Deeper Still by phil mccallum

Scripture
Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” John 4:6-7

Application
I’ve spent some time with a pastor who never lets a name tag go unnoticed. Every time we’ve gone out to lunch he has taken time to use the name that is there to read. It is a magical charm that creates instant rapport. As he explained to me, “People who work with the public have so much to put up with. I don’t want to make their day any more difficult. I want to lighten their load.”

Sometimes I’m there but oftentimes I’m not. Like the other day when checking into a motel I was more interested in the bed in the room and the sleep it offered to me than I was with the human being checking me in. I remember standing there thinking, “I’m tired so will you hurry up!” I didn’t voice my frustration as she methodically filled in every blank box (hey I don’t trash rooms or steal towels and I always pay for my phone calls so would you hurry!). I didn’t speak my thoughts but I’m sure she could feel them. Was that really the impression Jesus wanted me to give?

Jesus was tired enough that he did not want to go shopping. He just wanted to sit on a bench. Any man with a wife at Christmas in a mall can relate. Yet he had time to initiate a long conversation for the benefit of another. Kindness such as this is a small thing that does not seem theologically significant. But it was to Jesus.

Application
Kindness matters. People thrive on it. Jesus wants me to offer it, even when I’m tired.

Prayer
Father, help me to remember the human being under every franchise uniform. Help me to see the value of people as you do. Amen.

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Scripture

“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.” Acts 7:51-53

Observation

Stephen’s sermon is so eloquent that it’s hard to remember the guy is on death row approaching the electric chair, in a manner of speaking. The last words Stephen spoke on the courtroom floor are the most remarkable. Around Stephen is a swirling chaos of fists, spit and stones, but at the center is a man having an epiphany. It’s like a melodramatic scene from 1950’s Bible flick. Stephen is gazing toward heaven, a spotlight warms his face, a beatific smile illumines his visage and he swoons at the sight of Jesus.

Stop, stop, stop! This is the sort of thing that should happen in a sanctuary and not in the witness stand. How did Stephen manage to see such a remarkable sight in the midst of chaos?

Here’s the secret: Stephen had learned to worship in extreme conditions. He had learned to be comfortable with adrenaline, push it aside and to see the Saviour’s face. His story would not be told if it were not a model for us as well.

Do you know the taste of adrenaline? Have you felt the dizziness of a surge of blood pressure? Can you hear the ringing in your ears as the blood vessels swell? Have you sensed the out-of-body experience as you stand before those you fear to hear a voice speaking and wake up mid paragraph to discover it is you? We’ve all been in pressure points. Stephen’s is an extreme. But here’s the point: have we learned to live as Stephen learned to die? Have we learned how to look up in pressured circumstances and to worship the God of heaven?

Application

Stephen’s poise under pressure is not an ideal but a possibility. There are pressured moments in life when we too are placed on the spot. It is then that choices we make can open up our relationship with Christ. I remember reading about the Christian leader Polycarp (his name does not mean ‘many fish’ but that’s another story). Polycarp was on his way to be burnt at the stake, but he asked the arresting officer if he could have time to pray. He asked for a meal to be brought to his executioners and he went to an upstairs room where he methodically prayed for each of the churches he oversaw. It’s no wonder that at the stake, when Polycarp was asked to turn his back on Jesus, that he had the presence of mind to say, “I’ve served him 86 years and he’s never failed me, how can I be unfaithful to the one who has loved me so?” (That’s my paraphrase.)

Worship can happen anywhere, even under pressure. It requires me to become comfortable with uncomfortable emotions, to walk through stress rather than trying to neutralize it, and to look for Jesus in the most unlikely places.

Prayer

Father, I can’t say that I’m there yet with this one, but I’m certainly learning. I’ve had several lessons this last year. I expect there will be more. Help me to look up rather than looking down in these pressure points and help me to break through emotions that I fear into an experience of you too great for words so that I can say what must be said even in the most difficult times. Amen.

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Amaze yourself with these Nathan Sawaya’s Lego sculptures on CNN and his blog.

Scripture

For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,

‘The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’ Acts 4:11

Observation

Back in April of ‘79 I was a senior in high school saving for college. My summer job was working construction. The boss had just finished laying rows of cinder blocks 27 feet tall. My job was to pull down the scaffolding. I ate my McDonalds lunch from that sky perch and did two historic things. First I made a time capsule of junk food as I put the McDonalds packaging into the holes in the wall. And then I did what no one can resist: I wrote my name and the date in the wet concrete in the top course of blocks.

No one can resist making their mark in stone. There is graffiti etched in sandstone along the Oregon Trail from the 1850’s. There are tags in Roman catacombs and even the Egyptian tombs. I once asked a graffiti artist what it was that drove him to spray paint his tag on blank walls around town. He said, “It’s the desire to be noticed.”

Every human longs for significance and wants to make their mark. Deep down, somehow, in some way, for some moment of time no matter how brief we want to be important. Otherwise Gold Class, First Class, Platinum would not exist. We want to end up on top of the heap of humanity and be treated special.

We are each special to God, but he has designed it such that none of us can claim to be superior. That’s why this little phrase is repeated over and over in the Bible:

The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.

The “cornerstone” is not a shinny granite block at the bottom of the wall, it is a huge monolith at the top of all the courses of stone. The cornerstone in the temple was the largest building stone on earth. It was a rectangular block of rock nearly the size of a house. The walls of the Temple were built with man-sized blocks of granite. The rows and rows of huge stones were held in place by the top capstone. It was pure genius as it withstood earthquakes for centuries.

Application

Here’s the point for us: we are definitely not the capstone, that’s Jesus. Nor are we dirt because the stones were built without mortar. Instead each of us is a living stone with a part to play in the wall, high or low, visible or invisible wherever the Stone Mason wants it to rest. Once each of us is in position, Jesus takes his place on the highest level and holds us in place.

It is a secure feeling being locked into Christ submission. Like a row of Lego blocks, he puts me where I belong and holds me secure. And submitting to his Lordship is a joy because he did not take this exalted position for himself. The stone was rejected and God the Father himself hoisted him into the highest place. Jesus’ authority over me is submission and that is a joy.

All comes together when Jesus is in the right place over our lives. Jesus will only be in the right place when I confess that Jesus is the cornerstone, I am not.

Prayer

Father today I want to stumble on Jesus so I find just the place I am to be. Amen.

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The Bible Says

Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

My Mind Thinks

Baseball fans all over Colorado are as exuberant as the autumn trees. The Colorado Rockies actually stand a chance of making it to the World Series. We’re staying in Colorado at the moment with friends. The hype is everywhere. The local sporting goods store is sold out of Rockies caps. Cars have flags waving. It’s fun to be neighbors with winners. The Rockies have nothing to do with the Bible passage I’ve read today except this: in baseball it’s three strikes and you are out.

Peter had three strikes against him the day he walked into the temple.

He was on his way to a Jewish majority event as a minority Christian. � � Strike one.
He met a man asking for help with needs bigger than he could fix.� � � Strike two.
Like most pastors, he didn’t have enough money.� � � Strike three.

But this time, after three strikes Peter was not out but in. Peter made it to the home plate of a miracle because he knew what he did have. Peter had the Lord Jesus Christ and that was enough. Jesus was freshly resurrected from the dead, ascended on high and seated at the right hand of God. This news was so fresh it had not even yet been written about. Peter’s Lord Jesus was in a place of power to act. This would be the Lord’s first public demonstration of his healing power since his days on earth. Peter was poor but he knew he was rich because he had Jesus. The rest of the story is in the Bible.

So often we disqualify ourselves from miracles because we focus on the strikes against us rather than what we do have to offer. Throughout the Bible all kinds of excuses are used to opt out of doing something supernatural.

“I can’t talk so good.”
“I’m a sinful man.”
“My tribe is the least in Israel.”
“I have only a little oil.”
“We have only a boy and his lunch but what is that among so many.”

You’ve heard the excuses all before as the struck out batter shuffles back to the bull pen with his shoulders slouched. So many of us check out of God’s supernatural plan because we accept as ironclad fact that three strikes make an out.

But not with the Lord. Three strikes can be rubbed off the scoreboard if we will instead dig down in our pockets into what we do have. When was the last time you took personal stock of your assets rather than your liabilities? Or take it one step further. What does Jesus have to offer that you don’t have?

My Heart Responds

I’m about to take a Sunday morning walk along a path that leads straight to Pikes Peak. On my prayer walk I’m going to ask the Lord and myself this question in a new way, What do I have? What does Jesus have that I can use that I have not touched.

My Spirit Prays

Father, can you speak louder than the Umpire today, over the sound of striiiiiiiiike and instead remind me what I do have? And then help me to use it. Amen.

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Kaylee and Kyler, my neice and nephew, out for a walk at Grandpa’s house at our family reunion.

What the Scripture Says

As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.

As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:15, 16, 30-32

What My Mind Thinks

Have you ever searched for your sunglasses only to find them resting on your head? Afterward all that fumbling through sticky pennies and gum wrappers under the car seat seems silly, doesn’t it? Desperation can blind us to the nearness of the answer that we seek to our problems.

Cleopas and his buddy were a gloomy pair that day. A gray rain cloud of hopelessness tracked over their heads like a speech bubble of despair. Jesus was right beside them presenting a private, leisurely 7 mile counseling session. But they were so intent to look at their feet and study the ruts in the road that they never noticed who the stranger was.

It would be easy to brush aside their blindness as the product of their own gloom. But the Bible says “God kept them from recognizing [Jesus].” God himself had blindfolded their eyes in a game of Hide and Seek!

Why would God do such a thing? Why does God hide himself from us when we are earnestly searching for the sunglasses on our heads? Why doesn’t God pop out and cry, “I’m here!” Why does he deliberately play this blindfold game with us?

The answer is found in the transcript of the conversation that day. Cleopas and friend essentially said, “God is not here” while Jesus said over and over from the Bible, “Look God is near.” Because the two bumbling disciples looked for answers rather than for Jesus they never saw that he was walking right beside them all along. Finding God may be as simple the trite motto implies: “God is nowhwere. God is now here.”

Of course God doesn’t play the game forever. He did come out of hiding as if to say, “Tag, you’re it” and then poof! disappeared from their sight. The Lord won’t play the game forever with us either. Jesus has a habit of revealing himself to those who keep walking with him.

But the point of this story is to remind us not to miss the journey with Jesus. Jesus spent several hours telling them in detail how Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled in him. It was probably one of the most remarkable talks of Jesus next to the Sermon on the Mount. Yet not one word of it is recorded because the two disciples were so busy looking for answers that they missed listening to Jesus. Sure their hearts burned, but we have no record of the words he spoke that day. There is so much of the Lord to enjoy on bewildering roadways but we can miss it if we are preoccupied looking for the answer who is walking right beside us.

How My Heart Responds

We who walk today along familiar roads with confusing questions need to remember the lesson of this story. We must not be so focused on finding answers as in discovering the presence of the Lord Jesus. He is walking beside us. The choice to become aware of Jesus presence changes everything. Could it be that the Lord hides himself because he is waiting for us to stop asking for him to restore what we’ve lost and instead to enjoy what we’ve found? Jesus says, “Stop looking for answers, start looking at me!”� Instead of saying, “Lord, where are you” we should call out, “Lord, you are here!”

What my Spirit Prays

Father, what would have happened that day if Cleopas had stopped studying his toenails and looked for a few minutes into the face of the stranger beside him? Would he have seen you in the eyes of the Lord? You hid yourself that day not in the torture of the crucified Jesus, but in the face of wholeness and health that only the resurrection could bring. Those men could not see you in the face of Jesus because they had made no room for miracles in their thinking. Help me not to miss Jesus today. Help me to expect him not just with hardship and trial but also with the face of a victor. Jesus, I know you are walking beside me right now. I am aware of it. I’m listening closely because what you have to say is more important than all the answers I could ever find. Instead of showing me the road, show me yourself. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to this worship song while you read today’s devotion.

All Because of Jesus Steve Fee 

Scripture
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” (Hebrews 4:14)

Observation

The Christian faith is not a way of living; it is total devotion to pursuing One Person. Jesus says, “Follow me” and we are off. Keeping pace with Jesus is an all absorbing life adventure.

I was in Detroit at rush hour lost in the tangle of freeways of Motor City. I had no map and it was in the days before cell phones. So I tailed my brother’s car so closely you could have assumed that I was being towed. I didn’t want to be lost. My call in life is to track Jesus like that.

Peter learned to stick close to Jesus. Jesus called him, “Peter follow me.” When the Lord later gave Peter the chance to reconsider, Peter’s addiction to Jesus became plain by his response, “Lord where else will I go?” Sure he wandered but after the Resurrection he came back again and never let go.

In fact legend tells us that after Nero’s persecution of Christians in Rome that Peter fled the city only to be met by Jesus returning to the capitol. When he asked Jesus why he was walking back into danger, Jesus is reported to have said that he was going to die in Rome for no one would die for him. Whether this story is true or not isn’t important, because the facts are plain. Peter did follow Jesus to the end and died by crucifixion in Rome just as Jesus prophesied that he would. Peter never flinched from his life call no matter how tough it was.

Application

It isn’t enough to be interested in Jesus, I’m called to be stuck on him. Jesus calls me to trust him and to never stop holding on. That means I must never doubt God’s good intentions and be at peace even when Jesus slips from my view. I may be lost but he will always find me.

Prayer

Father I want to be stuck on Jesus, to cling to him and to trust him. He is my Companion, my Provider, and my Deliverer. He is all I need. Amen.

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