Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 29
Keep Unity
May the Lord lead your hearts into God's love and Christ's patience.
2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NCV)
"All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other" (John 13:35). Stop and think about this verse for a minute. Could it be that unity is the key to reaching the world for Christ?
If unity is the key to evangelism, shouldn't it have precedence in our prayers? Should we, as Paul said, "make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3 NIV)? If unity matters to God, then shouldn't unity matter to us? If unity is a priority in heaven, then shouldn't it be a priority on earth?
Nowhere, by the way, are we told to build unity. We are told simply to keep unity. From God's perspective there is but "one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:16). Unity does not need to be created; it simply needs to be protected.
How do we do that?... Does that mean we compromise our convictions? No. Does that mean we abandon the truths we cherish? No. But it does mean we look long and hard at the attitudes we carry.
Ruth 4
Boaz Marries Ruth
1 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat there. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along, Boaz said, "Come over here, my friend, and sit down." So he went over and sat down.
2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, "Sit here," and they did so. 3 Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you [i] will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line."
"I will redeem it," he said.
5 Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi and from Ruth the Moabitess, you acquire [j] the dead man's widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property."
6 At this, the kinsman-redeemer said, "Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it."
7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)
8 So the kinsman-redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it yourself." And he removed his sandal.
9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, "Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon's widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses!"
11 Then the elders and all those at the gate said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah."
The Genealogy of David
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: "Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth."
16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, "Naomi has a son." And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
18 This, then, is the family line of Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron,
19 Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon, [k]
21 Salmon the father of Boaz,
Boaz the father of Obed,
22 Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of David.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 85
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 You showed favor to your land, O LORD;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sins.
Selah
3 You set aside all your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.
4 Restore us again, O God our Savior,
and put away your displeasure toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your unfailing love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.
December 29, 2008
Hearts And Banjos
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READ: Psalm 85:1-7
Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? —Psalm 85:6
While working my way through graduate school, I taught five-string banjo in a music store. The job provided me with the opportunity to buy a brand-new, professional-quality instrument for nearly half-price.
That was over 30 years ago, and that banjo has accompanied me on ministry efforts around the world. But despite its excellent craftsmanship, eventually it needed to be refurbished. A master repairman pointed out how imperfections had worn into the banjo. He was confident that his repairs would result in the instrument sounding better than new.
I wasn’t disappointed. The action on the strings and the clarity of the sound are astonishingly superior to its original condition when I purchased the instrument.
In a way, our lives are like musical instruments intended for “the praise of the glory of [God’s] grace” (Eph. 1:6). But over time, life wears us down. Our hearts cry out for renewal. The psalmist prayed: “Will You not revive us again?” (Ps. 85:6). The Hebrew word for revive means not only “to restore and refresh” but also “to repair.”
It’s vital that we submit our souls to the Master’s restorative touch. Why not set aside some time for spiritual retreat, and ask the Lord to repair your heart? — Dennis Fisher
Revive us again—
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above. —Mackay
Time in Christ’s service requires time out for renewal.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 29, 2008
Deserter or Disciple?
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READ:
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more —John 6:66
When God, by His Spirit through His Word, gives you a clear vision of His will, you must "walk in the light" of that vision ( 1 John 1:7 ). Even though your mind and soul may be thrilled by it, if you don’t "walk in the light" of it you will sink to a level of bondage never envisioned by our Lord. Mentally disobeying the "heavenly vision" ( Acts 26:19 ) will make you a slave to ideas and views that are completely foreign to Jesus Christ. Don’t look at someone else and say, "Well, if he can have those views and prosper, why can’t I?" You have to "walk in the light" of the vision that has been given to you. Don’t compare yourself with others or judge them— that is between God and them. When you find that one of your favorite and strongly held views clashes with the "heavenly vision," do not begin to debate it. If you do, a sense of property and personal right will emerge in you— things on which Jesus placed no value. He was against these things as being the root of everything foreign to Himself— ". . . for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" ( Luke 12:15 ). If we don’t see and understand this, it is because we are ignoring the underlying principles of our Lord’s teaching.
Our tendency is to lie back and bask in the memory of the wonderful experience we had when God revealed His will to us. But if a New Testament standard is revealed to us by the light of God, and we don’t try to measure up, or even feel inclined to do so, then we begin to backslide. It means your conscience does not respond to the truth. You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth. That moment marks you as one who either continues on with even more devotion as a disciple of Jesus Christ, or as one who turns to go back as a deserter.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Stain Is Gone - #5731 - December 29, 2008
Category: Your Most Important Relationship
Monday, December 29, 2008
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My wife, like many women, is like "wonder woman" when it comes to rescuing clothes that seem to be ruined by a big stain. Like our sons' high school football uniforms. Hey, our colors were blue and white. Did I say white? The idea was to have those white pants as dirty as possible at the end of the game to prove that you played hard. But the idea also was to have those pants really white at the beginning of the game. So, home they came with these pants that seemed terminally stained with dirt and mud and grass stains. Now the only way my very intelligent wife would let them play football was if they agreed to wash their own uniforms - smart lady. But she showed them how to get those stains out with her magic combination of regular detergent and dishwasher detergent. Now, no matter how dirty those things had been, they came out clean. And yes, the stains were all gone.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Stain Is Gone."
You know, God is in the stain-removing business. And someone listening today needs to take advantage of this restoring miracle that only God can do.
Here's the word for today from the Word of God in Romans 8:1. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." That is awesome good news. Imagine, no matter what you've done, no matter how far you've fallen, no matter how dirty you've gotten, if you belong to Jesus, you are clean - the stain is gone! No matter what your feelings tell you. No matter what people say about you. No matter what the devil tries to tell you. "No condemnation" is no condemnation! The stain is gone.
If you have been to the cross of Jesus to get your sins forgiven, are you living like there's "no condemnation" on you? Not if you're taking your cue from the people who know what you were; who remember all that junk in your past. You won't believe you're "un-condemned" if you believe the feelings you have sometimes - feelings of shame and unworthiness because of the stuff you've done in the past. One of the devil's favorite strategies for bringing us down is the cycle of shame to make you feel ashamed for where you've failed so you'll give up and do more things you'll feel ashamed for.
You may even be tripped up on this by judgmental Christians who seem to specialize in making other believers feel like failures, or by flashbacks of the old you. You'll pick up that old backpack full of your past, the one you left at the cross of Jesus, and you'll start carrying it again all bent over like you used to be.
If you define who you are by your past, you'll always be "The Sinner." If you define who you are by the pain you've been through, you'll always be "The Victim." But if you decide to define who you are by your relationship with Jesus Christ, you will be "The Forgiven" and you will keep pursuing the new you instead of reverting to the old you. What a holy God has forgiven, no one has a right to hold against you including you. He says you're clean, so you're clean. Now start living like it!
And if you've never given yourself to Jesus to be your personal Savior from your personal sin, you could do that this very day. And you could experience the spiritual shower that only the man who died for you can give you. You may have awakened again this day guilty and dirty, but you can go to sleep tonight clean!
If you want to begin your relationship with Jesus; you want to experience His forgiving for yourself, would you tell Him that right now, "Jesus, I believe you died for my sins. I am yours." And then I hope you'll visit our website. It's YoursForLife.net because you'll see there an easy description of the path to beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ to be sure you've been forgiven by Him. That's YoursForLife.net. Or I'll be glad to send you my booklet called Yours For Life. It's free. Just call our number. It's a toll free number 877-741-1200.
It doesn't matter how dirty you've gotten. It doesn't matter how deep the stain is. When Jesus makes you clean, you are really clean, and the stain is gone.
Today's HomeWord for 12/29/08 - The Influence of One Life
The Influence of One Life
This devotional was written by Jim Burns
God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
— Philippians 2:9-11
Today millions and millions of people worship Jesus Christ. Their language may be different from yours, and even their approach to worship will vary in every culture and denomination. But when all is said and done, the influence of our Lord Jesus Christ has affected life on this earth more than that of all other men or religions combined. Today in every part of the world people kneel before Him; like you and I, they stand amazed at His influence in our world. These beautiful words help us understand the powerful influence of this one life.
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His feet inside a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying, and that was His coat. When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone, and today He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the names that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as has that one solitary life. - Unknown author
