Max Lucado Daily: CHOOSE WHAT TO REMEMBER - October 14, 2025
Assess your joy level. The prophet Jeremiah modeled the vigilance we need. He was nicknamed the “Weeping Prophet” because he was exactly that. His beloved nation had turned from God. But then he remembered the answer for his despair. “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:21-22 ESV).
We choose what we remember. So, let’s remember our call to joy. Stay in the present moment. Harvard researchers discovered that unhappy people focus on what is not happening; happy people focus on what is happening. Wasn’t this the point Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount? “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25 NIV). Don’t settle for a joyless life!
Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life
Numbers 19
The Red Cow
1–4 19 God spoke to Moses and Aaron: “This is the rule from the Revelation that God commands: Tell the People of Israel to get a red cow, a healthy specimen, ritually clean, that has never been in harness. Present it to Eleazar the priest, then take it outside the camp and butcher it while he looks on. Eleazar will take some of the blood on his finger and splash it seven times in the direction of the Tent of Meeting.
5–8 “Then under Eleazar’s supervision burn the cow, the whole thing—hide, meat, blood, even its dung. The priest then will take a stick of cedar, some sprigs of hyssop, and a piece of scarlet material and throw them on the burning cow. Afterwards the priest must wash his clothes and bathe well with water. He can then come into the camp but he remains ritually unclean until evening. The man who burns the cow must also wash his clothes and bathe with water. He also is unclean until evening.
9 “Then a man who is ritually clean will gather the ashes of the cow and place them in a ritually clean place outside the camp. The congregation of Israel will keep them to use in the Water-of-Cleansing, an Absolution-Offering.
10 “The man who gathered up the ashes must scrub his clothes; he is ritually unclean until evening. This is to be a standing rule for both native-born Israelites and foreigners living among them.
11–13 “Anyone who touches a dead body is ritually unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with the Water-of-Cleansing on the third day; on the seventh day he will be clean. But if he doesn’t follow the procedures for the third and seventh days, he won’t be clean. Anyone who touches the dead body of anyone and doesn’t get cleansed desecrates God’s Dwelling and is to be excommunicated. For as long as the Water-of-Cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he remains ritually unclean.
14–15 “This is the rule for someone who dies in his tent: Anyone who enters the tent or is already in the tent is ritually unclean for seven days, and every open container without a lid is unclean.
16–21 “Anyone out in the open field who touches a corpse, whether dead from violent or natural causes, or a human bone or a grave is unclean for seven days. For this unclean person, take some ashes from the burned Absolution-Offering and add some fresh water to it in a bowl. Find a ritually clean man to dip a sprig of hyssop into the water and sprinkle the tent and all its furnishings, the persons who were in the tent, the one who touched the bones of the person who was killed or died a natural death, and whoever may have touched a grave. Then he is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day he is considered cleansed. The cleansed person must then scrub his clothes and take a bath; by evening he is clean. But if an unclean person does not go through these cleansing procedures, he must be excommunicated from the community; he has desecrated the Sanctuary of God. The Water-of-Cleansing has not been sprinkled on him and he is ritually unclean. This is the standing rule for these cases.
“The man who sprinkles the Water-of-Cleansing has to scrub his clothes; anyone else who touched the Water-of-Cleansing is also ritually unclean until evening.
22 “Anything the ritually unclean man touches becomes unclean, and the person who touches what he touched is unclean until evening.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
by Dave Branon
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Ecclesiastes 4:8-10
a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, “Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?” More smoke. A bad business.
9–10 It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
Today's Insights
The book of Ecclesiastes—written from the perspective of “under the sun” (1:14) or the human experience on earth—seems to be one long lament. What’s it all about? Does anything ultimately matter? Why even try? That forlorn theme continues here, as the writer (called “the Teacher” in 1:1) observes “a man all alone” (4:8). Eventually this solitary figure asks himself, “For whom am I toiling?” The Teacher observes, “This too is meaningless—a miserable business!” (v. 8). Yet Ecclesiastes also recognizes that there is a life worth living. The wise man declares, “Two are better than one” (v. 9) and points to a specific reason why doing life together is preferred: “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up” (v. 10). God lovingly equips us to help each other and in turn to accept help. Our necessary interdependence reminds us of our complete reliance on God and His goodness.
Examine the original Hebrew meaning of key words in Ecclesiastes 1.
It Takes Two
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Ecclesiastes 4:9 nlt
Climbing Jamaica’s Dunn’s River Falls is an exhilarating experience. Water cascades over the smooth rocks of the falls on its way to the Caribbean. It’s a challenge as climbers battle the water’s flow to make their way to the top. For a teenager named JW, it’s a near impossibility. He’s sight-impaired, with only a pinhole view of the world.
But JW was determined to climb, and his friend Josiah was willing to team up with him. Josiah was JW’s eyes—telling him which slippery rocks to avoid and where to put his hands and feet. And JW was Josiah’s heart—showing him what courage looks like.
So much of life is like that daunting climb: We shouldn’t walk alone. King Solomon points us to that truth. “Two people are better than one, for they can help each other succeed” (Ecclesiastes 4:9 nlt). Both Josiah and JW were attempting something special—and they could do it only in tandem. The passage continues: “If either [person] falls down, one can help the other up” (v. 10). But neither fell and neither failed. Together, they reached their goals.
God’s design for people, presented clearly by Solomon and demonstrated vividly by these two teenagers, is that we work together. The tasks God calls us to do are best done with others—each using what skills and emotions God has given to bring an outcome that points to Him.
Reflect & Pray
Why is it important to serve with others? How does it feel when you team up to point people to God?
Dear God, please help me team up with You and others to accomplish Your mission on earth.
For further study, read The Absurdity of Chasing Dreams.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
The Key for the Missionary
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. — Matthew 28:18–19
The basis of the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the unsaved. We tend to view our Lord as someone who assists us in our projects. Jesus Christ puts himself as the absolute sovereign over his disciples. Jesus doesn’t say that other people’s salvation depends on us, that if we don’t preach the gospel, the unsaved will be lost. He simply tells us to “go and make disciples of all nations.” That is, “Go on the revelation of my sovereignty; teach and preach out of a living experience of me.”
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened” (Matthew 11:28). Before I can go, I must learn how to come. If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know him for myself first. I must know how to get myself alone with him. I must take time to worship the Being whose name I bear. Am I weary and burdened, as so many missionaries are? Then, says Jesus, “Come to me.” We banish these marvelous words to the footnotes when they are the main text. They are the words of the universal sovereign of the world, the words of Jesus to his disciples.
“Therefore go.” “Go” simply means “live.” The description of how to go is found in Acts 1:8: “Be my witnesses.” To live bearing witness to Jesus is to fulfill your mission as his disciple. He will organize your goings himself.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you . . .” (John 15:7). This is the description of how to keep going in your personal life. Where God places you is a matter of indifference. God engineers your goings, while you remain steadfast in him. That is the way to keep going until you’re gone.
Isaiah 43-44; 1 Thessalonians 2
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Re-state to yourself what you believe, then do away with as much of it as possible, and get back to the bedrock of the Cross of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, November 25, 848 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
FEELING DIRTY, GETTING CLEAN - #10112
Years ago, I was at a youth conference where we needed to raise some money for a camp scholarship fund. So we challenged the kids to buy their counselor into this Friday night food fight. Well, the kids found the money alright pretty quickly! So, Friday night all of us leaders showed up on the field of battle with the campers watching like sadistic spectators at the Roman Coliseum. Now, for starters, we got hosed down so everything would cling to us. I have to tell you, in retrospect, I'm embarrassed about the food we wasted.
But we did it, so I'll tell you about it. Round One was flour. The campers got their money's worth as we redecorated each other with this blizzard of flour, followed by eggs, then fudge sauce. Can you imagine this? Get the idea? The last round was the worst - lard. Yea, from our hair to our toes, we were totally gross by the end of this massacre. Our only satisfaction was at the end when we went after those kids and gave them a big, gooey hug. Yeah, it was great! I couldn't wait to get a shower, though. And I was there for a long time. Ever try to get lard off? Probably not. Well, I have never felt dirtier - but clean has never felt better!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Feeling Dirty, Getting Clean."
If you've ever felt real dirty, you know how much you enjoyed that shower that made you clean again. If only there was a shower that could make us clean on the inside, where we carry the guilt, and the regrets, and the dirt of the things we wish we'd never done, or the things we should have done and we didn't do. Unfortunately, there's no medication, there's no therapist, not even a religion that seems powerful enough to remove the dirt on our soul.
That's why our word for today from the Word of God is such good news. Acts 3:19 - "Repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." Now look at this! All the sins of your life can be wiped out, erased from God's records forever. God says you can be clean - that you can have a new beginning. He is actually offering a cleansing spiritual shower for those who repent and turn to Him. That means you acknowledge the wrongness of what you've done and that you're ready to turn from your sin-choices and turn to Him for a new beginning.
Look, we all have things we're ashamed of, things we're not proud of, things that make us afraid of what God will do when we meet Him on Judgment Day. According to the Bible, the sins of our life will, in fact, make it impossible for us to ever enter God's Heaven because there is no sin there. Our only hope is if somehow God will forgive a lifetime of choices that have left Him out.
And there's only one place where a spiritual shower like that is available. It is at the cross of Jesus Christ, the place where every sin of yours was paid for. You carry all the garbage of your life up that hill, you give yourself in total trust to the One who paid for your sin on that cross with His life, and you leave your sin at that cross forever. You may have started this day guilty, but you could go to sleep forgiven tonight and finally clean. God's promise: "Everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His Name" (Acts 10:43). There is nothing you've done that is so bad that Jesus did not pay for it on the cross.
Today could be the day you are finally clean. If you've never trusted Jesus to be your own Savior from your own sin, would you tell Him you're doing that right now? Your sins will be erased. He promised. And you'll never carry them again or face them when you meet God. And the only thing that would keep you from heaven can be gone today.
We've put the information on how to begin with Jesus at our website. Please go there today. That's ANewStory.com.
That day I felt so gross, it was an awesome feeling to stand in that shower and have all that accumulated junk get washed away. That's what Jesus wants to do for your heart, my friend. It is such an incredible feeling to be finally clean!
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