Max Lucado Daily: RESURRECTION POWER
Faith is trusting what the eye cannot see! Eyes see storms; faith sees Noah’s rainbow. Your eyes see your faults; your faith sees your Savior. Your eyes see your guilt; your faith sees his cleansing blood. Your eyes look in the mirror and see a sinner, a failure. But by faith you look in the mirror and see a robed prodigal bearing the ring of grace on your finger and the kiss of your Father on your face.
“God’s power is very great for those who believe,” Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:19-20. “That power is the same as the great strength God used to raise Christ from the dead!” So the next time you wonder if God can forgive you, read that verse again. The power that raised Christ from the grave is the power that resurrects hope in our hearts.
Esther 10
King Xerxes imposed taxes from one end of his empire to the other. For the rest of it, King Xerxes’ extensive accomplishments, along with a detailed account of the brilliance of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, that’s all written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia.
3 Mordecai the Jew ranked second in command to King Xerxes. He was popular among the Jews and greatly respected by them. He worked hard for the good of his people; he cared for the peace and prosperity of his race.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Read: 1 Corinthians 3:5–9
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
INSIGHT
First Corinthians 3:9 says we’re “co-workers in God’s service.” Later in this book, Paul develops further the idea that believers are complementary co-workers. We may have “different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them” (12:4). Whatever our gifts, God is the gift-giver. And these different gifts lead to “different kinds of service,” which are offered to “the same Lord” (v. 5). Whatever services we may perform, they all serve the same God. Through the variety of “different kinds of working . . . in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (v. 6). We’re all working for the same team, and we’re all powered by the same leader of that team—God Himself. In this sense, we’re not only each other’s co-workers, we’re God’s co-workers too (3:9).
Something Much Bigger-By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
We are co-workers in God’s service. 1 Corinthians 3:9
More than two hundred volunteers assisted October Books, a bookstore in Southampton, England, move its inventory to an address down the street. Helpers lined the sidewalk and passed books down a “human conveyor belt.” Having witnessed the volunteers in action, a store employee said, “It was . . . a really moving experience to see people [helping]. . . . They wanted to be part of something bigger.”
We can also be part of something much bigger than ourselves. God uses us to reach the world with the message of His love. Because someone shared the message with us, we can turn to another person and pass it on. Paul compared this—the building of God’s kingdom—to growing a garden. Some of us plant seeds while some of us water the seeds. We are, as Paul said, “co-workers in God’s service” (1 Corinthians 3:9).
Each job is important, yet all are done in the power of God’s Spirit. By His Spirit, God enables people to thrive spiritually when they hear that He loves them and sent His Son to die in their place so that they can be free from their sin (John 3:16).
God does much of His work on earth through “volunteers” like you and me. Although we’re part of a community that’s much bigger than any contribution we may make, we can help it grow by working together to share His love with the world.
Do you see yourself as a part of God’s plan or as someone who works alone in your service for Him? How does this affect the way in which you serve Him and others?
Dear God, thank You for including me in Your plan to tell everyone about Your love. Help me to represent You well with my words and actions.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Decreasing for His Purpose
He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30
If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom” (John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”
Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. “…the friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness— at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.
Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (see Matthew 10:34).
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus. Facing Reality, 34 R
Bible in a Year: Joshua 16-18; Luke 2:1-24
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
The Storm Can't Stop the Deliveries - #8923
Well, mail service has changed a lot during my lifetime. Certainly the cost of sending a letter has gone up, and up, and up, and up. I don't know, it's probably quadrupled or quintupled or even maybe more in my lifetime. In case any of my grandkids are listening, I don't mean beginning with the Pony Express. No. But, you know, there are new services that are added. I remember when they added overnight delivery they didn't used to have. But I'll tell you what. One thing hasn't changed. Listen, the postal service, they have a big job and they struggle sometimes. But you know what? Those mail carriers still do their best to keep their commitment not to be stopped by sleet, or snow, or dark of night. Remember that's the motto? That the old saying, "Nothing keeps us from our appointed rounds." Actually, you know, they've been pretty faithful getting stuff to me. And other than holidays, pretty much the mail usually makes it no matter what the conditions were. I'm impressed with that kind of commitment, not just from mail delivery.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Storm Can't Stop the Deliveries."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 4:1. Here's what it says: "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge." Okay, you can tell Paul is really serious here. I mean, he's bringing all this heavyweight stuff to bear on what he's going to say. This is in front of God. This is in front of Christ. This is in view of the fact He's coming back. This is about His whole kingdom. Whatever he's going to say, it's going to be important, huh?
We go to verse 2: "Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season." Paul musters all of this sobering, heavy artillery to drive home this message, "Keep presenting God's Word no matter what kind of season it is." Another translation puts it this way, "Be diligent when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient."
Here's the principle: Your ministry is too important to be at the mercy of your moods. You have a forever mission of representing Jesus Christ, serving Him in whatever the setting He has assigned you. In fact, you can assume that your situation wherever you are right now is your assignment. So, be consistent. Always deliver. If a storm doesn't stop a mail carrier... look, he doesn't look out the window and say, "Oh, looks bad today. I think I'll deliver some other day." Then it should not keep someone who delivers the love and the hope of Christ from doing what they are assigned to do.
No, you've got to come through on this. Too many Christians base their work and their witness on how their emotional weather is that today. But the Bible says we've got to consistently represent Christ in season, out of season, in convenience, and out of convenience.
I shouldn't deny my feelings, but I shouldn't base my spiritual consistency, my spiritual performance on what kind of mood I'm in right now. Honestly pour out your deepest feelings and your darkest feelings to a Christ who won't be surprised by them, but who can really minister to them. Then go after that day as your assignment from God. Go after it with all your heart. Show the difference that Christ makes when life is dark.
See, everything seems to work when your life is going well, no matter what you believe. The test of any belief is going to be what happens when things are really going down hill, what happens on the dark days. Your darkest of days is when yo
u have the best opportunity to show the light of Christ and the difference He makes in the dark. You can't go off duty then. You've got to demonstrate consistency when the moods are down and the darkness is there.
Every day, by my words, by my life, by my attitude I am delivering the message of Christ. I can't let the darkness stop me. Ministry can't be at the mercy of my moods, and that storm cannot stop the deliveries.
From my daily reading of the bible, Our Daily Bread Devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest and Ron Hutchcraft "A Word with You" and occasionally others.