Max Lucado Daily: Five Stones
Five Stones
Posted: 09 May 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“David took [the armor] all off. He took his stick in his hand and chose five smooth stones from a stream.” 1 Samuel 17:39-40
The king tried to give David some equipment. “What do you want, boy? Shield? Sword? . . .”
David had something else in mind. Five smooth stones and an ordinary leather sling.
The soldiers gasped. Saul sighed. Goliath jeered. David swung. And God made his point. “Anyone who underestimates what God can do with the ordinary has rocks in his head.”
Mark 16
Jesus Has Risen
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.[a]
[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]
9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: John 1:35-46
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter[a]).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
Come And See
May 10, 2011 — by David C. McCasland
Come and see. —John 1:39
“Can you tell me where I can find the lightbulbs?”
“Sure. Come with me, and I’ll take you to them.”
In many large stores, employees are instructed to take customers to find what they are looking for rather than simply giving them verbal directions. This common act of courtesy and walking alongside an inquiring person may help us expand our concept of what it means to lead others to Christ.
In John 1, the phrase “come and see” occurs twice. When two curious disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus where He was staying, the Lord said, “Come and see” (v.39). After spending the day with Him, Andrew found his brother, Simon Peter, and brought him to Jesus (vv.40-41). Later, Philip told Nathanael he had found the Messiah. To Nathanael’s skeptical reply, Philip said, “Come and see” (v.46).
Witnessing for Christ can be a one-time event when we speak the good news about Him to others. But it may also involve walking alongside people who are seeking help and wholeness. Our genuine interest in their spiritual welfare, our prayers, and our involvement with them say without words, “Come and see. Let’s walk together, and I’ll take you to Him.”
The gospel has to be proclaimed,
Its truth we need to share;
But sometimes seekers also need
To see how much we care. —Sper
Kindness and compassion have led more people to Christ than proclamation alone.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 10th, 2011
Take the Initiative
. . . add to your faith virtue . . . —2 Peter 1:5
Add means that we have to do something. We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves— God does that. But God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us (Philippians 2:12). Add means that we must get into the habit of doing things, and in the initial stages that is difficult. To take the initiative is to make a beginning— to instruct yourself in the way you must go.
Beware of the tendency to ask the way when you know it perfectly well. Take the initiative— stop hesitating— take the first step. Be determined to act immediately in faith on what God says to you when He speaks, and never reconsider or change your initial decisions. If you hesitate when God tells you to do something, you are being careless, spurning the grace in which you stand. Take the initiative yourself, make a decision of your will right now, and make it impossible to go back. Burn your bridges behind you, saying, “I will write that letter,” or “I will pay that debt”; and then do it! Make it irrevocable.
We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it. If, when a crisis comes, we instinctively turn to God, we will know that the habit has been formed in us. We have to take the initiative where we are, not where we have not yet been.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
The Hurry-Up Offense - #6347
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Now, the problem with professional football games is they keep slowing down for huddles and time outs; especially those commercials. I'll tell you when they don't slow down. It's near the end of the game where your team is behind, and with two minutes left, a team often skips the huddle and all the delays, and they just go right from one play to the next. They forget the game plan; there's two minutes left. They go for broke!
Now, this is called the "hurry-up offense," and that's pretty literally named. Skip the huddle, skip all the game plan; let's win this game - do whatever it takes. You play differently when there isn't much time...or you should.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Hurry-Up Offense."
1 Peter 4:7 talks about "the end of all things is at hand." Now, all of us are living in a world that seems to be winding down, or maybe winding up to Christ's return. It's obvious even to unbelievers that we seem to be moving to some kind of dramatic climax. It's all bubbling up into something. And if you've read the final chapters of the Bible, you know what that climax is. So, how should we be playing in light of this two-minute warning from God so to speak?
Well, there are two areas that are supposed to be affected the most: how we pray, because verse 7 in 1 Peter 4 , talks about being clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. OK, the first area is we ought to be praying differently - open-mindedly, ready for whatever God might say to us in these urgent times. Don't be surprised if God says do something outside the box.
The second area that is affected is how we treat each other. Listen to this, coming off that statement, "the end of all things is near." It says, "Above all..." - now, that's important. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." I love that phrase. It seems to be summed up in these two words, "covering love."
Urgent times - times when you see climactic events taking place. Those are times in which our relationships should be described by those two words, "covering love." Love covers all kinds of wrongs that might be done to you. What's the opposite? Is it hate? Is it indifference? Well, let's call it un-love...if I'm giving you anything less than love. Un-love - you know what it does? It uncovers every wrong that's done to you; it keeps score. "If I don't love you, I will maintain a list of grievances I'll never forget. But these are urgent times. There is no time to dissect every misunderstanding, every harsh word, every miscommunication, and every hurt feeling. In sports they say, "Shake it off" when you get hurt.
That's what you do with end-times loving. You "shake it off" if you've been hurt by somebody. You choose to move on. This isn't some passive little tame little love. It is active loving, active forgiving. Actually it's the word stretched out. That's what "love each other deeply" means. It's like a fully-extended runner; fully-extended love.
That's the kind of offense that is worthy of the time that's on the clock. You pray ready for anything God might say, and you love ready to forgive anything, and to give anything. I think we may have heard God's two-minute warning. It's time for God's hurry-up offense. Hey, it's time to go for broke.