Tag Archives: witness

Go tell the story (Luke 8:39) October 18, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Chronicles 21-24

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

Today’s Devotional

Luke 8:39
Jesus: No. Go home. Tell your people this amazing story about how much God has done for you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus and His disciples travel to the region of the Garasenes. There they meet a man possessed by an army of demons. I can’t imagine what that would be like. I can’t imagine what being possessed by one demon would be like. I don’t want to find out. I don’t want to know what it’s like to lose control of who you are because of one or more of Satan’s minions living in you. But this man had a war going on inside him. A battalion of demons warred for control. They had him, it was a question of which of them would be in charge at any one time and so the man was driven mad.

You know the story. Jesus comes along and tells the demons to leave the man. They request to go into the a herd of pigs instead of into the abyss prepared for Satan and his demons. Jesus grants their request, but the demons drive the pigs mad also and the animals run off the edge of a cliff into the sea and drown. The town hears about the events and come out to see this man who could deliver their mad-man from his army of demons.

The town comes out en mass and listens to Jesus’ words but then ask Him to leave. They just can’t handle the things He does or the things He says. They want Jesus gone. They are comfortable with their way of life and don’t want any change, even if it means putting up with their demon possessed mad-man. They just can’t imagine giving up their routine for anything or anyone. “Jesus, just go away and leave us alone.”

I’m afraid as I look at our society we, as a nation, act a lot like that group of citizens who told Jesus to go away. “We like our comfort. We like our toys and gadgets. We like to enjoy our pleasures. We like to do what we want. We don’t want anyone to tell us what to do. Go away Jesus.” You might not think that’s what we do, but that’s what our actions as a nation tell me. We are very far from being a Christian nation. In fact, I’m afraid we’ve let that attitude creep into many of our so called Christian churches. We’ve adopted the attitude of the world and want our way more than God’s way. We want Jesus’ picture in the hallway, but we don’t want His direction ruining our plans. So in the back of our minds we say, “Go away Jesus.”

What does that have to do with the words we’re exploring today? Jesus told the man He freed from the demons to stay in his hometown and spread the word of what happened. Many of our churches and denominations spend a lot of money and effort sending missionaries to other countries to spread the gospel around the world. My own denomination has missionaries in 180 countries around the world. That’s a good thing. We should continue to do that. Part of the great commission is to go into all the world. But that’s the last part of the location stream Jesus talked about.

Jesus first said go to Jerusalem, hometown, where you live, the street you call home. Witness there. Jesus knew there were plenty of people all around you that needed to hear the good news. You don’t have to go to a foreign country to find people who don’t know Christ. If I were a betting man, I would bet a month’s pay you have members of your family that have not given their life fully to Christ. Disciple them. I would be a year’s pay you have someone on your block that has not heard God will forgive them of their sins if they will confess and in repentance ask for His forgiveness.

I know there are hundreds, or thousands within a one mile radius of where you live, depending on whether you live in the country or the city, that are not citizens of the kingdom of God and are at this point eternally lost unless someone shares with them the nature of God and His desire to bring everyone into His kingdom if they will repent.

Who will tell them? Do you expect a missionary from some other country to come to your neighborhood that must learn our language and culture to convey God’s message of salvation to them? Do you expect another church to send out invitations to Christ to the people in your neighborhood? Do you expect your neighbors to just happen by the church you attend and give their lives to Jesus because you attend your church?

Those might sound like crazy questions, but that’s the way we act most of the time, isn’t it? The Garasean Jesus freed from the control of that army of demons wanted to go with Him to help share the message that God’s kingdom had arrived in the person of Jesus. But Jesus gave him a mission. Go home and tell those you meet in your village the story of what happened to you. That’s what Jesus asks of each of us, too. Go home and tell the story of what Jesus has done for you. Simple mission. Now go and do it.

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.

Be great by sharing the message (Luke 7:24-28) October 12, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 119

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

Today’s Devotional

Luke 7:24-28
Jesus: When you went out into the wilderness to see John, what were you expecting? A reed shaking in the wind? What were you looking for? A man in expensive clothing? Look, if you were looking for fancy clothes and luxurious living, you went to the wrong place—you should have gone to the kings’ courts, not to the wilderness! What were you seeking? A prophet? Ah yes, that’s what John is, and even more than a prophet. The prophet Malachi was talking about John when he wrote,
I will send My messenger before You,
to clear Your path in front of You.
Listen, there is no human being greater than this man, John the Baptist. Yet even the least significant person in the coming kingdom of God is greater than John.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

It’s funny how we get our value systems all turned around in this world, isn’t it? We think big house, fancy cars, clothes and jewelry are the emblems of success. We consider multiple bank accounts, more than one house, long vacations in exotic places, and extravagant spending the things for which to strive in this world. But Jesus points to John in his camel skin cloak, his wild hair and diet of honey and locust and whatever else he can find to eat in the wilderness and says this scraggly looking prophet is the greatest human being on the planet. There is none greater than John the Baptist.

How can that be? He has nothing. He has no home. He has no means of transportation. He has no decent set of clothing. He doesn’t know where his next meal will come from. How can Jesus look at anyone with a straight face and say John is the greatest human being who ever lived? Doesn’t Jesus say that He knows Moses and Elijah and the other great prophets? Doesn’t Jesus talk about David and Solomon and Hezekiah, the great kings of the great nation of Israel? Doesn’t Jesus understand the history of men like these? How can Jesus say this homeless man who says this illegitimate son of a carpenter is the Messiah be the greatest human being who ever lived? Jesus must be crazy!

But Jesus looked into the heart of John and saw what he had done. John fulfilled his purpose perfectly. John took none of the limelight even though he had great opportunity to do so. John began preaching about the coming Messiah and scores of people flocked to hear his message. John had the people’s ear. He could have usurped the Father’s will and made himself out to be the long awaited One. But he didn’t. He stayed on the course God set for him.

That’s where John’s greatness lay. It certainly wasn’t his wealth or his oratory skill or his property or his beauty. The only thing John had going for him was the fact that God chose him for a particular mission and he carried out that mission faithfully. Even when it would have been easy to back peddle just a little and save himself from prison and the executioners axe, John still stayed true to his mission and called God’s chosen people to repent of their sins. He let them know that the kingdom of God had burst in upon the scene and the rules were changing. They had to make up their mind about who they would follow and they had to do it quickly. They must either follow or reject Jesus, but to make the wrong choice meant an eternity separated from the One who could rescue them from the bondage of slavery they felt every day.

Did John fully understand the message He shared with those around him? I’m not sure he did. I stand on this side of the cross’ history. You and I have knowledge John and Jesus’ disciples didn’t have when they received the message John shared. I share the message of repentance and Jesus’ forgiveness often. I try to share it with you in this podcast every day. But do I fully understand the message I share? Not on this side of eternity’s curtain.

There is so much I will not understand about how the triune Godhead works, yet I still believe it is true. I do not understand how Jesus’ blood, shed 2,000 years ago, acts as the payment for the sins I commit today, yet I believe it does when I ask for his forgiveness because I feel the burden of guilt lifted from my heart. I do not understand how God can extend His grace to me when I was His enemy, yet I know He did because I feel His presence in my life every day.

There is so much about the message I will not understand until I can sit as Jesus’ feet and ask Him about it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe His message isn’t true. I know His message is true. I’ve seen His hand at work. I’ve felt His presence in my own life and watched Him work His miracles in the lives of others. I know He is God and forgives sins when we ask. I know He can help us live the lives He purposed us to live when we give Him authority over us. I know He can make us greater than we can ever be without Him.

What made John so great? He shared the message unfaltering to a world who needed to hear it desperately. Can Jesus make you great as well? You bet He can. Just share what He has done for you. That’s the message we are to share with others. He commands us to be His witnesses. So go ahead and start today.

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.

Don’t go through life deaf (Mark 7: 34) August 3, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 90-92

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:34
Jesus: Open up and let this man speak.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

A quick Google search about the number of people in the United States who are deaf gives a lot of different numbers depending on what you mean by deaf. If you think about disability, it can mean having difficulting hearing conversations on the telephone in an economy driven by the need to use telephones frequently. If you mean functionally deaf, the number is still pretty staggering and gets larger in the population of the elderly as you might expect. Here’s a fairly consistent number from the definitions used by the Gallaudet University in its research on the deaf population in the United States.

About 2 to 4 of every 1,000 people in the United States are “functionally deaf,” though more than half became deaf relatively late in life; fewer than 1 out of every 1,000 people in the United States became deaf before 18 years of age.

So for our purposes let’s use that lower number for the working population and children that are functionally deaf as we think about this encounter Jesus had as He approached the Decapolis. 2 out of every 1,000 in the United States means about 650,000 individuals below the age of 65 are functionally deaf. They can’t hear well enough to function in areas in which auditory clues are necessary. That’s a lot of people. 2 out of 1,000 doesn’t sound like many, but 650,000 is a lot. That’s a significant city, about the size of Baltimore, Maryland.

Now imagine you are deaf living in our sound driven world. No radio or television without the closed caption running at the bottom of the screen. No movie theaters. No sounds of cars or trains or planes. That might not be so bad. No birds. No music. Learning to talk with your hands and listen with your eyes. The warnings we get with our ears are non-existent for the deaf. It’s a world of silence. Communication is difficult. How do you begin to learn what something is without the sound of words from your parents and friends. The answer is sign language of course, but is a language not a lot of people know very well outside the deaf community. They are foreigners in their own land.

Such was the fate of the man Jesus met on the road that day. I’m not so sure there was an international sign language for the deaf back then. I’m not sure people made too many allowances for the disabled like we do today. Then if you weren’t productive in society, either your family provided for you or you died. It was that simple. There were no government programs to help. No special education avenues to give you special skills to help you if you needed it. You survived or you didn’t.

Jesus chose to help. He touched his ears, touched his tongue and the man heard and spoke clearly. Two things he had never done his entire life. Imagine what it must have been like for him. To hear words for the first time. To hear the crowd around him for the first time. To hear the sound of nature for the first time. To be able to speak so others could understand for the first time.

Jesus told him to keep quiet about his healing. Right! Like he could do that once he was able to talk. But how does all this relate to us?

Sometimes I think a lot of us are deaf without any physical hearing problems. We hear what we want to hear and block out everything else. We don’t want to hear the truth of God’s word so we close our ears to His message and instead listen to what the world has to say. We listen to the voices of that tell us fame and fortune are the goals we should set for ourselves instead of listening to God and the plans He has for us. Fame and fortune may be part of His plans, but don’t count on it. He not as interested in our fame, but in His name.

The world wants us to listen to its advertisements and buy into the idea that we are more important than anything else. We deserve to have it all. We are the center of the universe and everything revolves around our wants and desires. The world tells us it’s okay to satisfy our desires any way we choose. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt in the process as long as we get our way. It tells us the one with the most toys at the end wins.

Too often we like what the world says and we turn a deaf ear to God and what He tries to tell us. He tells us all those things the world sets as such high goals are just temporary. They don’t last. And they don’t satisfy very long. They might make you happy for a little while, but the happiness doesn’t last. What God promises is joy, not happiness. But joy can last eternally. The world promises a party. God promises life abundantly and eternally.

What does it take to hear God’s truth in a world driven by selfish motives and desires? Let Jesus touch your ears. Then He will touch your tongue and you can share His story with others as well. You don’t need to go through life deaf to the truth. Just let Him touch you. You’ll be amazed at the sounds you will hear when you do.

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.

It’s tough at home (Mark 6:4) July 27, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 87-89

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 6:4
Jesus (seeing this): A prophet can find honor anywhere except in his hometown, among his own people, and in his own household.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Do you really want to test your faith? Do you really want to know if what you’ve found in Christ is real and can stand up to the test of the world and the ridicule of those you ran around with as an enemy of God and His kingdom? Then live Christ in front of your family. Day in and day out live the life God wants you to live. Share what God puts on your mind. Do the tasks He calls you to do. Love the way He wants you to love within your family.

When you live your life in front of your family, they know if you are real. You can’t put on a façade in front of them, at least not very long. They know your past. They know your habits. They know the things you’ve started and quit. They know the resolutions you’ve made through the years and failed in keeping. They know the buttons to push to get you riled up and send your emotions flaring. Your family knows you better than anyone else.

When Jesus came back to His hometown to share the message that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, He shared it in the synagogue where He grew up as a boy. The rabbi and the elders in around the facility probably told Him and His brothers more than once that they needed to stop running on the property when they were growing up. The scribes sitting around the synagogue remembered Him sitting in their classes just learning the scriptures. Yes, He had an uncanning interest and skill in learning them, but Jesus was still just a kid in the class and played and sang and rough-housed with all the other boys. The scribes watched Him grow up around them.

The people of Nazareth watched Jesus in His father’s carpenter shop. He cut wood, hauled scraps, sanded rough planks, delivered finished products to customers. He learned His father’s trade and became a carpenter Himself. Somewhere along the line, Jesus’ father died and Jesus took up His father’s work to provide for the rest of the family. But everyone in the town knew Him. It was a small town and there were few secrets. They all even knew that Jesus was too old for Mary and Joseph to have been married when He was conceived.

Everyone knew everything about Jesus. So now, He was preaching in their synagogue. This illegitimate son of Mary and Joseph that grew up in their village. How could He talk to them about the scriptures? How could this carpenter school them in how God thinks we should live and act? What makes this laborer think He can challenge the teachings of the scribes and interpret the scriptures better than the rabbis who studied in Jerusalem?

It was tough for Jesus, the thirty-year-old man, the Son of God, to be heard in the town where His mother raised Him as a toddler, a teenager, and a young adult. Those older adults, those scribes and rabbis just couldn’t see past the teenager that grew up in their town. They couldn’t see the wisdom and knowledge Jesus gained over those last twenty years because they didn’t want to consider that He really was the Son of God. Why would God live in Nazareth? Surely He would live in Jerusalem and learn in the Temple if He were to come in the form of man, right? Jesus couldn’t be the Son of God. They watched Him grow up in their town. They knew nothing good came out of Nazareth…because they lived there.

Doesn’t say much for what their chamber of commerce put on their city advertisements, does it?

So what does that tell us about living for Him in our own homes? What do we learn from this short exchange in which Jesus declares that prophets receive honor everywhere except in their own hometown? I think He tells us we still need to witness to our lost family members, but expect them to question your faith. Don’t be surprised when they ridicule your newfound relationship with God. Don’t be surprised when they don’t believe you have been changed by the power of God’s Spirit living in you.

Like those living in Nazareth, family and close friends that have known you all your life, will always be the most skeptical of your changed life in Christ. They have seen you try those fad diets, New Year’s resolutions, organization trials, exercise programs, and all those other things that lasted a month or two before you fell into your old habits. They will think the same of your life in Christ. And even when the see the change over time, they will not recognize the change because they will test it over months and years to see if it sticks and by then they will put blinders on and forget the old you. Satan will put a veil over their eyes and try to hide the truth from them. It is hard to share the gospel with family. Not impossible, but hard.

What are we to do? Keep doing exactly what Jesus did. He still taught in the synagogue even though many didn’t listen. He still healed even though many didn’t come to Him. He performed a few miracles even though many didn’t believe and limited the usefulness of God living in their town. Jesus still did exactly what His Father asked Him to do. And that’s what Jesus expects us to do. Listen to Him and carry out His will, even in our families.

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.

Live where you are (Mark 5:19) July 24, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Thessalonians 1-3

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 5:19
Jesus: Stay here; I want you to go back home to your own people and let them see what the Lord has done—how He has had mercy on you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

“I want you to go back home to your own people.” The newly freed man didn’t expect that. He probably didn’t want it, either. Like most of us, the man probably wanted to accompany Jesus on His mission journey through the other towns of Galilee and Judea spreading the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. But that wasn’t the mission Jesus gave him. Jesus told him to go home and talk to his family. The people that knew him best.

That’s tough work! Let me give you a sample from the secular side of the world. In my last assignment, I was the Chief of Staff of the Army Medical Department Center and School. That sounds like a fancy title, but not a lot of people know what it really means to be a Chief of Staff or what the Army Medical Department Center and School is all about. But looking back at the job, it was a pretty important position.

The Center and School is the place where the Army trained all its enlisted medical specialties and conducted all its leadership training. It is also the place where the doctrine, techniques, tactics, and procedures for medical support in combat and deployed situations is developed and codified for the Army and for much of the Joint medical support around the world. It is the largest allied health training facility in the world, with 3600 staff and faculty graduating more than 40,000 students a year in over 350 different course and 200 medical specialties and sub-specialties. All of the specialties and sub-specialties that can be accredited in civilian schools are accredited by those same boards and institutions to ensure the quality of training and subsequent medical support for our service members is the same or better than their civilian counterparts.

Now that sounds like a fairly impressive organization, right? And the Chief of Staff, my last position in the Army, orchestrates the staff, the department decoratorates, to make sure all of those activities happen the way they are supposed to. For me, it meant pretty long days for three years with back to back meetings all day long from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm almost every day. Thousands of pages of material to read and edit, hundreds of emails every day, and directing all that work to the right staff agencies for action and answers. Fun most days, exciting, exhausting, too.

When I went into a meeting, one of my favorite coffee cups would already be sitting at my seat at the table with steaming coffee. A copy of the briefing slides would be at my place with my favorite brand of pen and paper next to it. Everything ready to go so I when I came into the room for the meeting, I didn’t have to worry about anything but focusing on the meeting I was about to attend. My presence was announced when I walked into the conference room and people stood at attention. Sounds pretty important, doesn’t it?

But when I went home, I wasn’t Colonel Agee anymore. I was dad, Dick, son. No one at home really knew or understood what I did every day when I put on my uniform and went to that building down the street. They knew I did something important because of all the people that recognized me whenever we went anywhere on the installation. They knew Chief of Staff of the Army Medical Department Center and School must be a fairly decent position because my picture was on the wall of half the buildings at Fort Sam Houston and a lot of the policies on the bulletin boards held my signature at the bottom of the page. But they didn’t really think much about it because I was just dad or son or Dick. I took out the trash, helped with dishes, sometimes swept or vacuumed floors, and sometimes folded laundry. I was just a member of the family.

I share that to explain the difficulty in sharing with family sometimes the news of who you are or how you have changed. Frankly, I still wanted to be just dad and son and Dick at home. I was glad to shed Colonel when I walked through the doors at home. But if I wanted to tell them what I did and explain the position I held near the end of my career, I’m not sure most of my family would have understood or accepted the power I wielded as Chief of Staff. I grew up with my brothers and sisters. They knew me. My parents knew the trouble I caused them and all my shortfalls. It would be hard for them to accept the thought that with just a few words dozens or even hundreds of people would do what I asked. They would have a hard time believing I could influence how medical structures operated on battlefields around the world. I was just dad or Dick or son.

The man freed from his demon possession would have a tough time ahead. Jesus wanted him to witness to those who knew him best. He was to show the change in him. He was to share the message and not just talk about it, but live it every day in front of those who knew him best. This changed man was to prove himself to those who did not trust him, those who threw him into the street and chained him up in the cemeteries because he had been a danger to the community. His task would be his toughest assignment. But that’s sometimes what Jesus calls us to do. Live the life He calls us to, just where we are, the toughest place to live. 

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.

Will you be that candle? (Mark 4:30-32) (July 21, 2016)

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 11-12

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 4:30-32
Jesus: What else is the kingdom of God like? What earthly thing can we compare it to? The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the tiniest seed you can sow. But after that seed is planted, it grows into the largest plant in the garden, a plant so big that birds can build their nests in the shade of its branches.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Wikipedia tells us the candela is the International Standard base unit of luminous intensity; that is, luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a point light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous to radiant intensity, but instead of simply adding up the contributions of every wavelength of light in the source’s spectrum, the contribution of each wavelength is weighted by the standard luminosity function (a model of the sensitivity of the human eye to different wavelengths). A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela. If emission in some directions is blocked by an opaque barrier, the emission would still be approximately one candela in the directions that are not obscured.

Like most other International Standard base units, the candela has an operational definition—it is defined by a description of a physical process that will produce one candela of luminous intensity. Since the 16th General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in 1979, the candela has been defined as:

The luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540×10(12) hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1⁄683 watt per steradian.

The definition describes how to produce a light source that (by definition) emits one candela. Such a source could then be used to calibrate instruments designed to measure luminous intensity.

The candela is sometimes still called by the old name candle, such as in foot-candle and the modern definition of candlepower.

So why bring up the definition of the candela? Well, we don’t know much about mustard seeds like they did in Jesus’ day. But probably most of us have participated in a service or memorial or some event like the following.

The crowd is given an unlit candle as they come into the auditorium and asked to just hold it until they are told what to do with it later in the program or service. At the right time, maybe at an invitation or a commitment service, a call to missions, a light the world theme or some such event, the speaker has all the lights in the auditorium not just dimmed but extinguished. The auditorium goes black.

As the speaker continues, one candle is lit. It’s a small thing, barely visible from the cheap seats in the balcony at the far end away from the podium, but it is visible. That one candle gives out about one candela of radiant lux, about 12 1/2 lumens if you want to measure the luminous lux. That’s it. Not much to try and conquer the darkness that engulfed the auditorium just a few minutes earlier.

Then the speaker does something you probably expected by this point. That one candle touches the candle of a person nearby, then those two lit candles touch two more, then those four touch four more, and so it goes until every candle that each person holds has that same small flame burning in the hand of its holder. Suddenly, the auditorium is no longer dark, but instead is bathed in hundreds, maybe thousands of candela as each lighted candle adds 12 1/2 more lumens to the auditorium.

In just a few minutes, that one candle, barely visible from the back of the room, becomes the single flame that fans the flame of every candle in every hand that fills the whole room with light. The darkness has been dispelled, but it started with just that one candle.

That’s how God’s word spreads, too. Like the mustard seed that grows into a bush the size of a tree where birds build their nests or like that single candle used to light others that finally engulf the whole room with light, when we share God’s mercy and grace and love with those around us, something happens. His spirit works to spread that fire not only in us, but into those with whom we share. His spirit is always at work. He leads us to people who are ready to hear His word if we will listen to His guiding voice and share when He tells us to. He knows when the time is perfect.

Will we see the results of our labor? Maybe, maybe not. It’s not our responsibility to save people from their sins. We can’t do that. We can’t even win them to the kingdom. Not within our power. But what we can do is tell others what He has done and is doing in our lives. We can act as His witnesses and tell them about Jesus and the good news of His kingdom right here for those willing to give themselves to Him. God does all the rest.

You might feel like one candle in the darkness sometimes. But remember that single candle begins to lighten the whole room. That event or service or memorial you remember with all those candles lit and providing light in that auditorium started with one candle touching another. Are you willing to be that candle in a dark world? 

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.

Playing hide-and-seek (Mark 4:21-23) July 18, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Leviticus 16-18

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 4:21-23
Jesus: When you bring a lamp into the house, do you put it under a box or stuff it under your bed? Or do you set it on top of a table or chest? Those things that are hidden are meant to be revealed, and what is concealed is meant to be brought out where its light can shine.
All who have ears to hear, let them listen.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Do you play hide-and-seek as a kid? I think it’s a popular game for most kids in almost every society. And I think we can get pretty good at it the older we get. As toddlers, we think that covering our eyes so that we can’t see anyone else means they can’t see us, but as we mature, we learn to hide in closets, find spaces in the cabinets, discover those hidden holes behind boxes in the garage. We find all kinds of places that others forget to look in and can stay hidden for a long time before anyone finds us. We can get pretty good at hiding.

I’m afraid too many of us have taken that hide-and-seek mentality and applied it to our faith. Are you that good at hiding your faith? I’ll have to admit, that’s one thing Muslim women do not do well. You can tell when they wear their burka what religion they practice. It’s hard for someone in a burka to hide their religion. But what about you? Do others know what you believe? Christians often look a lot like the crowd around them, or do they, or should they? Christians often are found the same place as everyone else, or are they, or should they? Christians often sound the same as everyone around them, or do they, or should they?

Do we hide in plain sight? Are we individually and collectively guilty of doing what Jesus implied when He talked about the covering up the lamp? Do we try to hide the light God puts in us when He saves us from our sins? Are we afraid to let His light shine through us so the world can see what He has done in us? Those are implications we have from Jesus’ words and the observations we see in the world around us.

Christians have become invisible. We look and sound like everyone else. Co-workers are surprised at the announcement of our faith. Neighbors are shocked if we suddenly say we won’t do something because we say we are Christian. They look at our behavior, our speech, our lifestyle and ask, “So what’s different about you?” What do we answer? What is different about us? How do people know that we are Christian? Can they see God’s light shining through us without us telling them?

I guess to know whether others can see that light we first have to have that light. It comes only by giving ourselves wholly to God. Body, soul, and spirit. Everything. Making Him Lord, Director, Guide, for everything we do. When we do that, God will begin to change us. He first forgives our sins and takes away the guilt we carry because of past sins. When that guilt is gone, it changes our countenance. That burden disappears and we begin to look different. We exude a peace and joy that is inexplicable to those around us because it doesn’t depend on the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Next God begins to transform us from the inside out. As Paul tells us in Romans, He renews our mind, He changes the way we think. We begin to think like He thinks because when we let Him begin to direct our thoughts. We begin to see others the way He sees them. We see others through His eyes of love and compassion and mercy and grace. We long to see others freed from the weight of sin and adopted into His family as we have been.

Then as we continue to listen to God and obey His will in our lives, we begin to bear His fruit in our lives. Those things Paul talks about in Galatians. We begin to show evidence of all of those fruit growing in us – unconditional love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These characteristics cannot be hidden. They come out in our relationships with others. These traits are so seldom seen in the world today that they jump out and flash in front of those around us like a strobe light.

Those who have given themselves fully to God and are living obediently to Him cannot hide. They are like a light on a hill, shining so everyone can see them. Everyone who looks in their direction sees their character, the fruit of the spirit shining through them. The love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that can only come from a life guided and directed by God radiates from their innermost being touching everyone who comes in contact with them.

Real Christians lose at playing hide-and-seek with their faith every single time. How well do you play? 

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.

–

Two important questions (Matthew 16:13-16) April 14, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 42-44

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 16:13–16</blockquote

Jesus (to His disciples): Who do people say the Son of Man is?
Disciples: Some say John the Baptist. And some say Elijah. And some say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.
Jesus: And you? Who do you say that I am?
Peter: You are the Anointed One. You are the Son of the living God.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

These are two of the most important questions you’ll ever answer, especially the last one.

It seems the questions caught Jesus’ twelve disciples a little off guard. Who do people say I am? They had been out into the villages and hamlets and cities all around the countryside as Jesus had instructed them. They had shared His message that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. They had shared that Jesus was the promised One. The One pointed out in the scriptures as the coming Messiah. They let everyone they saw know about this remarkable man.

Now it was time to report. In my thirty years of service, my bosses sent me out on a lot of inspections, investigations, and missions. And I sent a lot of those who were under my authority out to do the same. I can’t count the number of those missions I accomplished in my thirty year career. But every time I went out on one of those missions, I expected to report back to my boss the answers to the questions he had and I expected a report from all those soldiers I sent out on similar missions.

It’s just common sense, isn’t it. If we’re going to expend time and effort and treasure on a task, we ought to get something out of it. We should find out if the mission was successful or not. We should know at the end if the time and effort and treasure expended was worth it, right? How else can we know that unless there are reports rendered by those engaged in the mission?

So Jesus asks His disciples this simple question, “Who do people say I am?” The disciples were ready with their report. Their surveys were done. All the data was entered and analyzed. They had their spreadsheets completed. They pushed the buttons on their laptops and out came their report. (Well, use your imagination a little there.) “Some say John the Baptist. And some say Elijah. And some say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

So Jesus had His answer from the disciples’ surveys. He knew how well others believed His disciples when they told their story in the villages and hamlets and cities in the areas in which He traveled. But there was a more important question to ask. Jesus listened to the disciples answer and noted that Messiah wasn’t included in their answer. Son of God didn’t appear there. So there is a fundamental question that needed to be asked to know whether or not their sharing in the communities could be convincing.

Now what do I mean by that? It is said that some people can sell air conditioners to Eskimos because they are just that good at selling. Most salesmen aren’t like that, though. Most salesmen are effective in their business only when they are sold themselves on their products and services. If you don’t believe in your product personally, you won’t be very sincere in the delivery of your sales pitch. And that’s all it will be, a pitch. A bunch of words thrown out for someone to swing and maybe get a hit every once in a while.

No, a real salesman understands and believes in the product he sells. She knows all the pros and cons and knows the pros far outweigh the cons. She either has the product or wants the product personally and the only thing keeping her from having it is the price or the lack of immediate need. But when the need or the money is available the salesman knows his product is the one he will purchase.

And so, Jesus asks His emissaries, “Who do you say I am?” Do you believe I’m the Messiah? Do you believe I’m God incarnate? Do you believe I am who I say I am? Do you believe so you can tell my story with complete and total conviction when you share it with others?

He asks the same of us. If we are half-hearted in our belief, we will be half-hearted in our witness. When we are, the best we can do is get reports like the disciples got in their first mission journeys. Some will think Jesus a good man. Some a great prophet. Some will think He is just a story. Until you meet Him in faith and know Him so you might believe who He says He is, your story will only confuse those around you.

What is your status? How would you report when Jesus asks His questions? Who do those you share your story with say Jesus is? But more important for you and for your witness, Who do you say Jesus is? It’s the most important question you’ll ever answer. 

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.

Let your light shine (Matthew 5:15-16) January 9, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Matthew 3-4

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 5:15-16
Jesus: Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus said we are like an illuminating light. Light dispels darkness. Not the other way around. If you ever study the properties of light, you discover there is no such thing as darkness. It’s really a word we made up to describe the absence of light. Just like we made up the word cold to describe the absence of heat. Heat and light describe energy, power, something that you cannot see and really no one can truly understand completely, but we see the effects of it all around us.

Light comes from our sun and warms our planet to just the right temperature for our survival. It excites the rods and cones on our retina and sends electrical impulses to our brain so we can interpret those signals into patterns of light and dark and different colors so we can “see”. Light gives us those incredible capabilities because of the wave and particle properties it possesses.

But darkness? Nonething. Darkness is just the absence of those wave and particle properties that give life and light and heat to the universe. A single candle can be seen for miles on a clear night. Why? Because light dispels the darkness. It pushes through the vacuum of nothingness and excites the senses like nothing else can. It takes away the fear of night because just a little light dispels the darkness.

When we come to know Christ, His light shines on us and in us. We begin to understand the truth of His words and we no longer fear the darkness around us because His light dispels that darkness. We know we will be victorious over the tempter of our souls if we just follow the light ahead of us. We can feel the warmth and joy that comes from the presence of His light. And when we have His light, the words of this verse make so much more sense because not only will His light illumine us, but we have an opportunity to let His light in us, illumine others.

So Jesus asks, “Who would hide a lamp under a bowl?” It would be a silly thing to do. When He shines His light on us and illumines our heart, our minds, our inner thoughts, He wants us to let His light shine in us so that others see it. He wants us to live as He would in a world that sorely needs His light. People run around blindly because they live in darkness. Satan puts blinders on the men and women of this world to shut out the light and so people grope around trying to find their way in the dark. But as God’s light, we can help them see the world differently. We can help them find hope and life and light for themselves by introducing them to the source of it all.

We can’t share that light if we hide our Christianity, though. We can’t share His light if we try to cover up who we follow. We can’t be a light to the world if we just attend church every once in a while and then look and act like the world the rest of the time. If we expect to be a light to those around us, we must demonstrate Christ’s love, grace, and mercy to those around us. We must show Him to the world through our good works.

Good works don’t save us, but are a natural outflow of the grace He extends to us. If we try to hide the love He gives to us, we will be like a candle trapped under a glass. Soon the oxygen is consumed and the flame goes out. The light is gone. To keep our light burning, we need to let it shine so others can see it. Hiding it means it will snuff out our own light. God doesn’t do it, but we snuff it out ourselves because we refuse to let it shine in the open air as light is meant to do.

So listen to Jesus words. “Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.”

Let Jesus’ light in you become a conflagration that consumes you and points others to Him giving Him praise, turning others to Him, seeing creation at its fullest.

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.

Life demonstrates your words (Acts 28:17-31), October 27, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Acts 28:17-31

Set – Psalms 114; Acts 28

Go! – Job 18; Psalms 114; Acts 27-28

Acts 28:17-31
17 Three days after his arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders.
Paul: Brothers, although I committed no wrong against our Jewish people or our ancestral customs, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. 18 The Romans examined me and wanted to set me free because I had committed no capital offense. 19 But my Jewish opponents objected, so I had to appeal to the emperor—even though I had no charges against me and had filed no charges against my nation. 20 I wanted to gather you together and explain all this to you. I want you to understand that it is because of Israel’s hope that I am bound with this chain.
Jewish Leaders: 21 We haven’t received letters from Judea about you, and no visiting brother has reported anything or said anything negative about you. 22 So we are interested in hearing your viewpoint on the sect you represent. The only thing we know about it is that people everywhere speak against it.
23 They scheduled a day to meet again, and a large number came to his lodging. From morning until evening, he explained his message to them—giving his account of the kingdom of God, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets’ writings. 24 Some were convinced, but others refused to believe.
Paul (adding as they left in disagreement): 25 The Holy Spirit rightly spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,
26 Go to this people and say,
“You certainly do hear, but you will never understand;
you certainly do see, but you will never have insight.
27 Make their hearts hard,
their ears deaf, and their eyes blind.
Otherwise, they would look and see,
listen and hear,
understand and repent,
and be healed.”
28 So let it be known to you that God’s liberation, God’s healing, has been sent to the outsiders, and they will listen.
29 Then the local Jewish leaders left Paul to discuss all he had told them.
30 For two full years, he lived there in Rome, paying all his own expenses, receiving all who came to him. 31 With great confidence and with no hindrance, he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the ultimate authority—the Lord Jesus, God’s Anointed, the Liberating King.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

The wheels of man’s justice systems ran slow in Rome just as they do now. Paul sat in prison for two years before his case was finally heard and charges against him were dismissed. Yes, he was on house arrest, but that doesn’t mean he had freedom. He still had guards outside his door. He wasn’t free to move about the city or attend the synagogue or do the things he would like to do. His movements were restricted by the court and soldiers ensured he didn’t violate the terms of his arrest.

Paul didn’t let his time go to waste, though. During his days he preached to the guard. Many turned their lives over to Christ. Many learned about Paul’s faith because of their duty to guard him. They couldn’t make him stop talking about his God. They couldn’t leave … and so they listened. And many were convinced.

What was the difference between his brother Jews who went away unbelieving and those Roman soldiers who became part of the church in Rome? The Jews started with closed hearts and ears. They didn’t want to believe anything other than what they heard from their rabbis. Perhaps the Roman guards didn’t want to hear anything different either. But the Jews heard Paul’s words and left unbelieving.

The Roman guards heard, maybe unbelieving at first, but they had to stick around and not only listen, but they watched Paul’s life day after day. And that’s the difference. Every day the guards saw the difference Christ made in Paul’s life that they didn’t see in the lives of any of the other religions around them. The pantheon of gods they worships didn’t transform their lives. The Jews and their traditions didn’t make a difference in the lives of those around them. They just lived by rules. But Paul… He and those like him bowed to Christ were different and their lives showed. The guards wanted what Paul had and listened to learn how to get it.

Do you spend enough time with Me to let Me transform you? Do you spend enough time with those you want to hear the good news to let them see the transformation in your life and see that My message isn’t just words but has life transforming power? It takes both to be effective. Paul let his life show that My message is true. You can do the same.

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.