Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
December 3
POWER Can Be Painful
The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
1 Corinthians 3:19 (NCV)
[Power] comes in many forms.
It's the husband who refuses to be kind to his wife....
It's the employee who places personal ambition over personal integrity.
It's the wife who withholds sex both to punish and persuade.
It might be the taking of someone's life, or it might be the taking of someone's turn....
But they are all spelled the same: P-0-W-E-R.... And all have the same goal: "I will get what I want at your expense."
And all have the same end: futility.... Absolute power is unreachable. . . .When you stand at the top--if there is a top--the only way to go is down. And the descent is often painful....
A thousand years from now, will it matter what title the world gave you? No, but it will make a literal hell of a difference whose child you are.
From: The Applause of Heaven
Copyright (Word Publishing, 1990)
Max Lucado
1 Samuel 28
Saul and the Witch of Endor
1 In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, "You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army."
2 David said, "Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do."
Achish replied, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life."
3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
4 The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. 6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. 7 Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her."
"There is one in Endor," they said.
8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up for me the one I name."
9 But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?"
10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As surely as the LORD lives, you will not be punished for this."
11 Then the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?"
"Bring up Samuel," he said.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!"
13 The king said to her, "Don't be afraid. What do you see?"
The woman said, "I see a spirit [a] coming up out of the ground."
14 "What does he look like?" he asked.
"An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said.
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.
15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?"
"I am in great distress," Saul said. "The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do."
16 Samuel said, "Why do you consult me, now that the LORD has turned away from you and become your enemy? 17 The LORD has done what he predicted through me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David. 18 Because you did not obey the LORD or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the LORD has done this to you today. 19 The LORD will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines."
20 Immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, filled with fear because of Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for he had eaten nothing all that day and night.
21 When the woman came to Saul and saw that he was greatly shaken, she said, "Look, your maidservant has obeyed you. I took my life in my hands and did what you told me to do. 22 Now please listen to your servant and let me give you some food so you may eat and have the strength to go on your way."
23 He refused and said, "I will not eat."
But his men joined the woman in urging him, and he listened to them. He got up from the ground and sat on the couch.
24 The woman had a fattened calf at the house, which she butchered at once. She took some flour, kneaded it and baked bread without yeast. 25 Then she set it before Saul and his men, and they ate. That same night they got up and left.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Romans 8:27-39 (New International Version)
27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
More Than Conquerors
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."[c] 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[d] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
December 3, 2009
Finding Jesus
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READ: Romans 8:27-39
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? —Romans 8:32
After someone stole a valuable ceramic figurine of Baby Jesus from a nativity scene in Wellington, Florida, officials took action to keep thieves from succeeding again. An Associated Press report described how they placed a GPS tracking device inside the replacement figurine. When Baby Jesus disappeared again the next Christmas, sheriff’s deputies were led by the signal to the thief’s apartment.
There are times when difficult circumstances or personal loss can cause us to feel that Christ has been stolen from our Christmas. How can we find Jesus when life seems to be working against us?
Like a spiritual GPS, Romans 8 guides us to God’s never-failing love and presence with us. We read that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and intercedes for us (v.27). We know that God is for us (v.31). And we have this grand assurance: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (v.32). Finally, we are reminded that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus (vv.38-39).
Look for Jesus in the manger, on the cross, risen from the dead, and in our hearts. That’s where we can find Jesus at Christmas. — David C. McCasland
But what to those who find? Ah, this
Nor tongue nor pen can show,
The love of Jesus, what it is
None but His loved ones know. —Bernard of Clairvaux
If we focus only on Christmas, we might lose sight of Christ.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
December 3, 2009
"Not by Might nor by Power"
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READ:
My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power . . . —1 Corinthians 2:4
If in preaching the gospel you substitute your knowledge of the way of salvation for confidence in the power of the gospel, you hinder people from getting to reality. Take care to see while you proclaim your knowledge of the way of salvation, that you yourself are rooted and grounded by faith in God. Never rely on the clearness of your presentation, but as you give your explanation make sure that you are relying on the Holy Spirit. Rely on the certainty of God’s redemptive power, and He will create His own life in people.
Once you are rooted in reality, nothing can shake you. If your faith is in experiences, anything that happens is likely to upset that faith. But nothing can ever change God or the reality of redemption. Base your faith on that, and you are as eternally secure as God Himself. Once you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you will never be moved again. That is the meaning of sanctification. God disapproves of our human efforts to cling to the concept that sanctification is merely an experience, while forgetting that even our sanctification must also be sanctified (see John 17:19 ). I must deliberately give my sanctified life to God for His service, so that He can use me as His hands and His feet.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Can't Chant - #5974
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Our two-year-old grandson was really excited about the new book I bought him. We kept it at our house for his granddad to read to him. It's one of the all-time kids' bestsellers. Remember The Little Engine That Could? If so, then you remember the four words that carried that engine up and over the mountain no one thought he could climb. Remember? Say it with me if you know them, "I think I can." That's right. That part where the engine says those words over and over is my favorite part to read to my grandson, and obviously, it's his favorite part, too. When I have shown him the cover of the book, he would start his breathless, two-year-old version of the little engine's classic chant "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." I hope he'll be saying that for a long time.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Can't Chant."
Sadly, a lot of us grew up with a slightly different voice inside, "I think I can't, I think I can't." I call it the "can't chant." Maybe you've been cut down in the past, put down, or beaten down. And the way you were treated convinced you that you're inadequate, you're incompetent, and you've never really had much confidence.
So when it comes to you making a difference with your life, you think you can't. When it comes to living for Christ, or doing something for God, or being what your family needs, the old "can't chant" echoes in your heart. Coming to Christ gave you hope that you don't have to be what you've always been, that you don't have to fall down where you've always fallen down, and that you can hang on instead of giving up. But then the "can't chant" starts in again, doesn't it. And in spite of the promises of God and the power of Christ in your life, you often end up defeated and discouraged, saying, "I think I can't."
Here's the truth. It's in Philippians 4:13, our word for today from the Word of God. "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." Now if you put a period after "everything," this statement is wrong, "I can do everything." You can't. If it's up to your resources, your strength, your ability, then the "can't chant" is probably right. But what blows the lid off your limitations is the rest of the verse, "through Christ who gives me strength." Paul amplifies this is 2 Corinthians 3:5 when he says, "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God."
So what the Bible is calling you to is not some belief in some "inner strength" of yours that's going to do it, but it's confidence in Christ's strength in you...which knows not the word "can't." One of the most dramatic moments of the 2000 Olympic Games was Laura Wilkinson's incredible gold-medal win in the 10-meter platform diving event. Six months before, she had broken three bones in her right foot, so she missed two months of training. She was a long shot to medal behind the usually dominant Chinese divers. With only three dives to go, she was in fifth place. But her next dives were literally perfect, and she became the first American to win the gold in that event in 36 years.
Here's what she said on TV for all the world to hear. "The whole time I knew it was virtually impossible for me to win. But I remembered that 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' That's always been a favorite verse of mine, but this time it really meant something. It became real," she said. "I really was trying to do something that I can't do. God was with me."
So as you're facing something right now that you "can't do," would you say it until you believe it: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." It's not about what you can do. It's about what Christ can do!