Max Lucado Daily: Becoming Like Him
Healthy marriages have a sense of tenderness, an honesty, an ongoing communication. The same is true in our relationship with God. Sometimes we go to Him with our joys, sometimes our hurts, but we always go. And as we go, the more we go, the more we become like Him. Paul says we're being changed from "glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18).
People who live long lives together eventually begin to sound alike, to talk alike, even think alike. As we walk with God, we take on His thoughts, His principles, His attitudes. We take on His heart.
And just as in marriage, communion with God is no burden. Indeed, it's a delight.
The Psalmist says, "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty. My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God" (Ps. 84:1-2 NIV).
Nothing-nothing compares with it!
From The Lucado Inspirational Reader
Acts 9:23-43
After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.
26–27Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name.
28–30After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name. But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists—he had been engaged in a running argument with them—who plotted his murder. When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus.
31Things calmed down after that and the church had smooth sailing for a while. All over the country—Judea, Samaria, Galilee—the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully.
Tabitha
32–35Peter went off on a mission to visit all the churches. In the course of his travels he arrived in Lydda and met with the believers there. He came across a man—his name was Aeneas—who had been in bed eight years paralyzed. Peter said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” And he did it—jumped right out of bed. Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them.
36–37Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, “Gazelle” in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room.
38–40Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha’s body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: “Tabitha, get up.”
40–41She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.
42–43When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master. Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Sunday, November 15, 2026
by Leslie Koh
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
Philippians 2:3-11
Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5–8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9–11Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Today's Insights
This pivotal chapter opens with Paul’s call for a loving unity among God’s people (Philippians 2:1-2). Such a unity can come only from Christ. Unity, however, doesn’t necessarily mean unanimity (always having identical views, or groupthink). Rather, the apostle calls for us to have “the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (v. 2). He then ties it directly to our “relationships with one another” and calls for us to “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (v. 5). Elsewhere the apostle deals with the differences we as diverse human beings will inevitably have with each other (see Romans 14:1-23). He saw such differences as no impediment to unity, however. When our focus is on Christ and His example of selfless humility, we’ll inevitably be drawn to emulate Him. Such humility compels us to seek not “[our] own interests but . . . the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:4).
For additional reflection, read: Humble Like God - Philippians 1:12–18.
Practical Humility
In humility value others above yourselves, . . . looking . . . to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4
At a public seminar organized by the company I’d just joined, everyone was given a role, such as ushering and logistics. It was a big event and everyone was busy, so no one reacted when a participant spilled a drink. One of the bosses, however, instinctively dropped what he was doing, grabbed a mop, and helped to clean up the spill.
As the main organizer overseeing the event, this man had the authority to order someone else to do it. But he chose to do what some might have seen as a lowly job—and earned my utmost respect.
In Philippians 2:3-4, humility is described in simple and practical terms: “Do nothing out of . . . vain conceit,” “value others above yourselves,” and look “to the interests of the others.”
In responding to a need, my boss didn’t think about his rank. True humility is sometimes shown in words or actions that reflect a giving heart and a selfless attitude concerned about meeting others’ needs and not preserving image or status. It’s a heart that mirrors that of Jesus, who despite His divine status “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (v. 7). Let’s ask God to help us put others above ourselves so we can be more like Christ, our servant Lord.
Reflect & Pray
What concerns do you have about your image or status? How can you practice humility through your words and actions today?
Dear Jesus, please help me to be humble, putting aside my concerns about status and putting on the heart and attitude of a humble servant as You did.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Sunday, November 15, 2026
What Is That to You?
When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered . . . “What is that to you? You must follow me.” —John 21:21-22
One of the most difficult lessons we ever learn is that we must not interfere in other people’s lives. It takes us a long time to learn this lesson. We stubbornly refuse to realize the danger of playing the amateur providence by interfering with God’s plans for others. We see someone suffering, and we say, “That person will not suffer. I’ll make sure of it.” In order to prevent their suffering, we raise a hand against God’s permissive will. How does God answer? He says, “What is that to you? You must follow me.”
If you are stagnating spiritually, your own interference may be the cause. Never allow spiritual stagnation to continue unchecked. Get into God’s presence and find out why you’re stuck. You may find that it’s because you have inserted yourself into someone else’s business, proposing things that you had no right to propose, advising where you had no right to advise. Remember that if it’s ever necessary for you to give advice, you must lean on God’s nature inside you. God himself will advise through the direct understanding of his Spirit. Your part is to be so rightly related to God that his discernment comes through you all the time for the blessing of another soul.
Most of us live on the borders of consciousness—consciously serving, consciously devoted to God. This is immature; it is not the real life yet. The real, mature life is the life of the child, a life which is never conscious. When we live as children of God, we are so abandoned to our Father that the consciousness of being used by him never enters in. If we are still conscious of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have another stage to reach.Ultimately, all consciousness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us will be eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint; a saint is consciously dependent on God.
Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 11:1-19
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come.
Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
