Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 11
An Undeserved Gift
Many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:15 (NCV)
We take our free gift of salvation and try to earn it or diagnose it or pay for it instead of simply saying “thank you” and accepting it.
Ironic as it may appear, one of the hardest things to do is to be saved by grace. There’s something in us that reacts to God’s free gift. We have some weird compulsion to create laws, systems, and regulations that will make us “worthy” of our gift.
Why do we do that? The only reason I can figure is pride. To accept grace means to accept its necessity, and most folks don’t like to do that. To accept grace also means that one realizes his despair, and most people aren’t too keen on doing that either.
Joshua 2
Rahab and the Spies
1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the land," he said, "especially Jericho." So they went and entered the house of a prostitute [b] named Rahab and stayed there.
2 The king of Jericho was told, "Look! Some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land." 3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land."
4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. 5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." 6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.) 7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.
8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea [c] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. [d] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
14 "Our lives for your lives!" the men assured her. "If you don't tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land."
15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 16 Now she had said to them, "Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way."
17 The men said to her, "This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street, his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible. As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on him. 20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear."
21 "Agreed," she replied. "Let it be as you say." So she sent them away and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them. 23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them. 24 They said to Joshua, "The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Exodus 4:10-17 (New International Version)
10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."
14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."
December 11, 2008
Absolutely Nobody
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READ: Exodus 4:10-17
Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man. —Proverbs 30:2
He wanted to be a nobody. In 1992, a Seattle man running for the office of Washington State’s lieutenant governor legally changed his name to “Absolutely Nobody.” As he entered the race, he said he wanted to greet the voters, saying, “Hi, I’m Absolutely Nobody. Vote for me.” He later admitted that the purpose of his campaign was to abolish the office of lieutenant governor.
This man used a name as a gimmick, but the Bible has a lot to say to those of us who present ourselves to others as a nobody. The right kind of humility is healthy. The songwriters of Israel knew how important it is to see our foolishness apart from God (Ps. 73:22; Prov. 30:2). Jesus Himself showed us that without God we won’t accomplish anything of lasting value (John 5:30; 15:5).
But we read a warning in the story of Moses. There’s a downside to insisting that we are “nobody” if it is to avoid doing what God commands (Ex. 4:1-17). Our motives make us into somebody who resists the loving purposes of God.
We may treat ourselves and others as having no worth. But remember, God doesn’t make nobodies. Like Moses, if we surrender to God, we can do anything God wants us to do—in His strength. — Mart De Haan
Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord—in me abide. —Orr
Without Christ we can do nothing. With Him we can do everything He wants us to do.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 11, 2008
Individuality
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READ:
Jesus said to His disciples, ’If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .’ —Matthew 16:24
Individuality is the hard outer layer surrounding the inner spiritual life. Individuality shoves others aside, separating and isolating people. We see it as the primary characteristic of a child, and rightly so. When we confuse individuality with the spiritual life, we remain isolated. This shell of individuality is God’s created natural covering designed to protect the spiritual life. But our individuality must be yielded to God so that our spiritual life may be brought forth into fellowship with Him. Individuality counterfeits spirituality, just as lust counterfeits love. God designed human nature for Himself, but individuality corrupts that human nature for its own purposes.
The characteristics of individuality are independence and self-will. We hinder our spiritual growth more than any other way by continually asserting our individuality. If you say, "I can’t believe," it is because your individuality is blocking the way; individuality can never believe. But our spirit cannot help believing. Watch yourself closely when the Spirit of God is at work in you. He pushes you to the limits of your individuality where a choice must be made. The choice is either to say, "I will not surrender," or to surrender, breaking the hard shell of individuality, which allows the spiritual life to emerge. The Holy Spirit narrows it down every time to one thing (see Matthew 5:23-24 ). It is your individuality that refuses to "be reconciled to your brother" ( Matthew 5:24 ). God wants to bring you into union with Himself, but unless you are willing to give up your right to yourself, He cannot. ". . . let him deny himself . . ."— deny his independent right to himself. Then the real life-the spiritual life-is allowed the opportunity to grow.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Painful Road to Beauty - #5719
Thursday, December 11, 2008
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Our friends live in a rugged and majestic area really in the American West. They call it "Big Sky Country" out there. Their house has been there for a long, long time - long before many other people settled where they are. Sitting in their living room, you can't help but admire these beautiful old logs in the walls. But for years, no one ever saw those logs. Over the years, they have been covered by first one layer of material, then another, then another. Our friends actually had to strip away five layers of stuff: plaster, sheet rock, even manure - layers that were covering up the original beauty of this house.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Painful Road to Beauty."
Our friends had to strip away layer after layer of this accumulated junk to get what now looks so beautiful. There's a Master Builder who's working on you and me, and He's using that same method to help us display the beauty we were made for. In fact, some of what you're going through right now may be Jesus stripping away another layer of ugly or useless stuff; not to hurt you, but to make you into something more beautiful than you ever dreamed you could be.
In Malachi 3:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God, He describes the process of His makeover miracles with another analogy, refining precious metal that really isn't very precious until it's refined. The Bible says the Lord Almighty "will be like a refiner's fire...He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify...and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness." God's method of getting people ready to do important things for Him is to put them through the fire; not to burn them, but to remove the impurities that keep them from being useful to Him and valuable to others. He strips away old attitudes, old pride, old sinful baggage and ways of doing things, old layers of selfishness, self-reliance and self-centeredness. Not to cause you pain, but to make you more precious and more powerful than you've ever been before.
That doesn't mean that having junk stripped away doesn't hurt. It usually does. God uses hard things in your life as tools to remove another ugly layer. Romans 5:2-4 provide this helpful perspective on the hard things we go through: "We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." I like that part. I want to have the glory of God reflecting from my life like the glory of the sun reflects through the moon. I don't especially like the next part, though. "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts."
Now why would we rejoice and be thankful for the hard things we're going through? Because we understand that they are the process by which the glory comes, by which the hope comes. I'm sure our friends in Big Sky Country must have gotten pretty tired of stripping away another layer after another layer. But I think I know what kept them going through the hard times. These words: "It's going to be worth it when it's done." And it is. I didn't see the process, but I sure saw the beauty that resulted.
Any person you know who reflects the radiance and the beauty of a life filled with God, I can guarantee you they have gotten that way, not primarily through their good times but through their great pain and struggle of the stripping processes of God. He knows what you can be, and He loves you too much to leave you like you are. Today's hard times are the tool of God to replace what's ugly and useless with something you will love and He can use. You won't always love the process, but you are going to love what He's making!
