Max Lucado Daily: Six Hours, One Friday
Six hours, one Friday. Mundane to the casual observer. A shepherd with his sheep, a housewife with her thoughts, a doctor with his patients. But to a handful of awestruck witnesses, the most maddening of miracles is occurring. God is on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed.
It is no normal six hours. It is no normal Friday. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone. What do you do with that day in history? What do you do with its claims? They were the most critical hours in history.
Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did. The sinless One took on the face of a sinner so that we sinners could take on the face of a saint!
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
from Six Hours One Friday
Job 29
When God Was Still by My Side
1–6 29 Job now resumed his response:
“Oh, how I long for the good old days,
when God took such very good care of me.
He always held a lamp before me
and I walked through the dark by its light.
Oh, how I miss those golden years
when God’s friendship graced my home,
When the Mighty One was still by my side
and my children were all around me,
When everything was going my way,
and nothing seemed too difficult.
7–20 “When I walked downtown
and sat with my friends in the public square,
Young and old greeted me with respect;
I was honored by everyone in town.
When I spoke, everyone listened;
they hung on my every word.
People who knew me spoke well of me;
my reputation went ahead of me.
I was known for helping people in trouble
and standing up for those who were down on their luck.
The dying blessed me,
and the bereaved were cheered by my visits.
All my dealings with people were good.
I was known for being fair to everyone I met.
I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame,
Father to the needy,
and champion of abused aliens.
I grabbed street thieves by the scruff of the neck
and made them give back what they’d stolen.
I thought, ‘I’ll die peacefully in my own bed,
grateful for a long and full life,
A life deep-rooted and well-watered,
a life limber and dew-fresh,
My soul suffused with glory
and my body robust until the day I die.’
21–25 “Men and women listened when I spoke,
hung expectantly on my every word.
After I spoke, they’d be quiet,
taking it all in.
They welcomed my counsel like spring rain,
drinking it all in.
When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it;
their faces lit up, their troubles took wing!
I was their leader, establishing the mood
and setting the pace by which they lived.
Where I led, they followed.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 29, 2025
by Winn Collier
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Deuteronomy 31:1-6
The Charge
1–2 31 Moses went on and addressed these words to all Israel. He said, “I’m 120 years old today. I can’t get about as I used to. And God told me, ‘You’re not going to cross this Jordan River.’
3–5 “God, your God, will cross the river ahead of you and destroy the nations in your path so that you may dispossess them. (And Joshua will cross the river before you, as God said he would.) God will give the nations the same treatment he gave the kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, and their land; he’ll destroy them. God will hand the nations over to you, and you’ll treat them exactly as I have commanded you.
6 “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
Today's Insights
Echoes from Moses’ writings in Deuteronomy 31 can be heard in Psalm 27. Though the genre is different, God, through these inspired writers, calls His people to place their confidence in His care during times of uncertainty. Moses wrote, “Be strong and courageous” (Deuteronomy 31:6). The same combination of Hebrew words appears in Psalm 27:14: “Be strong and take heart.” Moses commanded, “Do not be afraid or terrified because of them” (Deuteronomy 31:6) and David said, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). The assurance of God’s presence is likewise expressed by these writers. In the words of Moses, “He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8). From the pen of David we’re assured, “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close” (Psalm 27:10 nlt).
God Never Loses Us
[God] will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
The US Department of Transportation reported that in 2021, US airlines mishandled two million bags. Thankfully, many pieces were delayed or lost for only a short period. Thousands of bags were lost for good, however. No wonder there’s a surging market for GPS devices that attach to gear, allowing you to track bags when airlines have given up. We’re all afraid that those in charge can’t be trusted to keep track of what’s important.
Israel had a similar fear about God, only they feared that He was going to lose them. As the people prepared to enter their new homeland, Moses shared the unsettling news that he wouldn’t be guiding them. He explained that he was old and “no longer able to lead [them]” (Deuteronomy 31:2). The people were likely stunned. Moses represented God’s presence and offered His words. Would God forget about them now? Would He lose them in this wilderness?
“Do not be afraid or terrified,” Moses said, “for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (v. 6). He promised that God would always be with them and assured them that He’d never ever lose them. And in the person of Jesus, God makes us this same steady, unbreakable promise. Christ will be with us “to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). God will never lose us. Never.
Reflect & Pray
When have you feared God had lost you? How has He shown you that He never forgets you?
Dear God, I often fear that I’m out of Your sight and mind. Please help me to trust that You hold me and will never lose me.
God calls us to be strong and courageous. Find out more by reading The Promise and the Warning.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Our Lord’s Surprise Visits
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. — Luke 12:40
As disciples, we must be ready for Jesus to appear at every moment. This isn’t easy, no matter what our experience is. Our battle isn’t so much against sin or difficulties or circumstances; it’s against being so absorbed in our work that we fail to notice the Son of Man when he comes. And yet, this is the great need: not answering questions about our beliefs or our creeds or whether we are useful but being ready for him.
Jesus rarely comes where we expect him. He comes where we do not expect him, and through the most illogical chains of events. The only way a disciple can be true to God is by being ready for the Lord’s surprise visits. It isn’t service that matters; it’s intense spiritual reality; it’s being ready to welcome Jesus Christ at every turn. This will give our life the attitude of childlike wonder God wants it to have. If we are going to be ready for Jesus, we have to stop being “religious.” That is, we have to stop treating religion as a higher kind of culture and become spiritually real. When we are spiritually real, Jesus is able to use us as he likes; at any second, he can visit others through us.
If you are looking to Jesus, if you’re setting your heart on what he wants and avoiding the call of the religious age you live in, you will be considered unpractical and dreamy. But when he appears in the burden and the heat of the day, you will be the one who is ready.
Trust no one who blocks your sight of Jesus Christ, not even the most devout Christian who ever walked the earth. Be always ready to greet the Lord, especially where you least expect him.
Judges 7-8; Luke 5:1-16
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.
Not Knowing Whither, 888 L
