Max Lucado Daily: Divine Warnings
Warnings. Red lights in life that signal us of impending danger. They exist in all parts of life. Sirens scream as a marriage starts to sour; alarms blare when a faith weakens.
We usually know when trouble is just around the corner. Christians whove fallen away felt the fire waning long before it went out. Unwanted pregnancies or explosions of anger are usually the result of a history of ignoring warnings about an impending fire.
Are your senses numb? Are your eyes trained to turn and roll when they should pause and observe? One-night stands. Dust-covered Bibles. Careless choice of companions. Denial of Christ.
Proverbs 19:27 says, "Cease listening to [My] instruction and you will stray from the words of knowledge."
Divine warnings. Inspired by God; tested by time. Heed them and safety is yours to enjoy!
From God Came Near
Joshua 1
The Message
1 1-9 After the death of Moses the servant of God, God spoke to Joshua, Moses’ assistant:
“Moses my servant is dead. Get going. Cross this Jordan River, you and all the people. Cross to the country I’m giving to the People of Israel. I’m giving you every square inch of the land you set your foot on—just as I promised Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon east to the Great River, the Euphrates River—all the Hittite country—and then west to the Great Sea. It’s all yours. All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you. In the same way I was with Moses, I’ll be with you. I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you. Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul. Make sure you carry out The Revelation that Moses commanded you, every bit of it. Don’t get off track, either left or right, so as to make sure you get to where you’re going. And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed. Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.”
The Taking of the Land
10-11 Then Joshua gave orders to the people’s leaders: “Go through the camp and give this order to the people: ‘Pack your bags. In three days you will cross this Jordan River to enter and take the land God, your God, is giving you to possess.’”
12-15 Then Joshua addressed the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He said, “Remember what Moses the servant of God commanded you: God, your God, gives you rest and he gives you this land. Your wives, your children, and your livestock can stay here east of the Jordan, the country Moses gave you; but you, tough soldiers all, must cross the River in battle formation, leading your brothers, helping them until God, your God, gives your brothers a place of rest just as he has done for you. They also will take possession of the land that God, your God, is giving them. Then you will be free to return to your possession, given to you by Moses the servant of God, across the Jordan to the east.”
16-18 They answered Joshua: “Everything you commanded us, we’ll do. Wherever you send us, we’ll go. We obeyed Moses to the letter; we’ll also obey you—we just pray that God, your God, will be with you as he was with Moses. Anyone who questions what you say and refuses to obey whatever you command him will be put to death. Strength! Courage!”
Our Loving Rescuer
Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. Psalm 55:17
By Xochitl Dixon
December 27, 2025
TODAYS SCRIPTURE
Psalm 55:1-5, 16-22
Open your ears, God, to my prayer;
don’t pretend you don’t hear me knocking.
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.
“Who will give me wings,” I ask—
“wings like a dove?”
Get me out of here on dove wings;
I want some peace and quiet.
I want a walk in the country,
I want a cabin in the woods.
I’m desperate for a change
from rage and stormy weather.
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.
Todays Devotional
During a raging wildfire, a forest ranger saved a bear cub. At a recovery site safely away from those still fighting the inferno, he placed the rescued animal on the ground. Standing on its tiny back paws, the cub hugged the man’s calf. The ranger gently pried himself away. Mouth wide as if crying out in desperation, the little bear clambered and clawed in an attempt to remain in the refuge of his rescuer’s embrace. As the cub clung to his arm, the kind man relented and rubbed his furry friend’s head.
What if we pursued our ultimate rescuer—Jesus—with the same fierce desperation and confidence as the bear cub who pursued and clung to the one who saved him from death?
All people God made need saving. The psalmist David confessed his need for a rescuer—for God to hear and answer his prayers (Psalm 55:1-2). Admitting he faced troubles, threats, suffering, and fear (vv. 3-5), David pursued God with assurance. “As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me,” he said (v. 16). “Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice” (v. 17). David prayed continually. He believed God listened and trusted that He would rescue him “unharmed” (v. 18).
When we face difficulties or suffering of any kind, like David, we can cry out to God. Our loving Rescuer, who pursues us, hears and saves us when we pursue Him too.
Reflect & Pray
How can you pursue God today? When has God rescued you from trouble or suffering?
Dear God, thank You for rescuing me from death through Christ and for being my refuge every day.
For further study, watch Threshing Sledge: Isaiah 21 & Purposeful Pain.
Todays Insights
David was in intense emotional anguish and was enduring devastating pain (Psalm 55:4-5). This pain was caused by the betrayal of someone he trusted, one whom he described in endearing terms: “my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship” (vv. 13-14). Initially, the psalmist had considered hiding in the desert to escape the storm, hoping to isolate himself from the pain. He pictures himself as a bird taking flight into the desert, which he thought would provide him with a safe place of refuge (vv. 6-8). Eventually, David chose to run to God instead, affirming that only He could rescue him and keep him safe (vv. 16-18). He says to “give your burdens to the Lord and he will take care of you” (v. 22 nlt). Just as God pursued David, He hears us and pursues us when we face difficulties.
Where the Battle’s Lost or Won
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
“If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the Lord. — Jeremiah 4:1
Every spiritual battle is lost or won before God, in the secret places of the will, never first out in the world. Whenever I am faced with a moral dilemma, God’s Spirit apprehends me and obliges me to get alone with God and fight it out. If I don’t do this before I try to fight the battle in the external world, I’ll lose every time. The battle may take one minute or one year—how long depends on me, not on God. But it must be wrestled out first before him. Alone in his presence, I must go through the hell of a renunciation.
Nothing has power over the person who has fought and won a battle before God. If I say, “I’ll wait till I get out into the world, then put God to the test,” I’ll find that I can’t. I must settle the matter between myself and God first, in the secret places of my soul where no stranger intermeddles. Afterward, I can go forth with the certainty that the battle is won. But if I lose the battle in my will, calamity and disaster are sure to follow.
Abandonment to God always begins as an issue of will. Every now and then—not often, but sometimes—God brings us to a milestone, a point that marks a great divide in our lives. Either we go on from that point toward a more and more useless type of Christian life, or we become more and more ablaze for the glory of God, more and more our utmost for his highest.
Zechariah 1-4; Revelation 18
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.
The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673
