Max Lucado Daily: TRUST IN THE ANOINTING - August 20, 2025
You have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. God offers this anointing to all of us. When you pray, preach, prophesy, or live out your faith, you are empowered by the Holy Spirit’s presence. Lean into him. You grow weary, but the Spirit never does. Your understanding is limited, but the Spirit has unsearchable wisdom. And because he is in you, you have power that you would never have had without him.
The Spirit will give you whatever you need to do the holy work he has called you to do. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is God’s will for you: “I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit” (Ephesians 3:16 NCV).
God poured his Spirit upon you! Receive him. Believe him. Entrust in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Help Is Here
Leviticus 9
The Priests Go to Work
1–2 9 On the eighth day, Moses called in Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel. He spoke to Aaron: “Take a bull-calf for your Absolution-Offering and a ram for your Whole-Burnt-Offering, both without defect, and offer them to God.
3–4 “Then tell the People of Israel, Take a male goat for an Absolution-Offering and a calf and a lamb, both yearlings without defect, for a Whole-Burnt-Offering and a bull and a ram for a Peace-Offering, to be sacrificed before God with a Grain-Offering mixed with oil, because God will appear to you today.”
5–6 They brought the things that Moses had ordered to the Tent of Meeting. The whole congregation came near and stood before God. Moses said, “This is what God commanded you to do so that the Shining Glory of God will appear to you.”
7 Moses instructed Aaron, “Approach the Altar and sacrifice your Absolution-Offering and your Whole-Burnt-Offering. Make atonement for yourself and for the people. Sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, just as God commanded.”
8–11 Aaron approached the Altar and slaughtered the calf as an Absolution-Offering for himself. Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him. He dipped his finger in the blood and smeared some of it on the horns of the Altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the Altar. He burned the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the Absolution-Offering on the Altar, just as God had commanded Moses. He burned the meat and the skin outside the camp.
12–14 Then he slaughtered the Whole-Burnt-Offering. Aaron’s sons handed him the blood and he threw it against each side of the Altar. They handed him the pieces and the head and he burned these on the Altar. He washed the entrails and the legs and burned them on top of the Whole-Burnt-Offering on the Altar.
15–21 Next Aaron presented the offerings of the people. He took the male goat, the Absolution-Offering for the people, slaughtered it, and offered it as an Absolution-Offering just as he did with the first offering. He presented the Whole-Burnt-Offering following the same procedures. He presented the Grain-Offering by taking a handful of it and burning it on the Altar along with the morning Whole-Burnt-Offering. He slaughtered the bull and the ram, the people’s Peace-Offerings. Aaron’s sons handed him the blood and he threw it against each side of the Altar. The fat pieces from the bull and the ram—the fat tail and the fat that covers the kidney and the lobe of the liver—they laid on the breasts and Aaron burned it on the Altar. Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before God as a Wave-Offering, just as God commanded.
22–24 Aaron lifted his hands over the people and blessed them. Having completed the rituals of the Absolution-Offering, the Whole-Burnt-Offering, and the Peace-Offering, he came down from the Altar. Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out they blessed the people and the Glory of God appeared to all the people. Fire blazed out from God and consumed the Whole-Burnt-Offering and the fat pieces on the Altar. When all the people saw it happen they cheered loudly and then fell down, bowing in reverence.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Eyes Fixed on Christ!
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Hebrews 12:1-3
Discipline in a Long-Distance Race
1–3 12 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Today's Insights
The writer of the book of Hebrews encourages his readers by pointing to a gallery of “faith-filled” believers in the Old Testament (see Hebrews 11) and refers to them collectively as “a great cloud of witnesses” (12:1). Verse 2, however, urges the readers to fix their gaze on the premier example of faith—Jesus. He’s described as “the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” The term is pioneer (archegos)—or author in some versions. One commentator defines it as a “chief leader—one that takes the lead in anything and thus affords an example.” Archegos is used only four times in the New Testament: (Acts 3:15; 5:31 [Prince]; Hebrews 2:10; 12:2). The word translated “perfecter” (teleiotes) is used only in Hebrews 12:2. According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Christ is the “one who has in his own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith.” By staying focused on Him, we have the perfect example to imitate.
Today's Devotional
Teaching his son to ride a bicycle, Andrew discovered, was frustrating. The five-year-old kept swerving to one side and falling. Realizing that this happened because his son kept looking to one side, Andrew had an idea. “See that pole?” he asked his son. “Just keep your eyes on it and pedal.” His son did just that, and this time he kept going and going!
The incident was a lesson for Andrew himself. Recounting what happened to his small group later, he concluded, "Whatever we fix our eyes on is where we’re headed." No wonder Hebrews 12:2 calls on us to keep “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
Life’s responsibilities and routines can draw our attention away from our spiritual walk, as can sinful habits and obsessions that entangle us (v. 1). But if we keep our eyes on Jesus and ask Him to help us put Him first in our thoughts, decisions, and actions, He’ll guide us in everything we do and say, enabling us to stay close to Him in the race on earth. This can be challenging, but God desires to help us fulfill the roles He’s given us. He will give us strength to endure and overcome anything that opposes our walk so we won’t “grow weary and lose heart” (v. 3).
Reflect & Pray
What’s the first thing you think or do when you have to make a decision or respond to a situation? How can you let your words, actions, and thoughts be guided by Jesus?
Dear Jesus, please help me to keep my eyes fixed on You as I go about life. Please also teach me to turn to You first, for You’re all I need.
Are you afraid you’ll step out of the will of God? Learn about making decisions God's way.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Christ-Awareness
. . . and I will give you rest —Matthew 11:28
Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once, asking Him to re-establish your rest. Never allow anything to remain in your life that is causing the unrest. Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration as something to fight against, not as something you should allow to remain. Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you, and your self-awareness will disappear. Then He will be your all in all. Beware of allowing your self-awareness to continue, because slowly but surely it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is satanic. Don’t allow yourself to say, “Well, they have just misunderstood me, and this is something over which they should be apologizing to me; I’m sure I must have this cleared up with them already.” Learn to leave others alone regarding this. Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness, and He will steady you until your completeness in Him is absolute.
A complete life is the life of a child. When I am fully conscious of my awareness of Christ, there is something wrong. It is the sick person who really knows what health is. A child of God is not aware of the will of God because he is the will of God. When we have deviated even slightly from the will of God, we begin to ask, “Lord, what is your will?” A child of God never prays to be made aware of the fact that God answers prayer, because he is so restfully certain that God always answers prayer.
If we try to overcome our self-awareness through any of our own commonsense methods, we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness tremendously. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest,” that is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest— the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
THE SANDCASTLE SYNDROME - #10073
This is going to come as a surprise to my friends who know how technically challenged I am when it comes to building things, but over the years, my sons and I have built several houses together. Don't expect to see a pickup truck that says "Hutchcraft and Sons" on the side. No, and don't look for us in the Yellow Pages. Actually, our houses haven't fared too well. It wasn't because we didn't work hard on them - we did. And it wasn't because they didn't look good; actually they were pretty good. And it wasn't because they weren't big; we did some pretty good sized ones. But every house we built literally collapsed within hours of the time we finished building them. It might have had something to do with the material we built our houses from - sand on a beach next to the ocean.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sandcastle Syndrome."
Jesus is involved in an incredible building project, and what He's building will never collapse. It will never be washed away by any tide or any storm. And He's inviting you to join Him in building it. Of course, you'll have to get out of the sandcastle business first.
Jesus describes His building project in our word for today from the Word of God in Matthew 16:18. Jesus says, "I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." That's some powerful words. There's no doubt about what Jesus is building. He's building His church. Are you? Well, what are you building?
We're all working on some structure. For you, it's wherever your dreams are focused, what you put a lot of your money into, what you put most of your time into. It's a subject of a lot of your daily conversations. Maybe you're building a reputation for yourself, or financial security for yourself, or a romantic relationship, a business, your income, a comfortable retirement. You may even be building a religious empire for yourself in Christian work. Problem: it's all sandcastles. Just ask my boys. A sandcastle is something you put a lot into that just can't last.
Jesus is inviting us to focus what we have on something that will last forever - building His church. Even our Christian work could be building our own kingdom which won't last. You see, that church is not about an actual physical building. It's about reaching the lost people He died for; for adding them to His family. It's about building up the lives of believers. Are those the causes that get you excited, that you're passionate about? Someone has wisely said, "In order to pray, 'Thy Kingdom come,' you first have to pray, 'My kingdom go.'"
Maybe it's time to stand back and take a candid look at your motives, at your great obsession, and at your top priorities. Is it getting lost and dying people to Jesus? Or has Jesus' building program taken a back seat to something you're building, something out of sand, something that a strong tide or a big storm can wash away?
Jesus said "the gates of hell" itself would not prevail against what He is building. Look, you've got maybe at best 70-or-so years on this planet. Don't waste those years on building something that isn't going to last. Jesus is building His church. What are you building?
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