Scripture
Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?” John 10:31-32

Observation
This is a classic Jesus moment. An enraged crowd are screaming and waving heavy rocks. The situation is just a hair-trigger away from becoming a public lynching. Just then, Jesus has the presence of mind to ask a disarming theological question.

Who would have the poise under pressure to think of a comeback like Jesus did? The argument was, how could God bless Jesus’ ministry with miracles unless his claims were true?

How did Jesus do it? How Jesus lived every moment of his life is revealed in the moments when he almost died and eventually gave his life. Jesus lived every moment with a consciousness that his entire ministry was dependent on his Father. So in a moment of crisis that was his first thought. How he died was how Jesus lived, that is why he knew how to handle pressure.

Application
My motives are unseen until I’m backed into a corner. That is why I must be ruthless with my intentions. What I will die for will be revealed in what I’m living for. I want to think well under pressure, but that requires me to live well in every moment.

Prayer
Father, think through my mind and remind me when my motives are not worth living for, let alone dying for. And in the moments I need, give me words that reveal you best. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong sing “Wonderful God” while reading today’s devotion on worship in pain.

Scripture
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. Acts 16:25-26

Observation
There are some things in the spiritual life that seem frivolous. Taking singing for example. Humming a happy tune seems like a featherduster compared to the powerful things a human being can do. Kickboxing or something aggressive like that would seem to be a more impressive response to crisis.

But Paul and Silas at midnight began to sing. Their song changed everything. They brought the house down.

Hours before they had been beaten with rods. Imagine being whacked incessantly with broomsticks across bare skin. Midnight was like dayligh because of the unmedicated throbbing. Pain gave their song power. The holy martyrs have a front row seat in heaven for this same reason. God’s broken are the strongest ones. Their power is seen in their use of strength to run into commitment rather than to run from it.

Worship in pain brings results. First, the boulders of the earth became backup singers to the midnight worship. Jesus said that the rocks can cry out. The yawning caverns of the earth groaned from the magma up to the glory of God. Then the prison warden, who lived upstairs, rushed to Paul’s cell for the altar call. Paul’s choice to praise in pain touched the man’s heart and brought him to his knees.

Application
Ache is a call to worship and pain is a worship leader. I visited a godly woman in her last days, dying of cancer. She told me that the simple truths of her faith had become most profound to her. On her bed of sickness she had hummed over and over again, “Oh, the blood of Jesus, it washes white as snow.” I need to let pain be the worship leader in my life.

Prayer
Father, help me to be a better worshipper. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Natalie Grant sing In Better Hands while reading today’s devotion.

Scripture
That is why we never give up. 2 Corinthians 4:16

Observation
In factories there are machines designed to wear products out. It is all part of quality control to discover how many times a car door can be slammed or a couch jumped on by little children.

Accelerated wear and tear is not isolated to manufacturers, for God too uses a similar process with his display models called leaders. Public ministry accelerates the grind on a pastor’s life. It is not just the people pressure or work load, there is the unseen demonic abrasion and assault. I have a friend who served in a marketplace role where he oversaw literally thousands of people, who has now moved into a senior pastor role. He said to me, “I had no idea of the expectations and exhaustion of ministry.”

Paul called himself a “fragile clay pot”. Ministry revealed to him how weak he really was. Yet he concluded his thought bracket in triumph with the resolve never to give up. How so? Because the pressure on the inside is equal to the pressure on the outside. That internal pressure is the weight of glory that every godly person carries inside of their being.

Application
A tire can handle road pressure when properly inflated. So too as a leader I need not only to keep the presence of Christ fresh in my life, but I need to live with a continual self-reminder of what is within me. I can only feel pressure without because there is power within. If there were no power within there would be no sense of external pressure. Therefore I must never give up.

Prayer
Father, today, I ask not to just to be equal to my tasks but to be in awe of what you have placed in me to make that so. Amen.

Listen to worship music while you read today’s entry.

Casting Crowns Praise You In This Storm

Scripture

“Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:15)

“On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.” (2 Chronicles 20:26)

Observation

To whom do my problems belong? Worry tells me that every problem is my problem. It’s up to me to face it and solve it. That’s why we get discouraged because we lock ourselves in a sealed room of fear that even shuts God out.

But faith says that my problem is in fact God’s problem. “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” I remember hearing my mother pray as I was growing up, “Lord it will be interesting to see how you solve this one.” That prayer is based on a confidence that problems are not our property, they belong to the Lord.

I like how the poet Elizabeth Cheney summed it up in her poem “Overheard in an Orchard”:

Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and hurry so.”
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”

Application
Because God’s people in this story made their problem His problem they were able to change the atlas. A place that had existed on the maps for centuries under another name was changed overnight into a new name, “The Valley of Blessing.” It would be like changing a street sign after a great victory. When we let God have possession of our problems He too can make changes so great it is like changing the street directory. Our lives become totally different because we let the Lord take over.

Prayer

Father, today I make my problems, your problem. Not out an indifferent passing of the buck, but because you delight in being bothered with our difficulties as it draws our hearts together in love. Amen.