Max Lucado Daily: It May Not Be Easy
It May Not Be Easy
Posted: 18 May 2010 11:01 PM PDT
“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again.” John 13:12
Please note, he finished washing their feet.
That means he left no one out . . . He washed the feet of Judas. Jesus washed the feet of his betrayer. He gave this traitor equal attention. In just a few hours Judas’ feet would guide the Roman guard to Jesus. But at this moment they are caressed by Christ . . .
That’s not to say it was easy . . . That is to say that God will never call you to do what he hasn’t already done.
Luke 10
Lambs in a Wolf Pack
1-2Later the Master selected seventy and sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go. He gave them this charge:
"What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.
3"On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You're like lambs in a wolf pack.
4"Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no extra luggage.
"Don't loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.
5-6"When you enter a home, greet the family, 'Peace.' If your greeting is received, then it's a good place to stay. But if it's not received, take it back and get out. Don't impose yourself.
7"Stay at one home, taking your meals there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don't move from house to house, looking for the best cook in town.
8-9"When you enter a town and are received, eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, 'God's kingdom is right on your doorstep!'
10-12"When you enter a town and are not received, go out in the street and say, 'The only thing we got from you is the dirt on our feet, and we're giving it back. Did you have any idea that God's kingdom was right on your doorstep?' Sodom will have it better on Judgment Day than the town that rejects you.
13-14"Doom, Chorazin! Doom, Bethsaida! If Tyre and Sidon had been given half the chances given you, they'd have been on their knees long ago, repenting and crying for mercy. Tyre and Sidon will have it easy on Judgment Day compared to you.
15"And you, Capernaum! Do you think you're about to be promoted to heaven? Think again. You're on a mudslide to hell.
16"The one who listens to you, listens to me. The one who rejects you, rejects me. And rejecting me is the same as rejecting God, who sent me."
17The seventy came back triumphant. "Master, even the demons danced to your tune!"
18-20Jesus said, "I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I've given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God's authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that's the agenda for rejoicing."
21At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. "I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
22"I've been given it all by my Father! Only the Father knows who the Son is and only the Son knows who the Father is. The Son can introduce the Father to anyone he wants to."
23-24He then turned in a private aside to his disciples. "Fortunate the eyes that see what you're seeing! There are plenty of prophets and kings who would have given their right arm to see what you are seeing but never got so much as a glimpse, to hear what you are hearing but never got so much as a whisper."
Defining "Neighbor"
25Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. "Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?"
26He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?"
27He said, "That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."
28"Good answer!" said Jesus. "Do it and you'll live."
29Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?"
30-32Jesus answered by telling a story. "There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
33-35"A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.'
36"What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"
37"The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, "Go and do the same."
Mary and Martha
38-40As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. "Master, don't you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand."
41-42The Master said, "Martha, dear Martha, you're fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it's the main course, and won't be taken from her."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Judges 2:6-12
6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance.
7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten.
9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.
12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the Lord to anger
Secondhand Faith
May 19, 2010 — by C. P. Hia
Another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. —Judges 2:10
When I was growing up in Singapore, I remember that some of my school friends were kicked out of their homes by their non-Christian parents for daring to believe in Jesus Christ. They suffered for their beliefs and emerged with stronger convictions. By contrast, I was born and raised in a Christian family. Though I didn’t suffer persecution, I too had to make my convictions my own.
The Israelites who first entered the Promised Land with Joshua saw the mighty acts of God and believed (Judg. 2:7). But sadly, the very next generation “did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel” (v.10). So it was not long before they turned aside to worship other gods (v.12). They didn’t make their parents’ faith their own.
No generation can live off the faith of the previous generation. Every generation needs a firsthand faith. When faced with trouble of any kind, the faith that is not personalized is likely to drift and falter.
Those who are second, third, or even fourth generation Christians have a wonderful legacy, to be sure. However, there’s no secondhand faith! Find out what God says in His Word and personalize it so that yours is a fresh, firsthand faith (Josh. 1:8).
O for a faith that will not shrink
Though pressed by many a foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe! —Bathurst
If your faith is not personalized, it’s not faith.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 19, 2010
Out of the Wreck I Rise
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? —Romans 8:35
God does not keep His child immune from trouble; He promises, “I will be with him in trouble . . .” ( Psalm 91:15 ). It doesn’t matter how real or intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate him from his relationship to God. “In all these things we are more than conquerors . . .” ( Romans 8:37 ). Paul was not referring here to imaginary things, but to things that are dangerously real. And he said we are “super-victors” in the midst of them, not because of our own ingenuity, nor because of our courage, but because none of them affects our essential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I feel sorry for the Christian who doesn’t have something in the circumstances of his life that he wishes were not there.
“Shall tribulation . . . ?” Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be— whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness— it is not able to “separate us from the love of Christ.” Never allow tribulations or the “cares of this world” to separate you from remembering that God loves you ( Matthew 13:22 ).
“Shall . . . distress . . . ?” Can God’s love continue to hold fast, even when everyone and everything around us seems to be saying that His love is a lie, and that there is no such thing as justice?
“Shall . . . famine . . . ?” Can we not only believe in the love of God but also be “more than conquerors,” even while we are being starved?
Either Jesus Christ is a deceiver, having deceived even Paul, or else some extraordinary thing happens to someone who holds on to the love of God when the odds are totally against him. Logic is silenced in the face of each of these things which come against him. Only one thing can account for it— the love of God in Christ Jesus. “Out of the wreck I rise” every time.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Too Much to Carry - #6093
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I think it had something to do with moving a piano. I've been part of moving one of those monsters, and I know what a bear it is to do it. Fortunately, we had plenty of guys to share the load. I guess my Dad didn't. Ultimately, he said moving a piano was a major reason he had to have one of those difficult operations - actually to repair a hernia. There weren't enough men to bear the load of that piano that they moved at church. Well, for at least one man - my Dad, the load was too much to bear without some major damage.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Too Much to Carry."
If you're carrying a heavy load right now, God is wanting to give you a little relief. It was never His intention that your load be so great that you end up injured by it. His plan for lightening the load may be similar to what He did for one of His overloaded servants long ago. The prescription for relief is found in Numbers 11, beginning with verse 13, our word for today from the Word of God.
You may be able to identify with this heart cry from Moses to his Lord: "I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me." I tell you, I've felt that way, and maybe you have, too. Here's God's answer. "The Lord said to Moses, "Bring me seventy of Israel's leaders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of Meeting that they may stand there with you...I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.'" And, sure enough, "The Lord came down in the cloud...and He took of the Spirit that was on him (Moses) and put the Spirit on the seventy elders."
To put it plainly, this could be called "how to avoid a leadership hernia." Which is often caused by the same thing that injures someone carrying a heavy load physically - there aren't enough people sharing the load. If you're on overload, you may want to claim Numbers 11:17 as a promise from your Lord who said, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:29). Here's this promise: "I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone."
What can you do to help that happen? First, you have to be sincerely willing to let go of some of the load. Maybe others haven't stepped up because you insist on hanging on to control everything. And you're dying beneath the weight of it all. Secondly, you need to take time to actively nurture others to take some of the load. You need to tell them you want to trust them with more. Share your wisdom, and your experience, and your walk with God with them. Show them how to do some of what you've been doing, and then release them to do it. Remember, there was a time when you were the one waiting to be trusted with more - and someone did.
Another step to this multiplied empowerment is to cry out to God as Moses did, admitting that the burden is too heavy and asking Him to do what only He can do - to find and empower men and women who will faithfully carry some of your load. As Jesus said, "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field" (Matthew 9:38). By the way, you may be one of those workers that some overloaded servant of God is praying for. And your Lord is summoning you to get out of the stands and get in the game - to join Him in the work He's doing. You've been a fan long enough. He's asking you to come alongside one of His servants for whom you will be one glorious answer to prayer.
God stands ready to take the same kind of Holy Spirit empowerment that He's given you and plant that anointing in the lives of others. But you have to be willing to let go, and they have to be willing to step up. And the work of God will take off where you are as never before, without anyone being crushed by the load.