February 20 - Fear is Not a Factor

 Read today’s texts first: Numbers 7; Psalm 23; Acts 27

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Our worst case scenario, dying, is our best case
scenario, being with Jesus forever. 

When we step into the realm of faith (yesterday’s devotional), fear is no longer a factor (yes, borrowing the phrase from a gross reality show is intentional!).  Even when we walk through a dark valley, with no idea where we are going and the shadow of death engulfing us, there’s nothing to worry about (Psalm 23:4).  God is with us.

A past journal entry on this day recorded the story of Sargon and I walking through the college singing an impromptu duet of “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”  Yes, it was both a strange sight and a strange sound (the students had a good laugh at our expense), but it was also significant in other ways.  We represent two completely different people from opposite places in the world (Sargon is from war-torn Iraq), singing together because of the peace we now share in knowing Jesus.

I can imagine Paul singing the same kind of song while his ship was being torn apart off the coast of Malta.  He knew he was going to arrive in Rome in one piece so nothing along the way seemed to bother him.  Even the poisonous asp hanging off his hand (I read ahead to ch. 28) had no effect on him (quite literally).

The promise of Psalm 23 is true – when God is with us, goodness and lovingkindness follow us every day of our lives.  Our greatest fear, the shadow of death, has no effect when we realize death is just a doorway to “the house of the Lord” where we will dwell with Him forever (6).  Our worst case scenario, dying, is our best case scenario, being with Jesus forever.  “Thank You Lord that wherever I follow You, fear is simply not a factor.”

February 19 - The Faith Factor

 Read today’s texts first: Numbers 5 & 6; Psalms 22; Acts 26

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Reason will take you so far, but when we include
the faith factor, it all begins to make sense. 

Reason will only take you so far.  Paul was a logical thinker and a convincing speaker.  After his defense to Agrippa, the king was almost persuaded to become a Christian (28).  Festus, on the other hand, thought Paul was crazy (24).  Reason, logic and intellect will only take you so far – eventually faith must become a factor.   When we take that leap of faith and actually become a believer, it all begins to make perfect sense.

Notice I said “begins.”  I’ve been a Christian for over 60 years, but I’m still not ready to explain the significance of the jealousy ritual in Numbers 5 or the Nazarite vow in Numbers 6.  I am, however, far enough along in my faith journey to appreciate the incredible prophecies in Psalm 22.  David likely has no idea that he is prophesying a blow-by-blow description of Christ’s crucifixion.  He thinks he’s just complaining about another one of his bad days, but the Great I Am, who sees the future as if it’s the present, places words in his mouth of undeniable detail describing His death.

We know Jesus had something to do with this Psalm because He quotes it while hanging on the cross: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (1). Then David includes these incredible insights.

• Despised by the people (6)
• Scorned and mocked by a gaping crowd gathered around (7,12,13,16)
• Poured out like water (water and blood flowed from His side) (14)
• Bones out of joint (effects of the crucifixion) (14)
• Incredible thirst (15)
• Pierced his hands and feet (16)
• Bones unbroken (17)
• Casts lots for His garment (18)
• The eternal effects of His death and resurrection (24-31)

This description could not possibly apply to David, but it vividly describes the last hours of the Messiah to come through his seed.

Once we include the faith factor it all makes so much sense.  The capacity of our Jesus to describe the details of His death more than 1000 years before He even appeared on planet Earth as the Babe in Bethlehem is mind-blowing.  “Lord, may I never doubt that You know exactly what’s going on and how it’s all going to turn out in the end.  Fear should not be a factor, but faith sure is!”

February 18 - I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

 Read today’s texts first: Numbers 3 & 4; Acts 25

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

• In God’s chess match, even P.O.W.s are still in the game.

• I’m okay with just being a pawn as long as I’m on the side and in the hands of the Chess Master!

Few people know this, but no one is surprised when I tell them: I was president of the chess club in junior high school.  It may have sealed my official “nerd” status, but it also taught me a lot about life.  I learned early on that I could win the war by conceding a few battles along the way.  While my opponent was deliriously distracted by taking my occasional knight or bishop, I was concentrating on the bigger picture.  While pretending I was retreating, I was actually maneuvering my castle and Queen in on his king.  And just when he was feeling completely superior, comparing his P.O.W.s to mine, I would crush his spirit with the completely unexpected “checkmate.”

That’s why I love being on God’s side in the war of good vs. evil.  Paul’s story is like so many of the great table-turning tales of the past: Moses and Pharaoh, Mordecai and Haman, David and Goliath.  Just when you think Paul is done, God, the ultimate chess player, gives him an audience with some of the most influential men of the Roman world and arranges an all-expenses-paid trip to Rome.  He maneuvers Paul into the next key city of His master plan to evangelize the known world with the gospel.  And Paul is the perfect man for the job - a natural-born Roman citizen, highly educated, and articulate enough to command the attention of Rome’s elite: Commander Claudius Lysias, Governors Felix and Festus, King Agrippa, and finally an appeal to Caesar.  In God’s chess match, even P.O.W.s are still in the game.

I call it the Calvary factor.  Satan’s greatest weakness is his pride – he is deluded enough to think he can win the war.  He can get so caught up in winning a few skirmishes that he loses sight of the big picture: the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood, for if they had understood it they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8).  Jesus snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Golgotha with the words “it is finished.”  Translation – “checkmate” or in the words of A-Team’s Hannibal Smith, “I love it when a plan comes together!”

“Lord, You are the chess master, not me.  Sometimes I don’t see the big picture either, but as the Master Planner, You do.  I’m okay with just being a pawn as long as I’m on Your side and in Your hands!”

February 17 - Never Wish for Numbers

 Read today’s texts first: Numbers 1 & 2; Acts 24

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Stay focused on building big people;
let God build big groups! 

The book of Numbers delivers on the promise of its title: it begins by numbering the tribes of Israel.  While this may not be spell-binding reading, there’s much to see between the lines.  There were 600,000 fighting men, so likely well over 2 million altogether, including women and children.  This must have been the biggest campsite any of us have ever seen, including Woodstock!

And we know they weren’t all happy campers – these were Jews who love to complain and who had very good reason: constant setting up, tearing down, moving out, and then repeating the cycle ad infinitum; wandering in a barren desert with nothing interesting to see or do; keeping children distracted from their constant hunger and thirst; trying to avoid wars with bloodthirsty barbarians while trespassing on their land; and knowing there’s more of that ahead when they finally get to the “Promised Land.”  How would we do with no kitchens, bathrooms (not even an outhouse), televisions, water coolers, air conditioners, shopping malls, or transportation options – for 40 years!

Then there’s their fearless leader.  Moses was an octogenarian when he started this parade to the Promised Land, and then he outlives them for another 40 years in the wilderness.  A well-earned retirement, a little golf, some puttering in the workshop, and a lot of Lazy-Boy action would be all I could think about when I turn 120!  Try leading 2 million complaining Jews through the worst possible conditions with little idea where you’re going and what you’ll find when you get there.  Then try to do that without a P.A. system and a good worship team to set the mood.

“So often I’ve aspired to see numbers grow, as a youth pastor, an associate pastor, a senior pastor, and a college president.  But Lord, I’m no Moses, and I now would rather focus on quality than quantity.  I’ll stay concerned with building big people; You can deal with building big groups!”

February 16 - Prosperity Thinking

 Read today’s texts first: Leviticus 26 & 27; Acts 23

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

May we never measure our understanding of
God’s will by our degree of comfort.

I love it when there’s harmony between my daily Old Testament and New Testament readings, where each enhances the other.  But I’m also starting to love the rare occasion where there’s apparent incongruence between the two, like today, because it’s in that search for connection when deeper truths are revealed.

Leviticus 26 is about God’s blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.  The blessings seem to imply prosperity: fruitfulness (4), health (5), freedom from enemy oppression (6-8).  The Word-Faith teachers love this stuff!  But when we fast-forward to Paul, we see him faithfully following God’s will and being persecuted by everyone, from Jews to Romans to fellow Christians.  The Word-Faith teachers seem to have problems with Paul.  I remember one article in the Voice of Victory magazine blaming Paul for his chronic “thorn in the flesh,” because he prayed three times instead of claiming his answer the first time.

So are Paul’s difficulties the result of a lack of faith, or worse, disobedience?  That’s where the deeper study proves helpful.  My devotion yesterday settled the ownership question already: prosperity is not about our wealth, health or comfort.  Fruitfulness is about saving souls, not stock options.  Some prosperity teachers measure your spirituality by the size of your Cadillac or the cut of your Armani suit, but even if you are buried in both, neither will arrive with you in heaven.  Paul understood that prosperity was advancing God’s Kingdom, not building his own.  God was allowing Paul’s enemies to provide free transportation and access for Paul to evangelize Rome (11) – now that’s true fruitfulness, freedom and prosperity.

“Lord, may I never measure my understanding of Your will by my degree of comfort.  The prosperity of Your Kingdom is the true and lasting reward of obedience.”

February 15 - God’s Perfect Economy

 Read today’s texts first: Leviticus 25; Psalm 25 & 26; Acts 22

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

We’re not here just to make a living and acquire things; we’re here to manage God’s resources and serve
His purposes. 

I learned a biblical principle from my brother that helped me earn hundreds of thousands of dollars.  It wasn’t my brother the pastor; it was my eldest brother, the businessman.  He discovered while buying rental houses that the economy went through 7-8 year economic cycles, coincident with the Sabbath year.

The principle of the Sabbath is not just to revitalize the land as it lays fallow for a year: the changes in buying and selling that year also revitalize the economy.  Without that intentional correction, the economy will adjust itself – the hard way.  Spiraling inflation ends in a minor or major recession.  If you time it right you can sell one house high and buy the next one low, which both of us did for serious profits.

The Sabbath of Sabbath years, the 50^th year of Jubilee, cancelled all debts, returned all property to its original owners and allowed for the emancipation of all slaves.  Nowhere in biblical history do we hear of Israel actually doing this, but the concept is brilliant.  Chronic poverty, long-term debt, exploitation of workers, and so many other social problems connected to ownership and greed would be eliminated. The principle was a reminder that God owns everything and that we are only stewards of His property.

“Lord, this foundational truth must undergird everything we do on this planet.  We’re not here just to make a living and acquire things; we’re here to manage Your resources and serve Your purposes.  That’s when we’ll experience the jubilee that comes from true rest and complete freedom!”

February 14 - Celebrate Good Times, C’mon!

 Read today’s texts first: Leviticus 23 & 24; Psalm 24; Acts 21

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

It is Your will that I sleep sweetly, rest regularly,
and party hardy! 

Christians often think of Old Testament law like nonchristians view the church - boring and oppressive.  But the church today, just like the Israelites of old, should be party central!  The emphasis on the Sabbath and the annual feasts remind us of the abundant life we are supposed to be enjoying.  Five of the seven national holidays were to be times of celebration with the family and community of believers.  Sprinkled throughout their description are reminders of the Sabbath, when everyone should cease from “laborious work.”  Rest and recreation are vital in living life to the fullest.

We live in a stress-filled, sleep-deprived world.  Greed and materialism are ripping people off of a good night’s sleep, a good week’s rest, and true holiday celebrations.  TV and the internet are stealing our sleep, Sunday shopping has replaced the Sunday family dinner, and holidays have become exhausting.

Christians are not much better.  It may not be greed that drives us to an early grave, but even our desire to serve God can become an excuse for workaholism.  You may have heard, “it’s better to burn out than to rust out!”  Hey, take it from me, after experiencing the debilitating symptoms of burn-out, there is a better option.  The most effective Christians are those who’ve learned how to enjoy life.  They stand in attractive contrast to the road-weary, bleary-eyed, sad souls looking for a better way to live.

“Lord, help me keep the balance You so clearly established in Your Word.  It is Your will that I sleep sweetly, rest regularly and party hardy!”