Max Lucado Daily: A Tiny Seed, A Tiny Deed
Do not despise…small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin. Zechariah 4:10 NLT
Against a towering giant, a brook pebble seems futile. But God used it to topple Goliath. Compared to the tithes of the wealthy, a widow’s coins seem puny. But Jesus used them to inspire us…
Moses had a staff.
David had a sling.
Samson had a jawbone.
Rahab had a string.
Mary had some ointment.
Aaron had a rod.
Dorcas had a needle.
All were used by God.
What do you have? Much more than you might think. God inhabits the tiny seed. He empowers the tiny deed. Never discount the smallness of your deeds.
Psalm 81
An Asaph Psalm
1–5 81 A song to our strong God!
a shout to the God of Jacob!
Anthems from the choir, music from the band,
sweet sounds from lute and harp,
Trumpets and trombones and horns:
it’s festival day, a feast to God!
A day decreed by God,
solemnly ordered by the God of Jacob.
He commanded Joseph to keep this day
so we’d never forget what he did in Egypt.
I hear this most gentle whisper from One
I never guessed would speak to me:
6–7 “I took the world off your shoulders,
freed you from a life of hard labor.
You called to me in your pain;
I got you out of a bad place.
I answered you from where the thunder hides,
I proved you at Meribah Fountain.
8–10 “Listen, dear ones—get this straight;
O Israel, don’t take this lightly.
Don’t take up with strange gods,
don’t worship the latest in gods.
I’m God, your God, the very God
who rescued you from doom in Egypt,
Then fed you all you could eat,
filled your hungry stomachs.
11–12 “But my people didn’t listen,
Israel paid no attention;
So I let go of the reins and told them, ‘Run!
Do it your own way!’
13–16 “Oh, dear people, will you listen to me now?
Israel, will you follow my map?
I’ll make short work of your enemies,
give your foes the back of my hand.
I’ll send the God-haters cringing like dogs,
never to be heard from again.
You’ll feast on my fresh-baked bread
spread with butter and rock-pure honey.”
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 17, 2024
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
1 Timothy 4:6-10
You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.
Today's Insights
When Paul says to Timothy, “If you point these things out . . . you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 4:6), what “things” is he referring to? The apostle opened his letter by saying, “Command certain people not to teach false doctrines” (1:3). Now he returns to that theme: “Some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons” (4:1). What are the “things taught by demons”? Paul elaborates: “They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods” (v. 3). Several years earlier, Paul had issued a similar warning when he asked the believers in Colossae, “Why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’ These rules . . . are based on merely human commands and teachings” (Colossians 2:20-22). Beware of false religion infringing on genuine faith.
Spiritual Fitness
Train yourself to be godly. -1 Timothy 4:7
Arthur Jackson
Tre is a regular at the fitness center and it shows. His shoulders are wide, his muscles pronounced, and his upper arms close to the size of my thighs. His physical condition prompted me to engage him in a spiritual conversation. I asked him if his commitment to physical fitness in some way mirrored a healthy relationship with God. Though we didn’t go too deep, Tre did acknowledge “God in his life.” We talked long enough for him to show me a picture of the four-hundred-pound, unfit, unhealthy version of himself. A change in his lifestyle had worked wonders physically.
In 1 Timothy 4:6-10, physical and spiritual training come into focus. “Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (vv. 7-8). One’s external fitness doesn’t change our status with God. Our spiritual fitness is a matter of the heart. It begins with a decision to believe in Jesus, through whom we receive forgiveness. From that point, training for godly living begins. This includes being “nourished on the truths of the faith and of . . . good teaching” (v. 6) and, by God’s strength, living a life that honors our heavenly Father.
Reflect & Pray
If you’ve started your journey with Jesus, how would you evaluate your spiritual health? What evidence in your life points to your spiritual fitness?
Heavenly Father, please forgive me when I focus too much on externals. Help me to attend to spiritual exercises like Bible reading, prayer, and loving and serving others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 17, 2024
The Eternal Goal
I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son . . . I will surely bless you. —Genesis 22:16-17
Because you have done this . . .” Abraham had reached the place where he was in touch with the very nature of God. He understood the reality of God and obeyed instantly when God demanded his son.
If I want to reach the place Abraham reached—if I want to see who God is—I can only do it through obedience. Obedience is the key to developing my character.
It is my character, not God’s, which determines God’s revelation of himself to me.
’Tis because I am mean,
Thy ways so oft look mean to me.
—George MacDonald
Prompt obedience is the evidence that God’s nature is inside me. If God, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, is inside me, there’s no possibility of my questioning or refusing when he speaks, because he speaks to his own nature. When Jesus says, “Come,” I come. When he says, “Let go,” I let go. When he says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust.
God’s promises are of no value to us until by obedience we understand his nature. We can read a certain passage of the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times without understanding it. Then all of a sudden, because we have obeyed God in some particular thing, the passage becomes clear. Our obedience has opened God’s nature to us, and we see what he means.
“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God”(2 Corinthians 1:20). The “yes” must be born of obedience. When, by obedience, we say “amen” to a promise, the promise becomes ours. I never have a real God until I come face-to-face with him in Jesus Christ. Then I know that “earth has nothing I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).
Ezekiel 5-7; Hebrews 12
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
If there is only one strand of faith amongst all the corruption within us, God will take hold of that one strand.
Not Knowing Whither, 888 L