Deeper Still by phil mccallum | Archive

Miracle Hunger

No Comments 01 March 2009

Press the arrow to listen to Chris Tomlin sing “We are Hungry” as you read today’s devotion about getting hungry enough for a miracle.

Scripture
At about this same time he again found himself with a hungry crowd on his hands. He called his disciples together and said, “This crowd is breaking my heart. They have stuck with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they’ll faint along the wayâ€”some of them have come a long distance.” Mark 8:1-3 (The Message)

Observation
What is it that draws the miraculous out of Jesus Christ? It must be persistent hunger. The sight of 4,000 men going without food for 72 hours just to hear all they could hear was more than Jesus could bear to look at. It was more than Jesus being touched by hungry stomachs but by hungry souls.

Right on the heels of this a delegation of preachers showed up, fat and happy, and demanded a sign from Jesus. It is no wonder that Jesus sighed deeply. He had just come from 4,000 hungry men, hungry for words of truth, prepared to embrace discomfort to hear more. Next to come were those who would not pay the price and yet demanded a miracle.

Application
How many times do I come to Christ and demand a miracle without paying the price of desire? Plenty, I’m sure. I want to sit beside the 3,999th man in the crowd, and to be just one person hungering to hear more from Jesus Christ. Miracles may come or may not. It does not matter. I want only to hear his voice.

Prayer
Father, today I join the crowd of the desperate waiting to hear the words of Christ. Amen.

Desire, God's Presence, Hunger

Come Running

No Comments 06 January 2008

Scripture
The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground. Genesis 18:1-2

Observation
Abraham ran to meet God. That doesn’t seem all that significant unless a few facts are brought to light.

First, Abraham was 100 years old at the time. I had a friend who died at 102 years of age. When I first met Norm de Vaus at the age of 96 he ran across the road in front of my car with eggs he had collected from the chickens.Â The sight of a scrawny 100 year old jogger is not one quickly dismissed from the memory. Think of it: arthritic Abraham is sprinting down the driveway without a walker.

Second, Abraham was the boss of what we would call today a decent sized company. He had 318 male servants who were able to fight. Those men of course each had wives and with them children. Abraham’s entourage was well over a thousand or more people. They made quite a foot print in the desert with all of their tents. Abraham was Chairman of the Board with the confidence and aura of a great leader. It was customary at that time for servants to scamper about to serve the master. The head of a great estate did not run, others ran for him. But Abraham ran and everyone else sprang to action as a result.

Abraham was ancient and secure, nevertheless, Abraham sprinted to meet God.Â This example challenges our familiarity with the Almighty. We so take the Lord for granted. Just as Michelangelo painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, God reaches a decisive arm out to us while Adam lifts a groggy finger toward the Lord. If Abraham ran then we should be running to God as well.

Abraham ran because he was living in expectation. Just the chapter before he had taken the last in a series of increasing commitments to the Lord. He had all of the 318 servants, plus himself and his son Ishmael circumcised. Abraham had taken a significant step and so he expected God to do something soon. Abe had his sneakers on.

Application
The determined steps of our obedience bring God to us and when we obey we should put our running shoes on. God is coming and we must run to him soon. I’m expecting the Lord to show up just about anytime now and when he comes may he find me ready to sprint.

Prayer
Father, I’m ready. Amen.

Bible, Hunger

Jesus, Read the Bible to Me

1 Comment 28 December 2007

Scripture
Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, â€œStop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to Davidâ€™s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.â€ Revelation 5:4-5

Observation
It is odd to think of someone crying because they could not understand the Bible, but that is exactly what is taking place in this scripture. John has seen a locked book of God’s revelation. He wants so much to know what is on God’s heart that he bursts into tears because it cannot be understood. It is not just that the book is encrypted in bizzare symbols. There is more. No one is worthy to touch the book so significant is its message. So John weeps before unread paragraphs wanting to know what is on God’s mind.

I met Mrs. Smith in her 79th year. Her daughter had come to know Christ in our church and soon her mother followed. With her thick Scottish accent rolling like fog over Edinburgh, Catherlien Smith soon followed her daughter in discovering the grace and mercy of Christ. But about the same time Jesus found Catherlein, macular degeneration caught up with her eyesight. Her daughter was able to find a Bible with print the size of headlines. Armed with a magnifying glass befitting Sherlock Holmes, Catherlien would struggle word by word to read the scriptures. In my mind is an exposed image of her laborious Bible reading as she hunched with her magnifying glass and brilliant lamp over the book. She prayed regularly for sight that never came. But somehow I think the encroaching blindness opened her eyes, for she savored every word and took them deeply to heart. Our conversations together were exclusively about her discoveries in the Bible and her endless questions. She always wanted to know more and wished she had started learning sooner. She died with such peace in her 88th year.

Application
I want the kind of Bible hunger that brings tears to my eyes for more revelation. There is so much to understand that a first read will never reveal. In fact multiple readings will not unlock the secrets either. It is only when I read the Bible with him who is worthy to unlock the seals that I have any hope of discovering what is sealed in the pages of the book. Never read the Bible without Jesus, for this book stands alone among volumes as the only book we do not read because the Bible reads us.

Prayer
Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, I stand on the verge of a new year of again reading the Bible through. I know so little. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, this will be the 20th year of reading the Bible completely through. But I’ve only just started at the edges. Though my initial curiosity is satiated, take me deeper into soul hunger that will bring your gracious hand to turn the page and highlight words that only my spirit can read. Jesus, read the Bible to me. Amen.