Max Lucado Daily: Grace Makes All the Difference
If life is… "because I have to"-where's the joy in that? Too often I hear folks rejecting Christ because they think the Christian life is all about rules and regulations-all about stifling and suffocating ritual.
This happens when we confuse Christ with legalism. Legalism is joyless because it's endless. There's always another class to attend. Inmates incarcerated in self-salvation find work, but never joy!
Grace! It makes all the difference. I like this quote: "Gone are the exertions of law-keeping, gone the disciplines of legalism, the anxiety that having done everything we might not have done enough. We reach the goal, not by the stairs, but by the lift-God pledges his promised righteousness to those who will stop trying to save themselves!"1
Grace offers rest. Legalism? Never!
From GRACE
Joshua 18
The Shiloh Survey
1–2 18 Then the entire congregation of the People of Israel got together at Shiloh. They put up the Tent of Meeting.
The land was under their control but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had yet to receive their inheritance.
3–5 Joshua addressed the People of Israel: “How long are you going to sit around on your hands, putting off taking possession of the land that God, the God of your ancestors, has given you? Pick three men from each tribe so I can commission them. They will survey and map the land, showing the inheritance due each tribe, and report back to me. They will divide it into seven parts. Judah will stay in its territory in the south and the people of Joseph will keep to their place in the north.
6 “You are responsible for preparing a survey map showing seven portions. Then bring it to me so that I can cast lots for you here in the presence of our God.
7 “Only the Levites get no portion among you because the priesthood of God is their inheritance. And Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh already have their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, given to them by Moses the servant of God.”
8 So the men set out. As they went out to survey the land, Joshua charged them: “Go. Survey the land and map it. Then come back to me and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the presence of God.”
9 So off the men went. They covered the ground and mapped the country by towns in a scroll. Then they reported back to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh.
10 Joshua cast the lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of God. That’s where Joshua divided up the land to the People of Israel, according to their tribal divisions.
Ben-jamin
11 The first lot turned up for the tribe of Ben-jamin with its clans. The border of the allotment went between the peoples of Judah and Joseph.
12–13 The northern border began at the Jordan, then went up to the ridge north of Jericho, ascending west into the hill country into the wilderness of Beth Aven. From there the border went around to Luz, to its southern ridge (that is, Bethel), and then down from Ataroth Addar to the mountain to the south of Lower Beth Horon.
14 There the border took a turn on the west side and swung south from the mountain to the south of Beth Horon and ended at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town of the people of Judah. This was the west side.
15–19 The southern border began at the edge of Kiriath Jearim on the west, then ran west until it reached the spring, the Waters of Nephtoah. It then descended to the foot of the mountain opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom (which flanks the Valley of Rephaim to the north), descended to the Hinnom Valley, just south of the Jebusite ridge, and went on to En Rogel. From there it curved north to En Shemesh and Geliloth, opposite the Red Pass (Adummim), down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, continued toward the north flank of Beth Arabah, then plunged to the Arabah. It then followed the slope of Beth Hoglah north and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea—the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.
20 The east border was formed by the Jordan.
This was the inheritance of the people of Ben-jamin for their clans, marked by these borders on all sides.
21–28 The cities of the tribe of Ben-jamin, clan by clan, were:
Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,
Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—
twelve towns with their villages.
Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,
Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath Jearim—
fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance for Ben-jamin, according to its clans.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, January 18, 2026
by Tom Felten
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Nehemiah 6:1-9
“I’m Doing a Great Work; I Can’t Come Down”
1–2 6 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that there were no more breaks in it—even though I hadn’t yet installed the gates—Sanballat and Geshem sent this message: “Come and meet with us at Kephirim in the valley of Ono.”
2–3 I knew they were scheming to hurt me so I sent messengers back with this: “I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down. Why should the work come to a standstill just so I can come down to see you?”
4 Four times they sent this message and four times I gave them my answer.
5–6 The fifth time—same messenger, same message—Sanballat sent an unsealed letter with this message:
6–7 “The word is out among the nations—and Geshem says it’s true—that you and the Jews are planning to rebel. That’s why you are rebuilding the wall. The word is that you want to be king and that you have appointed prophets to announce in Jerusalem, ‘There’s a king in Judah!’ The king is going to be told all this—don’t you think we should sit down and have a talk?”
8 I sent him back this: “There’s nothing to what you’re saying. You’ve made it all up.”
9 They were trying to intimidate us into quitting. They thought, “They’ll give up; they’ll never finish it.”
I prayed, “Give me strength.”
Today's Insights
Nehemiah was serving as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia when he learned that the Jewish remnant who’d returned to Jerusalem was in trouble. The wall of Jerusalem had been broken, and the gates burned (Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah fasted and prayed to God (v. 4), and the king graciously allowed him to return to Jerusalem to rebuild (2:1-6). When Nehemiah arrived and announced his plans, the Jewish leaders replied, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” (v. 18 nlt). Opposition began almost immediately (v. 19), but Nehemiah wasn’t discouraged by the false accusers. He declared, “The God of heaven will give us success” (v. 20). As with Nehemiah, when we trust in God, He’ll give us strength to stand even against those who falsely accuse us.
Faith and False Accusation
I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” Nehemiah 6:9
Driven by powerful winds, the fire raged for days. The historian Tacitus describes a chaotic scene filled with screams and citizens running for their lives. In the end, nearly two-thirds of Rome had been destroyed. The Roman emperor Nero falsely accused believers in Jesus of starting the fire. He hated Christians and selected them to be the scapegoat for the disaster—one that was rumored to have been ordered by Nero himself!
Nehemiah also faced the blistering heat of false accusation. He’d been a servant to the king of Persia but had been allowed to return to Jerusalem with other Israelites to repair its walls (Nehemiah 2:1-10). When the wall was repaired, however, enemies accused the Jews of “planning to rebel” and making Nehemiah “their king” (6:6 nlt). How did they respond to false accusations? By declaring and living out their innocence (v. 8), courageously standing in God’s power (v. 11), and praying fervently to Him (v. 14). Their enemies were ultimately “frightened and humiliated” as they “realized [the wall reconstruction] had been done with the help of . . . God” (v. 16 nlt).
At times, we’ll be falsely accused by others. But as God provides the strength we need, we can forgive our accusers and “live such good lives” that, though “they accuse [us] of doing wrong, they may see [our] good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).
Reflect & Pray
Why are believers in Jesus sometimes falsely accused? How can you live out a courageous faith?
Loving God, thank You for helping me when I’m falsely accused.
Check out this article to learn more about standing firm with the Lord.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Unbribed Devotion
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” —John 4:7
When Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for water, he indicated the proper form our devotion should take. How many of us spend our lives begging Jesus to satisfy our thirst, when we should be satisfying him? To be a witness for the Lord is to lead a life of unsullied, uncompromising, and unbribed devotion. It is to make ourselves a satisfaction to him wherever he places us.
Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. Sometimes, the greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for him. Instead of losing ourselves in love for our Savior, we busy ourselves with work, allowing it to distract us from our relationship with him. Recall how Jesus admonished Martha, as she rushed about doing chores while her sister, Mary, sat devotedly at his feet: “Martha, Martha,” Jesus said, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better” (Luke 10:41–42).
It is easier to serve than to be drunk with love and devotion. But the one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God. It is not a call to keep busy, or to rack up accomplishments, or to keep a running tally of how many souls we’ve saved. All of that is God’s concern, not ours, and we must leave him to it. We are not called to battle for God but to be used by God in his battles. Are we allowing ourselves to be used in this way?
Genesis 43-45; Matthew 12:24-50
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R