October 5 - Listen Up

 Read today’s texts first: Esther 3-8; Luke 18

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Sometimes we blame God for not speaking,
but the problem is we’re not listening. 

How did they miss it?  I knew Jesus had forewarned His disciples about His impending death, but I thought that He intentionally obscured it, so they’d have to dig a little deeper.  But then I read the Luke account once more and it was in-your-face obvious:

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.” But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said. (18:31-34)

Uhm, why not!?  How dense can they be?  In the next chapter they will be welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, fully expecting Him to take His reign over the Romans.  When that didn’t happen, they were devastated and demoralized.  How did they not know!

Then I think about my own life.  There have been countless times when God told me something and I quickly blocked it out.  It’s like half my conversations with my wife.  I have my preconceptions of what she should say which becomes the filter through which I hear what she actually does say.  It’s not till afterwards that I finally get it – when the doorbell rings with 30 people at my door and it dawns on me, “oh the party is tonight!”

“Lord, give me ears to not only hear but to actually listen to what You’re saying to me today.”

October 4 - Thy Kingdom Come

 Read today’s texts first: Esther 1,2; Psalm 150; Luke 17

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

God’s Kingdom brings personal freedom, not political.

The Pharisees didn’t get the concept of a spiritual kingdom.  They were only concerned with how things looked on the outside.  They wore the Word of God on their foreheads and shoulders (phylacteries), but it never quite made it to their hearts.  They cared deeply about rituals, rules and regulations, but lacked a real relationship with God.  That’s why they couldn’t grasp change that worked from the inside out.

As Jesus talked about a new kingdom they expected Him to begin an overthrow of Roman rulership.  When they asked where this new kingdom was, Jesus told them not to expect outward signs (17:20).  And yet the evidence was all around them.  Ten lepers had just been dramatically healed and had showed their healing to possibly these same Pharisees.  Lepers were easy to spot.  Their bodies were horribly disfigured and often their noses, ears, fingers and toes were completely eaten away.  That’s why and how they could be ostracized and labeled “unclean.”  For a leper to be healed they must have gone through a radical transformation.

How did they miss it?  Jesus reminded them that His Kingdom was already right here, right now.  It brought personal freedom and healing, not political.  The Kingdom of God is more powerful than any temporal political uprising – it brings transformational change from the inside out.  When the disciples finally figured it out they radically revolutionized their world, including the Roman Empire.

“Lord, Your Kingdom has come – it’s here, now, in me.  I choose to rule with You today, living from the inside out!”

October 3 - Unrighteous Mammon

 Read today’s texts first: Ezra 5,6; Psalm 138; Luke 16

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The money that makes the world go ‘round
isn’t really an asset in God’s economy. 

It seems whenever I struggle the most with a Bible reading I can expect the biggest insight.  Luke is usually quite logical and chronological in His gospel account but chapter 16 made no sense to me, at first. Then I remembered a conversation I had with a colleague about a business opportunity he wanted me to consider, and then I got it.  Jesus talks a lot about money, not because He values it but because we do.  Sorry ‘bout this all you prosperity teachers out there, but Jesus seems to have utter disdain for unrighteous mammon.

After the parable of the unrighteous steward, the teaching on two masters and the story of the rich man in Hades, you get the idea that money just isn’t an asset in God’s economy.  Jesus grew up as the son of a lowly carpenter in a backwoods town to become an unemployed homeless man wandering around picking up scraps He scrounged from other people’s fields.  He even had to pay His taxes with money He happened to find in a fish’s mouth.  I know that the hyper faith teachers say that He became poor so we could be rich, but that just doesn’t fit with the rest of Scripture.  Jesus is not just our Saviour - He modeled for us how to think and act.

I use to spend way too much time thinking about how to raise enough money to do God’s will.  I think I finally learned through a major capital project at PLBC just to do what He says and the money will be there!  God had no problem convincing a heathen king to underwrite the rebuilding of His Temple (from the Ezra reading).  I can’t serve God and mammon, which became the reason I answered “no” to this business venture.  It was fine for my friend, but I was sure it wasn’t what God wanted me to do at that time.  “Thanks Lord for Your promise to accomplish what concerns me (Ps. 138).”

October 2 - The Prodigal’s Father

 Read today’s texts first: Zechariah 13-14; Psalm 147; Luke 15

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The loving “God with us” in the New Testament
is the same “God out there” in the Old.

As we read through the Old Testament we learn about our Father God.  Sometimes when we read about the “God out there” we get the impression He is distant and judgmental.  But when Jesus, our Immanuel, arrives on the scene, the God out there is suddenly “God with us!”  That’s why we need to read the Old Covenant from a New Covenant perspective.

Jesus showed us the heart of the Father by loving everyone, especially those who others considered less worthy, like little children, prostitutes, lepers, and worse yet, tax collectors!  Jesus said that to see Him in action is to see the Father because everything He did was at the impulse of Father God.

This story of the prodigal is a perfect illustration of God’s heart for the lost.  We usually focus on the wayward kid, calling it the story of the prodigal son.  Reading it this time though, I noticed the heart of the father.  He is not judgmental or distant, at least not in his heart.  Any distance between them was his son’s choice.  But when his son decided to return, while he was still a long way off, the father ran to him, hugged him and kissed him (20).  That’s the lavish love of Father God, the same God of the Old Testament.  The stories we connect to His judgment can also be seen as redemptive, with God providing every opportunity for repentance and forgiveness.

“You are the Good Shepherd who will leave the 99 to search for the one lost sheep.  And when You find him, You lift him up on your shoulders and carry him back to safety (4-7).  Thank You Lord for going out of Your way to rescue me and for carrying me until I was strong enough to follow You on my own.  I need to show that same compassion to others so that when they see me in action they see the heart of the Father.”

October 1 - All Things Considered

 Read today’s texts first: Zechariah 10-12; Psalm 126; Luke 14

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Our churches are filled with undiscipled disciples
who think they can just add Jesus to their life. 

Jan and I, along with a group of families from Northside Church, planted a church a few years ago called NorthRidge.  I had the privilege of being the lead pastor which meant I got to speak every Sunday morning.  A surprisingly large number came to the church through the carnivals we put on for the community every year.  They were largely unchurched and I had hoped to see many coming forward to receive Jesus each week after every sermon.  When I asked my brother (pastor of our mother church) why that wasn’t happening, he said that you don’t want them to respond just to an emotional appeal.  You want them to count the cost first because you are asking them to give up their whole life!

The Luke reading starts with an open invitation to everyone to come to the table (the kingdom).  But as the multitudes began following Jesus, He quickly thinned out the crowd with comments like putting Him ahead of your family and your own life, picking up your cross, considering the costs, giving up all of your possessions, and allowing Him to lay a whole new foundation on which to build a completely new life. 

If we want disciples to remain they had better be fully aware of what they are getting into.  Jesus gave His life for us, but He expects a similar response from us – He wants us to give our lives to Him.  We have been bought and paid for with His blood.  Our churches are filled with undiscipled disciples who think they can just add Jesus to their life, but without a completely renovated foundation they will never survive the storms of life.

“Lord, while the costs of following You are considerable, the rewards are literally out of this world.  Show me what I still need to give back to You and what I need to say to others who are still considering the costs.”

October Devotion - Gratitude Is The Best Attitude

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. “Well,” she said, “I think I'll braid my hair today!” So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. “Hmmm,” she said, “I think I'll part my hair down the middle today!” So she did and had a grand day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head. “Okay,” she said, “today I get to wear my hair in a ponytail!” So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn’t a single hair on her head. “Yea!” she exclaimed, “I don't have to fix my hair today!”

While that story may not be true, the moral is. Those who choose an attitude of gratitude each day tend to be happier, healthier, and more fulfilled. Thankfulness reduces stress, lifts depression, and apparently improves our heart rate and blood pressure. It also does wonders for our social life – people are attracted to those who look at others with appreciation instead of expectation.

Charles Swindoll once wrote: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than education, than money, than failures, than successes, than circumstances, than whatever anyone might say or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness or skill.

“The remarkable thing is that we have the choice to create the attitude we have for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the way people act. We cannot change the inevitable. The one thing we can change is the only thing we have control over, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what actually happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”

Paul, the apostle, said it even better, thanks to the inspiration of God Himself: Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:16-18).  Let’s take these words to heart, not just on Thanksgiving weekend, but throughout the month of October - good hair day or not!

September 30 - A City Without Walls

 Read today’s texts first: Zechariah 7-9; Luke 13

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

God’s people, both the Jews and the Church, were sent out to invite people from every nation into God’s family. 

The Jews never quite understood why they were God’s chosen people.  They were not selected because He favored Israel over all the other nations (God is no respecter of persons – Acts 10:34).  On the contrary, they were chosen to be God’s channel of blessing to all nations.  Abraham, the Father of the Jews, was to be the father of many nations (hence the name change from Abram to Abraham).  The Jews were to be kings and priests on earth to represent and model God’s ways for the world to observe and then adopt (Exodus 19:6).  Rahab, the Canaanite prostitute, and Ruth, a Moabite, were so welcomed into God’s family they became entwined in the lineage of the Messiah.  We know the end result of this Master plan is the vision of the great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9).

Zechariah reinforces that goal for the Jews rebuilding the holy city and their new identity.  In the vision of the man measuring Jerusalem, he heard the angel say, Jerusalem will be a city without walls (2:4).  It was always God’s intent to include all the nations in His holy city:

People from many nations, even powerful nations, will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to ask the Lord to bless them.  This is what the Lord Almighty says: In those days ten people from nations and languages around the world will clutch at the hem of one Jew’s robe. And they will say, “Please let us walk with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” (8:22-23)

“Lord, You spoke this message of international inclusiveness to me back in 2002.  At that time I worked on a national curriculum to help churches embrace this idea and transition to become intentionally intercultural.  But as I read these passages again today I realized that was not a one-time assignment. Show me Lord how I can continue to promote the new Jerusalem as a city without walls.”