Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
June 16
God’s Name
The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need.
Psalm 23:1 (NCV)
“You want to know who God really is?” David asks. “Then read this.” And he writes the name Yahweh. “Yahweh is my shepherd.”
Though foreign to us, the name was rich to David. So rich, in fact, that David chose Yahweh over El Shaddai (God Almighty), El Elyon (God Most High), and El Olam (God the Everlasting). These and many other titles for God were at David’s disposal. But when he considered all the options, David chose Yahweh.
Why Yahweh? Because Yahweh is God’s name. You can call me a preacher or writer or half-baked golfer—these are accurate descriptions, but these aren’t my names. I might call you dad, mom, doctor, or student, and those terms may describe you, but they aren’t your name. If you want to call me by my name, say Max. If I call you by your name, I say it. And if you want to call God by his name, say Yahweh.
Matthew 6
Giving to Needy People
1 "Be careful not to do 'good works' in front of others. Don't do them to be seen by others. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you.
2 "When you give to needy people, do not announce it by having trumpets blown. Do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They announce what they do in the synagogues and on the streets. They want to be honored by others. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.
3 "When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Then your giving will be done secretly. Your Father will reward you. He sees what you do secretly.
Prayer
5 "When you pray, do not be like those who only pretend to be holy. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners. They want to be seen by others. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.
6 "When you pray, go into your room. Close the door and pray to your Father, who can't be seen. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly.
7 "When you pray, do not keep talking on and on the way ungodly people do. They think they will be heard because they talk a lot. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him.
9 "This is how you should pray.
" 'Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
10 May your kingdom come.
May what you want to happen be done
on earth as it is done in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our sins,
just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 Keep us from falling into sin when we are tempted.
Save us from the evil one.'
14 "Forgive people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting
16 "When you go without eating, do not look gloomy like those who only pretend to be holy. They make their faces very sad. They want to show people they are fasting. What I'm about to tell you is true. They have received their complete reward.
17 "But when you go without eating, put olive oil on your head. Wash your face. 18 Then others will not know that you are fasting. Only your Father, who can't be seen, will know it. He will reward you. Your Father sees what is done secretly.
Put Away Riches in Heaven
19 "Do not put away riches for yourselves on earth. Moths and rust can destroy them. Thieves can break in and steal them. 20 Instead, put away riches for yourselves in heaven. There, moths and rust do not destroy them. There, thieves do not break in and steal them. 21 Your heart will be where your riches are.
22 "The eye is like a lamp for the body. Suppose your eyes are good. Then your whole body will be full of light. 23 But suppose your eyes are bad. Then your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is darkness, then it is very dark!
24 "No one can serve two masters at the same time. He will hate one of them and love the other. Or he will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can't serve God and Money at the same time.
Do Not Worry
25 "I tell you, do not worry. Don't worry about your life and what you will eat or drink. And don't worry about your body and what you will wear. Isn't there more to life than eating? Aren't there more important things for the body than clothes?
26 "Look at the birds of the air. They don't plant or gather crops. They don't put away crops in storerooms. But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than they are?
27 "Can you add even one hour to your life by worrying?
28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the wild flowers grow. They don't work or make clothing. 29 But here is what I tell you. Not even Solomon in all of his glory was dressed like one of those flowers.
30 "If that is how God dresses the wild grass, won't he dress you even better? After all, the grass is here only today. Tomorrow it is thrown into the fire. Your faith is so small!
31 "So don't worry. Don't say, 'What will we eat?' Or, 'What will we drink?' Or, 'What will we wear?' 32 People who are ungodly run after all of those things. Your Father who is in heaven knows that you need them.
33 "But put God's kingdom first. Do what he wants you to do. Then all of those things will also be given to you.
34 "So don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Acts 2:40-47 (New International Reader's Version)
40 Peter said many other things to warn them. He begged them, "Save yourselves from these evil people." 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized. About 3,000 people joined the believers that day.
The Believers Share Life Together
42 The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared life together. They broke bread and ate together. And they prayed. 43 Everyone felt that God was near. The apostles did many wonders and miraculous signs. 44 All the believers were together. They shared everything they had. 45 They sold what they owned. They gave each other everything they needed. 46 Every day they met together in the temple courtyard. In their homes they broke bread and ate together. Their hearts were glad and honest and true. 47 They praised God. They were respected by all the people. Every day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
June 16, 2009
My Two Cents
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Acts 2:40-47
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. —Proverbs 3:27
Recently, our family had to change Internet cable services. Our former provider promised to send us a postage-paid box to mail their equipment back to them. We waited. No box came. I phoned. The promised box still did not arrive, but we did get a bill for the equipment!
Wanting to get this resolved, I decided to return it at my own expense. I sent several faxes asking if they received it—but no reply. Then I got a refund check of $.02 for the returned equipment! An experience like that can be frustrating. A simple transaction was complicated by poor communication.
Sadly, some people in our churches may encounter an impersonal response to their needs. Whether seeking marital counseling, childcare, guidance for a troubled teen, or a loving community, they come away feeling uncared for.
The first-century church was not perfect, but it faithfully helped others. The church at Jerusalem “divided [their goods] among all, as anyone had need” (Acts 2:45).
Good communication is the starting point for learning others’ needs. This enables us to provide personal and practical help to people when they need it. Resources, both material and spiritual, can then be directed to each person as the object of God’s personal love. — Dennis Fisher
All who serve within the church
Should show by word and deed
A sensitivity to those
Who have a special need. —D. De Haan
God cares for you—care for others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
June 16, 2009
"Will You Lay Down Your Life?"
ODB RADIO: | Download
READ:
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. . . . I have called you friends . . . —John 15:13, 15
Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said to the Lord, "I will lay down my life for Your sake," and he meant it ( John 13:37 ). He had a magnificent sense of the heroic. For us to be incapable of making this same statement Peter made would be a bad thing— our sense of duty is only fully realized through our sense of heroism. Has the Lord ever asked you, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?" ( John 13:38 ). It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in the light of them in our everyday ways. There was only one bright-shining moment in the life of Jesus, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was there that He emptied Himself of His glory for the second time, and then came down into the demon-possessed valley (seeMark 9:1-29 ). For thirty-three years Jesus laid down His life to do the will of His Father. "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" ( 1 John 3:16 ). Yet it is contrary to our human nature to do so.
If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is. Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult. God saves a person, fills him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, "Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful." And Jesus says to us, ". . . I have called you friends. . . ." Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Amazing Cleanup - #5852
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
My sister-in-law used to be involved with insurance claims. And it was not uncommon for her to have clients who had major messes to clean up. Imagine the damage that flood waters could do to a home, a major fire, or even frozen pipes that burst in the winter. That's when they called on a major company that is known for their specialty; they come in and clean those grossly soaked carpets, they restore that damaged furniture and those smoke-saturated drapes. They are known for being the ones who can clean up a mess that folks could never clean themselves. I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Amazing Cleanup."
When you have too much to clean up, it is great to know that there's someone you can call to remove and restore what you never could. Well, for twenty centuries now, men and women have been calling on Jesus Christ for that very reason, and they have found, sometimes much to their surprise, that He is actually drawn to people who know how much they need Him.
Maybe as you look back over the last few months or past years, you see messes you've made that seem so impossible to clean up. There are people we've hurt, things we've done we never thought we'd do, shameful memories, things that have us hooked, things we've hidden and we hope no one ever finds out about them - so many mistakes, so many sins, regrets, messes. Like a homeowner feeling helpless in the midst of a disaster-ravaged house, we stand overwhelmed sometimes with the guilt, the shame, and the dirty, unworthy feeling inside.
We are in desperate need of someone who can clean up the messes of a lifetime, and that is what Jesus specializes in. It is, in fact, the reason He went to a cross and allowed men He had created to crucify the Son of God. He went there to pay for every sin any of us has ever committed, from the lies to the immorality, to the abuse, to the selfishness, and even the most heinous of human sins. He didn't miss any sin when He took on Himself all the guilt, all the shame, and all the hell for every act of rebellion against God.
No matter how guilty, no matter how dirty, or how unforgivable you feel, Jesus stands ready to wash it all away. In Hebrews 10:10, our word for today from the Word of God, we're told, "We have been made holy (that means totally clean before God!) through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." That's one death for all sins!
Jesus is drawn to those who know they're sinners. His enemies called Him the "friend of sinners." Jesus only resists those who are too proud, too religious to see how much they need what He did on the cross for them.
For you, this could be the day that Jesus moves into every sin-mess of your life with His total forgiving and His power to restore what no man can restore. You woke up this morning dirty inside. You can go to sleep tonight totally clean for the first time in your life. But you have to reach out to the Great Forgiver with total trust that He will be your personal Savior from your personal sin. The promise of God from the Bible is that "everyone who believes in (Jesus) receives forgiveness of sins through His name" (Acts 10:43). That could be you, and that could be today.
If you've never told Jesus that you're putting all your faith in Him to do what He died to do - to forgive you and change you - you can tell Him that right now, right where you are. And if that's what you want and you're ready to begin that relationship and experience the shower of His forgiveness, then let me encourage you to check out our website sometime before the day is over. It's YoursForLife.net. Right there I'll try to walk you through exactly how to be sure you're forgiven and you have established forever your relationship with Jesus. Or I'd be glad to send you my booklet Yours For Life if you just call us for it toll free. It's 877-741-1200.
This can actually be your new beginning.
