Press the arrow to listen to Steven Curtis Chapman sing “Yours” as you read today’s devotion.

Scripture
There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.  When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”  Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.  Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”  Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:2-9

Observation
Importance is what we all long for, especially people like Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was clever enough to compensate for his shortness. Taller people had brushed him off, so it was no problem for him to rip them off.  He would become rich, if by extortion and he would be looked up to if it was with stolen riches. But no matter how high the stilts of success Zacchaeus strutted on, he never felt tall enough.

News had come to him through the Fraternal Order of Tax Collectors of the kindness of Jesus to their profession. When Jesus came to visit his town, Zacchaeus just had to see this kind Rabbi for himself. But in the crowd Zacchaeus felt again the painful truth that he just didn’t measure up. No one liked the little pest. No matter how much money he had he could neither grow taller nor beg his way to the front line.  So Zacchaeus went out on a limb. He reached higher than he had ever done in his life. We’re supposed to laugh at the picture of an IRS man sitting in a tree in a blue, pin-striped suit with his wing-tipped Oxfords dangling over the branch.

Jesus offered Zacchaeus the gift of significance. The Master picked one face out of the crowd and asked to go out to lunch with him. For the first time in his life, someone important wanted Zacchaeus’ home and not just his tax office. That gift of recognition gave Zacchaeus space to repent. The desire for repentance had been in Zacchaeus’ heart, but it was Jesus’ kind notice of a disliked man that made it possible.

Application
There are many people I pass by in a given day who have climbed trees at the extremity of their desire to be important. To most they seem off putting. By being ignored their sin problem only grows worse. But the choice to acknowledge and to include them may be the very thing to change their hearts. Often those who seem to have things together, really don’t. They are waiting for someone to be genuine with them. Acceptance will bring them out of their tree of self-importance and bring them to level ground.

Prayer
Father, as I read this story, I reflect that Jesus works the same today. He ignored the crowd to help one person who everyone else had written off. Help me to have peripheral vision like Jesus to see Zacchaeus in a tree beside the road. Help me to go out on a limb to rescue them from self-importance with including love. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong United’s “Take It All” as you read today’s devotion on serving.

Scripture
“Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. Luke 12:37

Observation
Why do managers get frustrated with counter staff? Why do owners get annoyed with managers? For the same reason that masters became angry with their slaves. There is something about being an owner that  changes how all the world looks. The little piece of litter that a minimum wage person can step around, is the same thing that can make Walt Disney stoop to pick up. Owners see things differently.

Success in life comes when we see the world around us with owner’s eyes. When I see my world as my job, my church, my business then my eyes are opened to little things as big things. With owner’s eyes I do not have to be told what to do; I instinctively know what must be done.

There is a cheap duplicate that can pass for owner’s eyes, but it is not. The counterfeit is called “pleasing the boss.” What drives that is a fear of getting in trouble and a desire to please to be rewarded. But owner’s eyes are more than making the boss happy. Their focus is on what is the right thing to do whether the boss notices or not. The danger of living to please the boss is that we will perform when he is  present or when she directs, but out of sight or if nothing is said, performance sags. The greatest danger of all is that the slave would one day become a boss, and having lived all his life to please those above him, now in the place of leadership does not know what to do. We must have owner’s eyes, to see what must be done, even if nothing is said and if no one notices.

Application
How can I get owner’s eyes? By looking to the Lord. If I am doing what I do for the Lord Christ, I will playowner’s above the rim.  It is a delightful promise, that if I serve well, that in turn Christ will serve me. The motivation in this is not notions of resort living, but the thought that my dearest friend and brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, would want to have a relationship with me so close that he would welcome me, the servant, as a guest. That is true friendship from the truest friend I’ve ever known. That is motivation enough for me.

Prayer
Father, this day, I ask for owner’s eyes. I want to see the church I serve as if it were my own. I want to see the people I influence, the actions I take, the plans I make done before you. There are times humanly that I “space off” and I’m not as alert as I need to be. The problem can be before me, but I don’t see it as I should for what it really is. I cannot see, unless you give me sight. So Master, help me to see and serve. I look forward to the days to come when I will be in your house as your guest. There our friendship will grow to new depths because you will find in me a heart that cherishes your interests. I want to serve you today with owner’s eyes so that one day I can inherit the kingdom as a son and a brother and not as a slave. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Brandon Heath sing “Give Me Your Eyes” while reading today’s devotion on the humility of ministry.

Scripture
Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” John 4:8

Observation
Males the world over have learned that the fastest way to get a woman to do what they do not want to do is to look helpless. When men stumble around in the kitchen or fumble around for keys and the nurturing instinct of the female is aroused and she speaks the phrase the male longs to hear: “What are you looking for?”

Jesus looked helpless and he got far more than a drink of water, the heart of a woman in need gushed out her deepest secrets and found peace with God. There is a habit in his ministry for Jesus to appear helpless. He asked Peter to borrow his boat. He asked John to care for his mother. He asked the servants to fill the water jars. He asked the little boy for his lunch.

The thought of the eternal Son of the I Am, the Creator of all, and the Lord of all asking for help is quite disarming. Jesus asked for help not because he needed it, but because we humans need all the help we can get.

Jesus asked for help because there is no faster way to both flatter and humble a proud person then to be obligated to their assistance. While Peter felt inward pride that Jesus was using his boat as a pulpit, little did he realize that the Master had begun the first step of humbling the crusty fisherman’s heart.

Application
Jesus has asked me to serve him, not because he needs my help, but because I need his. Every act of ministry humbles me, because my pride is revealed. I must remember in my vain moments, that he, who used a donkey to preach a sermon to a prophet, has many ways to get his work done. God has stooped low to use me. He has chosen me to humble me so that I will open up my heart to his so that I will follow him.

Prayer
Father, thank you for asking me to help you. I know that I need it. You are doing more in me than through me. Do your work in me more deeply. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Kari Jobe sing “Revelation Song” while you read today’s devotion on how to get respect.

Scripture
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Titus 2:15

Observation
At the age of 26 I met my first city council member. Just out of acne, I was leading my first church.  Barely old enough to drive, I went to city hall to present plans for the construction of our new church building. Behind the desk was a politician as crusty as his weathered face. He took one look at me and said, “When did they let you out of high school?” The trouble with ministry is that when you are young, you are considered too young; and when you are old you are considered over the hill. There is no middle ground.

Titus was a pastor of island people known for their indifference toward authority. Paul warned him about it. How could the young preacher gain the attention of a people who brushed him aside?

Paul’s message was simple: Respect is earned but it must also be expected. Titus was to let no one disregard him. He was to allow no one to look down on him or stand over him in judgement.

But how exactly was this fresh-faced pastor supposed to manage that? The answer was to be in the words that Titus would speak.

Titus had to be conscious of his authority. He was speaking not because he wanted to talk but because God had something to say. He was sent by Jesus himself, with hands laid on him by the elders. His authority did not come from wizened age or decades of political connections in the community. Titus was a new face in town who came fresh from the throne room of God. With little rapport or reputation he had more authority than all because God had called him to speak.

Titus had to speak the right kinds of words. First came the words to “exhort”. In the Greek, the words literally mean, “those that come along side.” Titus would have to speak words that would keep walking with people, encouraging them long after he had spoken them, encouraging them forward. Some of Titus’ respect would come because his words would walk with people long after he spoke them.  Second, came “reproving” words. These were not the words that would walk with people, but words that would get in their way. Words of challenge would charge like a defensive tackle and level them. Some of Titus’ respect would come because he would speak words outside of himself that would get in the ways of wrong doing.

If Titus would speak out of his authority he would have respect. I remember an old counselor, who exuded respect every person she counseled, no matter how bungled their life, told me, “I always expect respect. I never let anyone disregard me.” Hers was never an arrogant demand, but an authority rooted in God’s call and expressed in deep love. I must do the same.

Application
If I will use my words well I too will have the respect I need to do what God has asked. I need to speak words that keep walking with people through the problems of life. I need to speak words that become speed bumps in their journey. If I respect the authority that has sent me others will respect the words I speak.

Prayer
Father, give to me the opportunity to speak, and when I do so let it be something worth listening to.