Press the arrow to listen to Tim Hughes sing “Everything.”
Scripture
…Be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:16
Observation
Preaching should heat up nonbelievers. Speaking to unchurched people about Jesus is more than laying out information. When an evangelist speaks Jesus and invites people to him he is laying his hearers on the altar before God for him to warm up their hearts to say yes to him.
Evangelistic preaching is priestly act of worship. The preacher is placing lost people on the grill and God will bring the fire.
Application
I want my preaching to put people in the hottest. I want my speaking to warm up hearts toward God and bring them home.
Prayer Father, I want more than words, I want heat in the words I speak. You have used me before, but please use me again more than I have been used before. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to Brandon Heath sing “Give Me Your Eyes” while reading today’s devotion about agreeing with disagreeable people.
Scripture “‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’” Acts 24:21
Observation
Paul survived the jaws of justice and received an all-expenses-paid journey to Rome for a personal audience with the Emperor Nero because he ran to the common ground.
In each of his court hearings, Paul did not let the prosecutor or the judge define the charges against him. Paul did that. “‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!’”
Paul could have said, “I am on trial today because I have faith that God has raised Jesus from the dead.” But that would have been politically unwise. That was a region of argument that was in contention.
Instead, Paul searched for the one truth that brought all arguing parties together. Paul, the Jewish leaders and King Agrippa all agreed on one thing: this life is not the end but the beginning of a new life for eternity. They all believed in the resurrection.
Paul ran to this common ground in his arguments and worked through the tangles of debate right to Caesar’s Palace.
Application
Each one of us is Paul in court as we defend Christ in the marketplace. It is so easy to run to contentious ground that pits red against blue, black against white, north against south, east against west, young against old and on and on. What if we had the agility to seek common ground and to work outward from there? Instead of being right and lonely, we might find ourselves communicating in the company of the world’s most influential people.
Prayer Father, today help me to seek common ground. Often I want to jump behind the comfortable battle lines. Help me to see beyond them strategic opportunities of taking the kingdom of God forward. Show me common ground. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to Laura Story sing “Mighty to Save” while reading today’s devotion. And if you have time listen to this second video and hear her story.
Scripture Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Observation
Today, in this cross-side of history, we live sandwiched between two remarkable promises. On our left hand side is the promise of Jesus that all authority has been given to him for us to use. Anything is possible in the work we do for him. On the right hand side is the promise that Jesus will always be with us with that power for us to use.
On our left is the power of Jesus and on the right is the presence of Jesus. We are in the middle with one task: make disciples. That objective gets diluted with denominational expectations and dissolved with buying, selling and the affairs of life. But that single aim to make disciples should get us out of bed in the morning and keep us up late in the night.
Application
The power of Jesus is on our left and the presence of Jesus is on our right. This has been given to us for no other reason than this: to make disciples.
Prayer Father, today as I walk through crowds of people introduce me to those whom you are calling today. Make me a disciple maker today. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to Mercy Me sing “Here Am I” while reading today’s devotion.
Scripture So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Matthew 9:38
Observation
One of the big fears I have in prayer is the generosity of God. That may sound odd to be afraid of God’s kindness, but I do have my reasons. My anxiety is this: the Lord comes to me saying, “What would you like me to do for you” and I have such puny things to ask of him.
He says to me: Ask of me and I will give…
According to your faith it will be done to you.
If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…
What do you want me to do for you?
The Lord is so great and offers so much; I want my requests to be worthy of his glory. If the Lord has given significance to my request, I want what I ask to be useful to him.
When I am gobsmacked by God’s generosity, here is one prayer I can pray: “Lord, send more workers into your fields.” Jesus told me to pray it. He wants to answer that one. He wants to make me part of the answer to that prayer. I may be a worker to be sent. I may help others develop the skills to work.
Application
I want to start praying more deliberately and specifically for the Lord to thrust workers into the harvest. This is a prayer overwhelmingly huge. What would happen if at the sight of any corner church, I prayed for workers? What if when I walked through public places, teaming with unchurched people I prayed the same?
Prayer Lord, send more workers into your fields. Send me if you need me. And if you need a coach I’ll help them get ready. Amen.
Press the arrow to listen to Casting Crowns sing Love Them Like Jesus while you read today’s devotion.
Scripture Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. Matthew 4:19-20
Observation
What kind of bait will catch fishermen? With one sentence, Jesus managed to persuade small businessmen to shut up shop and trek with him. What kind of lure did he pull from his vest?
Jesus didn’t use the fly we’d expect. Something along the line of “follow-me-and-I’ll-make-you-the-best-you-that-you-can-be” I think would be very appealing. However, Jesus did not use any self-development pitch. He pulled a surprise from his fishin’ bag.
Jesus offered the disciples the secret of changing others. That was all it took; they were hooked. I’m left staggered by the simplicity and selflessness of the call of Jesus. The call to follow Christ isn’t about me, it’s about changing others through my life. Of course, I will be changed in the process, but improving my life is not what discipleship is about. The heart of discipling is to make a difference in the life of another human being for all eternity. If that doesn’t appeal to me, then I’m not worthy of Christ, yet why wouldn’t it be attractive?
Application
If I were to offer to the public an indelible writing surface, on which any message could be etched to endure for ages, many would be interested.
It would not weather like the Sphinx,
or burn like the library books of Alexandria,
or topple like tombstones,
or fade like pencil,
or bleed like ink,
or crash like a computer,
or erase like a memory stick,
or crack like a CD.
No graffiti artist can obscure it,
nor army can bomb it,
nor flood, storm or fire can remove its memory forever.
Whatever is written on this surface will make an author’s words immortal.
Where is a permanent surface like this to be found? It is on the human heart, of course. Any word spoken for Christ and received by a child of God will last forever. Any change in a human life for Christ will be taken to heaven for eternity. This is why becoming a follower of Christ is so alluring, for only Christ-followers can do works that last forever.
Prayer Father, this sounds like a very good deal. I’ll follow you Jesus into to crowd; let’s get going. Amen.
Scripture Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” Mark 4:21-25
Observation
The message of these words of Jesus is this: if I become a bright light bulb the Lord will put me in a useful place to shine as far as possible.
How do I become a higher wattage follower of Christ? By paying close attention to what I hear. And how can I hear? I must read the word and let it affect me. I listen to some after they read a Bible passage and squirm as they argue against hope and question the book. I have come to a conclusion. To gain true insight, I must not read the Bible, I must let the Bible read me. The scripture is living and active and it probes through my soul like pruning shears. The more I let the word of God have its way in my hidden areas the candlepower of my heart will increase.
If my light is bright, will the Lord put me in a cupboard? Well look to history.
Take an obscure preacher who spoke to a handful of bible college students in a now defunct institution and who spoke to dying men as an army chaplain. He was cut down from an appendicitis attack and his widow returned home to London. But she took with her folders of shorthand dictation that recorded every word her husband had spoken. Ten years later she published a book of his thoughts called My Utmost for His Highest.
Take another story of a missionary to Japan filled with burning zeal to touch every household in Japan with the gospel. But declining health sent him as an invalid back home to be nursed by his faithful wife until his death. Wanting to change the world, the missionary could not change his own clothes. His wife nurtured her own soul through the ordeal with books, magazines, scriptures and kept clippings of the encouragements that the Lord sent her way. The result was a devotional called Streams in the Desert.
Application
Jesus does not make it clear who brings the lamp out into the open and places it on a stand so that all will see its light. One could take his words to suggest that we should put ourselves forward to position our story of Jesus in the most accessible place possible. But I think more often it is the Lord who gives us a lamp stand and it is he who pulls us out of ineffective places and puts us in a place where our light is useful. The one thing we have control of is the brightness level of our light. The Master puts us where he wills, but it is up to us to be sure we are the highest wattage bulb possible.
Prayer Father, somehow it is comforting to know that all of this is not up to me. You place the lamp on the lamp stand it is mine just to shine. I trust you in that. Amen.
Scripture That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” Acts 16:9
Observation
The man in the vision from Macedonia was I think the man Paul met in the prison basement after the earthquake. Paul’s first convert in Europe was a woman, he was chased by a clairvoyant through the streets and he was beaten with rods. After the earthquake the vision was fulfilled.
It was quite a sight to see a prison warden on his knees begging a prisoner for help. Paul surely must have realized then that his prophecy was fulfilled.
Paul was the answer to the unspoken prayers of an unsaved man. Before the jailer was converted, his sighs were translated into prayers answered by God in Paul’s vision. Could it be that some of our steps are guided by the prayers of those who do not yet know the Lord?
Application
Paul was the answer to the prayer of an unsaved man; may my life be the answer to the unspoken desires of those searching for what they know not for. As I heard years ago, there are people without Christ waiting for me to say ‘yes’ to God.
Prayer Father, make the the answer to someone’s prayer today. Amen.
I'm Phil McCallum, a husband, father and most of all one of the people Jesus loves. I'm privileged to serve Evergreen Community Church in Bothell, Washington as Senior Pastor where people love enough to believe "it's all about relationships." In 1982 I made a vow to read God's word daily and apply it to life. Each day I write out my reflections. Some days I post those on my blog. It's a little personal but it's my hope it will stir you to go deeper still. Learn how I do my devotions. These are my thoughts and not necessarily those of the ministry I serve. By the way check out the computer study Bible Glo. I highly recommend it.
