Max Lucado Daily: DIVINE BOOT CAMP - August 7, 2026
God told Elijah to “hide in the Kerith Ravine…I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there” (1 Kings 17:2-4 NIV).
Why would God do this? To protect Elijah from Ahab and Jezebel for one thing. The crown had posted an APB. Search parties were dispatched. What better place for Elijah to hide than in the rugged landscape of his homeland?
And God sent Elijah to Kerith to prepare him for the future. Remember, the world had gone crazy. Abhorrent behavior—child sacrifice, worship of idols, temple prostitution—had been normalized. God needed a steadfast prophet to stand against such a tide.
To prepare Elijah for his assignment, God led him into the wilderness. It was there the prophet learned to radically trust God. Call it divine boot camp. Be patient. God is working on you.
Unbreakable Courage
Psalm 65
A David Psalm
1–2 65 Silence is praise to you,
Zion-dwelling God,
And also obedience.
You hear the prayer in it all.
2–8 We all arrive at your doorstep sooner
or later, loaded with guilt,
Our sins too much for us—
but you get rid of them once and for all.
Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest
at home in your place!
We expect our fill of good things
in your house, your heavenly manse.
All your salvation wonders
are on display in your trophy room.
Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer,
Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser,
Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash,
of mobs in noisy riot—
Far and wide they’ll come to a stop,
they’ll stare in awe, in wonder.
Dawn and dusk take turns
calling, “Come and worship.”
9–13 Oh, visit the earth,
ask her to join the dance!
Deck her out in spring showers,
fill the God-River with living water.
Paint the wheat fields golden.
Creation was made for this!
Drench the plowed fields,
soak the dirt clods
With rainfall as harrow and rake
bring her to blossom and fruit.
Snow-crown the peaks with splendor,
scatter rose petals down your paths,
All through the wild meadows, rose petals.
Set the hills to dancing,
Dress the canyon walls with live sheep,
a drape of flax across the valleys.
Let them shout, and shout, and shout!
Oh, oh, let them sing!
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, August 07, 2026
By Bill Crowder
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
1 Peter 5:6-11
So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs. God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
He Gets the Last Word
8–11 Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.
Today's Insights
What does the New Testament tell us about our “enemy the devil” (1 Peter 5:8)? First, it gives him a variety of names: “Satan,” which means “accuser” or “adversary” (Revelation 12:9-10); “Beelzebul, the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24); “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4); “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2); “the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:3); “the great dragon” (Revelation 12:9); and the “ancient serpent” (20:2; see 2 Corinthians 11:3).
Second, Satan’s mission is “to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is opposed to God and seeks to drive a wedge between Him and humans. Satan hopes to tear down our confidence and trust in God and deter us from our mission of spreading the gospel. James says, “Submit yourselves . . . to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The Holy Spirit will help us resist the devil and stand strong in Christ.
Learn more about spiritual warfare.
God Is Greater
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Before he became famous, the Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan (ca. ad 1162-1227) killed his own half brother to advance his position in the family. As he solidified his power, he began to build an empire more expansive than Alexander the Great’s, stretching from Asia’s Pacific coast to Eastern Europe. Ruthless in his tactics, the khan and his army left a trail of death and destruction everywhere they advanced. His devastating military forays are unparalleled in recorded history.
Today we face a vicious foe even more intimidating than a marauding army—an enemy who wants to conquer and devastate our souls. The apostle Peter cautioned, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). This enemy is cunning and dangerous like a great warrior and is much more than we can handle on our own. But we have great reason for hope. The apostle John wrote, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This “one who is in you” is the Holy Spirit Himself. We need not fear the enemy of our souls.
As we rely on the Holy Spirit, we gain confidence that our lives are guarded from the one who’s trying to conquer our souls. Our God is greater. We can trust Him to be with us in everything.
Reflect & Pray
When have you sensed the enemy’s opposition? How did you respond?
Loving God, thank You that You’re greater than my enemy and have already defeated him. Please help me rely on Your Spirit.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, August 07, 2026
Prayer in the Father’s House
Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? — Luke 2:49
Our Lord’s childhood wasn’t immature adulthood. His childhood is an eternal fact, the permanent state of his relationship to his Father. Am I so identified with my Lord and Savior that I, too, am a holy, innocent child of God? Do I look upon life as a permanent state of dwelling in my Father’s house? Is the Son of God dwelling in his Father’s house inside me?
The abiding reality is God; he is not changeable or fleeting. Yet he makes his order known in fleeting moments. When we are saved, we receive the power and the privilege of exhibiting the redemption in the passing moments of our lives. But to do this, we must remain in contact with abiding reality. Am I always in contact with reality, or do I pray only when things have gone wrong? I have to learn to identify myself with my Lord in holy communion in ways I haven’t even thought of yet, to live out each moment going about my Father’s business within my Father’s house.
If I consider my individual circumstances, what do I see? Am I so identified with the life of the eternal Child of God that I, too, am simply his child, continually talking to him and realizing that all things come from him? Are the graces of his ministry working through me in my home, my business, and my community? Am I wondering why I’m going through the things I’m going through right now? It isn’t that I have to go through them; it’s that they have been chosen specifically for me by God’s providence, with an eye to my growth in grace.
Let God have his way, while you keep yourself in perfect union with him. The life our Lord lived on earth is to become your vital life. The way he worked and lived must be the way he lives in you.
Psalms 72-73; Romans 9:1-15
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t.
Conformed to His Image, 357 R
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, August 07, 2026
The Sign On Your Life - #10325
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I remember the last time I bought a house. It was a while ago, but I still remember that nervous feeling of stepping out on a limb that night to say to the owner, "We'll buy it." I was thinking, "Where in the world are we going to get the money for this?" And then the handshake, the signature on that document that committed most of my working life to paying for it.
But the story was really told in two signs on the front yard. One was there when I came to look at the house. It said "For Sale." Then after we committed ourselves to buy it, they changed the sign. Of course it said: "Sold." I felt pretty good when I drove by there and said, "Hey, I know who that's sold to. That house is mine." And I knew that no one else was going to be able to drive up there and say, "Well, that's a nice house. I'd like this house." Nope! It was sold by right of purchase, and no one could have it but me!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Sign On Your Life."
Our word for today from the Word of God; we are in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Listen to these words: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Okay, there's a sign on your life. It doesn't say like it did on the house that I bought: "Sold." The sign on your life and mine says: Bought. You are a purchased person. You belong to the person who paid for you. Are you living that way? Are you living for the One who gave His life so you could have hope, so you could have a life, so your life could have meaning, so you could have an eternity in heaven, who paid with His life for yours?
One way to tell: what are you doing with your body? That's a specific area that this passage highlights. You have no right to expose that body that He purchased, to devalue it, to degrade it, to neglect it. No, no, no, He paid for it. It cost Him His life to purchase you, including that body of yours. "Therefore," it says, "to glorify God in that body." Honor God with your body.
It's almost like there's another sign on you that says: "Reserved For Jesus." You know, like a table at a restaurant, you can't have that table; it's reserved for someone else. As you're tempted to look at something or listen to something today that's dirty, remember you are a purchased person. You can't allow that garbage to pollute a mind that was bought by the blood of the Son of God.
So many of our daily choices come into focus and are made a lot clearer when we remember - okay, here's a word that I'm making up - our boughtness. Our boughtness! We've been bought. It's not my money, it's not my car, it's not my house, it's not my business, it's not my body, it's not my talent. It isn't my right; I don't have the right to plan my own future. I've been purchased by the Son of God! You and I were purchased at the highest price in history. The Prince of Glory bled and died to buy you back from sin; to buy you back from being owned by this world; to buy you back from the Devil's plans for your life.
Don't let anyone have what Jesus paid so much for. The sign on you says: "Bought By Jesus."
No comments:
Post a Comment