Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
November 25
Stubborn Love
“My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!”
Luke 15:24 (NCV)
Jesus...summarized God's stubborn love with a parable. He told about a teenager who decided that life at the farm was too slow for his tastes. So with pockets full of inheritance money, he set out to find the big time. What he found instead were hangovers, fair-weather friends, and long unemployment lines. When he had had just about as much of the pig's life as he could take, he swallowed his pride, dug his hands deep into his empty pockets, and began the long walk home; all the while rehearsing a speech that he planned to give to his father.
He never used it. Just when he got to the top of the hill, his father, who'd been waiting at the gate, saw him. The boy's words of apology were quickly muffled by the father's words of forgiveness....
If you ever wonder how God can use you to make a difference in your world....look at the forgiveness found in those open arms and take courage.
From: No Wonder They Call Him the Savior
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2003)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 10
1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? [f] 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?" '
3 "Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.
5 "After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.
8 "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, [g] but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do."
Saul Made King
9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. 11 When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
12 A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" 13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Now Saul's uncle asked him and his servant, "Where have you been?"
"Looking for the donkeys," he said. "But when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel."
15 Saul's uncle said, "Tell me what Samuel said to you."
16 Saul replied, "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." But he did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
17 Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah 18 and said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.' 19 But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your calamities and distresses. And you have said, 'No, set a king over us.' So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans."
20 When Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri's clan was chosen. Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. 22 So they inquired further of the LORD, "Has the man come here yet?"
And the LORD said, "Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage."
23 They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. 24 Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people."
Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
25 Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the LORD. Then Samuel dismissed the people, each to his own home.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some troublemakers said, "How can this fellow save us?" They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 Thessalonians 1
1Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.[b]
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith
2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
November 25, 2009
What A Ride!
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READ: 1 Thessalonians 1
The word of the Lord has sounded forth . . . in every place. —1 Thessalonians 1:8
Francis Asbury rode 6,000 miles a year on horseback for nearly half a century. Despite ill health, he drove himself tirelessly. He sustained himself with venison jerky—a food that wouldn’t spoil during his extended travels. Asbury is remembered for introducing the Methodist “circuit-riding preacher” as an effective way to capture the American frontier for Christ. Planting new churches in remote areas was central to his approach.
At the close of Asbury’s ministry, he had recruited over 700 traveling preachers. In 1771, when Asbury arrived in the colonies, there were only about 600 Methodists in America. Forty-five years later, there were 200,000!
In many ways, Asbury’s strategy for planting churches reflects the approach of the apostle Paul. To the church he had planted in Thessalonica, Paul wrote: “From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place” (1 Thess. 1:8; see Acts 17:1-10).
The days of the “circuit-riding preacher” have come and gone. But each of us has a “frontier” where friends, relatives, and neighbors are our mission field. Can you think of someone today who needs to hear the good news? — Dennis Fisher
Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me;
And may I nobly do my part
To win that soul for Thee. —Tucker
Those who love Christ have a love for the lost.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
November 25, 2009
The Secret of Spiritual Consistency
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READ:
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . —Galatians 6:14
When a person is newly born again, he seems inconsistent due to his unrelated emotions and the state of the external things or circumstances in his life. The apostle Paul had a strong and steady underlying consistency in his life. Consequently, he could let his external life change without internal distress because he was rooted and grounded in God. Most of us are not consistent spiritually because we are more concerned about being consistent externally. In the external expression of things, Paul lived in the basement, while his critics lived on the upper level. And these two levels do not begin to touch each other. But Paul’s consistency was down deep in the fundamentals. The great basis of his consistency was the agony of God in the redemption of the world, namely, the Cross of Christ.
State your beliefs to yourself again. Get back to the foundation of the Cross of Christ, doing away with any belief not based on it. In secular history the Cross is an infinitesimally small thing, but from the biblical perspective it is of more importance than all the empires of the world. If we get away from dwelling on the tragedy of God on the Cross in our preaching, our preaching produces nothing. It will not transmit the energy of God to man; it may be interesting, but it will have no power. However, when we preach the Cross, the energy of God is released. ". . . it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . ." ( 1 Corinthians 1:21, 23 ).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Cannons of Fear and the Courage of Faith - #5968
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
We were with our precious two-year-old granddaughter at a theme park, and we took her to a part of the park that's usually a children's favorite; they call it "Happy Harbor." It's got water cannons that shoot out into this pond and water squirting up randomly from these holes in the sidewalk. One whole section has these cannons that propel styrofoam balls all over the place. It's usually raining styrofoam in there. Our granddaughter's three- and six-year-old cousins were already in there having a ball. Actually, having a good time. But our little princess, well, she didn't like loud noises very much. She'd be frightened even by the loud train whistle in the park all day long.
I watched a very interesting little drama play out as she battled with two conflicting impulses. She was frightened by the sounds of those air cannons going off. She covered her ears and she refused to uncover them. But she was very intrigued with all those styrofoam balls and she wanted to go in and play with them and with her cousins. It was obviously a hard decision. Finally, she looked up at me as if to say, "Go with me." And together we ventured into that loud but exciting place. She still covered her ears, but she went in. Within minutes, ears uncovered, playing with her cousins, throwing little balls everywhere, oblivious to the noise that had almost kept her out.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Cannons of Fear and the Courage of Faith."
I saw myself that day, in my little granddaughter. Afraid to go where I know I ought to be - letting the cannons of fear decide what I do. That's the very kind of thinking that cost an entire generation of God's people the Promised Land. They saw all those scary people and walled cities in Canaan, and they let that make them decide not to go in and take the land that God said He would give them. Fear trumped faith, and they got 40 years of wilderness instead of 40 years of wonderful.
Ever made any decisions like that? Most of us have. We need to hear the words God spoke to Israel's new leader in Joshua 1:9. It's our word for today from the Word of God. It's 40 years later, and they're facing all the same "cannons" that scared them away before. But God says to Joshua: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." And this time, they went.
Like our granddaughter that day, their fear was still strong, but they didn't let it be decisive. Why? For the same reasons our granddaughter ventured into that scary place. First, she went with someone she trusted who was bigger than she is. That's what God was saying to Joshua and what He's trying to say to you. Whatever is bigger than you are, He is bigger than it is! As an old hymn says, "Anywhere He leads me I can safely go."
The second reason you go into the unknown and the unnerving is that there's something very good there! Seldom will you find the will of God in your comfort zone. All our "Promised Lands" require us to cross a flooded Jordan River and face daunting obstacles, but we do it because our eyes are on the Lord who is also our God!
Fear often keeps us from God's best - parenting out of fear, leading (or failing to lead) because of fear, resisting God's call or God's assignment because of fear, missing God's best because of fear of failure, leaving someone we know spiritually lost because of fear of sharing Jesus with them. Faith, on the other hand, focuses on the greatness of your Lord and reaches for His hand, and says, "I'll go if You're going with me."
I saw what happened when a little girl disregarded the cannons of fear and let the courage of faith decide. She experienced a joy and excitement in a way that she had not experienced before, and so will you.
