Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
February 4
Give God Your Worries
When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me.
Psalm 32:3 (NCV)
Ask yourself two questions:
Is there any unconfessed sin in my life?
Confession is telling God you did the thing he saw you do. He doesn't need to hear it as much as you need to say it. Whether it's too small to be mentioned or too big to be forgiven isn't yours to decide. Your task is to be honest....
Are there any unsurrendered worries in my heart?
"Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you" (1 Pet. 5:7).
The German word for worry means "to strangle." The Greek word means "to divide the mind." Both are accurate. Worry is a noose on the neck and a distraction of the mind, neither of which is befitting for joy
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Luke 15:11-24 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Lost Son
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[a]'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
February 4, 2009
The Great Storyteller
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READ: Luke 15:11-24
Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them. —Matthew 13:34
In his book Teacher Man, Pulitzer Prize-winner Frank McCourt reflects on his 30 years as a teacher in New York City high schools. He used a variety of techniques in his English and creative writing classes, but one that seemed to surface again and again was the power of a compelling story to capture attention and encourage learning.
This method of instruction was used by the greatest Teacher of all—the Lord Jesus Christ. The scholarly religious leader Nicodemus said to Jesus, “We know that You are a teacher come from God” (John 3:2). Yet when Jesus addressed the crowds that followed Him, He didn’t recite great truths of the Talmud. Rather, He spoke with the homespun style of a storyteller.
The parables of Jesus endure because they showcase matters of the heart. Through the story of the Pharisee and tax collector (Luke 18), we learn about God’s grace and forgiveness. And the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) showcases God’s love for repentant sinners.
The inspired parables of Jesus teach us about Him and the life He wants us to lead. We too can use our faith-stories to point others to the ultimate Storyteller and Teacher, whose own life is the greatest story ever told. — Dennis Fisher
Take control of my words today,
May they tell of Your great love;
And may the story of Your grace
Turn some heart to You above. —Sees
A good way to learn God’s truth is to teach it to others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
February 4, 2009
The Compelling Majesty of His Power
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READ:
The love of Christ compels us . . . —2 Corinthians 5:14
Paul said that he was overpowered, subdued, and held as in a vise by "the love of Christ." Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. We tend so often to be controlled simply by our own experience. The one thing that gripped and held Paul, to the exclusion of everything else, was the love of God. "The love of Christ compels us . . . ." When you hear that coming from the life of a man or woman it is unmistakable. You will know that the Spirit of God is completely unhindered in that person’s life.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God, our testimony is based solely on what God has done for us, and rightly so. But that will change and be removed forever once you "receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . ." (Acts 1:8 ). Only then will you begin to realize what Jesus meant when He went on to say, ". . . you shall be witnesses to Me . . . ." Not witnesses to what Jesus can do— that is basic and understood— but "witnesses to Me . . . ." We will accept everything that happens as if it were happening to Him, whether we receive praise or blame, persecution or reward. No one is able to take this stand for Jesus Christ who is not totally compelled by the majesty of His power. It is the only thing that matters, and yet it is strange that it’s the last thing we as Christian workers realize. Paul said that he was gripped by the love of God and that is why he acted as he did. People could perceive him as mad or sane-he did not care. There was only one thing he lived for— to persuade people of the coming judgment of God and to tell them of "the love of Christ." This total surrender to "the love of Christ" is the only thing that will bear fruit in your life. And it will always leave the mark of God’s holiness and His power, never drawing attention to your personal holiness.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Power Failures - #5758
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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It was a super-hot day one summer. My wife and I were on vacation, and all was well until the electrical power went out at our cabin. No lights, no air conditioner, no TV, you know. We decided to go to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Just as we pulled up, they put the closed sign in the window. It's a good thing I'm secure. The owner said the power was out there, too, and they decided to close because they really couldn't cook. It turned out that lots of places were closed. The locals told us that the power company had recently replaced the old lines with a much newer line that was supposed to be failsafe as far as blackouts. Right. The demands were great that day, and the power was simply inadequate to meet them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Power Failures."
That's an experience that a lot of us are all too familiar with in our personal lives. The demands are huge: so much to do, a marriage to nurture, kids to raise, pressure at work, decisions, deadlines, conflicts. And sometimes it seems like we have a personal power failure; we just don't have the emotional or physical or spiritual voltage to handle all those demands.
There's a step you can take to help avoid power failures. It's described in our word for today from the Word of God in John 5:17. Nobody had more demands on Him than Jesus did when He was here. Yes, He was the Son of God, but He was also fully man so He could be a model for us. He had a very clear way of deciding what work He would take on.
He said, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working. The Son can do nothing by Himself; He can only do what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the son and shows Him all He does." To put it simply, Jesus said, "I find out what God is doing, and I join Him in His work."
Here's one reason we experience personal brownouts or blackouts. We're doing some things that God never ask us to do. Or we're doing God's work in our own resources - trying to figure it out or work it out by ourselves. And that's when the demands become greater than our power to meet them, because it's our power; because we've taken on some demands that were never God's idea. Result: we end up worn out, frustrated, depleted, negative, out-of-sorts. Like Martha, we're miserable even though we're serving the Lord.
I've been challenged anew by these verses to begin each new day with these words: "My Savior is always at His work to this very day." That motivates me to ask, "Lord, what are You working on in my wife's life today? My kids life? The life of my staff? What are you working on as far as our ministry; our work is concerned? Please show me what You're doing, and I'll do whatever You ask me to join you in." I know that I have often in response to legitimate needs, taken on work that wasn't really what He had in mind for me. And I didn't have the power for the demands.
On the other hand, if God is asking you to do something, He'll give you everything you need to get it done. In the words of Hebrews 13:21, He will "equip you with everything good for doing His will." With God's demands comes God's power to meet them. When it's God's job you're doing, you will never have a power failure!
