Max Lucado Daily: THE GREATEST FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE - August 14, 2025
Perhaps the greatest characteristic of fire is this: energy. It is the secret of the electric current. It has empowered countless coal-burning engines and fueled too many stoves to count. Fire combusts. Fire ignites. Fire moves things. And the Spirit? Does he not move us? “You shall receive power,” promised Jesus, “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8 NKJV).
God doesn’t want us to give him our best effort. We don’t try our hardest and then turn to God. We turn to God and trust him to do the work for and in us. The greatest force in the universe will work within you to give you the power you need to become more and more like him. He will make you holy in an instant and make you holier over a lifetime.
Help Is Here
Leviticus 5
“If you sin by not stepping up and offering yourself as a witness to something you’ve heard or seen in cases of wrongdoing, you’ll be held responsible.
2 “Or if you touch anything ritually unclean, like the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or a dead reptile, and you weren’t aware of it at the time, but you’re contaminated and you’re guilty;
3 “Or if you touch human uncleanness, any sort of ritually contaminating uncleanness, and you’re not aware of it at the time, but later you realize it and you’re guilty;
4 “Or if you impulsively swear to do something, whether good or bad—some rash oath that just pops out—and you aren’t aware of what you’ve done at the time, but later you come to realize it and you’re guilty in any of these cases;
5–6 “When you are guilty, immediately confess the sin that you’ve committed and bring as your penalty to God for the sin you have committed a female lamb or goat from the flock for an Absolution-Offering.
“In this way, the priest will make atonement for your sin.
7–10 “If you can’t afford a lamb, bring as your penalty to God for the sin you have committed two doves or two pigeons, one for the Absolution-Offering and the other for the Whole-Burnt-Offering. Bring them to the priest who will first offer the one for the Absolution-Offering: He’ll wring its neck but not sever it, splash some of the blood of the Absolution-Offering against the Altar, and squeeze the rest of it out at the base. It’s an Absolution-Offering. He’ll then take the second bird and offer it as a Whole-Burnt-Offering, following the procedures step-by-step.
“In this way, the priest will make atonement for your sin and you’re forgiven.
11–12 “If you cannot afford the two doves or pigeons, bring two quarts of fine flour for your Absolution-Offering. Don’t put oil or incense on it—it’s an Absolution-Offering. Bring it to the priest; he’ll take a handful from it as a memorial and burn it on the Altar with the gifts for God. It’s an Absolution-Offering.
13 “The priest will make atonement for you and any of these sins you’ve committed and you’re forgiven. The rest of the offering belongs to the priest, the same as with the Grain-Offering.”
Compensation-Offering
14–16 God spoke to Moses: “When a person betrays his trust and unknowingly sins by straying against any of the holy things of God, he is to bring as his penalty to God a ram without any defect from the flock, the value of the ram assessed in shekels, according to the Sanctuary shekel for a Compensation-Offering. He is to make additional compensation for the sin he has committed against any holy thing by adding twenty percent to the ram and giving it to the priest.
“Thus the priest will make atonement for him with the ram of the Compensation-Offering and he’s forgiven.
17–18 “If anyone sins by breaking any of the commandments of God which must not be broken, but without being aware of it at the time, the moment he does realize his guilt he is held responsible. He is to bring to the priest a ram without any defect, assessed at the value of the Compensation-Offering.
18–19 “Thus the priest will make atonement for him for his error that he was unaware of and he’s forgiven. It is a Compensation-Offering; he was surely guilty before God.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Thursday, August 14, 2025
by Katara Patton
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
1 Kings 17:7-16
Eventually the brook dried up because of the drought. Then God spoke to him: “Get up and go to Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve instructed a woman who lives there, a widow, to feed you.”
10–11 So he got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the entrance of the village he met a woman, a widow, gathering firewood. He asked her, “Please, would you bring me a little water in a jug? I need a drink.” As she went to get it, he called out, “And while you’re at it, would you bring me something to eat?”
12 She said, “I swear, as surely as your God lives, I don’t have so much as a biscuit. I have a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a bottle; you found me scratching together just enough firewood to make a last meal for my son and me. After we eat it, we’ll die.”
13–14 Elijah said to her, “Don’t worry about a thing. Go ahead and do what you’ve said. But first make a small biscuit for me and bring it back here. Then go ahead and make a meal from what’s left for you and your son. This is the word of the God of Israel: ‘The jar of flour will not run out and the bottle of oil will not become empty before God sends rain on the land and ends this drought.’ ”
15–16 And she went right off and did it, did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said—daily food for her and her family. The jar of meal didn’t run out and the bottle of oil didn’t become empty: God’s promise fulfilled to the letter, exactly as Elijah had delivered it!
Today's Insights
The story of the Phoenician widow (1 Kings 17:7-24) appears in the middle of a series of contests between God (Yahweh) and the false god Baal. Yahweh closed the clouds and stopped the rain (v. 1)—a direct attack on Baal’s supposed control over agricultural fertility. Yahweh then sends Elijah to Zarephath and performs a series of miracles through the prophet (vv. 7-24). Yahweh, not Baal, provided food for the widow and her family and also showed that He has power over life itself. No matter how desperate the situation, God alone will care for His people.
God Provides
There was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 1 Kings 17:15
My dear friend Sally wanted to give a birthday party for one of her friends. She knew her friend had been experiencing a tough time, and Sally desired to help lift her spirits. However, Sally was unemployed and didn’t have extra money to purchase food for a nice party. So she looked in her refrigerator and cabinets to see what was available. She then created a nice spread consisting of many items she’d previously purchased and had in her home.
When Sally shared with me the creative menu she had come up with, I thought about the story of Elijah and the widow (1 Kings 17:7-16). The widow didn’t have much. In fact, she told the prophet Elijah that she was going to prepare her final scraps of food for herself and her son “and [then] die” of starvation (v. 12). And she only had a small amount of flour and olive oil, just enough for their final meal.
But Elijah ensured the woman that her “jar of flour . . . and the jug of oil [would] not run dry” until God sent rain again (v. 14). By trusting in what God revealed through Elijah—even though she didn’t think she had enough—the woman found that God provided what she needed even though her kitchen was barren.
Just like my friend, the widow found what she needed. Following their examples, let’s live generously and rest in God’s provision for us.
Reflect & Pray
What’s causing you to resist sharing with others today? How can you give generously even when it seems like you’re lacking resources?
Heavenly Father, please help me to share with others as I trust You to provide what I need.
God used Elijah to show Israel not to trust in other gods. Learn more by reading The God Who Bested Ba'al.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, August 14, 2025
The Discipline of the Lord
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him —Hebrews 12:5
It is very easy to grieve the Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say mistakenly, “Oh, that must be from the devil.”
“Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, “Don’t be blind on this point anymore— you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I’m revealing it to you right now.” When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.
“. . . nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.” We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, “Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything.” Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!
Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me— sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me. But He has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to sanctify me completely, whatever the cost (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, August 14, 2025
LOOKING BACKWARD, MISSING WHAT'S AHEAD - #10069
Two roller coasters. Only one seemed like a real option to me. I should point out that I really don't ride roller coasters much. "Because you're chicken," you say. No, because I'm too short. I just don't measure up to that little height chart that they have at the entrance to the coaster. Actually, I have a friend who declines roller coaster invitations by saying, "I can't. I have an inner ear problem." I like that. I may have to remember that one. For whatever reason, my rides on roller coasters are few and far between. But at this particular amusement park that I visited a few years ago, they had two roller coasters side by side and two lines to get to them. Over one line was a sign that said, "Forward." Over the other line, a sign that said - yeah, you guessed it - "Backward." You can ride looking forward or looking backward. Like this is a choice?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking Backward, Missing What's Ahead."
There are two lines in life, and two cars you can ride in. One says, "Forward" and the other says, "Backward." You choose. Frankly, I don't want to ride looking back at where I've already been. I want to ride looking ahead to where I'm going. I hope you do, too.
And that's what God wants for you. In our word for today from the Word of God in Isaiah 43:18-19 - some of my anchor verses. Here's what He says: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." God wants today to be the first day of the rest of your life, not just another day of what your life has been up until now. This can be page one of a whole new volume or just another page of the same old story.
Maybe you've been riding too long looking backward. You keep rehearsing and reliving the hurt of your past, your failures, and the regrets over what you've done or what you should have done. But that's the past, and none of it can be changed. But if you don't move beyond the pain, the anger, the bitterness, the self-pity, the grief, and the self-condemnation - if you keep dwelling on that, you'll miss the part of your life that can be changed - the future.
One of God's great representatives, Paul, said, "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14). Jesus is the Lord of new beginnings, of fresh starts, of clean slates. You need to come to Him and let Him release you from being tied to the people who've hurt you, by getting His grace to forgive them. You need to ask His help to begin to define your life, not by what has happened, but by what's going to happen; what can happen because of Jesus in your life.
Just a few verses after God's call to forget the past and go for His new thing, He tells us how that's possible. He says, "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions...and remembers your sins no more" (Isaiah 43:25). That's what Jesus wants to do for you. It's why He died on that cross and why He rose again from His grave. He paid the death penalty for every wrong thing you've ever done so He could erase your sin from God's book forever, because otherwise, your sin will cost you heaven.
A new beginning. A fresh start. A clean slate. If you're at the point in your life where that's what you want, then it's time to open up your life to Jesus Christ. He's the Lord of new beginnings. You can reach out to Him right where you are and tell Him something like this, "Jesus, I'm done running my own life, I'm turning it over for You to run. I'm grabbing you with both hands because you died for my sin and I want today to be the first day of a new life; of a new me."
There's a lot more great information about this at our website and I pray you'll go there today. It's ANewStory.com.
You've been looking back long enough. There's no reason your life has to be just more of what it's been before, because Jesus has come to you today. And with Jesus, your life will never be the same again.