Deeper Still by phil mccallum

Press the arrow to listen to Phil Stacey “You’re Not Shaken” as you read today’s devotion about handling confrontational moments.

Scripture
How can Satan drive out Satan? Mark 3:23
Who are my mother and my brothers? Mark 3:33

Observation
Jesus was hit with the old “one two” punch. First came the preachers and next came his mother and brothers. Both thought that Jesus was out of his mind.

Jesus was backed into a corner. He was called a madman and he had no one to defend him. The establishment had turned their backs on him and he had lost the confidence of his own kinsfolk. It would have been easy for Jesus to have become defensive, but he didn’t make himself look pathetic.

Instead, Jesus turned to the power of a question. Questions are like hot water on ice, they melt through hardness with a power stronger than a speaker’s personality but from the weight of the question mark. After a question is asked it will keep on asking in the mind of the opponent. Questions beg to be asked. Once spoken they are sent out the door like child beggars into the street. They won’t relent until satisfied.

Question marks are hungry things.

Application
Jesus is fascinating because he is God showing us how to be a human being. There is a better way than defensiveness. There is a power of a question. If Jesus could defend himself without appearing defensive, even when accused of insanity, and still come out looking wise, then there is in this an example for me to follow today.

Prayer
Father, in the heat of the moment, when this devotional moment is long forgotten, help me to remember and to do what Jesus did and still does. Amen.

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Scripture
Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:18-19

Observation
What kind of people did Jesus notice while he walked the earth? It’s important to know, because too often we take notice of the wrong type of people. If his focus is our focus then we can do the works of Jesus better.

Here are those Jesus noticed.

1. People who don’t go to church. Those uncomfortable in a synagogue seemed to be his favorites. He didn’t make the assumption that those who don’t go to church are not interested in God. Instead he looked in the eyes of the 90 per cent of the population and found something of the God-spark in them. The disciples seemed to drift to the pharisees, but Jesus kept the focus on those who have not yet come. As he became more popular he fought himself out of the circle of adoration and directed more attention on them. They mattered much to him.

2. Little people with big faith. Not much impressed Jesus except faith. When he saw faith everything stopped. Great faith was the only thing that would bring surprise to his face.

3. Unassembled leaders. Jesus ignored the seminaries in favor of the business world. There he found leaders in the rough. He saw potential in others before they could see it in themselves. He cherished that potential and mined it out with great skill.

4. Those hungry from obedience. Hungry people brought the most out of Jesus. He spoke for 3 days to hungry people until they were starving. He called his family members those who hear the word of God and obey it. There was little patience in Jesus with those who were lazy and hungry. But give him a hardworking man, hungry from doing his will and his attention was aroused.

Who didn’t get special attention from Jesus? Anyone who was satisfied with themselves, resting on their achievements, who felt just that little bit better than others to be good enough for God. They did receive attention from Jesus, but not the kind we would like to receive.

Application
My leadership is limited by the people I notice or don’t notice. If I’m caught up in my own self-importance or pride in my cause, I only notice star players who can help me look good. We may shine, but Jesus will not be seen. But if I can get over myself enough to be enamored with Jesus, there is hope that I will notice his kind of people. There is something in church life that fights against noticing Jesus’ kind of people. It’s called “redemption lift”. Following Jesus improves my condition and so I forget from when I came. I must fight to get back to origins, so that I remain the kind of person Jesus would want to notice. Then there is home that I will be focused on Jesus’ friends.

Prayer
Father, everything in church life pulls me away from these beautiful people. We create church for folks like us. We are more impressed with credentials than with faith. We want ready-made leaders rather than the unassembled ones. We want a banquet hall without a work out room. Jesus save me from your followers lest we make a world that is comfortable for us. Just as you repeatedly pulled the disciples out of comfort zones, so keep me in a world where I can see things as you do. I choose today to value those you value. Just help me to get over myself. Amen.

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Press the arrow to see visually what Jeremiah wrote on paper. It will make today’s devotion about seeing potential come alive.

Scripture
I have made you a tester of metals,
that you may determine the quality of my people. Jeremiah 6:27

Observation
One great gift God can give to a leader is the ability to see the potential in others. This perception is to see people not just as they are but as they could be. It includes an ability to see in them what they cannot see in themselves. And certainly it is the capacity to discern potential before everyone else can spot it.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the work of an assayer, or tester of metals:

An assayer is a person who tests ores and minerals and analyzes them to determine their composition and value. They may use chemical solutions, and chemical or laboratory equipment, such as furnaces, beakers, graduates, pipettes, and crucibles. An assayer separates metals or other components from dross materials by solution, flotation process, or other liquid processes, or by dry methods, such as application of heat….

That sounds just like the work of a preacher-leader. How does he spot potential in people? By how they respond to God’s word. Jeremiah the prophet was a preacher, and a preacher can see best what is in human hearts. By speaking God’s word and watching the response, a pastor can see whether a person is teachable or not.

The work of a pastor is not just to talk, but to develop the potential of people. That must motivate everything that he does. That is my call today.

Prayer
Father, there is so much potential that swirls around me everyday. Please give me the ability to perceive it and know where it best fits. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to “Your Love Never Fails” with Chris Quilala from Jesusculture.org.

Scripture
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Philippians 4:5

Observation
Some people greet with sandpaper. Their life is gritty and abrasive that makes for friction. They start every relationship on the offense. They will hurt others before they can be hurt. Their lives are sprinkled with the grit of harshness, impatience, selfishness, exactness, inconsideration, unreasonableness. Rarely does one person have all of that abrasive sand stuck on one personality, but even just a grain or two can make it feel as if they are working against others rather than with them.

There are sandpaper days for all of us. Maybe we were irritated by someone else on the way in and so on the way out we rub others the wrong way. Or the grit can be more deeply imbedded into our personality. Some past season of hurt has left us with a rough surface that grinds at the worst possible moment.

How can we change? One simple thing: just remember that Jesus is watching and listening. That changes everything. I read about the president of a great company who was hiring new executives. He was intentionally late to test the applicants. One high-powered hot-shot, belittled the secretary in the front office no matter how kind she was to him. When the president later arrived and the interview was in full swing, the secretary stepped into the office and the boss introduced her. “Have you met my wife?” He didn’t hire the young man that day.

If some people greet with sandpaper, then others come with velvet. The “gentle spirit” described here is a rich word that takes a paragraph to explain. Here is the bullet-point list:

patient
unselfish
forbearing
reasonable
considerate
on the side of others
seeing life from their point of view
working with them and not against them
not enforcing rights
refraining and restraining
extending deadlines
stretching due dates

This gentleness implies more than being nice, it means taking another person’s side and making life fit them well.

Application
Meekness is a vulnerable way to live. It is not that we might be taken advantage of, we will be. But because the Lord is near there are rewards that no human being can ever give. When I want to wear a suit of sandpaper, may I dress in velvet. May others who brush up against me feel the softness of grace.

Prayer
Jesus, you are gentle of heart and so others find rest for their souls near you. Let me be a rest-stop in a rush hour world. Wrap me up in velvet and turn me loose today. Amen.

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Press the arrow to listen to Audio Adrenaline sing “Hands and Feet” while you read today’s devotion on mutual respect.

Scripture
Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. Titus 3:1-2

Observation
Being human is a challenge. We live, work and play with those made in the image of God who are loved by a heavenly Father while we are made of dust and leave our fingerprints everywhere. Humans are not house flies to be brushed aside or stones to be kicked away. Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve have will last and be loved forever.

Each person matters enough to God to be called “my child”. So as we are doing life we do so with incredibly precious people.

Because we will last and are loved forever, we are called to deeply respect one another. We need to look for evidence of Christ in others. We need to identify the anointing of others. We need to listen carefully, speak thoughtfully and move circumspectly. If we are to cherish each other as sons and daughters of God, there must be deep respect for each human and the work that person is given to do.

Application
Our lives are not to run over others but to compliment them. That’s where the challenge comes. The only hope we have to work well together is to show “every consideration for all men.” We need to work in life with appreciation, awe and respect for the unique work and particular style of each human life. That respect is love in action.

Prayer
Father, heighten today my respect of others and bring my life to adjust to the call you have placed on their lives. Amen.

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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.

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Scripture
As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand. The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.” But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god. Acts 28:3-6

Application
This is like a scene from the opening of the ABC TV show Lost. Paul, along with 275 other passengers, had been washed up on shore of an island. The wind is cold, and so Paul led an impromptu effort to build a bonfire. Paul could have sat on the sand, but instead he worked to serve others. While in the act of public good, he was bitten by a snake.  Snake bite was nothing compared to the lashing of wagging tongues.

Public opinion is a viper ready to bite the hand that is serving the public good. Bystanders live by the rule that bad things happen to bad people and that good things happen to good people. Satan was there sharpening their words, for the people chose the one word that would have stung Paul most. They called him a “murderer”. That word smarted, for the one time hunter of Christians had been forgiven and transformed by Christ to become a church planter. The enemy of our souls has a way of reminding us of what God has forgotten about us.

What happened next revealed the character of Paul. He could have let the venom of accusation paralyze him. When we are false accused life can slow into numb disbelief and replay of past memories. Paul, however, did nothing of the sort. He shook off the snake and went on with his business.

I read in the news this week that Robert Irwin, the 4-year-old son of the late Steve Irwin, was playing with a boa constrictor (obviously we are dealing with a different kind of family) and was struck by the serpent. His mother Terry was so proud of her son, because he was pleased to have had his first hit. He said, “I hope it wasn’t venomous.” The other assured her son that she would not let him play with poisonous snakes.” If a 4 year old can shake off a snake and move on, than we should as well and if a mother cares for her child then even more so the Lord cares for us.

Application
There are times that Satan will try to use spent ammunition to level us. Like Paul, we must make the choice not to wallow in pointless regrets, but to shake off the snake and to get on with our business for God. That choice to move past the opinion of others is something that God will honor. For Paul he protected him from the snake’s death serum. For us, if it is useful for his glory, God will vindicate us. Our responsibility is to shake off the snake, move on and leave the results with the Lord.

Prayer
Father, help me not to listen to what you have forgotten. Help me to live in the now and not the then. And help me to move further than public criticism can imagine because you are leading my life. Amen.

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