Acts 7 as the Bible reading and Devotionals.

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Max Lucado Daily: Loaded With Fears

I don’t care how tough you are. You may be a Navy SEAL.  Doesn’t matter.  Every parent melts the moment he or she feels the full force of parenthood!

How did I get myself into this?  My moment came in the midnight quiet of an apartment in downtown Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, as I held a human being—my daughter—in my arms.

The semi-truck of parenting comes loaded with fears. Will we have enough money?  Enough answers?  Enough education?  It’s enough to keep a parent awake at night.

God has a heart for parents!  Are we surprised?  After all, God himself is a father. What parental emotion has he not felt?  But because of his great love for us, Romans says, “he did not spare his own son but gave him for us all.  So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things!”

ALL THINGS—must include courage and hope!

Acts 7:44-60
New International Version (NIV)
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[a] 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
    Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[b]
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him — 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

The Stoning of Stephen

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Corinthians 3:9-17

9 We work together with God. You are like God's field. You are like his building.
 10 God has given me the grace to lay a foundation as a master builder. Now someone else is building on it. But each one should build carefully. 11 No one can lay any other foundation than the one that has already been laid. That foundation is Jesus Christ.

 12 A person may build on it using gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay or straw. 13 But each person's work will be shown for what it is. On judgment day it will be brought to light. It will be put through fire. The fire will test how good everyone's work is. 14 If the building doesn't burn up, God will give the builder a reward for his work. 15 If the building burns up, the builder will lose everything. The builder will be saved, but only like one escaping through the flames.

 16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple? God's Spirit lives in you. 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. God's temple is holy. And you are that temple.

Building A Life That Matters

May 9, 2012 — by Joe Stowell

I have laid the foundation . . . . But let each one take heed how he builds on it. —1 Corinthians 3:10

My grandkids love to play with Legos. These small colorful building blocks capture their imagination for building forts, planes, houses, or whatever the instructions may call for.

Emptying the contents of the box onto the floor, my grandchildren begin to put the pieces together. But soon they think they don’t need to consult the directions. This eventually leads to a point when they realize that building according to their own instincts has resulted in a bad outcome. So, they break it apart and start over again—but this time they have a keen sense of how important the directions are.

Do you need the pieces of your life broken apart and put back together according to God’s directions? If you have Jesus Christ as your foundation, begin to follow His blueprint for living. Paul wrote, “Let each one take heed how he builds” on the foundation (1 Cor. 3:10-11). What is the blueprint? Value others above yourself by humbly serving them (Phil. 2:3-4), give generously of your resources to those in need (James 2:14-17), respond with love to those who have wronged you (Rom. 12:14-21). These are just a few of the pieces that God wants you to put together to build a life that is worthy of being His temple (1 Cor. 3:16).

Because of the grace and forgiveness that You have
shown me, Lord, I want to live a life that’s worthy of
knowing You. Help me to follow Your plans that
You’ve laid out in the Scriptures. Amen.
The Bible is the Christian’s blueprint for life.


My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
May 9, 2012

Reaching Beyond Our Grasp

Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision], the people cast off restraint . . . —Proverbs 29:18

There is a difference between holding on to a principle and having a vision. A principle does not come from moral inspiration, but a vision does. People who are totally consumed with idealistic principles rarely do anything. A person’s own idea of God and His attributes may actually be used to justify and rationalize his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah tried to excuse his disobedience by saying to God, “. . . I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2). I too may have the right idea of God and His attributes, but that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of honesty and integrity, because the vision gives me the moral incentive.
Our own idealistic principles may actually lull us into ruin. Examine yourself spiritually to see if you have vision, or only principles.
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?
“Where there is no revelation [or prophetic vision]. . . .” Once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless. We cast off certain restraints from activities we know are wrong. We set prayer aside as well and cease having God’s vision in the little things of life. We simply begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating only out of our own hand, and doing things solely on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on a downward path. We have lost the vision. Is our attitude today an attitude that flows from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done before? Is there a freshness and a vitality in our spiritual outlook?


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Cleared For Takeoff - #6608

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

We were sitting on the runway at O'Hare Airport for a long time, in an airplane that is. I thought we were on our way when we left the gate. I said to myself "Okay, in a couple of minutes we'll be in the air and on our way." And then they routed us across the backside of O'Hare, and I saw some lovely storage facilities by the way. But, we finally we ended up in a long, long line of aircraft. I've got a little problem with impatience, but I sure don't want the pilot to have that problem. See, he knows that you do not take off until you get clearance from the tower...no matter how long that means you have to wait.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Cleared For Takeoff."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from Genesis 27. It's a pretty powerful lesson in faith and patience from the life of Rebecca, Isaac's wife. Maybe you remember that God had promised that the younger son, Jacob, would actually end up with the blessing rather than the usual thing, which would be that his older brother, Esau, would get it. Unfortunately, it looked like Isaac was dying and he hadn't given the blessing to Jacob. And Rebecca kind of panics and says, "Oh boy, I'd better do something about this to make sure that my favorite son here gets the blessing. God said he should."

Now, she has no clearance from the tower to do this. God didn't tell her to do it; she doesn't even talk to Him about it. She just takes off. And she has this scheme where he will wear various hairy things on his arms and try to smell like the outdoors so he'll feel like his brother and smell like his brother, who's a hunter, and he'll just lie about who he is. And you know what? Isaac can't see very well. He does deceive his father and he gets the blessing. So, do they win? They lose.

Listen to the expensive result beginning in Genesis 27:41, "Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, 'The days of mourning for my father are near, and then I will kill my brother Jacob.'" Then it goes on to say as Rebecca now counsels Jacob, "Now, then, my son, do what I say. Flee to my brother Laban. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him (you think that's going to happen?), I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?" And in a sense that's exactly what happened. She didn't see Jacob for 14 years; her relationship was broken with Esau. Oh, by the way, Isaac didn't die; he lived 20 more years!

All of this agony happened in this family because Rebecca couldn't wait for God to do it His way. Oh, she knew Jacob should have the blessing, but it just wasn't happening fast enough. Does that sound familiar at all? You thought God was going to act by now, but you're still waiting. The temptation is to panic and say, "Oh, man! It's now or never!" Now, you don't have a "go" from the Lord, but you're still starting to take off.


You know, if a pilot does that without the person who can see all the other aircraft, who can see all the implications of taking off right now, he's going to be flying into disaster. If the child of God does that, he's flying into disaster. Ask God for the patience to wait on the runway. And remember that old wisdom, "Don't doubt in the darkness, or shall I say in the waiting room, what God has told you in the light."

Avoid the heartache that comes from taking off without clearance from the flight controller of your life.