Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 5
Prayer Reminds Us
When a believing person prays, great things happen.
James 5:16 (NCV)
Prayer is the recognition that if God had not engaged himself in our problems, we would still be lost in the blackness. It is by his mercy that we have been lifted up. Prayer is that whole process that reminds us of who God is and who we are.
I believe there's great power in prayer. I believe God heals the wounded, and that he can raise the dead. But I don't believe we tell God what to do and when to do it.
God knows that we, with our limited vision, don't even know that for which we should pray. When we entrust our requests to him, we trust him to honor our prayers with holy judgment.
Hebrews 6
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. 10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The Certainty of God's Promise
13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants."[c] 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Matthew 13
The Parable of the Sower
1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."
September 5, 2008
Roots Or Shoots?
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READ: Matthew 13:1-9
Because they had no root they withered away. —Matthew 13:6
In the life of trees, one key to survival is having more roots than shoots. In his book Oak: The Frame of Civilization,, author William Bryant Logan says, “If a tree puts on a lot of top growth and few roots, it is liable to be weak-wooded and short-lived. . . . If a tree puts down a great deal of roots and adds shoots more slowly, however, it is liable to be long-lived and more resistant to stress and strain.”
People and organizations can be like trees. The rise to prominence is exhilarating, but anything that puts up shoots faster than it puts down roots is fragile and in danger of breaking, falling, or dying.
Jesus used a similar analogy in His parable of the sower. People who hear the Word and receive it joyfully are like seed sown on stony places; they spring up quickly but endure only a short time because they have no roots (Matt. 13:6,20-21).
Roots aren’t at all glamorous, but they are the source of our strength. If our roots go deep in the knowledge of God (Jer. 9:24) and our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3), we’ll be strong, resistant to blight, and more likely to survive the storms of adversity.
How deep are your roots? — Julie Ackerman Link
Lord, keep me from being envious of the beautiful and the seemingly powerful. May I use Your resources to put down roots that will make me strong rather than growing branches to make me attractive. Amen.
The roots of stability come from being grounded in God’s Word and prayer.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 5, 2008
Watching With Jesus
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READ:
Stay here and watch with Me —Matthew 26:38
Watch with Me." Jesus was saying, in effect, "Watch with no private point of view at all, but watch solely and entirely with Me." In the early stages of our Christian life, we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for Him. We do not watch with Him through the revealed truth of the Bible even in the circumstances of our own lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with Himself through a particular "Gethsemane" experience of our own. But we refuse to go, saying, "No, Lord, I can’t see the meaning of this, and besides, it’s very painful." And how can we possibly watch with Someone who is so incomprehensible? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with Him in His Gethsemane, when we don’t even know why He is suffering? We don’t know how to watch with Him— we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not fully understand His purpose. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept as a result of their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest and most intimate relationship of their lives they "all . . . forsook Him and fled" ( Matthew 26:56 ).
"They were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . ." ( Acts 2:4 ). "They" refers to the same people, but something wonderful has happened between these two events— our Lord’s death, resurrection, and ascension— and the disciples have now been invaded and "filled with the Holy Spirit." Our Lord had said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . ." ( Acts 1:8 ). This meant that they learned to watch with Him the rest of their lives.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Unforgettable You - #5650 - September 5, 2008
Category: Your Relationships
Friday, September 5, 2008
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Some of our great moments as a family have been spent watching those old videos of us (we thankfully converted them to DVDs now.) But they are at a time when we were all a lot younger. For a while, our firstborn had the camera all to herself. Then we added a co-star - her brother. And then along came another subject for the lens - a baby brother! And, of course, some of the most camera-worthy moments are when your baby or toddler is winning some of their first victories, doing some of those things that are irresistibly cute. You know? So often the camera was focused on our daughter's little brothers. So you'll be watching one of them doing some adorable thing when suddenly this five-year-old jumps into the picture, waving and smiling right into the camera. It's almost as if our daughter was saying, "Hey, remember me? I'm over here! Don't forget me!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Unforgettable You."
Left out of the picture - now that's not just a feeling reserved for little people. It may be a feeling you know all too well. You may be feeling pretty much forgotten right now, left out, passed over, neglected, on the margins. It's a painful kind of loneliness that leaves you crying out inside, "Hey, I'm here, too! Remember me?" In fact, maybe you've done some pretty wild things to try to get in the picture, but your efforts to be noticed or accepted have only left you feeling even worse.
I want you to know that there's someone who considers you unforgettable. This is not just some sentimental platitude to try to cheer you up. This is a life-changing reality that can forever change how you feel about yourself, that can open you up to the love of a lifetime.
Our word for today from the Word of God is the powerful guarantee that you are never forgotten. In Isaiah 49:15-16, God says, "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands."
It's true sometimes even the person closest to you can seem to forget you. Every human love will disappoint you at some point. But the most powerful person in the universe says, "I will not forget you." You see, He can't. He has you engraved on the palms of His hands - in nail prints.
The Son of God knew you had forgotten Him. We all have. We've lived most of our life with our back turned to our Creator, doing what we wanted instead of what He wanted. And He knew that, unless He intervened, you would be separated from Him for all eternity. That's the built-in penalty for our sin. But Jesus loves you so much that He left heaven to go to a cross where He took your hell. And now, whenever He looks at His hands, He sees the evidence of how much you mean to Him - the print of the nails.
But He doesn't force His love on you. You have to give yourself to Him. From the moment you do, you begin a love-relationship you've been missing your whole life. You will never be alone, never unloved, never abandoned again. You've walked into the strong and safe arms of the Man who died for you!
Now, if you want to begin this incredible relationship with Jesus, please tell Him that right where you are. And I would love to help you be sure that you belong to Him. In fact, our website is all about that. It's called YoursForLife.net. And I hope you'll go there today at your first convenience. I think you'll find there some information that has helped an awful lot of people secure a personal relationship with this Savior who died in their place. You know, you can also get this by way of just called us and get a little booklet called Yours For Life that I've written. The toll free number is 877-741-1200.
All this time you've forgotten Jesus. He's never forgotten you, and He never will. He loves you too much! He's got the scars to prove it.
