Max Lucado Daily: Ask for Fruit
Ask for Fruit
Posted: 04 Apr 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“The Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience.” Galatians 5:22
Have you asked God to give you some fruit? Well I did once, but . . . But what?
Did you, ahem, grow impatient? Ask him again and again. He won’t grow impatient with your pleading, and you will receive patience in your praying.
And while you’re praying, ask for understanding. “Patient people have great understanding” (Prov. 14:29). Could it be your impatience stems from a lack of understanding? Mine has.
Mark 11:19-33 (New International Version, ©2011)
19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples[a] went out of the city.
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly[b] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” [26] [c]
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”
29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”
31 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Psalm 34:1-10
Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.
1 I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
The Last Jellybean
April 5, 2011 — by Cindy Hess Kasper
One afternoon Angela gave her young daughter four jellybeans and let her know that was all the candy she was going to receive.
After practically inhaling the first three candies, Eliana lingered over the final one. She sucked on it, took it out of her mouth, bit into it, sucked on it some more, then gnawed at the outer shell. Knowing that this was her last jellybean, she took a full 45 minutes to ingest the treat completely.
Angela observed her little girl with amusement. It occurred to her that she was watching Eliana learn the value of savoring—enjoying taste and texture and learning to draw out every possible bit of flavor from the pleasurable experience.
When we read, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8), we can be sure that God wants us to “savor” His presence. He allows us to gain intimate and satisfying knowledge of Him. And when we meditate on His Word, we will draw out a deeper understanding of who He is (Ezek. 3:1-3). As we taste His goodness and love, He will reveal the distinctive flavor of His creativity, sovereignty, holiness, and faithfulness.
Our Father must look on with enjoyment as we learn how to enjoy and savor Him.
Oh, taste the goodness of the Lord
And savor all that He has done;
Draw close and give your praise to Him—
The holy, sovereign, faithful One. —Sper
Our greatest privilege is to enjoy God’s presence.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 5th, 2011
His Agony and Our Access
Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples . . . . ’Stay here and watch with Me’ —Matthew 26:36, 38
We can never fully comprehend Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don’t have to misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemane through personal experience. Gethsemane and Calvary represent something totally unique— they are the gateway into life for us.
It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemane. In fact, He stated very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man. He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God— Satan could not touch Him there. But Satan’s assault was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man. If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11-15). Read the record of His agony in Gethsemane in light of His earlier wilderness temptation— “. . . the devil . . . departed from Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemane, Satan came back and was overthrown again. Satan’s final assault against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemane.
The agony in Gethsemane was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Brink of "I Think I Can't" - #6322
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I'll bet you remember these familiar words: "I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can." Oh, sure you do. Well, I hope you do, or else you had a deprived childhood. Because most of us grew up on those words. It's that little book, The Little Engine That Could. I think Fred Flintstone must have read it to his kids it's that old. Remember, the little engine tries to make it up to the top of the mountain, with this train load of toys. It's a mountain that no other train was able to navigate. And as he gets near the top, he says, "I think I can. I think I can (puff, puff, chug, chug)." Oh, I've read it so many times to my kids and now my grandkids. Well, as you remember, of course, he makes it to the top of the mountain. It's a great book. It's got a great philosophy of life. It's a great confidence builder. But maybe right now you've hit a mountain that you really can't climb. Maybe you need to read that book again - or, how about a much better book.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Brink of 'I Think I Can't.'"
Now, about that mountain that you're having a hard time getting to the top of. I have been trying to chug up mine lately, and not making it. Maybe you're there. There's just too much right now. Maybe it's one of those Morton Salt times, you know, when it rains it pours. It's gotten worse before it got better. It could be that you're just too tired, too depleted to handle it. Maybe you have in front of you a responsibility or even a ministry that looks...well, just too big for you. And you are living on the brink of "I think I can't."
Well, if it's any comfort to you, someone as strong as the great Apostle Paul was there. He recorded it in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 8. He talks about pressure in his life. He says, "We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life." Now, Paul was literally on the brink of "I think I can't." He talks about the responsibilities of his ministry. And in chapter 2, verse 16, it says, "Who is equal to such a task?" Well, he's just barely hanging on...maybe just like you.
And then all of a sudden in chapter 3, verse 4, he talks about "such confidence is ours through Christ before God." Wait a minute! Where did this confidence come from? I thought you couldn't make it up the mountain, Paul.
Well, our secret is our word for today from the Word of God from 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 5. He says this, "Our competence comes from God. Not that we are confident in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, He has made us competent." Now, there's a re-appearing Greek word here that means "adequate," "qualified for," "worthy," "large enough." It's the word that John the Baptist used when he said, "I'm not worthy..." - I don't deserve to untie Jesus' sandals. Paul said, "I don't deserve to be an apostle," but now he's confident.
Well, if you feel you're not adequate, you're right. If you feel like you don't deserve the position you have, right again. If you feel like you can't handle what you've got, you're right. God lets us get to these overload points so He can show us what we can't do and what He can do. The simple fact is whatever the gap between your strength and your challenge, God makes up the difference. He has made us competent.
So, draw deeply on His strength. Be honest about how desperate you are. And then proceed ahead as if God will get you to the top of the mountain. Because He will, if you are at the brink of "I think I can't." Because then, you're at the brink of God's miraculous enabling.