Max Lucado Daily: PRESCRIPTION FOR THE ANXIOUS HEART - September 26, 2025
Anxiety in a limited dose is a good thing. Healthy anxiety prompts us to pay bills, eat right, and stay out of snake pits. A dose of anxiety is helpful. A daily deluge of anxiety? Not so much. God designed our bodies to respond to a spike of stress and then return to normal. Unhealthy anxiety resists the reset. It is the alarm system that never shuts down.
Paul’s prescription for the anxious heart: He wrote, “Be full of joy in the Lord always…The Lord is coming soon. Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And God’s peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7 NCV).
Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life
Numbers 6
Nazirite Vows
1–4 6 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel; tell them, If any of you, man or woman, wants to make a special Nazirite vow, consecrating yourself totally to God, you must not drink any wine or beer, no intoxicating drink of any kind, not even the juice of grapes—in fact, you must not even eat grapes or raisins. For the duration of the consecration, nothing from the grapevine—not even the seeds, not even the skin—may be eaten.
5 “Also, for the duration of the consecration you must not have your hair cut. Your long hair will be a continuing sign of holy separation to God.
6–7 “Also, for the duration of the consecration to God, you must not go near a corpse. Even if it’s the body of your father or mother, brother or sister, you must not ritually defile yourself because the sign of consecration to God is on your head.
8 “For the entire duration of your consecration you are holy to God.
9–12 “If someone should die suddenly in your presence, so that your consecrated head is ritually defiled, you must shave your head on the day of your purifying, that is, the seventh day. Then on the eighth day bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The priest will offer one for the Absolution-Offering and one for the Whole-Burnt-Offering, purifying you from the ritual contamination of the corpse. You resanctify your hair on that day and reconsecrate your Nazirite consecration to God by bringing a yearling lamb for a Compensation-Offering. You start over; the previous days don’t count because your consecration was ritually defiled.
13–17 “These are the instructions for the time set when your special consecration to God is up. First, you are to be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then you will present your offerings to God: a healthy yearling lamb for the Whole-Burnt-Offering, a healthy yearling ewe for an Absolution-Offering, a healthy ram for a Peace-Offering, a basket of unraised bread made of fine flour, loaves mixed with oil, and crackers spread with oil, along with your Grain-Offerings and Drink-Offerings. The priest will approach God and offer up your Absolution-Offering and Whole-Burnt-Offering. He will sacrifice the ram as a Peace-Offering to God with the basket of unraised bread, and, last of all, the Grain-Offering and Drink-Offering.
18 “At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, shave off the hair you consecrated and put it in the fire that is burning under the Peace-Offering.
19–20 “After you have shaved the hair of your consecration, the priest will take a shoulder from the ram, boiled, and a piece of unraised bread and a cracker from the basket and place them in your hands. The priest will then wave them before God, a Wave-Offering. They are holy and belong to the priest, along with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was offered.
“Now you are free to drink wine.
21 “These are the instructions for Nazirites as they bring offerings to God in their vow of consecration, beyond their other offerings. They must carry out the vow they have vowed following the instructions for the Nazirite.”
The Aaronic Blessing
22–23 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them,
24 God bless you and keep you,
25 God smile on you and gift you,
26 God look you full in the face
and make you prosper.
27 In so doing, they will place my name on the People of Israel—
I will confirm it by blessing them.”
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Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, September 26, 2025
by Bill Crowder
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Genesis 2:8-9; 3:1-6
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
3 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”
2–3 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’ ”
4–5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”
6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Today's Insights
The garden of Eden was handcrafted by the Creator as a home for the man and woman (Genesis 2-3). The garden had everything they’d need, including unfettered access to God Himself. Yet, through disobedience, they were driven from that home (3:24). Jesus, however, promised a better home to His followers (John 14:1-4), described by John in Revelation this way: “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God’ ” (21:3). As with Eden, the greatest thing about that home won’t be its beauty or provision but God’s presence, for “God himself will be with [his people]” (v. 3).
Beauty Out of Tragedy
Through the obedience of the one man [Jesus Christ] the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19
Coniston Water in England’s beautiful Lake District is a favorite vacation spot for families in the UK. The waters are perfect for boating, swimming, and other water sports. That beautiful setting, however, was also the site of great tragedy. In 1967, Donald Campbell was piloting his hydroplane Bluebird K7, seeking to break the world water speed record. He reached a top speed of 328 mph (528 km/h) but didn’t live to celebrate the achievement as Bluebird crashed, killing Campbell.
Tragic moments can happen in beautiful places. In Genesis 2, the Creator “took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (v. 15). The garden was a masterpiece, yet when placed in this paradise, the man and woman disobeyed God, bringing sin and death into His creation (3:6-7). Today, we continue to see the destructive effects of their tragic choice.
But Jesus came to offer life to us—people who were dead in our sins. The apostle Paul, referring to that, wrote, “Just as through the disobedience of the one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus Christ] the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Because of Jesus, the most beautiful home of all awaits us.
Out of beauty came tragedy. And by God’s grace, out of tragedy came eternal beauty.
Reflect & Pray
When have you seen God bring beauty out of tragedy? How did you respond to that event?
Heavenly Father, thank You for the eternal beauty You alone provide.
For further study, read A Season of Suffering: Meeting Jesus in Our Pain.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, September 26, 2025
The Unblamable Attitude
If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift . . . and be reconciled to them. — Matthew 5:23–24
Jesus tells us that we should leave our gift at the altar if we remember, when we get there, that our brother or sister has something against us. He doesn’t say that every time we come to the altar we should begin, with a morbid sensitivity, to dredge up thoughts of possible problems with our brother or sister. “If you . . . remember” means “If the Spirit of God brings something to your conscious mind.” The Holy Spirit makes us sensitive to things we never thought of before. Never object to the intense sensitivity of the Spirit of God in you when he is educating you down to the scruple.
“First go and be reconciled to them” (Matthew 5:24). Our Lord’s command is simple: go back the way you came; go the way the Spirit of God indicates to you when you are at the altar; go to the person who has something against you, keeping an attitude of mind and a temper of soul that make reconciliation as natural as breathing. Jesus doesn’t mention the other person. He says, “You go.” There’s no question of your rights. The hallmark of the disciple is the ability to waive personal rights and obey the Lord Jesus.
“Then come and offer your gift” (v. 24). The process is clearly marked. First, you arrive at the altar in a heroic spirit of self-sacrifice. Then comes a sudden inspection by the Holy Spirit, followed by the sense of conviction that stops you in your tracks. You go back, tracing the way of obedience to the word of God and constructing an unblamable attitude of mind and temper toward the one you’ve wronged. Finally, you return to the altar, ready to make a glad, simple, unhindered offering of your gift to God.
Isaiah 1-2; Galatians 5
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God.
Not Knowing Whither, 903 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, September 26, 2025
I FORGIVE HIM - #10100
It wasn't very loud. Just three little words, softly spoken. But they were loud enough to drown out a gunshot that had reverberated across the nation.
The widow of assassinated influencer, Charlie Kirk, talked about the young man who ended the life of her husband and the father of her children. Through tears, she spoke words that stunned a nation. It was a holy, deeply human moment. Politics didn't matter. Personalities didn't matter.
Three words that, if they became part of our vocabulary, could help heal a broken nation.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "I Forgive You."
Those were the three words. But how does a woman, so deeply wounded, forgive the one who inflicted it, only days after that deadly shot?
"I forgive him," she said, "because it was what Christ did."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Colossians 3:13. How right she was. It simply says there, "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Erika Kirk's humanly unexplainable grace was an echo from a cross 2,000 years ago. Amidst the agony of His crucifixion, Jesus spoke these unforgettable words about the men who had nailed Him there.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
He's been forgiving sinners like me ever since. In the only way that was possible. The death penalty for the running of my life - sin, the Bible calls it - had to be paid. Or being forgiven by a sinless God would have been impossible.
In the Bible's words: "Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:27). We can forgive because we have been forgiven by a sinless God.
The meanness, the violence, the hate that headlines our daily news - and lives - has produced an epidemic of heart trouble. Hard hearts. Shots are fired for grievances big and small. Not always with a gun. Often with our tongue. Or a social media post. People have become categories who we judge by whatever label they bear in our minds.
So brokenness isn't just a season we're in. It's a spiraling cycle. Martin Luther King described the futility of living like this. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that."
A beacon of light really shows up on a very dark night. And there is such a beacon. Young people are looking for hope. Not by turning inward. Not by turning outward to others. But by looking up. Churches have been unusually full since this tragedy. Social media is full of stories of people suddenly seeking God, finding Jesus. On campuses. Online.
And there is hope in that. What's broken between us is because of what's broken between us and God. The Bible says, "Your sins have separated you from God." And the essence of sin is that middle letter - "I." We have occupied the throne of our life that was made for God alone.
So that makes it a world that's all about me. And millions of people living in that self-deification crush others. And hurt people hurt people.
A shattered wife who told thousands of people "I forgive him" can be a harbinger of hope. But in reality, she is not the answer. For she attributed her forgiving to His forgiving.
There is hope for a broken marriage. For a broken family. For a broken world. Or a broken heart. The Bible calls Him "a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3).
And He is hope for you, my friend. If you've never gone to His cross to have your sin forgiven, never opened your heart to Him, let this be the day your heart, your life, and your eternity is changed. We'd love to help you do that. Go to our website today. It's ANewStory.com.
Hope has a name. His name is Jesus. That hope begins at His Cross where He looks your way and says, "I forgive her. I forgive him."
