Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
October 21
The Place of Prayer
They went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives....They all continued praying together.
Acts 1:12, 14 (NCV)
Desire power for your life?...It will come as you pray. For ten days the disciples prayed. Ten days of prayer plus a few minutes of preaching led to three thousand saved souls. Perhaps we invert the numbers. We're prone to pray for a few minutes and preach for ten days. Not the apostles. Like the boat waiting for Christ, they lingered in his presence. They never left the place of prayer....
The Upper Room was occupied by 120 disciples. Since there were about 4,000,000 people in Palestine at the time, this means that fewer than 1 in 30,000 was a Christian. Yet look at the fruit of their work. Better said, look at the fruit of God's Spirit in them. We can only wonder what would happen today if we, who still struggle, did what they did: wait on the Lord in the right place.
From: Come Thirsty
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2004)
Max Lucado
Numbers 12
Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses
1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, 6 he said, "Listen to my words:
"When a prophet of the LORD is among you,
I reveal myself to him in visions,
I speak to him in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?"
9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam—leprous, [g] like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; 11 and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away."
13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, "O God, please heal her!"
14 The LORD replied to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back." 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
John 10
The Shepherd and His Flock
1"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
October 21, 2009
Who Goes There?
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READ: John 10:1-6
When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him. —John 10:4
Last fall my wife, Carolyn, and I were driving up a winding mountain road near our home in Idaho when we came across a large flock of sheep moving down the road toward us. A lone shepherd with his dogs was in the vanguard, leading his flock out of summer pasture into the lowlands and winter quarters.
We pulled to the side of the road and waited while the flock swirled around us. We watched them until they were out of sight, then I wondered: Do sheep fear change, movement, new places?
Like most older folks, I like the “fold”—the old, familiar places. But all is shifting and changing these days; I’m being led out, away from familiar surroundings and into a vast unknown. What new limits will overtake me in the coming days? What nameless fears will awaken? Jesus’ words from John 10 come to mind: “When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them” (v.4).
We may well be dismayed at what life has for us this year and next, but our Shepherd knows the way we’re taking. And He goes before. He will not lead us down paths too dangerous or too arduous where He cannot help us. He knows our limits. He knows the way to green pasture and good water; all we have to do is follow. — David H. Roper
Child of My love, fear not the unknown morrow,
Dread not the new demand life makes of thee;
Thy ignorance doth hold no cause for sorrow
Since what thou knowest not is known to Me. —Exley
Our unknown future is secure in the hands of our all-knowing God.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
October 21, 2009
Impulsiveness or Discipleship?
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READ:
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he "followed Him at a distance" on dry land ( Mark 14:54 ). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Only Applause That Matters - #5943
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
It was the moment the young man had waited for and had prepared for over many months. It was his premiere appearance as a concert pianist. The audience had heard a lot about his amazing talent, and they packed out this prestigious concert hall to hear him. They weren't disappointed. In fact, his masterful playing brought them to their feet for a thunderous standing ovation at the end of the concert. Backstage, the young man's manager said, "They want an encore, man! Get out there!" The pianist looked strangely dejected, and he said, "No, I'm not going back out there." His manager said, "But they love you, man! Look at them! They're all on their feet!" "Not all," was all the young man could say. "Look in the balcony." The manager peeked around the curtain and he saw one white-haired old man in the balcony who wasn't standing or applauding. "Hey, come on! That's one old man! So what?" The pianist looked down at the floor and he said, "That's not one old man. That's my teacher."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Only Applause That Matters."
It didn't matter to that concert artist what the crowd thought. Only one opinion mattered. Only one man in that multitude was the one he wanted to please - his teacher. You know, that's how God has wired you and me to live. To please your teacher - your Creator. Sadly, we tend to lose sight of Him in our desire to get the applause of the crowd around us.
Jesus has given us six powerful words to live by in our word for today from the Word of God. These words in John 8:29 are simple, but they'll change your life if you'll make them the core value of your life: "I always do what pleases Him." Jesus lived only for His Father's approval. That's why the greatest moment of His life was at His baptism when the heavens opened and He heard His Father say, "You are My Son...with You I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22). It didn't matter whether the crowd was cheering or jeering. Jesus knew He was okay if His Father thought He was okay.
That's an important reminder for us approval junkies, who tend to mold ourselves to please other people. It's like we have this ticket we keep trying to get people to validate for us. "Hey, do you like me? Do you like what I'm doing? What do I have to do to get you to stamp my ticket?" It's called "Please Disease" spending so much of your life trying to please others. But there's never enough applause is there? There's never enough approval. And somewhere in all the pleasing, you lose yourself and you lose the pleasure of the only One who can satisfy your heart - your Lord Jesus who died so you could live for Him! 1 Corinthians 7:23 says, "You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men." Paul knew he had to choose once and for all who he was going to live for and who he was going to live to please. He said, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? If I were trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ&qu ot; (Galatians 1:10).
So who are you living to please: the boss, the pastor, your family, your friends, the church, some guy or girl, the community? They didn't die for you. Their rewards don't hold a candle to His. The early church leader, Stephen, knew that. He had stood up for the truth on the streets of Jerusalem and the crowd was not applauding. They were screaming at him, throwing rocks at him to shut him up once and for all. "But," the Bible says, "Stephen...looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."
The Bible tells us that Jesus is usually sitting at His Father's right hand, but not this day. He's standing, honoring his faithful servant Stephen. And Stephen has the courage to keep doing the right thing, even at the cost of his life, because his teacher is standing. His teacher is saying, "Well done."
I hope that's where you're looking for your approval. The only applause that matters is the applause of heaven. Anything is worth doing to get that; nothing is worth losing it.