Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 22
God Knows the Answers
If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it.
James 1:5 (NCV)
Thomas came with doubts. Did Christ turn him away?
Moses had his reservations. Did God tell him to go home?
Job had his struggles. Did God avoid him?
Paul had his hard times. Did God abandon him?
No. God never turns away the sincere heart. Tough questions don't stump God. He invites our probing.
Mark it down. God never turns away the honest seeker. Go to God with your questions. You may not find all the answers, but in finding God, you know the One who does.
1 Peter 5
To Elders and Young Men
1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."[a] 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
12With the help of Silas,[b] whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 13She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
1 John 3:16-20
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
September 22, 2008
Arms Of Love
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: 1 John 3:16-20
Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:18
Many college students go on summer missions trips. But rarely does one come back with plans to rescue a baby. Mallery Thurlow, a student at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, went to Haiti to help distribute food. One day a mother showed up at the distribution center with a very sick infant in her arms. The woman was out of options. The baby needed surgery, but no one would perform it. Without intervention, the baby would die. Mallery took baby Rose into her arms—and into her heart.
After returning to the US, Mallery searched for someone to operate on baby Rose. Most doctors held out little hope. Finally, Rose was granted a visa to leave Haiti, and Mallery went back to get her. Detroit Children’s Hospital donated the $100,000 surgery, and it was successful. A little life was saved.
It’s unlikely that we will have such a dramatic impact on others. Yet challenged by this student’s willingness, we can find ways to provide help. She didn’t let circumstances, youth, or inconvenience stop her from saving Rose’s life.
Like Mallery, we are called to love “in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Who needs you to be God’s arms of love today? — Dave Branon
When you see someone in need,
Love demands a loving deed;
Don’t just say you love him true,
Prove it by the deeds you do. —Sper
Compassion puts love into action.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 22, 2008
The Missionary’s Master and Teacher
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am . . . . I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master . . . —John 13:13, 16
To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind. To have a master and teacher is this and nothing less— ". . . for One is your Teacher, the Christ . . ." ( Matthew 23:8 ).
Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not.
"You call Me Teacher and Lord . . ."— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. ". . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience. . ." (Hebrews 5:8 ). If we are consciously aware that we are being mastered, that idea itself is proof that we have no master. If that is our attitude toward Jesus, we are far away from having the relationship He wants with us. He wants us in a relationship where He is so easily our Master and Teacher that we have no conscious awareness
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Final Answer - #5661 - September 22, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Monday, September 22, 2008
Download MP3 (right click to save)
A few years ago, an old TV format got resurrected and came back big time! It was the old quiz millions of dollars - "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Some Joe or Joan Ordinaryperson was show! The program that first captured the attention of millions of viewers was about winning asked a series of multiple-choice questions that got increasingly harder and were worth increasingly more. Now, if you needed help on a couple, you could call some person you've designated as your "lifeline." You could even listen to the opinions of the studio audience. But eventually, the spotlight was just on you, the contestant, and the host who was pressing the question. And when you finally gave your answer, the host asked that tension-building, unnerving question, "Is that your final answer?"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Final Answer."
That may be the very question God is asking you about what you're doing with Jesus Christ, "Is that your final answer?" Someday, and no one knows when, you will have given your final answer about Jesus. And there will be no more chances. If your answer is right, God has promised you eternal life in heaven. If your answer is wrong, you will have to pay forever for your sins in a place that God calls hell; sins that Jesus already paid for on the cross so you wouldn't have to. But you must grab God's Rescuer in total trust or you won't be saved.
In Isaiah 55:6, our word for today from the Word of God, the Lord gives a loving invitation, also a sobering warning. "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." Implication: you won't always be able to find Him; you won't always find Him there when you call. Someday, and you won't know that it's that day, you will give what turns out to be your final answer as to whether or not you're going to give yourself to Jesus. And when you stand before God, there will be no "lifelines" to reach for. You're not just deciding about Jesus. You're, in fact, deciding about where you will spend all eternity.
That's not my idea. It's what God Himself says in places like John 3:36 in the Bible, "Whoever believes in the Son (that's Jesus) has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." Now, you have to reach for Him "while He may be found...and while He is near." And that may be right now. You can feel a tug of Jesus in your heart again. You know you've never really committed yourself to Him; you know you need to. And some day you plan to.
But you don't come to Jesus when you're ready; you come when He's ready. Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father...draws him" (John 6:44). If He's drawing you now, he's ready. Now is when you'd better come. There's no guarantee how many times He will come this close again. Tragically, so many people have slipped into eternity having given a deadly final answer to Jesus. An answer like "No," or "I'll take my chances," or "I hope I'm good enough," or "Later." All wrong - all deadly forever.
But today He's still near. He can still be found. And if you've never really trusted Jesus to be your Personal Rescuer from the penalty of your personal sins, don't wait another day to answer "yes" to Him. If you want Him in your heart, tell Him, "Jesus, I believe that when you died on that cross, it was my sins you were paying for. I believe you are not on that cross any more. You are alive and waiting to come into my life at my invitation. I turn from running my own life. Beginning today, Jesus, I am yours...all yours."
If you want to be sure you belong to Him, our website has been a help, I think, to a lot of people when they got to that point. If you are there today, would you go to YoursForLife.net. I think it will help you know that you've begun your relationship with Jesus Christ.
One day your answer to Jesus will be your final answer. Be sure that you've said, "Yes, Jesus, I'm yours."
