Max Lucado Daily: CLEAR THE DEBRIS - July 29, 2025
Our stress-laden society has developed many skills for dealing with anxiety. We have breathing exercises and mediation techniques. But the person in whom the Spirit dwells has the greatest of resources. The apostle Paul said, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18-19 NIV).
The apostle contrasts two strategies for facing inner chaos: inebriation and celebration. Many people numb themselves, if not with liquor, with bouts of shopping or hours of playing. The better option: celebration. Constant worship clears the debris from our hearts. Praise is the cleansing element that flushes the trash of worry and anxiety.
Help Is Here
Mark 3:20-35
Satan Fighting Satan?
20–21 Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered—so many making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat. His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was getting carried away with himself.
22–27 The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power. Jesus confronted their slander with a story: “Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan? A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn’t be any Satan left. Do you think it’s possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.
28–30 “Listen to this carefully. I’m warning you. There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God’s Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.” He gave this warning because they were accusing him of being in league with Evil.
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
31–32 Just then his mother and brothers showed up. Standing outside, they relayed a message that they wanted a word with him. He was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, “Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside looking for you.”
33–35 Jesus responded, “Who do you think are my mother and brothers?” Looking around, taking in everyone seated around him, he said, “Right here, right in front of you—my mother and my brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
by
Karen Huang
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Psalm 55:2-5, 16-23
Come close and whisper your answer.
I really need you.
I shudder at the mean voice,
quail before the evil eye,
As they pile on the guilt,
stockpile angry slander.
4–8 My insides are turned inside out;
specters of death have me down.
I shake with fear,
I shudder from head to foot.
16–19 I call to God;
God will help me.
At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh
deep sighs—he hears, he rescues.
My life is well and whole, secure
in the middle of danger
Even while thousands
are lined up against me.
God hears it all, and from his judge’s bench
puts them in their place.
But, set in their ways, they won’t change;
they pay him no mind.
20–21 And this, my best friend, betrayed his best friends;
his life betrayed his word.
All my life I’ve been charmed by his speech,
never dreaming he’d turn on me.
His words, which were music to my ears,
turned to daggers in my heart.
22–23 Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—
he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out.
He’ll never let good people
topple into ruin.
But you, God, will throw the others
into a muddy bog,
Cut the lifespan of assassins
and traitors in half.
And I trust in you.
Today's Insights
The Bible repeatedly assures us of God’s care. In Psalm 55, David urges, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you” (v. 22). Later, the prophet Nahum writes, “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7). Centuries later, Peter pens similar words: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). How do we know God cares for us? The Bible tells us He’s a “compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6; Psalm 86:15). He loved us so much that Christ died for us—providing help and care for us now and the hope of eternity with Him (John 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:10).
Sustained by God
[The Lord] will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalm 55:22
My family and I brought my dad home from the hospital. He had a degenerative disease, and we were now adjusting to the new twenty-four-hour medical routines of his suddenly becoming bedridden and requiring a feeding tube. I was also planning for my mom’s gastric procedure and dealing with demanding clients at work. Feeling overwhelmed, I sought privacy in the bathroom one day and cried out to God: Help me, Father. Please give me strength to get through the days ahead.
David also felt overwhelmed by troubles (Psalm 55:2-5). Attacked by his son Absalom, betrayed by his close friend, and helpless over the ensuing violence in Jerusalem, David said, “Fear and trembling have beset me” (v. 5).
But David chose to trust God (v. 23). He believed “[God] will never let the righteous be shaken” (v. 22). Years of trusting the Almighty had taught David that although troubles may unsteady us, those who place their faith in God will never be irrevocably lost and hopeless. “They will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (37:24 nlt). David knew God would support him with His strength and wisdom: “I call to God, and the Lord saves me” (55:16).
Fourteen years later, we continue to care for my dad at home. The years have taught me that when we cast our cares on Him, He sustains us (v. 22). God bears our burdens, and He bears us up too.
Reflect & Pray
How does God remind you He won’t let you be shaken? How can you entrust your troubles to Him?
Dear God, thank You for helping me walk through the days ahead.
Learn to face troubles head-on when your faith is tested. Watch this video to learn more.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
What Do You See in Your Clouds?
Look, he is coming with the clouds. —Revelation 1:7
In the Bible, clouds are always connected with God. Clouds are those sorrows or sufferings or twists of providence that seem to challenge his rule. Seen apart from God, clouds look like accidents. But by these very clouds the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. Without clouds, we would not need faith.
“Look, he is coming with the clouds.” Clouds are nothing more than the dust of our Father’s feet; they are the sign that he is here. God never comes in clear shining. What a revelation it is to know that sadness and bereavement and suffering are the clouds that come along with God!
It isn’t true that God wants us to learn something in our trials. Through every cloud he brings, he wants us to unlearn the things that are keeping us from a simple relationship to him. Sometimes we have to leave certain forms of religious activity and testimony alone until our relationship to God is simplified—until we have learned to turn to God, not to other people, for all our needs. The thought I should have is, “God and my own soul; other people are shadows.” Until other people become shadows, clouds and darkness will be mine every now and again. Is my relationship to God getting simpler than it ever has been?
There is a connection between the strange providences of God and what we know of him. We have to learn to interpret the mysteries of life in the light of our knowledge of God. Unless we can look the darkest, most atrocious fact in the face without questioning God’s character, we do not yet know him. “They were afraid as they entered the cloud” (Luke 9:34). Is there anyone besides Jesus in your cloud? If so, it will only get darker. You must get to the place where there is no one besides him.
Psalms 49-50; Romans 1
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Civilization is based on principles which imply that the passing moment is permanent. The only permanent thing is God, and if I put anything else as permanent, I become atheistic. I must build only on God (John 14:6).
The Highest Good—Thy Great Redemption, 565 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
OUR ELEVENTH-HOUR LORD - #10057
My friend, Larry, was a pilot. And awhile back he was asked by a client to fly their corporate, cabin class plane from one metropolitan area airport to another. That flight should take about 15 minutes, and he thought, "Well, I could do that." His only commitment was several hours later to lead prayer meeting at his church that night, so he felt like there was plenty of time to get that job done.
He was preparing to land at the airport, and as he looked at all of his controls, he noticed that five different indicators had gone on...all telling him that his front landing gear wasn't down. Well, he called the tower at the airport, and they said, "Well, why don't you fly by and we'll take a look at it." And they confirmed sure enough he didn't have any front landing gear. So he made a second approach, worked with the switches and controls, and hoped that would work. But no, he had to report to the tower all the lights are still on; five indicators saying he didn't have any front landing gear going down.
He requested to be able to go back to his home airport, and as he did he was flipping his switches back and forth. Nothing was happening. He tried several aerial maneuvers to shake it loose and that didn't work. He called for his mechanics to be able to communicate through the tower and read slowly to him from the manual for his plane. He tried everything the manual said. Nothing worked!
Now, he had three hours of fuel when he started, but he was running low now. So he went up to a level where he could put it on automatic pilot. It was dark, it was starting to snow now, and he thought, "Should I let my wife know about this?" He said, "Well, there's really no reason to alarm her."
He looked for tools while it was on automatic pilot and he worked with those. Again, nothing worked, including nothing his mechanics read to him from the manual. He had ten minutes of fuel left. He thought, "Man, this is going to be $400,000 if I crash land. Oh yeah, and I don't know about me."
He was low on fuel, hoping there would be no fire, so he began to prepare for the crash landing. He secured all the loose items, pulled the fire extinguisher pin in case there was a fire, harnessed himself in, and made the approach for his landing. All the indicator lights still on, his landing gear still not down and what happened next is what might happen just before you are about to crash.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Our Eleventh-Hour Lord."
Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Exodus 14:9. The Jews are at the Red Sea, and it says, "The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they encamped by the sea." Okay, we're in a big jam here, right? But it says, "Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong East wind." You've got the Red Sea behind you, the enemy closing in. And then, just at that last moment, the waters parted.
Oh yeah, about Larry, my pilot friend, we left him preparing for a crash landing. Nothing had worked - flipping switches, maneuvering, manuals, waiting. And so, as he made that approach, he simply said, "Lord, I need a miracle." He threw that switch one more time. He'd thrown it hundreds of times, and this time every light indicating trouble with his landing gear went off. He said, "I'm coming in! I've got full gear." They said, "Fly by" in the tower. He did. They turned the high light beams on. They said, "Hey, your landing gear is down!" He said, "I know." And he landed safely. The crowd said, "What happened?" He said, "A miracle of God." Oh, and he made it to his prayer meeting, too.
Larry experienced it, Moses and the Israelites did, and maybe you will right now - our eleventh-hour Lord. He often comes through at the very last moment. There's never any doubt that He will, but it's that waiting that makes you wonder. Why? So we'll get to the end of our resources; so He can grow your faith like a muscle by stretching it. So He can demonstrate His power in a way where only God could get the glory. And so He can dramatically show His love to you.
Maybe you've got your back to the Red Sea, the enemy's closing in and every solution has failed. Why don't you surrender completely to your Savior right now and cry out to Him, "Lord, I need a miracle." And you will be a candidate for that eleventh-hour Lord.
