Max Lucado Daily: CHOOSE BELIEF - November 10, 2026
When forced to stand at the crossroads of belief and unbelief, God’s people choose belief. God’s people risk believing. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in Joshua’s story. You could argue that the central message of the book of Joshua is this headline: God keeps His promises. Trust Him.
Three times, Joshua declares God did what he said he would do. The Lord gave all he had sworn to give. The Lord gave rest according to all he had sworn to their fathers. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken. All came to pass.
Learn from Joshua. Take a risk. Believe in God. He will do what he has said he will do.
God Is with You Every Day
Ecclesiastes 3
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
2–8A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
9–13But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. I’ve decided that there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That’s it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift.
14I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.
15Whatever was, is.
Whatever will be, is.
That’s how it always is with God.
God’s Testing Us
16–18I took another good look at what’s going on: The very place of judgment—corrupt! The place of righteousness—corrupt! I said to myself, “God will judge righteous and wicked.” There’s a right time for every thing, every deed—and there’s no getting around it. I said to myself regarding the human race, “God’s testing the lot of us, showing us up as nothing but animals.”
19–22Humans and animals come to the same end—humans die, animals die. We all breathe the same air. So there’s really no advantage in being human. None. Everything’s smoke. We all end up in the same place—we all came from dust, we all end up as dust. Nobody knows for sure that the human spirit rises to heaven or that the animal spirit sinks into the earth. So I made up my mind that there’s nothing better for us men and women than to have a good time in whatever we do—that’s our lot. Who knows if there’s anything else to life?
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
by Adam R. Holz
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
1 Corinthians 9:20-27
religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!
24–25You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.
26–27I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.
Today's Insights
Paul’s commitment to sharing the good news of Jesus compelled him to live as the Jewish people lived when trying to reach them (1 Corinthians 9:20). But he put that aside to live like the gentiles when ministering to non-Jews (v. 19). In fact, he lived “like one not having the law” (v. 21). Yet he noted, “I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law” (v. 21)—the law of love. “I am not seeking my own good but the good of many,” the apostle said (10:33). Because of Christ’s great salvation, we, like the apostle, should live disciplined lives “for the sake of the gospel” (9:23).
For additional reflection, watch: Carried By Grace.
A Disciplined Life
[Athletes] do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:25
Tom Cruise has built his film career on a megawatt smile . . . and incredible stunts. The signature stunt in the seventh Mission: Impossible spy action film featured Cruise riding a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuting to safety.
In other Mission: Impossible films, he’s hung off an airplane, held his breath underwater for more than six minutes, and performed high-altitude jumps. We might call him crazy. But Cruise’s commitment—for the sake of telling the best cinematic story—is remarkable.
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul identified another group whose training demanded everything of them: competitive athletes. He praised their discipline: “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training” (v. 25). He said they were compelled by temporal glory—“to get a crown that will not last”—while believers in Jesus are compelled by a calling with eternal value: “to get a crown that will last forever” (v. 25).
Are we as committed to our faith as a disciplined athlete—or a famous actor—might be? “Run in such a way as to get the prize,” Paul said (v. 24). Because of God’s grace, we will receive the crown of life as sons and daughters of the King. That changes everything about how we spend our days here.
Reflect & Pray
How do being saved by grace and living a disciplined life relate? How has God used disciplines to transform you?
Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus to live and die on my behalf. Please help me live today as a response to that gift, offering everything fully to You.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Co-Worker in God’s Service
We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ. — 1 Thessalonians 3:2
After I am sanctified and become a “co-worker in God’s service,” I will probably find it difficult to state what my aim in life is. This is because the Lord has taken me up into a purpose which he alone knows. All my goings are organized by him, which means I can never understand them. What I do know is that he is using me for his purposes throughout the world, just as he used his Son for the purpose of our salvation.
If I seek great things for myself—“God has called me for this and that”—and cling to purposes of my own, I put a barrier between myself and God and make it impossible for him to use me. As long as I have an interest in my own character or in any set ambition, I won’t be able to fully identify myself with God’s interests. I can only get through to total identification by losing forever any idea of myself and by letting God take me out into his purpose for the world.
I have to learn that the aim of life is God’s, not mine. God is using me from his great personal standpoint. All he asks of me is that I have implicit faith in him and in his goodness, such faith that I never say, “Lord, this gives me such heartache.” To talk in that way makes me an impediment to him. When I stop telling God what I want, he can take me up for what he wants without hindrance. He can crumple me or exalt me. He can do anything he chooses.
Self-pity is of the devil. If I go down that road, I cannot be used by God for his purpose, because I live in my own private sphere, a little “world within the world.” God will never be able to get me to come out into his world, because I’m too afraid of what I’ll encounter. I have to set aside my selfishness and fear and become entirely identified with him.
Jeremiah 48-49; Hebrews 7
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth.
The Place of Help
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
When Winning Is Dangerous - #10392
Scripture: Luke 4:5
Some of our greatest ministry times have been among the wonderful Navajo people in Arizona and New Mexico. While we were there we had a chance to explore this majestic canyon known as Canyon Desha. Actually our son was there first. He and his friend, Michael, went there a year before us to do some youth outreach and later he brought his pictures out of his visit to the canyon. Here are these beautiful rock ledges and outcroppings that hover high above the canyon below. And we were enjoying these scenic photos until we got to the ones where my son and his friend Michael were acting like the college students that they were.
Yes, they were perched precariously in various positions on the edge of some of those rock formations. Our minds immediately rushed to the tragedies and the deadly falls we knew of that resulted from getting too close to the edge of a cliff. Needless to say, our son was treated to an unwelcome parental treatise on what might have happened. The view is so nice from those pinnacles! No one really wants to hear about the dangers.
I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “When Winning Is Dangerous.”
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Luke 4 where the Devil three times is coming to Jesus and interrupting Him face to face. Beginning at verse 5, the second temptation, “The Devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to Him, ‘I will give You all the authority and splendor for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.’ So if You worship me Jesus, it will all be Yours.’” Jesus answered, “It is written, worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.”
Well, the Devil took Jesus to a high place to tempt Him. He’s still doing that. He’s trying that strategy on people like you and me. He loves to exploit high places to get you to fall. He also likes to use the low places. He tried that first with Jesus when he was really hungry for 40 days and he tried to get Jesus to meet a legitimate need, but outside of God’s boundaries. But when Satan can’t get us to compromise when we’re down, he goes after us when we’re up. Like a time when you’ve really done something well or you’ve been given recognition or a good position.
A high place could be a time when your dream is finally starting to come true, or when a relationship you wanted is starting to click, or when the career or the money is starting to happen, when you’ve just had a great spiritual experience or victory. You feel as if you’re looking at kingdoms that could be yours. You’re perched on the edge. The view is great and you’re in no mood to hear about the dangers. But that’s what makes you a prime candidate to fall.
One danger is that you’ll compromise to get to a place you really want to be. Just a little bending of the knee the Devil would say, a sexual compromise, an integrity compromise, a family compromise. He’s saying, “Hey, it’s almost in your grasp. If you’ll just stretch a little morally, you can be yours.”
Listen, if the Devil gets you to the top, you can be sure he’s going to push you over the cliff. It’s also tempting to compromise to stay in a good spot once you’ve gotten there. You’ve waited a long time to get to this point and you don’t want to lose it. The Devil knows that, and he’ll try to use that to get you to sacrifice something that you would otherwise never sacrifice. The problem with high places is that we depend on ourselves when we’re there. In the low places we were really trusting God, but now we’re on a roll. So we tend to push Jesus to the edge. It’s easy to be full of ourselves when things are looking good. But that’s when you are on the edge of a deadly fall.
Maybe God has brought you to a high place; maybe the Devil has brought you to a high place. But either way, you can bet the Devil is trying to exploit it. He is showing you what kingdom could be yours if you would just step a little closer to the edge where he can push you off.
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