Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
May 26
Examine Your Tools
Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you.
2 Timothy 1:6 (NASB)
When I was six years old, my father built us a house. Architectural Digest didn’t notice, but my mom sure did. Dad constructed it, board by board, every day after work. My youth didn’t deter him from giving me a job. He tied an empty nail apron around my waist, placed a magnet in my hands, and sent me on daily patrols around the building site, carrying my magnet only inches off the ground.
One look at my tools and you could guess my job. Stray-nail collector.
One look at yours and the same can be said. Brick by brick, life by life, God is creating a kingdom, a “spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5 CEV). He entrusted you with a key task in the project. Examine your tools and discover it. Your ability unveils your destiny.
Nehemiah 4
Opposition to the Rebuilding
1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?"
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"
4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of [a] the builders.
6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. 9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."
11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."
12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."
15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.
19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"
21 So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, "Have every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night, so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day." 23 Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes; each had his weapon, even when he went for water. [b]
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Isaiah 5:18-23 (New International Version)
18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
and wickedness as with cart ropes,
19 to those who say, "Let God hurry,
let him hasten his work
so we may see it.
Let it approach,
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come,
so we may know it."
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
and champions at mixing drinks,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.
May 26, 2009
Calling Evil Good
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Isaiah 5:18-23
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil! —Isaiah 5:20
The Wizard of Oz has remained popular for years. People of all ages have learned moral lessons from Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion as they traveled down the yellow brick road. Of course, in the plot line the great enemy to be overcome is the Wicked Witch of the West. Evil is clearly depicted and overcome by good.
A new Broadway musical, however, turns the moral sense of the original story on its head. In this rewriting of the story, the wicked witch is presented as a sympathetic character. Born with green skin, she feels like an outsider. Major characters, plot lines, roles, and other details are altered so that the wicked witch is really just a misunderstood person. The audience might come away with the idea that evil is good and good is evil.
During the ministry of the prophet Isaiah, a reversal of moral values took place in Israel. Some actually lifted up the evils of murder, idolatry, and adultery as good. In response, Isaiah gave a stern warning: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil!” (Isa. 5:20). In our relativistic world, popular culture constantly challenges biblical values. But studying, memorizing, and meditating on God’s Word can ensure our discernment between good and evil. — Dennis Fisher
In our day-to-day existence,
Evil sometimes wears a mask;
Trust the Lord for true discernment—
He gives wisdom when we ask. —Hess
If we know the truth, we can discern what’s false.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 26, 2009
Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Pray without ceasing . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:17
Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues "without ceasing"; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. "Pray without ceasing . . ."— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.
Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, ". . . everyone who asks receives . . ." ( Matthew 7:8 ). Yet we say, "But . . . , but . . . ." God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?
The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Great Lighthouse Shortage - #5837
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Because we lived along the East Coast for so many years, we've had the opportunity to see many of America's old lighthouses. I love them. But not long ago we came up over the top of a hill on an interstate and I saw what I certainly never expected to see hundreds of miles from an ocean. It was a lighthouse with a bright, functioning light on top. Obviously, it wasn't there to point any ships in the right direction. Actually, it was part of a church that stands right near the highway. See, this lighthouse is for people! I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Great Lighthouse Shortage."
It seems to me that Jesus intended for every church to be a lighthouse, whether or not they have a lighted tower as part of their building. And He intended for every Christian to be a lighthouse, every ministry. Tragically, with so many lives around us headed for eternal disaster, there's a terrible lighthouse shortage.
We know that Jesus said that those who belong to Him are "the light of the world" (Matthew 5:16). And Matthew 4:16, our word for today from the Word of God, tells us which direction our light should be pointing. Jesus says, "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned." See, it's the people in spiritual darkness, that people who are spiritually dying who should be the focus of all this light God has given us.
The problem is that often we're content to have all the lights inside the church, shining on those who are already headed for heaven. Meanwhile, we let countless lost people just get another day closer to hell. We do what's easy. We just work with the sheep who are already in, when Jesus said He would leave ninety-nine of those just to go out and find one lost one. But notice, you have to go out to find them. You can't just stay in the Christian cocoon waiting for someone to stick their head in the door and say, "Excuse me, but is there any light in here?" The lighthouse needs to be out where they are!
We can go to all our Christian meetings, fellowship with all our Christian friends, enjoy all our Christian books and programs, and we feel like we must be winning. Not when two-thirds of Americans can't tell you half of the Ten Commandments or who did the Sermon on the Mount! Not when the number of people who say they believe in nothing has doubled in the last ten years, and the number of those who are self-declared witches has grown over 1,500% in a decade. Even in one Bible Belt state, the statistics just came in: two-thirds of the people even there are essentially un-churched! You have working near you, living near you, going to school with you people who have no idea that what Jesus did on the cross was for them and that He's their only hope! If our Christian subculture makes us feel like we're winning, that is the illusion of winning.
How can we be content to spend all our time with the already rescued when we are living surrounded by a sea of dying people? How can we say that we're following the One who came, as He said, to "seek and save what was lost" and not be doing that with all our heart? If you're following Jesus, I'll tell you where He's going. He's always headed for a sea of lost people. That should be where we end up, too. Oh, it's bright inside the lighthouse, but it's very dark outside the walls.
So many headed for eternal destruction! They desperately need a lighthouse that is out where they are, pointing them to life in Jesus Christ. Be their lighthouse!