Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 16
The Shepherd Leads
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23:2 (NKJV)
In the second verse of the Twenty-third Psalm, David the poet becomes David the artist. His quill becomes a brush, his parchment a canvas, and his words paint a picture. A flock of sheep on folded legs, encircling a shepherd. Bellies nestled deep in the long shoots of grass. A still pond on one side, the watching shepherd on the other. “He makes me to like down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”
Note the two pronouns preceding the two verbs. He makes me…He leads me…
Who is the active one? Who is in charge? The shepherd. The shepherd selects the trail and prepares a pasture. The sheep’s job—our job—is to watch the Shepherd.
Joshua 23
Joshua's Farewell to the Leaders
1 After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: "I am old and well advanced in years. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Great Sea [a] in the west. 5 The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
6 "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.
9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.
12 "But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, 13 then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.
14 "Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as every good promise of the LORD your God has come true, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 112
1[a] Praise the LORD. [b]
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD,
who finds great delight in his commands.
2 His children will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. [c]
5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
a righteous man will be remembered forever.
7 He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear;
in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.
9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor,
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn [d] will be lifted high in honor.
10 The wicked man will see and be vexed,
he will gnash his teeth and waste away;
the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.
December 16, 2008
The Task Remains
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READ: Psalm 112
He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. —Psalm 112:7
Our life had always been rather simple. When my wife and I were first married, we were not looking for riches or fame—just a way to glorify God with whatever He gave us to do. In all arenas of our life, that purpose stayed clear. As our children grew and I began working at RBC Ministries, our goal continued to center around glorifying God.
But then, in 2002, came bad news of the worst kind. Our third child, 17-year-old Melissa, was unexpectedly ushered into heaven. Suddenly, we were forced to rethink things. Could we, in our new identity as bereaved parents, still find a way to glorify God? Or did this unbearable circumstance alter our perspective and goal?
We’ve spent a lot of time pondering that question. When the One you’ve entrusted with your children allows one of them to be taken, it would be easy to stop trusting, serving, and pointing others to God. But the psalmist’s words showed us the way. He said that the person who fears God “will never be shaken . . . . His heart is steadfast” (Ps. 112:6-7). And so we—and you, no matter what you are facing—can continue to be “steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”
Even in the face of “evil tidings,” the task remains: Glorify God. — Dave Branon
Griefs bravely borne may serve Him
And richly glorify,
As quiet waters mirror
The beauty of the sky. —Nicholson
Trust through sorrow brings triumph over sadness.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 16, 2008
Wrestling Before God
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READ:
Take up the whole armor of God . . . praying always . . . —Ephesians 6:13,18
You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25 ). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because "we are more than conquerors through Him . . ." ( Romans 8:37 ). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— "take up the whole armor of God . . . ."
Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . ." ( Romans 8:28 )— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, "Yes, it is the Lord’s will." We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
An Answering Person Or An Answering Machine? - #5722 - December 16, 2008
Category: Your Personal Power
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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I know telephone answering machines are efficient, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. Actually, some of those machines can be entertaining. Some of my friends do major productions or comedy monologs on theirs. But those machines just don't respond. They record, but they don't respond. One friend captured how I feel in a tongue-in-cheek recording he leaves on his machine. You call, the machine picks up, and you hear my friend's voice saying, "In a world of cold and uncaring humans, isn't it refreshing to be greeted by a warm and friendly answering machine?" No! You just can't automate a personal response!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "An Answering Person or An Answering Machine?"
Actually, when it comes to the needs around you, you're probably one or the other: an answering person or an unresponsive answering machine. Jesus was trying to point that out in Luke 10:30-34. It's our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, they beat him, they went away, leaving him half dead."
"A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine..."
It's a great story, huh? Yeah, it's a troubling story, too, though. It's the professional God-lovers - the priest and the Levite - who don't stop for this obvious human need. And it's a Samaritan, one considered a spiritual reject by the Jews, who responds as Jesus would with above and beyond love.
Like me, you may be very involved in Christian activities and programs, and that can become a trap. I believe the priest and the Levite knew about meeting needs. I believe they knew about helping wounded people. But they may have confined their response to programs for helping, to meetings to plan programs, to theological concepts about love and mercy and compassion. Tragically, the longer you've been around Christian things, the more you tend to replace personal acts of love with programs and structures.
You know, it goes like this: "We have a program that ministers to the poor, the homeless, the brokenhearted, and the hurting. We have meetings that present Christ to lost and dying people. We're having a seminar on reaching people for the Lord." Answering machines; machines to answer the calls of men and women in need. Now I'm very much in favor of organized, large-scale efforts to respond to the desperate people around us. But they are no substitute for you being a good Samaritan yourself, for the natural flow of love and mercy that stops for someone who needs money, or a listening ear, a word of encouragement, or a chance to hear about Christ's love.
Like the Good Samaritan, I hope you don't lose that beautiful characteristic of your Master. I would call it a breakable heart. Sometime this week, you will almost surely encounter someone who is wounded or without Christ. Will you excuse yourself because you're busy in a lot of Christian activity - your answering machines? Or will you stop and be the answer with a loving, personal, above-and-beyond response? When the people around you call, they need an answering person, not an answering machine!
