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

Daily Devotional: September 2

 

the Basics of Avoiding Boredom

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

 

John 10:6-10

 

EVERYONE WANTS to have the fullness Jesus promises in John 10:10. But you only find that kind of excitement when you apply principles that let that full life happen. Here are six to consider:

1. Have the right focus. The Bible consistently says it’s better to give than to receive. Check this basic life principle: The most fulfilled people in the world are those more concerned with giving than with getting. Yet a root of selfishness still lives inside most of us. It says, “Just take care of your­self.” Listen to that lie, and life loses its zing.
2. Climb out of the same old rut. People who escape a life of boredom do it by seeking new interests and opportunities. They’re not afraid to try some­thing unusual, or even something scary.
3. Make the most of your alone times. Are you afraid to be alone? Are you comfortable with silence? Some people can’t live without a constant buzz of people around-it keeps them from facing the emptiness inside. They fill their lives with a blur of activity-all to avoid facing themselves. Learn to use potentially boring “alone times” to read, pray, and ponder your life.
4. Take personal responsibility for your life. You’re in the middle of an opportunity to mature. It’s easy to want independence while continuing to resist responsibility and blame Mom and Dad for whatever unhappiness, loneliness, and boredom you experience. Face it: You are responsible for your own life.
5. Seek God’s will for your life. Some students’ lives are boring and empty because they aren’t listening to the Lord. He might be trying to get your attention through your youth leader, Christian friend, Bible reading, or the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. Got ears?
6. Adjust your attitude. God can’t lead you into good things if you don’t have a teachable, positive attitude he can work with. Are you looking for his opportunities to expand your vision and lead you to radical new chal­lenges?

      And one huge last thing: Jesus is the ultimate answer for loneliness rooted in lack of purpose. If you’re missing fullness in life, Jesus, your friend, wants to grab you by the hand and lead you into some better-than-bungee-jumping life experiences.

REFLECT: Are you ready to follow Jesus in these steps to full life in him?

PRAY: Talk to him about filling your life today.