Max Lucado Daily: He Leads
Worrying is one job you can’t farm out, but you can overcome it. There’s no better place to begin than in Psalm 23:2. “He leads me beside the still waters,” David declares. “He leads me.” God isn’t behind me, yelling, “Go!” He’s ahead of me bidding, “Come!” He’s in front, clearing the path, cutting the brush. Standing next to the rocks, He warns, “Watch your step there.”
Isn’t this what God gave the children of Israel? He promised to supply them with manna each day. But He told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Matthew 6:34 says, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”
God is leading you! Leave tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow!
From Traveling Light
Matthew 20:1-16
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Footnotes:
Matthew 20:2 A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Luke 10:38-42
At the Home of Martha and Mary
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Footnotes:
Luke 10:42 Some manuscripts but only one thing is needed
Insight
The “certain village” unidentified in today’s reading is Bethany (v.38), a small village on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives (Mark 11:1), about 2 miles from Jerusalem (John 11:18). Home to three siblings—Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (vv.38-39; John 11)—this was probably the home where Jesus stayed whenever he was in Jerusalem (Matt. 21:17; Mark 11:11; John 11:1; 12:1). Bethany was where Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11), where Simon the leper held a feast to honor Jesus (Mark 14:3), and where, during that dinner, Mary anointed Jesus with an expensive perfume to prepare Him for His death (vv.3-9). Jesus’ ascension also took place in Bethany (Luke 24:50-52).
World’s Fastest Walkers
By Poh Fang Chia
She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. —Luke 10:39
According to a study measuring the pace of life of cities in 32 countries, people in the biggest hurry live here in Singapore. We walk 60 feet in 10:55 seconds, compared to 12:00 seconds for New Yorkers and 31:60 seconds for those living in the African city of Blantyre, Malawi.
But regardless of where you live, the study shows that walking speeds have increased by an average of 10 percent in the past 20 years. And if walking speed is any indicator for the pace of life, we are certainly much busier than before.
Are you caught up in the frenzy of a busy life? Pause and consider Jesus’ words to Martha: “You are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).
Notice Jesus’ gentle words. He didn’t rebuke Martha for wanting to be a good host but rather reminded her about her priorities. Martha had allowed the necessary to get out of proportion. And, in the process, she was so busy doing good that she didn’t take time to sit at Jesus’ feet.
In our drive to be productive for the Lord, let’s remember the one thing worth being concerned about—enjoying time with our Savior.
Jesus longs for our fellowship even more than we long for His.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 20, 2014
The Ministry of the Inner Life
You are . . . a royal priesthood . . . —1 Peter 2:9
By what right have we become “a royal priesthood”? It is by the right of the atonement by the Cross of Christ that this has been accomplished. Are we prepared to purposely disregard ourselves and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual inner-searching we do in an effort to see if we are what we ought to be generates a self-centered, sickly type of Christianity, not the vigorous and simple life of a child of God. Until we get into this right and proper relationship with God, it is simply a case of our “hanging on by the skin of our teeth,” although we say, “What a wonderful victory I have!” Yet there is nothing at all in that which indicates the miracle of redemption. Launch out in reckless, unrestrained belief that the redemption is complete. Then don’t worry anymore about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ has said, in essence, “Pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints of God, and pray for all men.” Pray with the realization that you are perfect only in Christ Jesus, not on the basis of this argument: “Oh, Lord, I have done my best; please hear me now.”
How long is it going to take God to free us from the unhealthy habit of thinking only about ourselves? We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves. We cannot reach and understand the depths of our own meagerness. There is only one place where we are right with God, and that is in Christ Jesus. Once we are there, we have to pour out our lives for all we are worth in this ministry of the inner life.