Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
August 17
Guard Your Attitude
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father encourage you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
2 Thessalonians 2:16 (NCV)
"Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me alone to do all the work?" (Luke 11:40)....
Martha's life was cluttered. She needed a break. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things," the Master explained to her. "Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen [it]" (Luke 11:41-42).
What had Mary chosen? She had chosen to sit at the feet of Christ. God is more pleased with the quiet attention of a sincere servant than the noisy service of a sour one....
What matters more than the type of service is the heart behind the service. A bad attitude spoils the gift we leave on the altar for God.
Ephesians 6
Children and Parents
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[h] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
The Armor of God
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Final Greetings
21Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
23Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Psalm 98
A psalm.
1 Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn—
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy; 9 let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
August 17, 2009
Sing A New Song
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READ: Psalm 98
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. —Psalm 98:4
At age 94, Pastor Willis was admitted into a care facility. From his wheelchair, he shared with joy how God had given him a new mission field to share the gospel. When he was bedridden a few years later, he spoke with enthusiasm of being in the best possible position to look up to God. When he died at age 100, Pastor Willis left behind a legacy of one who sang a new song of praise at every turn of his earthly life.
Psalm 98 exhorts us to sing a new song for God who “has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory” (v.1). We ought to praise Him —even in times of difficulty—for God remembers “His mercy and His faithfulness” (v.3). Though this psalm is about God freeing the Israelites from slavery, it is prophetically also about our salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. And as we remember what God has done for us, we can trust Him to help us with today’s difficulties as well as tomorrow’s uncertainties.
The psalmist wrote: “Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it; . . . let the hills be joyful together before the Lord” (vv.7-9). Let us join God’s creation in singing praise to our Savior! — Albert Lee
I don’t know about tomorrow,
Nor what coming days will bring;
But I know my Lord is with me,
And His praise my heart will sing. —Fitzhugh
A heart in tune with God sings melodies of praise.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 17, 2009
Are You Discouraged or Devoted?
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READ:
. . . Jesus . . . said to him, ’You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich —Luke 18:22-23
Have you ever heard the Master say something very difficult to you? If you haven’t, I question whether you have ever heard Him say anything at all. Jesus says a tremendous amount to us that we listen to, but do not actually hear. And once we do hear Him, His words are harsh and unyielding.
Jesus did not show the least concern that this rich young ruler should do what He told him, nor did Jesus make any attempt to keep this man with Him. He simply said to him, "Sell all that you have . . . and come, follow Me." Our Lord never pleaded with him; He never tried to lure him— He simply spoke the strictest words that human ears have ever heard, and then left him alone.
Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Your Attitude and Your Altitude - #5896
Monday, August 17, 2009
I knew this guy who, several times a week, would suddenly make this announcement, "Attitude check!" That never meant much to me until I began to have some friends who are private pilots. Up to that point, the only pilot I knew was with Pontius, you know. But that word "attitude" can be a life-or-death word for a pilot. One of my friends described a plane's attitude to me as its position relative to the ground, to the horizon - or, as he says, your angle of attack. After decades of flying, including landing on aircraft carriers, he summarized the importance of a plane's attitude this way, "Right attitude, you keep flying. Wrong attitude, you stop flying."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Attitude and Your Altitude."
Every pilot knows if your attitude is incorrect, there'll be tragic results. Every person knows that, or at least we should. If your attitude is right, you can make it through almost anything. If your attitude is wrong, you're going to start losing altitude, tumbling, and eventually crashing. In life, we usually don't get to choose our circumstances, the kind of stuff we have to fly through. A lot of that is determined by forces or people beyond our control. But we can choose our attitude. And it will be our attitude, not our circumstances, that determine whether we stay up or go down.
Pilots tell me that when you're flying by your instruments, in those times when conditions won't let you fly visually, you adjust your attitude based on an instrument called your artificial horizon. It actually shows you where the real horizon is. But when you can't see any points of reference, your senses start playing tricks on you. One veteran pilot friend of mine said that even he has to sometimes fight his instincts and feelings that are telling him lies about whether he's going up or down. The only thing that's telling him the truth is his artificial horizon.
For us, the horizon is the Word of God. After the loss of the Shuttle Columbia and its crew, I heard an interview in which it was reported that Commander Rick Husband read a Scripture passage to his crew on the night before their launch. It's our word for today from the Word of God. Joshua 1, beginning with verse 7, says, "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left...Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
Every new day, we've got to set our attitude based on quality time in God's Book; not just where we read the Bible, but where we let the Bible read us. For me, that means setting my attitude on "horizons" like these: "Jesus is Lord" over everything that's going to come up today. "Love covers a multitude of sins." If I love people, I'll overlook their mistakes today, not record them. That's a right attitude for the day. Then, there's those Biblical words "Whatever you do, do it with all your heart" (Colossians 3:23). So, whatever I have to do today, whether I particularly like it or not, do it with all my heart. When you're setting your attitude, set it on this, as well: "The battle is the Lord's" (2 Chronicles 20:14), every battle you're going to face today. And finally, "Fix your eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2). Don't let anything or anyone distract you from Jesus as your focus.
Set your attitude by the "horizon" of God's unchanging Word, even when your feelings and your surroundings are screaming to go another way. If your attitude is right, you'll hold your course, you'll fly steady as she goes, and you will complete your mission. So choose your attitude.