Max Lucado Daily: FALSE NARRATIVES - September 17, 2025
A narrative is a message that ceaselessly plays in your mind. It is the way you see yourself and what you say to yourself.
Do you know anyone who seems to be incurably irritable, cranky, or melancholy? I would bet that a negative, intrusive loop dominates their thoughts. The untruth has dredged a rut, and this rut has resulted in a false narrative.
It seems that a lot of people have chosen to be less happy than they could be. Their problem began with an untruth. The untruth spread like mold and became part of their identity. And since it was left uncontested, it morphed into a false narrative that defines the way they see themselves and what they say to themselves. What narrative are you listening to today?
Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life
Leviticus 27
Vows, Dedications, and Redemptions
1–8 27 God spoke to Moses: He said, “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, If anyone wants to vow the value of a person to the service of God, set the value of a man between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels of silver, according to the Sanctuary shekel. For a woman the valuation is thirty shekels. If the person is between the ages of five and twenty, set the value at twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female. If the person is between one month and five years, set the value at five shekels of silver for a boy and three shekels of silver for a girl. If the person is over sixty, set the value at fifteen shekels for a man and ten shekels for a woman. If anyone is too poor to pay the stated amount, he is to present the person to the priest, who will then set the value for him according to what the person making the vow can afford.
9–13 “If he vowed an animal that is acceptable as an offering to God, the animal is given to God and becomes the property of the Sanctuary. He must not exchange or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if he should dishonestly substitute one animal for another, both the original and the substitute become property of the Sanctuary. If what he vowed is a ritually unclean animal, one that is not acceptable as an offering to God, the animal must be shown to the priest, who will set its value, either high or low. Whatever the priest sets will be its value. If the owner changes his mind and wants to redeem it, he must add twenty percent to its value.
14–15 “If a man dedicates his house to God, into the possession of the Sanctuary, the priest assesses its value, setting it either high or low. Whatever value the priest sets, that’s what it is. If the man wants to buy it back, he must add twenty percent to its price and then it’s his again.
16–21 “If a man dedicates to God part of his family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed that is needed for it at the rate of fifty shekels of silver to six bushels of barley seed. If he dedicates his field during the year of Jubilee, the set value stays. But if he dedicates it after the Jubilee, the priest will compute the value according to the years left until the next Jubilee, reducing the value proportionately. If the one dedicating it wants to buy it back, he must add twenty percent to its valuation, and then it’s his again. But if he doesn’t redeem it or sells the field to someone else, it can never be bought back. When the field is released in the Jubilee, it becomes holy to God, the possession of the Sanctuary, God’s field. It goes into the hands of the priests.
22–25 “If a man dedicates to God a field he has bought, a field which is not part of the family land, the priest will compute its proportionate value in relation to the next year of Jubilee. The man must pay its value on the spot as something that is now holy to God, belonging to the Sanctuary. In the year of Jubilee it goes back to its original owner, the man from whom he bought it. The valuations will be reckoned by the Sanctuary shekel, at twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26–27 “No one is allowed to dedicate the firstborn of an animal; the firstborn, as firstborn, already belongs to God. No matter if it’s cattle or sheep, it already belongs to God. If it’s one of the ritually unclean animals, he can buy it back at its assessed value by adding twenty percent to it. If he doesn’t redeem it, it is to be sold at its assessed value.
28 “But nothing that a man irrevocably devotes to God from what belongs to him, whether human or animal or family land, may be either sold or bought back. Everything devoted is holy to the highest degree; it’s God’s inalienable property.
29 “No human who has been devoted to destruction can be redeemed. He must be put to death.
30–33 “A tenth of the land’s produce, whether grain from the ground or fruit from the trees, is God’s. It is holy to God. If a man buys back any of the tenth he has given, he must add twenty percent to it. A tenth of the entire herd and flock, every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod, is holy to God. He is not permitted to pick out the good from the bad or make a substitution. If he dishonestly makes a substitution, both animals, the original and the substitute, become the possession of the Sanctuary and cannot be redeemed.”
34 These are the commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai for the People of Israel.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
by Karen Huang
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Judges 3:7-11
Othniel
7–8 The People of Israel did evil in God’s sight. They forgot their God and worshiped the Baal gods and Asherah goddesses. God’s hot anger blazed against Israel. He sold them off to Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim. The People of Israel were in servitude to Cushan-Rishathaim for eight years.
9–10 The People of Israel cried out to God and God raised up a savior who rescued them: Caleb’s nephew Othniel, son of his younger brother Kenaz. The Spirit of God came on him and he rallied Israel. He went out to war and God gave him Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim. Othniel made short work of him.
11 The land was quiet for forty years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.
Today's Insights
Judges 2:10-19 describes a pattern throughout the book of Judges. When the people no longer “acknowledge[d] the Lord” or “remember[ed] the mighty things he had done for [them]” (v. 10 nlt), they descended into apostasy (abandoned their faith). So God would side with Israel’s enemies to defeat them (v. 15). Then He’d respond to the Israelites’ “groaning” (v. 18) by raising judges to save them. They were given safety while the judge was alive (v. 18), but once the judge died, the pattern would repeat itself (v. 19).
Judges 3:7-11 describes an example of this pattern. God’s anger led to the Israelites being under subjection for eight years (v. 8). When they cried out to God, He raised up Othniel to rescue them through the power of the Holy Spirit (vv. 9-10). As God gave strength to Othniel, we also can rely on His strength to do through us what He alone can do.
God’s Strength
The Spirit of the Lord came on him. Judges 3:10
Her husband’s death began a period of transition for Nora. She took over his hardware business and cared for their three children on her own. “Be strong,” friends often told her. But what does that mean? she’d think. That I must deliver without fail in my responsibilities?
God gave great responsibilities to Othniel in a time of transition for the people of Israel. As discipline for the nation’s idolatry, God had given them “into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim . . . to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years” (Judges 3:8). Under the cruel king of Mesopotamia, the Israelites “cried out to the Lord,” and “he raised up for them a deliverer” (v. 9)—Othniel, whose name means “God’s strength.”
As the first judge of Israel, Othniel had no predecessor to help him. This military leader had to guide the Israelites back to living out their covenant relationship with God and defend them from their enemies. But because “the Spirit of the Lord came on him” (v. 10), he succeeded. With God’s strength sustaining Othniel’s leadership, “the land had peace for forty years, until [he] died” (v. 11).
How can we truly “be strong”? It’s by knowing we’re not strong and by trusting God to give us His strength. His “grace is sufficient for [us], for [His] power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s strength works through us, doing things only He can do.
Reflect & Pray
How have you tried to “be strong”? How does Othniel’s story impact your understanding of strength?
Father God, please enable me to rely on Your strength.
Read this article to learn more about God's Motivations.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
What’s the Good of Temptation?
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. — 1 Corinthians 10:13
The word temptation is hardly ever used correctly. We speak of temptation as a sin, but it isn’t. It’s an inherent part of human nature, something every one of us inevitably faces. Temptation isn’t something we can escape; it’s essential to a full-orbed human life. Many of us, however, suffer temptations we have no business suffering—lowly temptations that afflict us because we have refused to let God lift us to a higher plane. On a higher plane, we would still face temptations, but they would be of a completely different order. If God hasn’t lifted me higher, I can be sure it’s because I continue to yield to a lower temptation.
My disposition on the inside—that is, the makeup of my personality—determines what I am tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the nature of the one tempted and reveals the possibilities of that nature. Each of us has our personal inclinations, but temptation itself is the common inheritance of humanity. I have to watch out if I find myself thinking that no one else has ever been tempted as I am tempted, that no one has ever gone through what I’m going through.
Am I baffled by temptation? Do I have trouble understanding whether the thing tempting me is right or wrong? This is normal, for a time. When I first begin my walk in faith, I may be tempted by things which are generally considered good, but which fall short of highest and best. Temptation promises a shortcut to what I seek, but it will never get me there. The key is to keep my sights firmly set on the highest—on God himself—and let what is merely good pass me by, however tempting it may be to follow it. Though God will not save me from temptation, he has promised to help me in its midst: “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).
Proverbs 27-29; 2 Corinthians 10
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
JESUS IN THEIR LANGUAGE - #10093
My life was profoundly affected by the example of five American missionaries who died trying to get the Gospel to a Stone Age tribe in Ecuador who had never heard the name of Jesus. They were actually murdered by the tribe that was then known as the Aucas. We now know them as the Waoranis. Amazingly, the wife of one of those missionaries and the sister of another actually went to the tribe that had killed their loved ones to tell them about Jesus. Today, some of the murderers of the missionaries are pastors of the Waorani church. It's an amazing story.
I had the unforgettable privilege a few years ago of going to the Ecuadorian jungle to tape a radio program about what happened there. And I met Mincaye, one of the killers, one of the pastors. I learned that those missionary women had difficulty translating the Bible into the native language because this tribe literally had no word for or even concept for "forgive." But the message somehow had gotten through to Mincaye. Here's what he said: "What we did to those missionaries was a terrible thing. But one day soon I will see them in heaven because Jesus has washed our hearts."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Jesus In Their Language."
A spiritual rescuer had come to people to whom the word "forgive" meant nothing. But God's messenger to them did what effective missionaries have always done. She found a way to say it in words the people could understand. You know, we can do no less for the spiritually dying people around us.
Obviously, the need to translate Christ's message is hard to miss in a foreign setting where there is a clearly different linguistic language. But the need to translate the Jesus-story is easy to miss when our neighbors and friends speak that same linguistic language we do, but they speak a different cultural language. The words of our Christian "tribe" simply have no meaning, or the wrong meaning, to the lost "tribe" next to us. Many lost people assigned to us by God have no better understanding of "born again," or "saved," or "accepting Christ," or "sin" than Mincaye did of "forgive."
In our word for today from the Word of God, we discover one big reason thousands of people from all over the world came to Jesus in the first outreach ever held by the Christian Church. It was Jerusalem, it was Pentecost, and according to Acts 2:6, "Each one heard them (that is the apostles) speaking in his own language."
Now that was a special miracle from God, but it underscores that people must hear Christ's message in a language they can understand, which our church language - which I call Christianese - is not. Maybe you've been transmitting the Good News about Jesus and getting little or no response. Could it be they're stumbling over your vocabulary? You can't just transmit the Good News; you have to translate it into everyday, non-religious words.
In Jesus' parable of the four soils, three of which produced little or no good harvest, we see the major difference between those three soils and the soil that produced great fruit. In each case, Jesus explains that "this is the man who hears the word." But where there was a great harvest, Jesus said, "This is the man who hears the word (and here's the one difference) and understands it" (Matthew 13:23).
We've got life-or-death information we have to deliver. We cannot afford to have our lost family and friends miss it because we said it in words they don't understand. It's time to move beyond the comfort of our Christianese to communicate the message people cannot afford to miss. The words we use could be decisive for each of us in our personal rescue mission for Jesus.
You're God's missionary where you are. If you make the effort to translate the Good News into the language of the person who needs it, you could be part of a life-giving miracle!
No comments:
Post a Comment