Max Lucado Daily:Don’t Give Up
The next time you lack the will to go on, seek healthy counsel! You won’t want to. Slumping people love slumping people. We love those who commiserate and avoid those who correct. Yet correction and direction are what we need when we’re tired.
I discovered the importance of healthy counsel in a half-Ironman triathlon. After the 1.2 mile swim and the 56-mile bike ride, I didn’t have much energy left for the 13.1 mile run. Neither did the fellow jogging next to me. He said, “This stinks. This is the dumbest decision I’ve ever made.”
I said, “Good-bye!” I knew if I listened too long, I’d start agreeing with him. I caught up with a sixty-six-year-old grandmother who said, “You’ll finish this—stay in there!”
Which of the two describes the counsel you seek? Proverbs 15:22 says: “Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail; take good counsel and watch them succeed!”
Don’t give up. And get some good advice!
From Facing Your Giants
Leviticus 6
God spoke to Moses: “When anyone sins by betraying trust with God by deceiving his neighbor regarding something entrusted to him, or by robbing or cheating or threatening him; or if he has found something lost and lies about it and swears falsely regarding any of these sins that people commonly commit—when he sins and is found guilty, he must return what he stole or extorted, restore what was entrusted to him, return the lost thing he found, or anything else about which he swore falsely. He must make full compensation, add twenty percent to it, and hand it over to the owner on the same day he brings his Compensation-Offering. He must present to God as his Compensation-Offering a ram without any defect from the flock, assessed at the value of a Compensation-Offering.
7 “Thus the priest will make atonement for him before God and he’s forgiven of any of the things that one does that bring guilt.”
Further Instructions
8–13 God spoke to Moses: “Command Aaron and his sons. Tell them, These are the instructions for the Whole-Burnt-Offering. Leave the Whole-Burnt-Offering on the Altar hearth through the night until morning, with the fire kept burning on the Altar. Then dress in your linen clothes with linen underwear next to your body. Remove the ashes remaining from the Whole-Burnt-Offering and place them beside the Altar. Then change clothes and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. Meanwhile keep the fire on the Altar burning; it must not go out. Replenish the wood for the fire every morning, arrange the Whole-Burnt-Offering on it, and burn the fat of the Peace-Offering on top of it all. Keep the fire burning on the Altar continuously. It must not go out.
14–18 “These are the instructions for the Grain-Offering. Aaron’s sons are to present it to God in front of the Altar. The priest takes a handful of the fine flour of the Grain-Offering with its oil and all its incense and burns this as a memorial on the Altar, a pleasing fragrance to God. Aaron and his sons eat the rest of it. It is unraised bread and so eaten in a holy place—in the Courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. They must not bake it with yeast. I have designated it as their share of the gifts presented to me. It is very holy, like the Absolution-Offering and the Compensation-Offering. Any male descendant among Aaron’s sons may eat it. This is a fixed rule regarding God’s gifts, stretching down the generations. Anyone who touches these offerings must be holy.”
19–23 God spoke to Moses: “This is the offering which Aaron and his sons each are to present to God on the day he is anointed: two quarts of fine flour as a regular Grain-Offering, half in the morning and half in the evening. Prepare it with oil on a griddle. Bring it well-mixed and then present it crumbled in pieces as a pleasing fragrance to God. Aaron’s son who is anointed to succeed him offers it to God—this is a fixed rule. The whole thing is burned. Every Grain-Offering of a priest is burned completely; it must not be eaten.”
24–30 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons, These are the instructions for the Absolution-Offering. Slaughter the Absolution-Offering in the place where the Whole-Burnt-Offering is slaughtered before God—the offering is most holy. The priest in charge eats it in a holy place, the Courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who touches any of the meat must be holy. A garment that gets blood spattered on it must be washed in a holy place. Break the clay pot in which the meat was cooked. If it was cooked in a bronze pot, scour it and rinse it with water. Any male among the priestly families may eat it; it is most holy. But any Absolution-Offering whose blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Sanctuary must not be eaten, it has to be burned.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Making Room
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Psalm 68:1-10
Up with God!
Down with his enemies!
Adversaries, run for the hills!
Gone like a puff of smoke,
like a blob of wax in the fire—
one look at God and the wicked vanish.
When the righteous see God in action
they’ll laugh, they’ll sing,
they’ll laugh and sing for joy.
Sing hymns to God;
all heaven, sing out;
clear the way for the coming of Cloud-Rider.
Enjoy God,
cheer when you see him!
5–6 Father of orphans,
champion of widows,
is God in his holy house.
God makes homes for the homeless,
leads prisoners to freedom,
but leaves rebels to rot in hell.
7–10 God, when you took the lead with your people,
when you marched out into the wild,
Earth shook, sky broke out in a sweat;
God was on the march.
Even Sinai trembled at the sight of God on the move,
at the sight of Israel’s God.
You pour out rain in buckets, O God;
thorn and cactus become an oasis
For your people to camp in and enjoy.
You set them up in business;
they went from rags to riches.
Today's Insights
The psalmist encourages us that “God sets the lonely in families” (68:6). God understood humanity’s need for companionship from the very beginning. After creating Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). No suitable helper was found among the animals, so God made Eve, a woman, the perfect companion for Adam (vv. 20-23). God’s first words to them were to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (1:28).
God has also given us a spiritual family—a community of believers in Jesus (Galatians 6:10; 1 Peter 2:17)—to dispel our loneliness and encourage us in our walk with Christ (Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:11). As believers in Jesus, we can be fruitful by sharing the gospel and inviting others into the family of God.
Visit GO.ODB.org/081625 to learn more about the significance of being in God's family for first-century believers in Jesus.
Making Room for Others
Each year my family designs a custom wall calendar, but lately it’s gotten a bit crowded. We decorate each month with our favorite photos from the previous year and highlight significant dates. As our family welcomes new spouses and children, we’ve had to squeeze in more photos to make sure every person is included. We now have two sets of shared birthdays, and some holidays are covered up by anniversaries. But instead of detracting from the calendar, all the new members make it even more precious to me.
In God’s kingdom, the inclusion of newcomers is always a blessing. The Bible tells us that “God sets the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:6). His love and protection are communicated in the context of a family, as He’s “a father to the fatherless” and “a defender of widows” (v. 5). His heart is to welcome those who are isolated, ashamed, or accused, and thus “he leads out the prisoners with singing” (v. 6).
As believers in Jesus, we’ve been adopted into God’s family (Galatians 4:5), and we’re commissioned to share His open invitation with others (2 Corinthians 5:20). Like my family calendar, the more people who accept the invitation into God’s family, the more beautiful it becomes. We don’t have to be concerned about running out of a finite resource—there’s room enough for everyone, and He delights in new additions.
Reflect & Pray
How can you share the invitation to God’s family with others today? What does it mean that there’s room for all?
Thank You, God, for loving me and letting me share Your love with others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, August 16, 2025
Does He Know Me . . . ?
He calls his own . . . by name . . . —John 10:3
When I have sadly misunderstood Him? (see John 20:11-18). It is possible to know all about doctrine and still not know Jesus. A person’s soul is in grave danger when the knowledge of doctrine surpasses Jesus, avoiding intimate touch with Him. Why was Mary weeping? Doctrine meant no more to her than the grass under her feet. In fact, any Pharisee could have made a fool of Mary doctrinally, but one thing they could never ridicule was the fact that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her (see Luke 8:2); yet His blessings were nothing to her in comparison with knowing Jesus Himself. “. . . she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. . . . Jesus said to her, ’Mary!’ ” (John 20:14, 16). Once He called Mary by her name, she immediately knew that she had a personal history with the One who spoke. “She turned and said to Him, ’Rabboni!’ ” (John 20:16).
When I have stubbornly doubted? (see John 20:24-29). Have I been doubting something about Jesus— maybe an experience to which others testify, but which I have not yet experienced? The other disciples said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25). But Thomas doubted, saying, “Unless I see . . . I will not believe” (John 20:25). Thomas needed the personal touch of Jesus. When His touches will come we never know, but when they do come they are indescribably precious. “Thomas . . . said to Him, ’My Lord and my God!’ ” (John 20:28).
When I have selfishly denied Him? (see John 21:15-17). Peter denied Jesus Christ with oaths and curses (see Matthew 26:69-75), and yet after His resurrection Jesus appeared to Peter alone. Jesus restored Peter in private, and then He restored him publicly before the others. And Peter said to Him, “Lord . . . You know that I love You” (John 21:17).
Do I have a personal history with Jesus Christ? The one true sign of discipleship is intimate oneness with Him— a knowledge of Jesus that nothing can shake.
No comments:
Post a Comment