Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 4
Brag About That!
Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it.
Proverbs 27:2 (NCV)
Demanding respect is like chasing a butterfly. Chase it, and you’ll never catch it. Sit still, and it may light on your shoulder. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal asked, “Do you wish people to speak well of you? Then never speak well of yourself.” Maybe that’s why the Bible says, “Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it.”
Do you feel a need for affirmation? Does your self-esteem need attention? You don’t need to drop names or show off. You need only pause at the base of the cross and be reminded of this: The maker of the stars would rather die for you than live without you. And that is a fact. So if you need to brag, brag about that
Deuteronomy 8
Do Not Forget the LORD
1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Ecclesiastes 1:2-9
Listen to this passage
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:14
Listen to this passage
14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
December 4, 2008
Gone With The Wind
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READ: Ecclesiastes 1:2-9,14
All is vanity and grasping for the wind. —Ecclesiastes 1:14
The epic film based on Margaret Mitchell’s novel Gone With the Wind opens with these lines:
“There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. . . . Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind.”
Not only does a way of life disappear but also the dreams that drive the main characters. Throughout the Civil War, Scarlett O’Hara is preoccupied with her love for Ashley Wilkes. But by story’s end, she is disillusioned.
Solomon saw the futility of seeking satisfaction in people and things. Despite amassing wealth and knowledge, completing great projects, and marrying many wives, he said, “All is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Eccl. 1:14).
Why does chasing transitory things leave us unfulfilled? The biblical answer is that we were created to find our ultimate fulfillment in God. Jesus promised, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
People and things come and go. But the spiritual satisfaction Christ offers sustains us in this world and will endure into eternity. — Dennis Fisher
What comes from man will never last,
It’s here today, tomorrow past;
What comes from God will always be
The same for all eternity! —Spencer
Invest your life in what pays eternal dividends.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 4, 2008
The Law of Opposition
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READ:
To him who overcomes . . . —Revelation 2:7
Life without war is impossible in the natural or the supernatural realm. It is a fact that there is a continuing struggle in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual areas of life.
Health is the balance between the physical parts of my body and all the things and forces surrounding me. To maintain good health I must have sufficient internal strength to fight off the things that are external. Everything outside my physical life is designed to cause my death. The very elements that sustain me while I am alive work to decay and disintegrate my body once it is dead. If I have enough inner strength to fight, I help to produce the balance needed for health. The same is true of the mental life. If I want to maintain a strong and active mental life, I have to fight. This struggle produces the mental balance called thought.
Morally it is the same. Anything that does not strengthen me morally is the enemy of virtue within me. Whether I overcome, thereby producing virtue, depends on the level of moral excellence in my life. But we must fight to be moral. Morality does not happen by accident; moral virtue is acquired.
And spiritually it is also the same. Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation . . ." ( John 16:33 ). This means that anything which is not spiritual leads to my downfall. Jesus went on to say, ". . . but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." I must learn to fight against and overcome the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness. Then it becomes a delight to meet opposition.
Holiness is the balance between my nature and the law of God as expressed in Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Unnecessary Running - #5714
Thursday, December 4, 2008
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Every once in a while we had the treat of seeing a guinea hen in our backyard. My wife was talking to a neighbor about guinea fowl, and he told us some interesting discoveries he had made about them. Apparently, they have this amazing ability to literally fly straight up when they have to. So, when a coyote is chasing a chicken, he's got a pretty good chance of having a chicken dinner because his prey takes off on an angle. But guinea fowl can just suddenly take off and go straight up thus seriously disappointing Mr. Coyote. Our neighbor said, "They're talented, but they're stupid!" That's because of a phenomenon he observed when some guinea hens were running in his wife's flower garden. They literally got lost in the flower patch and they just kept running back and forth, back and forth, actually trampling that flower garden. They just kept running. They were baffled as how to get out. Uh, guys look up! You can fly right out of here!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unnecessary Running."
Unbelievable! The guinea fowl gets all worked up, running back and forth, wondering how to get out when all he has to do is look up. Wait a minute here. This sounds all too familiar.
See, Jesus describes how we do a lot of unnecessary worrying and running in our word for today from the Word of God. In Matthew 6, beginning in verse 25, Jesus says, "Do not worry about your life." In verse 28, He says, "Why do you worry?" In verse 31, His command is again, "Do not worry." Then He describes the guinea fowl-like race that many of us run and the "look up" that can liberate you from it.
Talking about the daily concerns of having enough stuff, Jesus says, "The pagans run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Basically, Jesus is saying the anxiety level, the sanity of your life, depends on what you are pursuing, what you're really passionate about. If it's earth-stuff, welcome to Worry Land. If it's the stuff that matters to God, the things that will last forever, welcome to the realm of flying above all the insanity of life's trivial pursuits.
If you belong to Jesus Christ, I'm sure in your beliefs you think God's stuff is more important than earth-stuff. But you're daily living, your choices may suggest that the reverse is true. It could be that you've allowed yourself to get caught up in the race for what earth has...in an earthbound definition of "financial security"...in trying to get lots of human approval and recognition. And you're running back and forth like a guinea hen in a flower garden. Oh, there's lots of activity, but not much progress.
The difference between personal peace and personal turmoil is an issue of priorities. Which kingdom are you putting first? If what matters to God, like your time with Him, your service for Him, the condition of your relationships; if those things have been shoved to the margins by other less eternal pursuits, then you're trapped in a race that knows no peace.
But you could look up today. You could see your higher calling to live for what will last. Your Heavenly Father knows your needs; you don't have to run all over the place trying to meet them. As the Bible says, "Set your heart on things above" and start to fly above that race that has worn you out and consumed your peace.
