slaughter the Whole-Burnt-Offering. The priest will take some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering with his finger, smear it on the horns of the Altar of Burnt-Offering, and pour the rest at the base of the Altar. He shall remove all the fat, the same as for the lamb of the Peace-Offering. Finally, the priest will burn it on the Altar on top of the gifts to God.
“In this way, the priest makes atonement for him on account of his sin and he’s forgiven.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
by Matt Lucas
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Luke 24:13-16, 25-35
The Road to Emmaus
13–16 That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
25–27 Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.
28–31 They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: “Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done.” So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
32 Back and forth they talked. “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?”
A Ghost Doesn’t Have Muscle and Bone
33–34 They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!”
35 Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.
Today's Insights
In Luke 24, we see that despite Jesus’ promise to rise from the dead (9:22; 18:32-33), His disciples weren’t expecting His resurrection. Women went to the tomb with spices to anoint a decaying body (24:1), not to investigate whether Christ had risen. Even after the women shared the angels’ announcement that Jesus had risen, the other disciples didn’t believe them (v. 11). And on the Emmaus road, even when Jesus Himself walked with two disciples, they didn’t recognize Him (vv. 13-16). Only after Christ shares bread are their eyes opened (v. 31). By God’s grace, we can also see our need for Jesus and come to Him.
Recognizing Jesus
Their eyes were opened and they recognized [Jesus], and he disappeared from their sight. Luke 24:31
When Carlotta was young, she thought her mother had a remarkable gift for recognizing other people. But it was Carlotta who was remarkable. She had a rare condition called prosopagnosia. She couldn’t recognize or remember faces.
Shortly after Jesus’ resurrection, two disciples walking from Jerusalem seemed as if they had such a condition when they encountered someone they should have recognized. The two were talking about the exciting news of the past few days (Luke 24:14), but the third person seemed unaware of the events. They gave Him a quick summary, only to be surprised as this unknown person (Jesus) “explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (v. 27). Then Christ broke bread with them (v. 30)—something He’d done many times before. At that moment, “Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight” (v. 31). They hurried back to Jerusalem to tell others (vv. 33-35).
Those disciples didn’t recognize Jesus when they were with Him, and they hadn’t recognized Him in the Old Testament—something they read often and thought they knew well. They needed Jesus to reveal Himself to them because they couldn’t see on their own.
We need that help too. Let’s ask God to open our eyes to see Jesus on the pages of the Bible and in our lives.
Reflect & Pray
When have you failed to recognize God’s presence in your life? Why do you think this happens?
Dear Father, thank You for revealing Jesus to me so that I may follow Him.
Jesus' resurrection changed the course of human history. Learn more by reading Expected Reactions to a Most Unexpected Event.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
“Do Not Quench the Spirit”
Do not quench the Spirit —1 Thessalonians 5:19
The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze— so gentle that unless you are living in complete fellowship and oneness with God, you will never hear it. The sense of warning and restraint that the Spirit gives comes to us in the most amazingly gentle ways. And if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice, you will quench it, and your spiritual life will be impaired. This sense of restraint will always come as a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12), so faint that no one except a saint of God will notice it.
Beware if in sharing your personal testimony you continually have to look back, saying, “Once, a number of years ago, I was saved.” If you have put your “hand to the plow” and are walking in the light, there is no “looking back”— the past is instilled into the present wonder of fellowship and oneness with God (Luke 9:62 ; also see 1 John 1:6-7). If you get out of the light, you become a sentimental Christian, and live only on your memories, and your testimony will have a hard metallic ring to it. Beware of trying to cover up your present refusal to “walk in the light” by recalling your past experiences when you did “walk in the light” (1 John 1:7). When-ever the Spirit gives you that sense of restraint, call a halt and make things right, or else you will go on quenching and grieving Him without even knowing it.
Suppose God brings you to a crisis and you almost endure it, but not completely. He will engineer the crisis again, but this time some of the intensity will be lost. You will have less discernment and more humiliation at having disobeyed. If you continue to grieve His Spirit, there will come a time when that crisis cannot be repeated, because you have totally quenched Him. But if you will go on through the crisis, your life will become a hymn of praise to God. Never become attached to anything that continues to hurt God. For you to be free of it, God must be allowed to hurt whatever it may be.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
THE OPEN DOOR ON A LOCKED-UP HEART - #10068
When you live in the New York area, locking up your house is just second nature. In fact, it's wise to make sure that every door and every window is locked. Unfortunately, all those precautions can work against you if you forget or lose your house key. Yes, this is the voice of experience. Not only are all those nasty people locked out, you are now locked out! I've been there and done that. I can remember making a complete circuit of the house, desperately trying every window and every door. And the good news was that sometimes I actually found something was unlocked. I'd take even a window that I had to be a contortionist to get through! Anything to find a way to get in!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Open Door On a Locked-Up Heart."
There are probably some people in your world who you want in heaven with you someday - people who probably don't know your Jesus yet. Maybe people who seem to have little interest in knowing Jesus. Sometimes, it seems as if the doors to their heart are all locked up when it comes to Him. But there is a way to get in, no matter how hostile they may seem.
In our word for today from the Word of God in 1 Peter 2:12, Peter says we should "live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us." He even says that "by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."
A lost person might resist your invitation to Christian meetings and reject your Christian beliefs; but random acts of love and kindness? They're usually a key that unlocks even the hardest hearts. As Jesus carried out His rescue mission here on earth, He wrapped His message in concrete acts of love - touching the leper that no one would touch, going to dinner with "sinners" that the religious people avoided, going to a neighborhood where racial barriers said He should never go, or cuddling the children who came to Him.
That kind of love tears down walls between a believer and an unbeliever; it challenges an unbeliever's misconceptions about Christians being angry, and condemning and uncaring. It creates curiosity about what makes this caring person tick. And the good news is that anybody can show Jesus' love to a lost person. You don't have to have a theological education or a Hollywood personality. It simply requires that you focus on someone whose eternity you care about and you ask yourself this question: "Knowing what I know about this person, what things could I do that would make him or her feel loved?"
Maybe it's babysitting or helping to care for a live-in parent for free, filling in at work so they can have a day off, or helping with a school subject that person is struggling with, or maybe you could provide transportation, or offer to do some "dirty work" for them. Maybe it's forgiving a debt or providing work for them. You could introduce a newcomer to his new surroundings, open your home for dinner, how about repairing a vehicle or an appliance, or just taking an interest in something that matters to them.
I call it "rescue loving." It involves a conscious effort to identify what would make a lost person in your life feel loved. You can find a person's language of love by asking, "What need do they have right now that I could help with?" You literally go looking for needs into which you can pour the kind of love with which Jesus has loved you. That's how you find the open door to a life that you can't get into any other way.
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