Max Lucado Daily: JOY IN THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS
We are not God’s gift to humanity. God can use each of us, but he doesn’t need any of us. We are valuable but not indispensable. You love. But who loved you first? You serve. But who served the most? What are you doing for God that God could not do alone?
How wise of us to remember Paul’s antidote to joy-sucking self-promotion. “With humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself” (Philippians 2:3).
Here is a helpful exercise that can turn your focus off yourself and on to others. During the next twenty-four hours make it your aim to celebrate everything good that happens to someone else. Keep a list. You will move from joy to joy as you regard other people’s success as more important than your own. And this is how happiness happens.
Acts 16:22-40
When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace—dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.
22-24 The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas’s clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. After beating them black-and-blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. He did just that—threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.
25-26 Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears. Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.
27-28 Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, when Paul stopped him: “Don’t do that! We’re all still here! Nobody’s run away!”
29-31 The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”
32-34 They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master—the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then—he couldn’t wait till morning!—was baptized, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.
35-36 At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, “Release these men.” The jailer gave Paul the message, “The judges sent word that you’re free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!”
37 But Paul wouldn’t budge. He told the officers, “They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight.”
38-40 When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. They hurried over and apologized, personally escorted them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn’t please leave the city. Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia’s house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Genesis 6:9–18
This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[a] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[b] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[c] high all around.[d] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
Footnotes:
Genesis 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Genesis 6:15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high
Genesis 6:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
Genesis 6:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
Insight
The words “he walked faithfully with God” describe Noah’s life (Genesis 6:9). The Hebrew word translated “walked faithfully” (some versions have “walked” nkjv, nasb) is used to describe one’s lifestyle or conduct. Twice it’s said of Enoch that he “walked faithfully with God” (5:22, 24). In Genesis 17:1, Abraham was commanded by God to “walk before me faithfully.” Interestingly, we find in Hebrews 11:5–8 that all three of these men—Enoch, Noah, and Abraham—are commended for their faith. Theirs was a genuine faith that compelled them to honor God by the way they lived. By: Arthur Jackson
Qualified in God’s Eyes
[Noah] walked faithfully with God. Genesis 6:9
A technology-consulting firm hired me after college although I couldn’t write a line of computer code and had very little business knowledge. During the interview process for my entry-level position, I learned that the company did not place high value on work experience. Instead, personal qualities such as the ability to solve problems creatively, exercise good judgment, and work well with a team were more important. The company assumed new workers could be taught the necessary skills as long as they were the kind of people the company was looking for.
Noah didn’t have the right resume for the job of constructing the ark—he wasn’t a boat builder or even a carpenter. Noah was a farmer, a man comfortable with dirt on his shirt and a plow in his hands. Yet as God decided how to deal with the evil in the world at that time, Noah stood out because “he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9). God valued the teachableness of Noah’s heart—the strength to resist the corruption around him and to do what was right.
When opportunities to serve God come our way, we may not feel qualified for the work. Thankfully, God is not necessarily concerned with our skill set. He prizes our character, love for Him, and willingness to trust Him. When these qualities are being developed inside us by the Spirit, He can use us in big or small ways to accomplish His will on earth. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
What character qualities do you need God to develop in you? Why is your character so important to God?
Dear God, give me a heart that’s willing to serve You in any way. Equip me in the areas where I lack experience, and fill me with Your Spirit.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
The “Go” of Preparation
If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:23-24
It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be steadily maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience. The Christian life requires preparation and more preparation.
The sense of sacrifice in the Christian life is readily appealing to a new Christian. From a human standpoint, the one thing that attracts us to Jesus Christ is our sense of the heroic, and a close examination of us by our Lord’s words suddenly puts this tide of enthusiasm to the test. “…go your way. First be reconciled to your brother….” The “go” of preparation is to allow the Word of God to examine you closely. Your sense of heroic sacrifice is not good enough. The thing the Holy Spirit will detect in you is your nature that can never work in His service. And no one but God can detect that nature in you. Do you have anything to hide from God? If you do, then let God search you with His light. If there is sin in your life, don’t just admit it— confess it. Are you willing to obey your Lord and Master, whatever the humiliation to your right to yourself may be?
Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up, while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of obstinacy, and you say, “I will not give up my right to myself”— the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Jesus Christ is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our Lord’s teaching about discipleship is abandon, no calculation, no trace of self-interest.
Disciples Indeed
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
One Velcro Friend - #8532
It was one of those nights that flashes back in our memory for years, like treasured pictures in a mental scrapbook. It was the early 1990s and the Soviet Union was beginning to break up. Estonia and Latvia had been under Soviet domination for years, with Christians often being persecuted, or marginalized, even imprisoned and beaten. Our daughter was one of a team of college students, privileged to be one of the first Christian teams to be able to freely present Christ in Estonia and Latvia. They had just held some unforgettable meetings with believers in Riga, the capital of Latvia, and they had heard some of the stories of the price some of those dear saints had paid for their loyalty to Jesus. They'd been through so much.
The team members bade their new friends an emotional farewell at church and they headed for the train station, where they eventually boarded the midnight train. But as they boarded, the railway platform was suddenly alive with the faces and the voices of the Latvian Christians they had left behind they thought they'd said goodbye to. They showed up en masse at the station at midnight for one last goodbye and a special send off. As our daughter settled into her seat on the train, she could hear the voices of those people joining together in a melody that just echoed through the station. She didn't recognize the words - they were in Latvian, of course - but she sure recognized the song. As the train slowly began to pull out of the station, these people who had endured so much, were singing an old song that, at least for one college student, would never be the same again "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear." These people would know that, wouldn't they?
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "One Velcro Friend."
That's what those people had learned through those years of injustice, and uncertainty, and hardship. They learned that Jesus is the "Velcro friend" who sticks with you through it all. He wants to be that friend for you. People can fire you, abuse you, criticize you, divorce you, disappoint you, abandon you, but millions of us have found what those Latvian followers of Christ found, that Jesus is life's one and only "through it all" person - that intimacy is born from difficulty.
When the Apostle Paul said his passionate life goal was to "know Christ," he went on to say that involved knowing "the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings" (Philippians 3:10). See, you never really know Jesus until you really need Jesus. And when you really, really need Him, He's really, really there.
The Son of God, the King of all kings, laid out the amazing relationship He wants to have with us as He was talking to His disciples just before His long dark night of the cross and the long dark stretch that would follow for His disciples. In John 15, beginning with verse 15, our word for today from the Word of God, Jesus says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants...I have called you friends." If you have that love relationship with Jesus, there's nothing the two of you can't handle, because as the Bible says, "if God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).
And if you don't have that love relationship with Him, great news! It could start today if you'll give your life to this One who loves you so deeply He paid for your sins with His life. Our sins are serious business, and they carry a death penalty which Jesus paid for you. I don't know if you've had a lot of relationships, and you hoped each one would be the ultimate harbor for your heart, and it wasn't. Well, Jesus is life's one safe harbor, and you need to be safe in His love.
You don't need one more day without Him. Would you tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm Yours." I would love to help you get this settled once and for all. And that's why our website is there. I hope you'll go there. It's ANewStory.com.
"What a friend we have in Jesus." That's more than a song. It's a life you can have. What a friend I have in Jesus!
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