Max Lucado Daily: GIVE THE LITTLE THINGS - August 9, 2023
I don’t know his name or what he looks like; I only know what he gave. He gave a donkey to Jesus, for Jesus to use on the Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem.
It’s an interesting little bit of history in Matthew 21:3 – the story of the man who gave the donkey to Jesus. Did he have any idea that his generosity would be used for such a noble purpose? Did it occur to him God was going to ride that donkey?
You know, all of us have a donkey. Something, if given to God, could move Jesus and his story further down the road. Maybe you sing or program a computer or speak Swahili or write a check. Whichever – that’s your donkey. Do you give it? The guy who gave Jesus the donkey is just one in a long line of folks who gave little things to a big God.
1 Corinthians 10:1-18
Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
6–10 The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.
11–12 These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
14 So, my very dear friends, when you see people reducing God to something they can use or control, get out of their company as fast as you can.
15–18 I assume I’m addressing believers now who are mature. Draw your own conclusions: When we drink the cup of blessing, aren’t we taking into ourselves the blood, the very life, of Christ? And isn’t it the same with the loaf of bread we break and eat? Don’t we take into ourselves the body, the very life, of Christ? Because there is one loaf, our many-ness becomes one-ness—Christ doesn’t become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don’t reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is. That’s basically what happened even in old Israel—those who ate the sacrifices offered on God’s altar entered into God’s action at the altar.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Wednesday, August 09, 2023
Today's Scripture
Matthew 12:9–14
When Jesus left the field, he entered their meeting place. There was a man there with a crippled hand. They said to Jesus, “Is it legal to heal on the Sabbath?” They were baiting him.
11–14 He replied, “Is there a person here who, finding one of your lambs fallen into a ravine, wouldn’t, even though it was a Sabbath, pull it out? Surely kindness to people is as legal as kindness to animals!” Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” He held it out and it was healed. The Pharisees walked out furious, sputtering about how they were going to ruin Jesus.
Insight
The Pharisees hounded Jesus over every particular of the law. In Matthew 12, they questioned why His disciples had plucked a few heads of grain and ate them on the Sabbath (vv. 1–2). The religious leaders wanted to uphold the law above everything else, but Christ pointed out that the law as his Father intended it pointed God’s people to mercy and compassion, not condemnation.
Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Even in the Old Testament, God wanted His people to love Him and each other (Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:4–5). But the Pharisees missed it so dramatically that they started plotting to put Jesus to death soon after His Sabbath teaching (Matthew 12:14). Yet it would be Christ’s death—plotted by the Pharisees—that would bring freedom from the law and pour out God’s mercy on all those who believe. By: Jed Ostoich
Good Trouble for God
How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Matthew 12:12
One day, a sixth-grade student noticed a classmate cutting his arm with a small razor. Trying to do the right thing, she took it from him and threw it away. Surprisingly, instead of being commended, she received a ten-day school suspension. Why? She briefly had the razor in her possession—something not allowed at school. Asked if she would do it again, she replied: “Even if I got in trouble, . . . I would do it again.” Just as this girl’s act of trying to do good got her into trouble (her suspension was later reversed), Jesus’ act of kingdom intervention got Him into good trouble with religious leaders.
The Pharisees interpreted Jesus’ healing a man with a deformed hand as a violation of their rules. Christ told them if God’s people were allowed to care for animals in dire situations on the Sabbath, “How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!” (Matthew 12:12). Because He’s Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus could regulate what is and isn’t permitted on it (vv. 6–8). Knowing that it would offend the religious leaders, He restored the man’s hand to wholeness anyway (vv. 13–14).
Sometimes believers in Christ can get into “good trouble”—doing what honors Him but what might not make certain people happy—as they help others in need. When we do, as God guides us, we imitate Jesus and reveal that people are more important than rules and rituals. By: Marvin Williams
Reflect & Pray
How can you show kindness to others? Why should you be willing to get into good trouble for God?
Dear Jesus, please keep me from rituals that prevent me from loving others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Wednesday, August 09, 2023
Prayer in the Father’s Hearing
Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me." —John 11:41
When the Son of God prays, He is mindful and consciously aware of only His Father. God always hears the prayers of His Son, and if the Son of God has been formed in me (see Galatians 4:19) the Father will always hear my prayers. But I must see to it that the Son of God is exhibited in my human flesh. “…your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…” (1 Corinthians 6:19), that is, your body is the Bethlehem of God’s Son. Is the Son of God being given His opportunity to work in me? Is the direct simplicity of His life being worked out in me exactly as it was worked out in His life while here on earth? When I come into contact with the everyday occurrences of life as an ordinary human being, is the prayer of God’s eternal Son to His Father being prayed in me? Jesus says, “In that day you will ask in My name…” (John 16:26). What day does He mean? He is referring to the day when the Holy Spirit has come to me and made me one with my Lord.
Is the Lord Jesus Christ being abundantly satisfied by your life, or are you exhibiting a walk of spiritual pride before Him? Never let your common sense become so prominent and forceful that it pushes the Son of God to one side. Common sense is a gift that God gave to our human nature— but common sense is not the gift of His Son. Supernatural sense is the gift of His Son, and we should never put our common sense on the throne. The Son always recognizes and identifies with the Father, but common sense has never yet done so and never will. Our ordinary abilities will never worship God unless they are transformed by the indwelling Son of God. We must make sure that our human flesh is kept in perfect submission to Him, allowing Him to work through it moment by moment. Are we living at such a level of human dependence upon Jesus Christ that His life is being exhibited moment by moment in us?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Both nations and individuals have tried Christianity and abandoned it, because it has been found too difficult; but no man has ever gone through the crisis of deliberately making Jesus Lord and found Him to be a failure. The Love of God—The Making of a Christian, 680 R
Bible in a Year: Psalms 77-78; Romans 10
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Wednesday, August 09, 2023
Living It Won't Do It - #9543
I invented this little game years ago to play with our two young grandsons. I call it Bible Charades. We tried it one Sunday afternoon during a visit to our house, and then they wanted to do it every time. It's pretty simple. Just write a brief description of several Bible stories on cards, and then the boys would take turns drawing a card and acting out the story with either their Daddy or me as their teammate. Whoever isn't playing is supposed to be guessing. My favorite was when the younger boy - who was three years old - was David and his tall Daddy was Goliath. Yeah. The little guy pretended that this dishtowel was his slingshot, and he spun it around his head - followed by Daddy holding his forehead and crashing dramatically to the living room floor. No talking is allowed. You can only act it out. One problem: our five-year-old grandson knew a lot more Bible stories than his three-year-old brother, which made the game pretty challenging and sometimes kind of frustrating for the little guy. The story that we hoped that he'd guess by our actions might be a story he doesn't even know!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Living It Won't Do It."
Some of us have been playing Bible Charades for a long time - acting out a story we hope the people around us will guess by our actions but no words. If you've ever played real charades, you know there are some things people just aren't going to figure out without your putting it into words. Right? So it is with the most important story of all - the story of what Jesus did on the cross to pay for the sins of each person you know. The story of the spiritual Rescuer from heaven who not only died for them, but who's alive for them because He walked out of His grave three days later!
Many followers of Jesus are committed to what some have called "lifestyle evangelism." And that's very important - demonstrating in your everyday life the difference that Jesus makes, creating curiosity about Him in the hearts of people who don't know Him. It's important, but it's not enough. See, they're not going to guess the Gospel. I mean, they could watch you for the next fifty years. They're not going to suddenly say, "You know Charlie is such a nice guy, I'll bet Jesus died on the cross for my sins!" They're not going to figure that out! You have to tell them. Gospel Charades will turn out to be fatal charades for them if you never tell them what Jesus did for them on the cross!
Paul's prayer in our word for today from the Word of God needs to be your prayer and mine. In Ephesians 6:19-20, he says, "Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel." (By the way, it's going to be a mystery to the people around you until you tell them about it! Right?) He goes on to say, "Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should" (Ephesians 6:20). In Colossians 4:3-4, Paul asks for prayer that "God will open a door for us." Now, a door? That's a natural opportunity to bring up your relationship with Jesus and the difference He's making in your everyday life.
I call this the "three-open prayer." Prayed each new day, it can give you some exciting opportunities to be a spiritual rescuer, maybe for some people who are spiritually dying around you. It goes like this: "Lord, open a door." See, you're trusting Him to open some natural opportunity and to help you see that opportunity when He does. Then, "Lord, open their heart." Get them ready, Lord, to hear about you before I ever speak to them. And finally, "Lord (this might be the toughest one!), open my mouth." Give me the courage, give me the words, give me the approach to use to point this person to you. Try it with me. "Lord, open a door. Lord, open their heart. Lord, open my mouth."
Don't just depend on your acting out Jesus - your Gospel charades - to give someone you care about the life-or-death information they've got to have to go to heaven. There's too much at stake for that. For you to remain silent about what you know about Jesus could be, in essence, a death sentence for them because of your silence.