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Sometimes you just need to stop and listen (Luke 10:41-42) October 30, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – James 4-5

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 10:41-42
Jesus: Oh Martha, Martha, you are so anxious and concerned about a million details, but really, only one thing matters. Mary has chosen that one thing, and I won’t take it away from her.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

It’s easy to get busy doing good things, isn’t it? I remember my days as Chief of Staff at the Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston. My calendar was crazy. It wa filled with meetings and appointments that were good. They were important. They needed to be conducted. But looking back, I’m not sure I really should have let my schedule get as crazy as I did.

I let other people handle my schedule and I ended up with back to back meetings every 30 minutes from 7 in the morning until 6 in the evening five days a week and most evenings and weekends were filled with Army, city, and church activities. I had no time left over in the schedule for three years for much of anything. I had to schedule time with Carole and my kids and there wasn’t near enough of it as I look back at those years.

It wasn’t that I was doing bad things, but it certainly wasn’t the best things. Oh, I had an important position and everyone at Fort Sam Houston knew who I was. I interacted with a lot of important people as I acted as advisor to the city council on matters pertaining to the installation at times, state and federal agencies operating in and around Fort Sam Houston, or interfaced with organizations like the Red Cross, Veterans’ Administration, several of the school districts, the medical community in San Antonio, the Chamber of Commerce, and a host of other agencies and activities. I did a lot of good things with all those appointments and meetings and conferences. As I look back at those things, I think I helped the installation, the school and the medical community progress in its care of both military personnel and the civilian community, particularly in the area of trauma support.

But was it the best use of those hours during those three years? Quite frankly, I don’t know. I was able to share my story a few times both with individuals and in public forums giving credit to God for the successes I enjoyed in my career, but I was called to preach in 1980 and I had very little time left in my calendar to preach or provide the blogs and podcasts I’m doing now, sharing God’s words consistently.

So was what I was doing what Martha doing? Going around attending to all the details at the expense of sitting at the feet of Jesus and soaking in the best He has for me? I admit, sometimes I think I was. I think I let my job and those responsibilities keep me from the call God placed on my life on that I promised to fulfill on that September evening in 1980. I still did things with my church. I still kept up my devotions. I still shared with some about the faith I felt and used to keep everything in perspective. But I let the details block out the goodness of just stopping sometimes and sitting at the feet of the Master.

I’m trying to do better. I’m trying to leave room in my calendar for God to work. I try to remember that everything is secondary to His schedule. Like the Good Samaritan that disrupted his plans and spent at least a day and a night tending to a stranger injured on the road, I want to be ready to give up my schedule to the best God has instead of the good I might have planned.

So what about you? Have you let your life get so cluttered with details that you don’t have time to let God intervene with His schedule? Have you planned every moment and hold on to those moments with such tenacity that God can’t get in no matter how hard He tries? That’s what Martha did and she was scolded when she tried to get Mary to stop listening to Jesus and help her with all those preparations.

Sometimes we just need to remember God cares more about our relationship with Him than He does the glitter and glamor and ritual and preparation we seem to do to get ready to meet Him. He just wants us to sit at His feet and listen. Don’t let all the other stuff become distractors from listening to His voice. Even when we do good things we can sacrifice the best if we’re not careful. So how do we know we are doing the best and not just the good?

Stay in His word. Pray often. Listen for His spirit’s prompting and then obey that still small voice that speaks to you. Become sensitive to His voice and obey when you hear Him call. Don’t let anything become more important than His words in your ear. When you listen to Him and obey His call, you won’t be sorry. You’ll discover incredible truth and do incredible things in His name.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

We are nothing, but enough (Mark 10:42-45) August 25, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 19

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 10:42-45
Jesus: You know that among the nations of the world the great ones lord it over the little people and act like tyrants. But that is not the way it will be among you. Whoever would be great among you must serve and minister. Whoever wants to be great among you must be slave of all. Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to be a servant—to offer His life as a ransom for others.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Serving in the military for thirty years makes you pretty proficient at understanding hierarchy, chain-of-command, authority, and so forth. A definitive rank structure holds the system in place in an organization that at times requires leaders to send subordinates into battle knowing that some may not return. No one likes war less than soldiers. They understand the stakes involved and although soldiers do as they are told, those that enjoy war are usually discharged because they obviously have something wrong with them. Soldiers detest war.

That hierarchy is necessary in keeping everything moving and working well in war. Someone must determine the objectives that must be taken if the war is to be won. Someone must determine what units and what soldiers must put their boots on the ground to take possession of these key pieces of terrain and deny the enemy their strategic value if the military is to decide the outcome of a conflict.

The various arms of the military work together to put munitions on targets and soften the enemy, perhaps even causing surrender of mass numbers of enemy before soldiers move forward, but ultimately, some soldier with little rank will stand on a piece of ground formerly held by enemy troops before victory can be declared. The generals determine what those targets will be. The generals approve those objectives and the lines and lanes on which soldiers will move to reduce the risk to friendly forces, but maximize the destruction of enemy strength.

The generals orchestrate the battle. Then the orders flow downhill. Colonels pass their part to their brigades and battalions. Lieutenant colonels give their directions to their company commanders to accomplish their part of the mission. Company commanders pass orders to their platoons to further refine their smaller piece of the mission. Platoons give their squads an even smaller part of the overall mission and the squads break the tasks down to team level. The team leader then assigns tasks to each team member. Each soldier has his or her job to do to make sure the generals’ plans are accomplished.

But something is wrong with those organization charts the way they are drawn for almost every military and civilian organization with any kind of hierarchy. You see, just as in the military illustration, although the general approves the plans and determines which objectives to win, it’s the privates who carry out the work. They should be at the top of the pyramid with the generals at the bottom. It’s really all those privates and corporals and sergeants who get the work done.

The same is true in every corporation. There is someone in charge and that person is important, they take a lot of risk and give direction to the company’s employees, but all those employees get the work done every day. Those are the people that make the products, sell the commodities, interface with the customers, make the revenue. Without those folks at the bottom of that hierarchy, the corporation would fold. Are those at the bottom of the chain of command easier to replace than those at the top? Maybe. But that doesn’t make them any less important. That doesn’t decrease their value to the overall accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the leadership.

As Christians in the work force, we need to remember Jesus’ words. Whoever would be great among you must be a servant of all. Remember that the further up the ladder of what the world calls success you might progress, the more important to serve those others might say are beneath you. They are not. They are the ones you hold up so the missions can be completed. They are the ones you lift with your encouragement, your enthusiasm, your resources, so their job can be done and your objectives achieved. You are their servant to make sure they have what they need to do the job you asked them to do.

From Jesus’ perspective, the ones the world thinks are great are not so great. He measures people from the perspective of God. No one measures up. So if you think you are climbing high and about to reach the pinacle of success, just think about where you are compared to God. He owns it all. How much gold has yet to be mined on this planet? How much more is out there in the rest of the universe? How do you measure God’s net value? How many diamonds does God own? What is the value of His real estate? Get the picture? When we compare ourselves to God, no matter how great we might think we are, we are nothing. Yet He loves us enough to come and live alongside us for a while, die for our sins, and give Himself to us to guide us in His truth every day.

We are nothing compared to God, but important enough to Him that He gave His very best for us. Just imagine!

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

What is most important to you? (Psalms 135), May 23, 2015

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Today’s Podcast


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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Psalms 135
Set – Psalms 135; Romans 4
Go! – 2 Chronicles 6-7; Psalms 135; Romans 4

Psalms 135
1 Praise the Eternal!
Praise and glorify the name of the One who always has been and always will be;
praise Him, servants of the Eternal!
2 Join in the chorus, all you who minister in the Eternal’s temple;
in the courts of our God’s temple,
3 Glorify the Eternal, for He is good!
Sing praises, and honor His name for it is delightful.
4 For the Eternal made His choice; He selected Jacob as His own;
He claimed Israel as His possession.
5 Now I know this: the Eternal is great; His power is unmatched.
Our Master is above any so-called god.
6 He does whatever He pleases,
in heaven, on earth,
in the seas, and in all the ocean depths.
7 He draws up the clouds that rise over the whole earth,
He causes rain and the lightning to strike,
and He summons the wind from His storehouses.
8 He took the lives of Egypt’s firstborn,
human and beast alike.
9 O Egypt, He worked wonders and signs before your eyes,
signs against Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s servants.
10 He destroyed nation after nation
and killed mighty kings:
11 Sihon, the Amorite king;
Og, the king of Bashan;
and even all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He conquered their land and gave it as an inheritance—
an inheritance for His people, Israel.
13 Eternal One, Your name is everlasting.
Your legacy, Eternal One, will be known through all the ages.
14 For the Eternal will judge His people,
He will show compassion to those who serve Him.
15 The nations have idols of silver and gold,
crafted by human hands!
16 They shaped mouths for them, but they cannot speak;
they carved eyes into them, but they cannot see;
17 They placed ears on them, but they cannot hear;
they cannot breathe, not even a puff of air from their mouths!
18 The artisans who made them
are just like them,
and so are all who mistakenly trust in them, no exceptions.
19 House of Israel, praise the Eternal;
house of Aaron, praise the Eternal;
20 House of Levi, praise the Eternal;
all those who revere the Eternal, praise Him!
21 Blessed be the Eternal from Zion,
the One who has made Jerusalem His home.
Praise the Eternal!

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

The psalmist recognized who I am and what I do in the lives of My people. He calls the people to praise Me for it, a rational response. I want to talk about those he mentions who craft idols, though. The nations around him that craft idols of silver and gold with mouths that can’t talk and eyes that can’t see. They have ears that can’t hear and they cannot breathe. Yet the artisans and the nations that worship these metal idols believe in their power.

I wonder what happens to people’s brains to think that these objects made from their hands have any power in them. How can these pieces of wood, stone, silver, or gold molded into some image do them any good? Can sightless eyes see the trouble you have or the enemies you face? Can ears that do not hear understand the cries of your heart or hear your prayers as you plead for mercy or ask for grace in your times of trouble? Can a statue of wood or stone extend a tender heart and show compassion when you need it?

Today, you say you have become more civil, though. You no longer have idols, but don’t you? Look around and see what has replaced Me in your praise and worship. Sports fields fill with cries of praise instead of My churches being filled with praise. You sit in front of screens for entertainment instead of reading My word and learning of Me or building your relationship with Me. You walk past the hungry and the needy without thought of helping.

You let your thirst for jobs, houses, cars, clothes, money, and things become more important than your thirst for Me. All of these “things” made by man become worshipped more than Me. They replace Me in importance despite the fact they cannot see or hear or speak. You give generously to these things. You spend your time with these things. You worship these things.

When will you discover that these “things” cannot save you or give you the peace you long for in your life? When will you learn that only I can provide the contentment you seek? When will you stop and recognize that love drives the world and My commands to love Me with your whole self and love your neighbor are all you need to do to find real joy in your life?

Use your brain a little and think about what you worship. What is most important in your life? Things that cannot last but swallow your time and resources or Me?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.