Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
September 11
The Shepherd’s Voice
A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and
come out--those who have done good will rise to live....
John 5:28-29 (NIV)
A day is coming when everyone will hear [Jesus'] voice. A day is coming when all the other voices will be silenced; his voice--and his voice only--will be heard.
Some will hear his voice for the very first rime. It's not that he never spoke, it's just that they never listened. For these, God's voice will be the voice of a stranger. They will hear it once--and never hear it again. They will spend eternity fending off the voices they followed on earth.
But others will be called from their graves by a familiar voice. For they are sheep who know their shepherd. They are servants who opened the door when Jesus knocked.
Now the door will open again. Only this time, it won't be Jesus who walks into our house; it will be we, who walk into his.
Revelation 1
Prologue
1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Greetings and doxology
4John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
One like a Son of Man
9I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man,"[b]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[c] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Acts 5
Ananias and Sapphira
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.
3Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, "Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?"
"Yes," she said, "that is the price."
9Peter said to her, "How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also."
10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
September 11, 2009
How Honest Are You?
ODB RADIO: Listen Now | Download
READ: Acts 5:1-11
Those who deal truthfully are [God’s] delight. —Proverbs 12:22
Woman’s Day magazine surveyed more than 2,000 people to check out their honesty level. When asked, “How honest are you?” 48 percent said very honest, 50 percent said somewhat honest, and the other 2 percent said not very honest.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents confessed that they had taken office supplies from their job for personal use. And 40 percent admitted that they would cheat on their taxes if they knew they wouldn’t get caught.
Ananias and Sapphira must have thought they could get away with lying (Acts 5:1-11). But they quickly found out differently when Peter confronted them and told them that they had lied to the Holy Spirit. Immediately they were struck dead (vv.5,10).
The Lord’s desire was to keep His new church pure so He could use the believers in the lives of others. As Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan says, “The church pure is the church powerful. . . . The only power [able to make] a church pure is that of the indwelling Spirit of God.” The purity of the church led to their testimony spreading, and “believers were increasingly added to the Lord” (v.14).
Let’s be the kind of people who “deal truthfully” (Prov. 12:22) so we can be used by the Lord. — Anne Cetas
Lord, by Your Spirit grant that we
In word and deed may honest be;
All falsehood we would cast aside,
From You, O Lord, we cannot hide. —D. De Haan
There are no degrees of honesty.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
September 11, 2009
Missionary Weapons (2)
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READ:
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet —John 13:14
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities. Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, "Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field"? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield--you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the "second mile" with God (see Matthew 5:41 ). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, "Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life." But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Nothing Like a Rescue - #5915
Friday, September 11, 2009
I guess we'll be reliving for a long time the images of the World Trade Center attacks and the heroic rescue efforts that followed them. One moment that really hit me was this interview with a big guy who was helping the rescuers. He was sitting on a curb at Ground Zero, talking with a reporter from a cable news network. He told how he had been delivering food to the rescuers, and then how he was making his way back through the rubble when he decided to reach into that rubble just on the chance someone might be there. Suddenly, he felt a warm hand grabbing his arm. Immediately, he went and got helpers who pulled a firefighter out of there alive! And then that's when he lost it in the interview as he choked out these words, "He touched me first."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nothing Like a Rescue."
That man at Ground Zero had been a part of one of the most moving experiences a human being can have - being involved in the rescue of someone who otherwise would have died. It's an experience God intends for every one of His children to have, except the rescue isn't the physical kind that may give a person 30 or 40 more years on earth. It's spiritual rescue that will give a person heaven!
Wherever you live, wherever you work or go to school, wherever you shop or recreate, you've been assigned as God's rescuer in your circle of influence. Listen to the incredible position God has entrusted to you, as described in this word for today from the Word of God in 2 Corinthians 5:19-20. "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation." Okay, translation: it's up to you whether or not the people in your personal world find out that what Jesus did on the cross was for them. Verse 20, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us."
So you are Jesus' personal representative to the people you know. Yes, to show them Jesus by your life, what Jesus is and how real He can be. But then that's not enough. They can only get God's message about Jesus if you tell them about Him. And it's life-or-death information you've got. You're going in for the spiritual rescue of someone whose only hope may be what you know about Jesus!
Begin your rescue work by praying by name, faithfully, for people you know who don't know Christ. Pray for God to open up natural opportunities for you to explain your relationship with Jesus. Look for an opportunity to pray with them about something that's bothering them. Invest some time in being with them, doing things with them, building bridges to them. Don't just spend all your time with people who are already going to heaven!
D. L. Moody, the great evangelist once said, "There is no greater honor than to be the instrument in God's hands to lead one person out of the kingdom of darkness and into the glorious light of heaven." And may I add, there is no greater thrill. Just ask a man who has been the first to touch someone who would otherwise have died.
When it's rescue - when it's life-or-death, you drop everything, you risk everything, you do whatever it takes to bring that person out. For some people you know, you are that rescuer.
