Max Lucado Daily: THE PROCESS OF FORGIVENESS - May 30, 2025
Ephesians 4:26-27 (ESV) says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” The word “opportunity” in this verse means territory or ground. In other words, anger gives ground to the devil. Bitterness invites him to occupy a space in your heart, to rent a room. Believe me, he’ll move in and stink up the place. Gossip, slander, temper—anytime you see these, Satan has claimed a bunk.
Don’t even give him the time of day. Tell him to pack his bags and hit the road. Begin the process of forgiveness. Keep no list of wrongs. Pray for your antagonists rather than plot against them. Outrageous as it may seem, Jesus died for them too. If he thinks they’re worth forgiving, they are.
Now does that make forgiveness easy? No. Quick? Seldom. Forgive your enemies? You can try—forgive them. You will get through this!
You'll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Turbulent Times
Exodus 1
These are the names of the Israelites who went to Egypt with Jacob, each bringing his family members:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Issachar, Zebulun, and Ben-jamin,
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
Seventy persons in all generated by Jacob’s seed. Joseph was already in Egypt.
6–7 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers—that whole generation. But the children of Israel kept on reproducing. They were very prolific—a population explosion in their own right—and the land was filled with them.
“A New King … Who Didn’t Know Joseph”
8–10 A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. He spoke to his people in alarm, “There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle. We’ve got to do something: Let’s devise a plan to contain them, lest if there’s a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us.”
11–14 So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had—children everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn’t stand the Israelites and treated them worse than ever, crushing them with slave labor. They made them miserable with hard labor—making bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on the work, crushing them under the cruel workload.
15–16 The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. He said, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the sex of the baby. If it’s a boy, kill him; if it’s a girl, let her live.”
17–18 But the midwives had far too much respect for God and didn’t do what the king of Egypt ordered; they let the boy babies live. The king of Egypt called in the midwives. “Why didn’t you obey my orders? You’ve let those babies live!”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; they’re vigorous. Before the midwife can get there, they’ve already had the baby.”
20–21 God was pleased with the midwives. The people continued to increase in number—a very strong people. And because the midwives honored God, God gave them families of their own.
22 So Pharaoh issued a general order to all his people: “Every boy that is born, drown him in the Nile. But let the girls live.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, May 30, 2025
by Sheridan Voysey
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Psalm 69:6-15
Don’t let those who look to you in hope
Be discouraged by what happens to me,
Dear Lord! God of the armies!
Don’t let those out looking for you
Come to a dead end by following me—
Please, dear God of Israel!
7 Because of you I look like an idiot,
I walk around ashamed to show my face.
8 My brothers shun me like a bum off the street;
My family treats me like an unwanted guest.
9 I love you more than I can say.
Because I’m madly in love with you,
They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
10 When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting,
All it got me was more contempt.
11 When I put on a sad face,
They treated me like a clown.
12 Now drunks and gluttons
Make up drinking songs about me.
13 And me? I pray.
God, it’s time for a break!
God, answer in love!
Answer with your sure salvation!
14 Rescue me from the swamp,
Don’t let me go under for good,
Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
This whirlpool is sucking me down.
15 Don’t let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.
Today's Insights
Psalm 69’s vivid description of a “servant” (v. 17) of God enduring unjust suffering parallels Isaiah’s description of a suffering servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12). Although the psalmist refers to personal “guilt” (Psalm 69:5), this could be an indirect way of confessing general innocence—that is, God knows everything the psalmist is guilty of and knows none of it could justify such treatment.
In the New Testament, Psalm 69 is frequently quoted in reference to Jesus. He was hated without cause (Psalm 69:4; John 15:25), consumed by zeal for God’s house (Psalm 69:9; John 2:17), carried insults intended for God (Psalm 69:9; Romans 15:3), and given vinegar to drink as He neared death (Psalm 69:21; Matthew 27:34, 48; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36; John 19:29). Jesus knew “the depths” as no one else could, and He helps us as we face them.
In the Depths
Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up. Psalm 69:15
San Fruttuoso Abbey is nestled in a cove off Italy’s northwest coast. Accessible only by boat or foot, it’s a secluded gem. But even more treasure hides in its bay. As divers venture into the sea and descend fifty feet down, the figure of a man starts coming into view. This is Christ of the Abyss, the world’s first underwater statue, placed in 1954. The bronze figure depicts Jesus in the depths, His hands raised to heaven.
The depths. Maybe you’ve experienced them. “I sink in the miry depths,” Psalm 69 says, “I am worn out calling for help” (vv. 2-3). Mocked by his foes and estranged from his family (vv. 4, 7-12), the psalmist found no comfort in others (v. 20) and feared his misery would “swallow” him up (v. 15). Whether it’s sin or sadness that takes us there, the depths are life’s moments of dark despair.
Thankfully this isn’t the last word on the depths. For while they’re cold and lonely, there is one who can be found in them (139:8). And He will rescue us from their chilly waters. “I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths” (30:1).
As that sculpture reminds us, when we’re sinking under the world’s weight, we’re not alone. Jesus by the Spirit is there in the depths, His hands raised high—ready to meet us and lift us out in time.
Reflect & Pray
How have you experienced “the depths” in the past? How might Psalm 69:15 be pivotal in getting through them?
Dear Jesus, thank You for meeting me in the depths. Please lift me out with Your love, grace, and power.
Gain more wisdom from the book of Pslams.
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My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 30, 2025
“Yes, But . . . !”
I will follow you, Lord; but . . .— Luke 9:61
Suppose God tells you to do something that doesn’t square with your common sense. What are you going to do? Hang back? If this is your inclination, watch out. If you develop the habit of avoidance in your physical life, the habit will rule you until you break it. The same is true in your spiritual life. Again and again you will come to what Jesus Christ wants from you, and again and again you will turn back. “But suppose I obey God in this matter,” you say. “What about my concerns? I can only obey God if his command follows common sense. Don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
Jesus Christ demands that we display the same reckless, daring attitude in spiritual life that the boldest among us display in natural life. If you’re going to do anything worthwhile, sometimes you have to risk everything and leap. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ demands that you leap into what he says, risking everything common sense has taught you. The instant you do, you’ll find that his command makes perfect spiritual sense.
Measured by the standard of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem insane. But if you measure them by the standard of faith, you will find that they are the words of God. Trust entirely in God, and when he brings you to the precipice of a challenge . . . leap. We act like pagans in a crisis: only one in a crowd is daring enough to risk everything on the character of God.
2 Chronicles 10-12; John 11:30-57
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The life of Abraham is an illustration of two things: of unreserved surrender to God, and of God’s complete possession of a child of His for His own highest end.
Not Knowing Whither
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Friday, May 30, 2025
THE LESSONS THAT SHAPE YOUR CHILD'S LIFE - #10015
Our son's first word was the name he called me, "Da!" I know it's supposed to be "da da," but it was good enough for me. Now, our grandson's first word was "mama," which he liked so much that he just kept it rolling, "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma." Sort of the opposite of "da!" The first words children learn reflect what's going on around them. If they see Mama all the time, you can expect them to say her name early on. Sometimes, those first words aren't happy words. Our friends were dedicated missionaries in a war-torn part of the Middle East for years. Not long after their daughter was born, their area became a place where frequent bombardments and violence erupted all around them. Some of her first words told the story: "bomb," "gun."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Lessons That Shape Your Child's Life."
Children learn what they live, for better or worse. For all our words as parents, it's ultimately what our children live that makes them into the people they become. And God doesn't give a human being any greater trust, any greater responsibility than the shaping of a little person that He made in His image.
God, who asks us to call Him our Heavenly Father, has left us parents and grandparents some great help in the book He wrote. The Bible passes along some valuable instructions given to a generation of parents who were trying to raise their children in a culture that had no use for the values they were teaching their children. And in a setting where their children were being given what their parents had to work for. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?
His instructions to parents are recorded in Deuteronomy 11, beginning with verse 13, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. He begins by saying, "Love the Lord your God and...serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." Parents need to give their children more than a religion. They need to show them a personal love relationship with the God who made them and a life that makes God the sun in your universe and everything else the planets that revolve around that sun.
Then God says: "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds...teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses...so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land." In short, live your life in such a way your kids keep bumping into God wherever they turn; a real God that they see in real life situations.
It isn't enough for your child to hear the truth. He or she needs to see what the truth looks like in your life. You teach them faith by how you handle the storms and the stresses that hit your family. You teach them loving their neighbor by seeing your compassion for hurting people. They learn about forgiveness by you forgiving them and asking them to forgive you. They learn that lying is wrong from a parent who always tells the truth. They learn about managing anger when they see you always make things right before your day ends. They learn to love God's Word when they see you meeting with God with His book in your lap.
The truth is, children grow up thinking God is like whatever their parents are like, and that's scary. Especially if you know you have a dark side that all too often is what your kids see; a dark side that continually causes you to hurt most the people you love most. Honestly, your child is your mirror. And if you don't like what you see in that mirror, it's time for you to know the Savior of mommies and daddies. That's Jesus, who died for our sins so they could be forgiven, who rose from His grave with the power to help us change what we could never change about ourselves. Our children show us a truth we may have been able to run from before. We need a Savior. We need Jesus.
This might be the day to make this Savior your Savior. I'd love to help you with that, that's why our website is there. Go to ANewStory.com.
You can't begin to imagine how different your home could be - how different you could be - if Jesus lives there, in you.
