Max Lucado Daily: Do Something
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6”
Healing begins when you do something. God’s help is near and always available, but it’s given to those who seek it. Healing starts when you take a step. God honors radical, risk-taking faith.
When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble.
When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed.
And when a garment is touched by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee—Jesus stops!
He stops and responds.
Compared to God’s part, our part is minuscule—but necessary. We don’t have to do much, but we do have to do something! Faith with no effort is not faith at all!
Write a letter. Ask forgiveness.
Call a counselor. Call a mom!
Visit a doctor. Be baptized.
Feed a hungry person.
Pray. Teach. Go.
God honors radical, risk-taking faith. And He will respond.
Acts 23:16-35
Paul’s nephew, his sister’s son, overheard them plotting the ambush. He went immediately to the barracks and told Paul. Paul called over one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something important to tell him.”
18 The centurion brought him to the captain and said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He said he has something urgent to tell you.”
19 The captain took him by the arm and led him aside privately. “What is it? What do you have to tell me?”
20–21 Paul’s nephew said, “The Jews have worked up a plot against Paul. They’re going to ask you to bring Paul to the council first thing in the morning on the pretext that they want to investigate the charges against him in more detail. But it’s a trick to get him out of your safekeeping so they can murder him. Right now there are more than forty men lying in ambush for him. They’ve all taken a vow to neither eat nor drink until they’ve killed him. The ambush is set—all they’re waiting for is for you to send him over.”
22 The captain dismissed the nephew with a warning: “Don’t breathe a word of this to a soul.”
23–24 The captain called up two centurions. “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go immediately to Caesarea. Also seventy cavalry and two hundred light infantry. I want them ready to march by nine o’clock tonight. And you’ll need a couple of mules for Paul and his gear. We’re going to present this man safe and sound to Governor Felix.”
25–30 Then he wrote this letter:
From Claudius Lysias, to the Most Honorable Governor Felix:
Greetings!
I rescued this man from a Jewish mob. They had seized him and were about to kill him when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. So I sent in my soldiers. Wanting to know what he had done wrong, I had him brought before their council. It turned out to be a squabble turned vicious over some of their religious differences, but nothing remotely criminal.
The next thing I knew, they had cooked up a plot to murder him. I decided that for his own safety I’d better get him out of here in a hurry. So I’m sending him to you. I’m informing his accusers that he’s now under your jurisdiction.
31–33 The soldiers, following orders, took Paul that same night to safety in Antipatris. In the morning the soldiers returned to their barracks in Jerusalem, sending Paul on to Caesarea under guard of the cavalry. The cavalry entered Caesarea and handed Paul and the letter over to the governor.
34–35 After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he came from and was told “Cilicia.” Then he said, “I’ll take up your case when your accusers show up.” He ordered him locked up for the meantime in King Herod’s official quarters.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Saturday, March 09, 2024
Today's Scripture
Romans 12:9–16
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
11–13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
14–16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
Insight
Paul’s letter to the Roman churches can be divided into two parts—doctrine (chs. 1–11) and duty (chs. 12–16). The apostle instructs believers in Jesus not to conform to the pattern of this world but to live a transformed life that honors Christ (12:1-2). Romans 12:9-21 reads like the snippets of isolated sayings that we find in the book of Proverbs. But Paul is still talking about a renewed mind and a transformed life. The clearest demonstration of this is Christlike love (vv. 9-10), zealous service (vv. 11-12), and generous giving (v. 13). He tells us how we’re to relate to both believers and nonbelievers in a world of hate and revenge. Loving others—particularly enemies—is a key test of the reality of a renewed mind and a transformed life (v. 21). By: K. T. Sim
Sharing Excitement for Christ
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11
The first time we met our neighbor Henry, he pulled a well-worn Bible out of a bag he’d been carrying. Eyes sparkling, he asked if we’d like to discuss Scripture. We nodded, and he flipped to some highlighted passages. He showed us a notebook full of his observations and said he’d also created a computer presentation full of other related information.
Henry went on to tell us how he’d come from a difficult family situation and then, alone and at his worst, he accepted Jesus’ death and resurrection as the foundation of his faith (Acts 4:12). His life had changed as the Spirit helped him follow the Bible’s principles. Although Henry had committed his life to God years ago, his enthusiasm was fresh and powerful.
Henry’s zeal inspired me—someone who’d walked with Jesus many years—to consider my spiritual passion. The apostle Paul wrote: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). That seems like a tall order, unless I’m allowing Scripture to nurture the kind of attitudes that reflect an ongoing thankfulness for all that Jesus has done for me.
Unlike the emotional highs and lows we experience in life, zeal for Christ comes from an ever-expanding relationship with Him. The more we learn about Him, the more precious He becomes and the more His goodness floods our souls and spills out into the world. By: Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Reflect & Pray
How do you think Jesus feels when He sees that you’re excited about Him? What’s the relationship between thankfulness and zeal?
Dear Jesus, please revive my excitement over knowing You!
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Saturday, March 09, 2024
Turning Back or Walking with Jesus?
Do you also want to go away? —John 6:67
What a penetrating question! Our Lord’s words often hit home for us when He speaks in the simplest way. In spite of the fact that we know who Jesus is, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?” We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk.
“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:66). They turned back from walking with Jesus; not into sin, but away from Him. Many people today are pouring their lives out and working for Jesus Christ, but are not really walking with Him. One thing God constantly requires of us is a oneness with Jesus Christ. After being set apart through sanctification, we should discipline our lives spiritually to maintain this intimate oneness. When God gives you a clear determination of His will for you, all your striving to maintain that relationship by some particular method is completely unnecessary. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.
Peter saw in Jesus only someone who could minister salvation to him and to the world. But our Lord wants us to be fellow laborers with Him.
In John 6:70 Jesus lovingly reminded Peter that he was chosen to go with Him. And each of us must answer this question for ourselves and no one else: “Do you also want to go away?”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We have no right to judge where we should be put, or to have preconceived notions as to what God is fitting us for. God engineers everything; wherever He puts us, our one great aim is to pour out a whole-hearted devotion to Him in that particular work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” My Utmost for His Highest, April 23, 773 L
Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 8-10; Mark 11:19-33