Devotional:October 14, 2013

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Pride

Bible Reading: Romans 12:14-16

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Romans 12:16, NIV

TWO HITCHHIKERS MET on the on-ramp to a major expressway.

“Where ya headed?” the first hitchhiker asked.

“Chicago,” the second answered.

“Whaddya know? That’s where I’m headed, too.”

“Well, isn’t that fine!” said his companion. “Which way is it?”

The first hitchhiker pointed to a green-and-white highway sign that loomed over their heads. “That there sign says Chicago’s that-a-way.” He pointed toward the northbound lanes of the expressway.

The second hitchhiker looked at the sign and nodded. “It sure does,” he said. He studied the other hitchhiker’s face. “But I’m still wondering. Maybe it’s that way,” he said, pointing to the southbound lanes of the expressway.

The two watched the traffic flowing south for a few moments. Then the second hitchhiker shrugged and hitched his baggy pants a little higher on his hips. “Some­times it’s just hard to know for sure, ain’t it?” And he and his companion sauntered down the ramp toward the traffic that was heading south . . . away from Chicago.

That’s pretty dumb, isn’t it? They stood right under a sign showing them the right way, and they still acted as if they didn’t know which way was right.

Of course, people do that all the time, especially when it comes to right and wrong. For example, God has made it perfectly clear in his Word that it’s wrong to be conceited and prideful; yet people still act as if they’re better than other people.

But we don’t have to wonder whether pride is right or wrong. In Romans 12:16, God says [through the apostle Paul], “Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.” And then, just in case you didn’t get the message the first time, he repeats it in slightly different words: “Do not be conceited.” That’s pretty clear-as clear as a road sign.

REFLECT: What do you think it means to be conceited? (If you don’t know, try looking up the word conceit in a dictionary.) What does it mean to be humble? Do you have to decide whether being conceited and proud is right or wrong? Why or why not?

PRAY: “Dear heavenly Father, I don’t want to be like those two hitchhikers in today’s reading. Help me to remember and obey your command not to be proud or conceited or to think that I’m better than someone else.”

Devotional: October 11, 2013

Practice Makes Perfect

 

Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:24-27

Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. Hebrews 11:27

WHEN YOUR PARENTS started school, they might have learned to read by reading the Dick and Jane series of books. They read gripping tales about Dick, Jane, and Spot (the dog) like, “See Dick run. See Jane run. See Spot run.” Pretty exciting, huh?

Well, your grandparents (or great-grandparents) might have learned to read by using a famous set of books commonly called “McGuffey’s Readers.” These simple books, published between 1836 and 1857, were used to teach several generations of American schoolchildren to read.

McGuffey’s Readers not only taught reading; they taught other important lessons as well. For example, the Readers taught children that perseverance was a good thing:

The fisher who draws in his net too soon

Won’t have any fish to sell;

The child who shuts up his book too soon

Won’t learn any lesson well.

If you would have your learning stay,

Be patient-don’t go too fast;

The man who travels a mile each day

May get round the world at last.

That simple rhyme teaches the truth that perseverance (in fishing, in learning, or in walking) produces success. A person who knows how to stick to a task will usually succeed-maybe sooner, maybe later. If you keep practicing the piano, you’ll get better and better. If you keep doing your homework, you’ll learn more and more. If you keep exercising, you’ll get stronger and stronger.

Perseverance in making right choices produces success, too. If you keep trusting Christ and let him help you make right choices, you’ll get better and better at doing so. After all, whether you’re practicing the piano or trying to make right choices, practice makes perfect.


REFLECT: Have you ever finished a job that was really hard or that took a long time? If so, how did it feel when you finally finished? Can you name something you’ve succeeded at because you kept trying or practicing for a long time (like reading, for example, or playing the piano)? Does that success encourage you to persevere at making right choices? Why or why not?

PRAY: “Father, it feels really good to succeed, especially when it was really hard or took a long time. Help me to understand and experience the benefits of perseverance.”

Devotional: October 10, 2013

 

A Life Worth Watching

Bible Reading: 1 Peter 1:13-19

He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 1 Peter 1:19

QUIZ TIME: Who is the most right-living person you know, the person who is a great example of obedience to God?

a. One or both of your parents?

b. A grandparent or another relative?

c. Your pastor or youth leader?

d. A well-known Christian figure?

e. A friend?

When it comes to knowing and doing right, there is no substitute for a living, breathing, right-under-your-nose example. You can’t beat having someone you know modeling a pattern of godliness in front of you.

But Jesus Christ does one better. No, you can’t see him in person. But through the Bible you can spot him in action and witness his awesome acts as the ultimate example of doing right. His life and ministry on earth made all the moral precepts in the Old Testament up close and personal. Jesus not only taught the moral law of God, but unlike any other human being in your life, he also lived it to perfection.

The life of Jesus shouts God’s love for his human creation. Like John observed, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him” (1 John 4:9). Christ was God’s love gift to us wrapped in human flesh. His coming in the flesh-his “incarnation” -was the expres­sion of God’s love in human life.

The Bible leaves no doubt about the perfection of Christ’s life. Peter said, “He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone” (1 Peter 2:22). He was “the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 :19). He “faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4: 15).

John’s first letter lays out several references to Christ’s sinlessness: “There is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 1:5); “Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God com­pletely” (2:1); “Christ is pure” (3:3); and “There is no sin in him” (3:5). Even Pilate said, “I find nothing wrong with this man!” (Luke 23:4).

Even the best human examples of obedience and purity fail at times. Say thanks to God for the good examples you have in your family members, church leaders, and friends. But keep your main focus on the perfect example by filling your mind with the words and deeds of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.





REFLECT: How is Jesus the best example you could ever follow?

PRAY: Tell Jesus you’re glad he blazes a trail for you.

Devotional: October 9,2013

Details, Details, Details

Bible Reading: 2 Peter 1: 16-21

It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God. 2 Peter 1:21

NATHAN BURST through the door of his youth pastor’s office. “Caleb, you’ve gotta see this book I got from Todd. It’s a bunch of predictions by some old guy named Nostradamus. He predicted lots of things before they happened, like Hitler and World War II and Kennedy’s assassination.”

“Did you see the so-called prophecies he made?” Caleb probed. “Yeah. Well, Todd pointed them out to me.”

“Didn’t they seem kind of vague? Like they might apply to any number of situa­tions or interpretations?”

Nathan thought, then shrugged. “I guess.”

“It’s amazing to me that people get so wrapped up in Nostradamus’s doubtful prophecies-but they completely ignore the prophecies of Scripture. Those are prophecies you can see are divinely inspired and clearly fulfilled.”

Nathan was interested. He put the Nostradamus book down. “Like what?”

“Like Jesus being born in Bethlehem. Micah predicted that. And Zechariah pre­dicted that the Messiah would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.”

“Oh yeah,” Nathan said, “and that he would be betrayed too, right?”

“Right. Betrayed by a friend, for thirty pieces of silver; that his hands and feet would be pierced; that his bones would not be broken-details, not vague generaliza­tions or lucky guesses, but dozens of specific predictions that came true with 100 percent accuracy. And that’s just the prophecies about the Messiah. The same is true of prophecies about cities and nations all through the Bible.”

Nathan’s youth pastor is right. Biblical prophecy reveals with startling force the unique character and reliability of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Awareness of the prophecies about the Messiah can convince all but the most biased reader of the truth of the Bible.

Some imaginative critics think that the fulfillment of biblical prophecy is due to coincidence. But could you find the forty-eight major prophecies that concern the Messiah fulfilled in anyone man? The chances of that happening by coincidence, says Peter Stoner in Science Speaks, are 1 in 10 to the power of 157, or the number 10 followed by 157 zeroes!

God didn’t want there to be any doubt in your mind that his Word is true and re­liable. He made the proof undeniable, and the many detailed and fulfilled prophecies of Scripture are just one way he removes any shadow of doubt.

REFLECT: How does the reliability of Bible prophecies compare to those by folks like Nostradamus? Explain.

PRAY: Praise God for giving you his reliable Word.

Devotional: October 8,2013

Fully Fact or Fanciful Fiction?

Bible Reading: John 19:35

This report. .. is presented so that you also can believe. John 19:35

ANNA GOT slammed when she mentioned in class that she believed the Bible was true. “You can’t be serious!” someone said. “The Bible?” Another responded, “You can’t tell me that you believe in that Jonah-in-the-whale stuff? And walking on wa­ter? Come on, get real!”
“Let’s be reasonable,” came another response. “The Bible may have its place in religion, but that’s where it belongs. Don’t ask me to take it seriously.”
In the past few years some people-even some Bible scholars-have decided the Bible is best understood as a compilation of religious folklore and legends.
Admittedly, there’s no missing the fact that the Bible does tell some pretty ex­traordinary stories. But no matter how incredible some Bible stories may seem, the people who reported these things clearly meant their accounts to be understood not as myth or legend but as fact.
Not only that, but the New Testament writers knew that relating such astonish­ing facts might cost them their lives. How many people do you know who would gladly go to prison or die for a lie?
The New Testament writers certainly knew that telling stories about a rabbi rais­ing himself from the dead or feeding five thousand people from five loaves of bread and two fish was a sure ticket to the funny farm-unless there were other witnesses. Contrary to the myths, legends, and mystery religions of the ancient world, the events recorded in the Bible “were not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). A whole bunch of people saw them as they happened. Reliable people testified-in writing-to the authenticity of those events and signed their testimony in blood. And those writings, far from being effectively refuted and discredited, stood the test of time and were recognized as authoritative.
Peter himself answered the myths and legends myth when he wrote, “We were not making up clever stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes” (2 Peter 1:16).
Read John 19:35. Who is the writer? Was he an eyewitness to the things he wrote about? Do you think he intended what he wrote to be understood as fact -or as fiction?

REFLECT: Say it in your own words: How do we know the Bible isn’t a pack of myths?

PRAY: Pray that the Bible would accomplish its goal in the life of your friends that they would come to believe.

Devotional: October 7, 2013

 

Is the Holy Bible Holey?

Bible Reading: Matthew 4:1-11

 

People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God. Matthew 4:4

 

“THE BIBLE is like Swiss cheese,” Brianna argued. “It’s tasty in some spots, but it’s got a lot of holes in it too.”

Some people praise the Bible for its help and inspiration. “I especially like Psalm 23,” they might say. “It’s so beautiful.” But if you press them far enough, they even­tually admit they don’t think much of the Bible at all. “Of course, there are problems in the Bible,” they say. “I mean mistakes and all. But that doesn’t bother me. After all, it wasn’t written to be a history textbook. It’s accurate where it needs to be, like in matters of faith and doctrine.”

The holey Bible theory is a myth. Much of the time people who make that claim have only vague ideas what “mistakes” they’re talking about. The Bible isn’t full of holes. It’s the inspired Word of God, written over a period of about sixteen hundred years by about forty different authors. It has been remarkably preserved from the original manuscripts by painstaking copyists and careful scholars. The Old and New Testaments are the most accurately preserved and widely attested documents of the ancient world.

The followers of Jesus can’t ignore the fact that the Lord himself believed in the accuracy of the Scriptures. He said, “The Scriptures cannot be altered” (John 10:35). He related the experience of Jonah as fact, not fiction. He quoted Scripture in his desert battle with Satan. He regarded the teachings, historical details, and events of the Old Testament as accurate.

The New Testament writers likewise confirmed the reliability of Scripture. The apostle Paul wrote, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right” (2 Timothy 3: 16). And Paul also acknowledged the in­spiration of the New Testament writings with statements like, “What I am saying is a command from the Lord himself” (1 Corinthians 14:37).

In the Bible you can find different perspectives of the same event-different em­phases in retelling incidents, in other words-and other apparent discrepancies. Still, when you open the Bible, you are reading the inspired, preserved, reliable Word of God. It’s reliable because the loving, powerful God who gave it to you is reliable.

REFLECT: How would you answer a non-Christian friend who thinks the Bible is full of holes?

PRAY: Pray for your friends who think the way Brianna thinks.

Josh McDowell

www.josh.org

Devotional: Octber 4, 2013

 

 

       After God Made You, He Broke the Mold

 

Bible Reading: Psalm 139:13-18 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Psalm 139:14

      GOD IS into wild variety. Have you ever thought about God’s creativity? Every spe­cies of plants and animals is unique. Among the countless varieties of fish, for exam­ple, he designed some with spectacular coloring, some huge, others tiny. Marlin and manta ray, swordfish, shark, eel, and anglerfish all contribute to God’s rich, colorful world of water life.
     People love a world filled with variety too. Nikki paints striking watercolors, constantly searching for new subjects. Not satisfied with the garden in her backyard, she drives into the city for urban scenes or to a state park for forest images. Neal can sing every syllable of every song the classic Christian group Petra has ever recorded.  But he also enjoys new groups.
     Jesus, too, showed he liked a mix of people. He chose twelve disciples to live with him for three years, and they were radically different from each other. Some of them couldn’t scrub away the smell of the fish they handled for a living. Matthew, on the other hand, probably reeked of expensive perfume when Jesus called him. One disciple probably had family connections in the high priest’s administration. John seemed tenderhearted. Peter was often hard-nosed.
     If God finds variety and contrast appealing, and if we crave variety ourselves, then there’s no way we should expect that God would make all of us alike. And all those stereotypes we create of who is “beautiful” or who is “better” they’re a lie!
     You are unique. Of the six billion people alive right now on this planet, there’s no one just like you. If there’s only one you-out of all those billions and billions of people-why would you want to be like someone else? Multitudes go through life en­vying the build, hair, talents, or abilities of other people. So start fixing your thoughts on the fact that God made you one of a kind and, as one child put it, “God don’t make no junk.”
     Maybe you’re a jock and wish you were brainy. Or maybe you’re quiet and intro­spective and would prefer to be the life of the party. Every quality has something valuable about it, and you’re more likely to be at peace with yourself when you gen­uinely value the special personality qualities and skills God has given you-things that make you you! And when you appreciate those traits, you can work to develop them to the full.

REFLECT: Why did God make you the way you are?

PRAY: Lord, thank you for making me just the way I am. Help me to appreciate the unique things about me.

 

 

 



Weekday Deovtional: September 17

Tommy’s Tactic

Bible Reading: 1 Peter 3:8-12

 

 

       THERE ONCE WAS a little boy whose name was Tommy. One day in school Tommy’s

teacher asked him to come to the chalkboard to do a math problem: 2 + 2 =_. Tommy

strode to the board, picked up a piece of chalk, and wrote the number “5″ in the space. When his teacher informed him that his answer was wrong, Tommy thrust out his chest and said, “It may be wrong for you, but not for me. I say two plus two equals five.”

       Later, Tommy was playing at recess. A little girl stood ahead of him in line, waiting to climb the ladder to the giant slide. Tommy pushed her down into the dirt and took her place in line. “Tommy,” his teacher said, “you should be more compas­sionate. Don’t you know it’s wrong to be so cruel?”

But Tommy stepped onto the ladder and smiled. “Maybe it’s wrong for you, but it’s not wrong for me. I say cruelty is right and being nice to other people is wrong!”

      Tommy said such things many times until the last day of school, when his teacher called him aside. “Tommy,” she said, “I wanted to show you your report card.” She smiled and handed Tommy the piece of paper, which bore a large red F.

     Tommy looked shocked. “An F?” he said. “Why are you giving me an F? That’s not right!”

     The teacher smiled. “An F may not seem right to you, but it’s right for me!”

     Obviously, Tommy’s tactic backfired, didn’t it? That’s the problem with saying, “Well, it may be wrong for you, but it’s not wrong for me!” We all want to be treated fairly, honestly, sympathetically, lovingly, and compassionately. Those things are right whether or not we say they’re right. Those things are right whether or not Tommy says they’re right. Those things are right whether or not anyone says they’re right. Know why? Because it’s not up to any of us to say what’s right or what’s wrong; that decision belongs to God and God alone. That’s a lesson Tommy needed to learn; it’s also a lesson we all need to learn.

 

REFLECT: Do you ever act like Tommy? Why or why not? Do you ever try to decide what’s right or justify what’s wrong? Who really decides right from wrong? What does today’s Bible reading reveal about right and wrong?

 

PRAY: “Lord, help me to always remember that it’s not up to me to say what’s right or what’s wrong because that decision belongs only to you. Help me instead to always do what you say is right and stay away from what you say is wrong.”

Weekday Devotional: September 16

 

 

Puzzle Me This

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:32-5:2

 

      GOD GAVE A lot of commands. Everybody knows God told the Israelites, “Do not make idols of any kind” (Exodus 20:4). And most people know that Jesus said, “I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other” (John 13:34). But some commands are less familiar-like the one we’re talking about today.

     Answer the questions below, printing the letters in the blanks to form the words that are missing in each sentence. Then copy the letters in the numbered spaces below to spell out one of God’s commands:

 

1. The Jordan River runs between the Dead Sea and the 8  15  7 of Galilee.

2. Jesus told the story of the Good  9      5                14      12

3.     4      2   6      ’s father gave him a coat of many colors.

4. God warned     11         of a flood and told him to build an ark.

5.     13     10     killed Goliath with a sling and a rock.

6.         3      1  had a dream of a ladder stretching between heaven and earth.

 1  2     3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15

So how’d you do? If you need help, consult the following Bible verses: (1) John 21:1; (2) Luke 10:25-37; (3) Genesis 37:3; (4) Genesis 6:13-14; (5) 1 Samuel 17:48-49; (6) Genesis 28:10-12.

Today’s Bible reading is one of the many instances in which God gives this command to us. He repeated it many times in his Word because he wants us to remember it-and because he wants us to obey it.

 

REFLECT: Was the answer to the puzzle above a surprise to you? Why or why not? Did you already know God commanded us to be compassionate to others? Have you obeyed this command today? If so, how? Have you disobeyed this command today? If so, how? What can you do today or tomorrow to show compassion for someone?

 

PRAY: “Father, you command me to be compassionate toward others. that’s not always easy, but help me to obey you anyway and to be kind and compassionate every day.”

 

Josh Mcdowell

www.josh.org

Weekday Devotion: September 13

 

Footprints

 

¹ Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise the Lord, my soul.

² I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³ Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
⁵ Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

⁶ He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.

 

Bible Reading: Psalm 146:1-6

 

       PERHAPS YOU’VE HEARD or read the poem “Footprints.” It’s been a blessing to thousands and thousands of people, perhaps more than any piece of writing since the Twenty-third Psalm!

“Footprints” is a story told by a man who had a dream about his life. In the dream, he was walking along a sandy beach, making footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along his path through life there were two sets of footprints. He realized that the second set of footprints belonged to God.

       As he looked closer, however, he saw that there were times when only one set of footprints was visible in the sand. He also noticed that this happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.

As he stood on the beach looking back over those footprints, he began to feel upset. “Lord,” he said, “you promised to always be with me. You said that you would never leave me or forsake me. Yet, I’ve noticed that during the most difficult times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why you would leave me when I needed you most!”

       Then the Lord replied, “My child, I love you, and I would never leave you. During your times of hardship and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

What a wonderful picture of God’s faithfulness! He is “the Lord, who remains faithful forever” (Psalm 146:6, NIV). He is the one who says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5, NIV). He is “faithful in all he does” (Psalm 33:4, NIV).

       That is why God values faithfulness and commands faithfulness-because he himself is faithful. He is a faithful God. He is a faithful friend. He is a faithful Father because faithfulness is a part of his very nature.

       Ultimately, that’s why faithfulness is right and unfaithfulness is wrong-because God is faithful. When you are faithful, you do what is right and reflect what is like God.

 

REFLECT: Why does God command faithfulness? Why does God value faithfulness? Why is it right for you to be faithful? Hebrews 13:5 gives a promise from God: “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.” What does this promise mean to you?

 

ACT: Look up Hebrews 13:5 in your favorite version of the Bible and copy it on an index card. Try to memorize it. Have you ever read the “Footprints” story? If not, look for it (on a greeting card or a laminated wallet-sized card) in bookstores.

 

PRAY: “Faithful God, thank you for your promise never to leave me or forsake me. Thank you for your faithfulness. Help me to be faithful like you in everything I do.”

Weekday Devotional: September 12

One-Sided Friendships

 

 Romans 15:1-4

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. ² Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. ³ For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”^{[a] 4} For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

     GOOD FRIENDS are like diamonds. They’re very precious; they arrive in the rough; they don’t magically appear at your feet, you have to dig for them; and some people who should be gems turn out to be lumps of coal.

    It’s easy to spot at least four kinds of friendship that disappoint and frustrate. Maybe you’re in the middle of one of these friendships right now.

1. Part-time friends. Some friends are great buddies when you’re one-on-one. But they ignore you or worse when you’re with the crowd. Others are just the opposite. When they’re with a bunch of kids, they act plenty nice. But when you get them alone, they act like you don’t exist. Some part-time friends are warm and cozy if you spend money on them. When the money cools off, so does the friendship.
2. Conditional friends. These are people who treat friendship like bait, dangling a relationship in front of you to get you to do what they want. As long as you cough up what they want, you are friends. But as soon as you choke, the friendship sputters.
3. Undependable friends. From the careless way they hurt their friends, these people seem to lack the tiniest sense of responsibility or integrity. They betray confidences, gossip, or break their word. Because you never know where you stand with them, a meaningful friendship can’t thrive.
4. Superficial friends. A superficial friend can’t ever get serious. You need to talk through something personal or meaningful, and your friend changes the subject to something trite or non-threatening or makes a joke about it. Chances are that relationship won’t ever go beyond small talk.

It’s discouraging to figure out that your friends fall into one of these categories. Sometimes you feel like you give a lot more than you get in these relationships, and you might come to the point where you don’t have any energy left to inject into the friendship. You wind up discouraged, hurt, and lonely. You might not want to admit it, but you’re not in a healthy relationship.
Here’s a scary question: Can you spot any of these patterns in yourself? Do you show any signs of being a part-time, conditional, undependable, or superficial friend in any of your relationships?

REFLECT: Are you a diamond? Or a hunk of coal?

PRAY: Ask God to help you change any destructive patterns you might be living out with others.

Weekday Devotions: September 11

 

Swallowing Camels

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

 

 

 Matthew 23:23-24, 37

 

       JESUS STOOD LOOKING over the crowds who had gathered to hear him speak. He could see stone-faced men in expensive robes on the fringes of the crowd. Jesus knew these men; they were Pharisees, a group of religious leaders who took great pride in their obedience to all kinds of religious laws and regulations. They even strained their drinking water so they would not accidentally swallow a tiny gnat and so break the Jewish laws about eating “unclean” animals.

      But Jesus wasn’t impressed by their efforts. In fact, he was angry at the Pharisees because the whole time they were observing all the tiny regulations about washing their hands before eating and how far they could walk on the Sabbath, their lives were filled with cruelty and unkindness and other sins.

     “Woe to you,” Jesus said, speaking directly to the frowning men on the edges of the crowd. He referred to their habit of giving a tenth of even the tiniest parts of their income to God, while at the same time they treated people unfairly, unmercifully, and unfaithfully. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (Matthew 23:23, NIV). In other words, Jesus was saying, “It’s no good to make a point of obeying God in the tiniest detail if at the same time you disobey him in the more important areas of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.”

      Jesus made it clear that faithfulness is one of the things God desires most from his people. He wants us to be faithful; in fact, he commands it. He wants us to be faithful to him, to our families, to our friends, and to our fellow Christians. He wants us to be faithful to those who depend on us. Why? Because faithfulness, according to Jesus, is one of “the more important matters of the law.” That means if we are not faithful, we are not obeying God. Because God commands faithfulness.

 

REFLECT: Do you think you’re a faithful person? Are you faithful to God? to your family? friends? fellow Christians? How do your actions show your faithfulness? If you’ve been unfaithful or disloyal in some way, have you asked for God’s forgiveness and the forgiveness of the person you let down or disappointed?

 

ACT: Borrow a spice container from your parents’ spice rack. Keep it on your dresser or bedside table for the next day or two to remind you of today’s Bible reading as well as not to neglect “the more important matters of the law,” like faithfulness to your family, friends, and all “who depend on you.”

 

PRAY: “Lord, I know you command faithfulness, but I haven’t always been faithful. I ask your forgiveness for those times I’ve been unfaithful. Help me to be more faithful, with your help, from now on.”

 

Josh McDowell

www.josh.org

weekday Devotional: September 10

“Everybody” Isn’t Always Everybody

⁶ Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. ⁷ The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.

⁸ But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. ⁹ Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, ¹⁰ but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your^[a] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”

¹¹ Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹² “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³ Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” ¹⁴ So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

¹⁵ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

 

 

 Daniel 1:6-15

“COME ON, Mom, be reasonable,” pleaded Kirsten. “There aren’t going to be drugs or anything. It’s just a party.”
“You’re not going to a party at Brad’s house-or anywhere else,” her mom ar­gued, “unless there are some adults around to chaperone.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” Kirsten whined. “Everybody else is go­ing to be there. I’ll be the only one whose mother won’t let her go.”
Kirsten didn’t speak to her mother for the rest of the weekend. Everybody goes to those kinds of parties these days, she reasoned.

     Kirsten got a surprise when she found out on Monday that Julia and Christopher hadn’t gone to Brad’s party either. Kirsten had bought the common belief that “ev­erybody’s doing it.” What a lie! Everybody is not doing it, whatever it is. Sometimes it seems that way, but an aware teen will eventually spot a lot fewer people “doing it” than the crowd would have him or her believe.
      Everybody is not having premarital sex. Recent research indicates that more than 50 percent of Christian kids are not doing it. That’s a significant number.
      Everybody is not using tobacco. Some surveys indicate that as many as 80 per­cent of today’s youth don’t smoke.
     Everybody is not using alcohol. Surveys reveal that around 30 percent of high school students do not use alcohol and nearly 10 percent have never tried it.
     Everybody is not doing drugs. The Institute of Social Research at the University of Michigan reported a sharp drop in the use of cocaine and other drugs by teenag­ers. Over 40 percent of all American young people have refused illicit drugs all the way through to high school graduation.
     Everybody is not losing or outgrowing their faith in God. A survey oftwo thou­sand youth shows that 61 percent regard religion as the most important part of their lives.
     Students often use the lie that everybody’s doing it to manipulate their friends, parents, and peers into conforming to the crowd. Don’t believe the myth. Everybody is not doing it. And even if everybody is doing it, you don’t have to. Daniel and his three friends didn’t yield to the pressure to conform, and God blessed them as a re­sult. A hefty percentage of youth today know how to say no. And more and more, that’s just what they’re doing.

 

REFLECT: How strong is your resolve against this subtle pressure to conform?

 

PRAY: Ask God to build your courage to resist the line, “Everyone’s doing it.”

 

Josh Mcdowell

Weekday Devotional: September 9

 

 

Who’s Number One?

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

²¹ “What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

²² “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

²³ Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

²⁴ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

 

 

 Matthew 20:20-28

 

      Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. Matthew 20:26

 

 

     RACHEL SLAMMED down the telephone and yelled for her secretary. The plush of­fice attested to Rachel’s importance. She had risen rapidly through the company by loudly promoting herself and viciously eliminating anyone who got in her way.

Her secretary entered the office, and Rachel began spouting orders as usual. “Get that stupid jerk Patterson in here. And tell Allison to-” She suddenly stopped at the pained expression on her secretary’s face.

     “It’s your daughter,” the secretary said. “Your baby-sitter called. Danielle has disappeared from her backyard.”

      Rachel raced out of the office, flung herself into the driver’s seat of her BMW, and squealed out onto the street. Darting, dodging, and blaring the horn, she sped to­ward the sitter’s house, thinking, If anything happens to Danielle, I’ll kill myself. She ran a red light. Almost to the sitter’s house, she saw the crossing guard in the inter­section just in time to slam on her brakes. Fury erupted in her like a volcano. The old crossing guard had been on the corner for years, ushering children across the street. He had always seemed to Rachel to be a doddering, insignificant old man. And now he had forced her to stop, wasting her valuable time.

      She opened her mouth to curse at him, then noticed the child in his arms­ Danielle! Suddenly it was clear. The old crossing guard had found Danielle at the park and was bringing her back to the sitter.

       Rachel swung open the door and ran hysterically to the man. She swept her three-year-old into her arms and hugged her, overcome with gratitude. Rachel, the corporate executive, suddenly felt very small. And the old man she once thought lit­tle of was very important.

       Rachel is a prime example of an “egoist,” a person who thinks he or she is the center of the universe. Egoists put themselves before everyone else, thinking, Forget everybody else. As long as I get what I want out of life, I’ll be happy.

       But it doesn’t work that way. People who follow that course can end up wealthy or powerful, but they also reap a harvest of loneliness and bitterness. Jesus taught that each human being is immensely important to God. Recognizing the value of those around you doesn’t get in the way of your happiness. It’s part of what makes your happiness happen.

 

REFLECT: What do you suppose displeases God about the way an egoist looks at the world?

PRAY: Ask for God’s help in treating others with importance today.

Weekday Devotionsl: September 6

 

 

 

Of Shovels, Simba and Skiing

²⁰ The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
    but the rich have many friends.

²¹ It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor,
    but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy.

²² Do not those who plot evil go astray?
    But those who plan what is good find^[a] love and faithfulness.

²³ All hard work brings a profit,
    but mere talk leads only to poverty.

 

 

Proverbs 14:20-23

 

 

        LET’S RETURN TO Sesame Street, the famous children’s show that’s been on TV since the days when your parents’ music was cool. (That was a long, long time ago!) They used to play a game called, “One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong.” (If you read the February 23 reading, you’ve already played this game once.) Players are given a list or a series of items, and they’re supposed to pick out which item doesn’t belong in the group. Ready? Let’s play our own version of that game. For each category, just circle the item that doesn’t belong with the others in the group.

One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong:

knife          shovel          fork          spoon

      If you answered shovel, you’re right, because the other three are items you use for eating. Of course, if you use a shovel to eat your lunch, well then, we’ll just call you “MegaMouth”! Let’s play again!

One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong:

Matthew          Mark          Luke         Simba

If you circled Simba, because he’s not one of the Gospel writers in the Bible, you’re really good at this game! Let’s play one more time!

One of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong:

skiing          swimming          playing basketball          working

How did you answer that question? Most people would probably circle working, figuring that all the other items on the list are fun, while working isn’t. That’s one possible way to answer that question. But it’s not the only way.

You see, work is not the opposite of play. Working isn’t the opposite of having fun. A lot of people have fun while they’re working. A lot of people work because they enjoy it. That’s one of the reasons the Bible says, “All hard work brings a profit” (Proverbs 14:23a, NIV). That doesn’t mean that every job is going to make you rich. However, it does mean that hard work always has some benefit-and one of those benefits is the enjoyment of working! So, if you circled working in the list above, you might want to erase your choice and circle something else instead.

 

REFLECT: Have you ever done a job that turned out to be kind of fun? What kind of work do you think might be fun to do? How can you make your current jobs or chores more fun?

 

PRAY: “God, thank you for teaching me about work. Help me to believe that ‘all hard work brings a profit,’ and help me please you by the way I do jobs such as_________.”

Weekday Devotional: September 5

 The Wise Man's Vineyard

³⁰ I went past the field of a sluggard,
    past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
³¹ thorns had come up everywhere,
    the ground was covered with weeds,
    and the stone wall was in ruins.
³² I applied my heart to what I observed
    and learned a lesson from what I saw:
³³ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
³⁴ and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

Proverbs 24:30-34

    MANY YEARS AGO a very wise man (who also happened to be a farmer), lay on his bed. He knew that he would soon die, so he called his three sons to his bedside.
“My sons,” he said, “I will soon die, and I must tell you something.” He paused. All three sons craned forward to listen. “Deep in the soil of my vineyard,” the wise father whispered, “lies buried a hidden treasure. Dig deep, my sons, and you will find it.”
     Within a few hours the father died, and the sons took picks and shovels out to their father’s vineyard.
“Just imagine what it will be like when we have the treasure!” they told each other. “We can buy whatever we want without working for it and live the rest of our lives in luxury and idleness.”
     So they began to tear into the soil beneath the farmer’s vines. Over and over they turned the soil, digging and digging day after day. But they found no treasure. Finally, they grew disappointed and gave up their search. But the vines, after the sons of the wise farmer had turned the soil so thoroughly, produced so many grapes that the brothers became the wealthy owners of that country’s most productive vineyard.
    That tale, from Aesop’s collection of fables, illustrates today’s Bible reading: “I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one lacking sense. I saw that it was overgrown with thorns. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down. Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber” (Proverbs 24:30-34).
      The sons of that wise farmer learned that treasure was, indeed, hidden in the soil of the vineyard-but it took work to produce that treasure. They also learned that good, hard work produces wealth, not only in money but in character and in satisfaction. You may dream, like those brothers, of “striking it rich” someday and “having it made,” but it’s far better to work for what you have, to produce treasure instead of discovering it.

REFLECT: Do you think the old farmer was wise in what he said to his sons? Why or why not? Do you think they would have been better off if they had found a chest of buried treasure? Why or why not? According to the paragraphs above, what kinds of wealth does good, hard work produce?

PRAY: “Lord, like almost everybody else, I do have dreams of ‘striking it rich’ and ‘having it made’ someday. Help me to see the wisdom in knowing how to work hard and how to produce treasure instead of just discovering it.”

Daily Devotional: September 4

 

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[a] in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

 

John 14:15-18

     IT’S FINALLY finished! Your new invention is ready for its final test phase. It could be the greatest invention ever for Christians.
     It looks a lot like a Walkman, so you call your machine “Truthman. ” You clip the control box to your belt and slip the headphones over your ears. This is no Ipod, you think proudly. This is one rockin’ righteousness machine. It senses what I’m thinking and doing and then transmits the truth through my headphones. You can’t wait to crank it up.
     On your way to school you’re about to cross the street against the “Don’t Walk” sign when you hear a voice in your headphones: “Romans 13:1-2 says we should obey the laws of the land. This is God’s way of protecting us from getting hurt.” Truthman works! You stop in your tracks and wait for the “Walk” sign.
     Hustling through the crowded hall, you bump into another student. “Leper!” he snarls at you. Before you can even feel sorry for yourself, Truthman reminds you, “You’re no loser. John 1:12 says you are a beloved child of God.”
      In third period, your geography teacher drops a surprise quiz on you. But you happen to sit next to geography genius Lynn Brazil. As you casually glance toward Lynn’s paper, Truthman says, “One of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 is ‘Do not steal,’ and that applies to quiz answers. ” You snap your eyes back to your paper and glue them there.
     Things don’t work so well after lunch. You accidentally drop Truthman on the cement, and when a lustful thought toward another student comes along, all you hear through the headphones is “Bleeble … zok … snork.” And when your mom asks if you have finished your homework, Truthman’s batteries are totally dead, so you say “Almost, Mom!” when you haven’t even started. So much for your great in­vention.
       Having something like Truthman would be great-if it worked perfectly, that is. But actually, you have something way better! It’s the Holy Spirit. He helps you grasp and apply God’s truth to your life in everyday situations. In fact, Jesus often calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth” (see John 15:26; 16:13).
      Unlike your fictional Truthman, however, the Holy Spirit can’t get lost or broken or run out of batteries. He lives inside every believer-including you (see John 14: 17, 20). And you don’t have to leave the Holy Spirit in your locker. Jesus said his gift”will never leave you” (John 14: 16). Moment by moment, day by day, the Holy Spirit is closer than your next breath, ready to share God’s truth with you.

REFLECT: How do you respond when the Holy Spirit tries to teach you truth?

 

PRAY: Spend a few minutes thanking Christ for his great gift, the Holy Spirit.

 

Josh Mcdowell

Daily Devotion: September 3

 

When You Want to Disappear

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,^[a] and of faith in God,

 

Hebrews 5:11-6:1

“THAT’S IT!” Will bellowed, slamming the front door behind him and throwing his book bag on the hall table. ”I’m never going back to Driver’s Ed class again!”
“What’s this all about?” Will’s dad asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Will answered sarcastically, “except that my life is over. I’ll never get my driver’s license, that’s for sure.
“I felt like a total dork, Dad,” Will continued. “First, I started the car. I was so nervous. I put my seat belt on and adjusted the mirror. Then I forgot the car was al­ready running. I grabbed the key and turned it again, and it sounded like the engine was about to blow up. The guys wouldn’t stop razzing me about it. It’s just so much to think about, you know? I’ll never learn how to drive.”
      Did Will learn to drive? Of course. And over the next weeks he figured out that the other guys were just as nervous as he was and felt just as incompetent.
     If you don’t have moments when you feel incompetent, then you’re not human. What you might not know is that other kids have to cope with the same kinds of lim­itations, hardships, and lessons. Realizing that keeps you out of a trap-thinking you’re worse than everybody else, labeling yourself a loser, and pulling away from people.
      The best thing you can be is yourself. You don’t have to play the people-pleasing game of trying to be like the classmate who starts at quarterback, plays first -chair vi­olin, and has the highest GPA in the grade. You’re not grown up until you outgrow the tendency to imitate others and try to match their behavior and attitudes. This dilemma led one college student to write:

All my life I’ve tried to please others.

All my life I’ve put on an act for others.

I will not do this.

For If I spend my time trying to be someone else,

Who will spend time being me?

Next time you feel a flash of incompetence, imagine Jesus sitting next to you. Is he razzing you? Hardly. He accepts you right where you are. He knows you are still growing.

REFLECT: Since Jesus accepts you, don’t you think it’s okay to accept yourself?  How are you going to work at that?

PRAY: Jesus thanks for your acceptance. Help me to like myself as much as you like me.

 

josh mcdowell