Max Lucado Daily: DESCENDING LIKE A DOVE - July 28, 2025
“When He had been baptized, Jesus…saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him” (Matthew 3:16 NKJV).
The Holy Spirit is depicted in many different forms in Scripture, but here at the coronation of Christ, the Spirit chose to descend gently as a dove. Why? Part of the answer might lie in the maternal tenderness of the Holy Spirit. In biblical times the dove was a feminine symbol, and the Hebrew word for spirit was feminine.
There are occasions when we need a father’s strength, and God, our Father, provides it. There are occasions when we need the friendship of a brother, and Jesus, our spiritual sibling, offers it. Yet there are many times in which our spirits are troubled and anxious. We long for the tranquil assurance of a loving mother. For this we turn to the Holy Spirit.
Help Is Here
Exodus 35
Building the Place of Worship
1 35 Moses spoke to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, “These are the things that God has commanded you to do:
2–3 “Work six days, but the seventh day will be a holy rest day, God’s holy rest day. Anyone who works on this day must be put to death. Don’t light any fires in your homes on the Sabbath day.”
The Offerings
4 Moses spoke to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, “This is what God has commanded:
5–9 “Gather from among you an offering for God. Receive on God’s behalf what everyone is willing to give as an offering: gold, silver, bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet material; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned rams’ skins; dolphin skins; acacia wood; lamp oil; spices for anointing oils and for fragrant incense; onyx stones and other stones for setting in the Ephod and the Breastpiece.
10–19 “Come—all of you who have skills—come and make everything that God has commanded: The Dwelling with its tent and cover, its hooks, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; the Chest with its poles, the Atonement-Cover and veiling curtain; the Table with its poles and implements and the Bread of the Presence; the Lampstand for giving light with its furnishings and lamps and the oil for lighting; the Altar of Incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense; the screen for the door at the entrance to The Dwelling; the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offering with its bronze grate and poles and all its implements; the Washbasin with its base; the tapestry hangings for the Courtyard with the posts and bases, the screen for the Courtyard gate; the pegs for The Dwelling, the pegs for the Courtyard with their cords; the official vestments for ministering in the Holy Place, the sacred vestments for Aaron the priest and for his sons serving as priests.”
20–26 So everyone in the community of Israel left the presence of Moses. Then they came back, every one whose heart was roused, whose spirit was freely responsive, bringing offerings to God for building the Tent of Meeting, furnishing it for worship and making the holy vestments. They came, both men and women, all the willing spirits among them, offering brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces—anything made of gold—offering up their gold jewelry to God. And anyone who had blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics; fine linen; goats’ hair; tanned leather; and dolphin skins brought them. Everyone who wanted to offer up silver or bronze as a gift to God brought it. Everyone who had acacia wood that could be used in the work, brought it. All the women skilled at weaving brought their weavings of blue and purple and scarlet fabrics and their fine linens. And all the women who were gifted in spinning, spun the goats’ hair.
27–29 The leaders brought onyx and other precious stones for setting in the Ephod and the Breastpiece. They also brought spices and olive oil for lamp oil, anointing oil, and incense. Every man and woman in Israel whose heart moved them freely to bring something for the work that God through Moses had commanded them to make, brought it, a voluntary offering for God.
Bezalel and Oholiab
30–35 Moses told the Israelites, “See, God has selected Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He’s filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and know-how for making all sorts of things, to design and work in gold, silver, and bronze; to carve stones and set them; to carve wood, working in every kind of skilled craft. And he’s also made him a teacher, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He’s gifted them with the know-how needed for carving, designing, weaving, and embroidering in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics, and in fine linen. They can make anything and design anything.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Monday, July 28, 2025
by Tim Gustafson
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Lamentations 3:31-42, 58-59
Why? Because the Master won’t ever
walk out and fail to return.
If he works severely, he also works tenderly.
His stockpiles of loyal love are immense.
He takes no pleasure in making life hard,
in throwing roadblocks in the way:
34–36 Stomping down hard
on luckless prisoners,
Refusing justice to victims
in the court of High God,
Tampering with evidence—
the Master does not approve of such things.
God Speaks Both Good Things and Hard Things into Being
37–39 Who do you think “spoke and it happened”?
It’s the Master who gives such orders.
Doesn’t the High God speak everything,
good things and hard things alike, into being?
And why would anyone gifted with life
complain when punished for sin?
40–42 Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living
and reorder our lives under God.
Let’s lift our hearts and hands at one and the same time,
praying to God in heaven:
“We’ve been contrary and willful,
and you haven’t forgiven.
58–60 “You took my side, Master;
you brought me back alive!
God, you saw the wrongs heaped on me.
Give me my day in court!
Today's Insights
In Lamentations 3:36, the word see is the much-used Hebrew word ra'ah (“see,” “perceive,” “have vision”). It also appears three times in Genesis 16:13, where God sees and cares for Hagar when she fled from Sarah: “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.” In verse 14 we read, “the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.” Beer Lahai Roi literally means, “the well that belongs to the living One seeing me.” We can ask the God who “sees” to help us see people in need.
To See and to Serve
You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. Lamentations 3:58
“Sometimes in life we see things that we can’t unsee,” Alexander McLean told a 60 Minutes interviewer. The South Londoner was eighteen when he went to Uganda to assist in prison and hospice work. That’s where he saw something he couldn’t unsee—an old man lying helpless next to a toilet. For five days McLean cared for him. Then the man died.
The experience ignited a passion in McLean. He earned his law degree and returned to Africa to help the marginalized. Eventually he founded Justice Defenders, an organization that advocates for prisoners.
Many people live in conditions we couldn’t “unsee” if we were to see them. But we don’t see them. In his lament for his devastated homeland, the prophet Jeremiah poured out his heart over his sense of being unseen. “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?” he cried. “Look around and see. Is any suffering like my suffering?” (Lamentations 1:12).
Jeremiah’s heart ached not only for himself but for all the oppressed as well. “To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny people their rights . . . would not the Lord see such things?” he asked rhetorically (3:34-36). Yet he saw hope. “No one is cast off by the Lord forever,” he said. “You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life” (vv. 31, 58).
The “unseen” are all around us. God, who has redeemed us, calls us to see and serve them as He enables us.
Reflect & Pray
Who are the “unseen” near you? How will you see them? What will you do?
Father, please give me eyes to see people in need and help me show them Your love.
Learn to have a selfless heart by checking out this video.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Monday, July 28, 2025
After Obedience, What?
Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. —Mark 6:48
We tend to imagine that if we obey Jesus Christ, he will lead us to great success. We must never confuse our dreams of success with God’s purpose for us. God’s purpose may be exactly the opposite of our dreams. We have an idea that he is leading us to a specific end, a desired goal. He isn’t. To God, the question of achieving a goal is incidental. What we consider training and preparation, God considers the end. It is the process, not the goal, which is glorifying to him.
What is my dream of God’s purpose? His purpose is that I depend on him and his power, and that I depend on them now. If I can stay calm and unperplexed in the middle of turmoil, I’ve already reached the end of God’s purpose. Amid life’s storms, Jesus wants me to see him walking on the water, with no shore in sight, no finish line, no promise of success, and to have the absolute certainty that all is well, simply because I see him walking.
God is training us to obey him in the present moment, and to leave all other considerations alone. We have no control over what happens after we obey; we go wrong when we start dwelling on the “afterward.” God wants us to see that he can walk on the chaos of our lives right now. If we have a further goal in view, we are not paying enough attention to the present. But if we make obedience the goal, we will find that each moment as it comes is precious.
Psalms 46-48; Acts 28
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them.
The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Monday, July 28, 2025
A Shattered Heart, A Certain Hope - #10056
I'd done my whole adult life with my Karen, the only woman I ever needed. Suddenly, I had to figure out how to do the rest of my life without her. That Sunday night, we sat in the bleachers at our local football stadium and we watched our grandson graduate from high school as valedictorian and he gave a faith-filled valedictory message. Monday afternoon, she was gone. Wrapped in this huddle of sobs with our three adult children, I just choked out the words, "It hurts so bad." It really does.
After some time, I'd walk into our living room, I'd still instinctively look for that beautiful hair. I called it her "crown of glory" as she sat in her favorite blue chair. I would go to make that oatmeal that she loved for breakfast. I turn to tell her about a conversation or situation and to hear her trademark laugh over my dumb jokes.
Our four-year-old grandson said it all the first time he ran into our living room and saw her chair empty. He just ran back to his mommy and said, "Mommy, you were right. She's not here." No, she's not, and she won't be again. I probably shed more tears in those weeks than I've shed the rest of my life. But I have a story to tell. Actually, it's the Story that I've tried to tell folks my whole adult life. And suddenly I was living its ultimate validation.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Shattered Heart, A Certain Hope."
Everything I've ever believed, everything I've ever taught about my Jesus is true! Everything that my death-crushing Savior promised, I can tell you, He delivers in the darkest, most devastating days of my life!
He said of those who have put their total trust in His death on the cross for their sins, and this is in our word for today from the Word of God in John 14:19. He said, "Because I live, you will live also." Because Karen's Savior is alive, so is this woman I love.
In God's own words, we have "a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). I'm not talking about some "cross your fingers" hope. This is living hope. Hope is a Person - Jesus. He trampled death as He blasted out of His grave on Easter morning.
The hope that is holding my heart together is as sure as our hope that spring will follow a seemingly endless winter. Spring is a sure thing. So is heaven for those who've pinned all their hopes on the One who died so we could go there. As much as I love Karen, she is now with the One who loves her the most.
This amazing Jesus has got my Karen. And He's got me. I can tell you that by the peace that has lasted across the years now. That peace, along with that certain hope of a forever spring after this cold winter, is a powerful counterbalance on that scale that is so weighed down by grief. Through all my darkest hours, through my loneliest moments, the peace has never been shaken.
Oh, this Jesus I've talked about, that I've written about, I've believed in all these years has come closer and become more real to me than ever before. He promised He would be, as the Bible says, "close to the brokenhearted" (Psalm 34:18). He really, really is. When you walk through the valley of the shadow, you've got to have Jesus to go there. And when you walk across that final frontier beyond our death, you've got to know you belong to Jesus.
If you're not sure of that, would you please make this the day you get that settled? Tell Him, "Jesus, what you died for was me. I am yours. You're alive! I want you to live in me." Check out our website - you can find there how to be sure you belong to Him. That website is ANewStory.com.
Look, I'm in the biggest storm of my life - the Cat 5 hurricane, the EF-5 tornado. Jesus is my safe room. Is He yours? He's stronger than the storm. The Bible says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19).
And my friend, The Anchor holds.
