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Good News Daily

Volume VIII
September 28–October 4, 2008
Number 39

Sunday, September 28
James 3:1-13, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” (v.13 NIV)

“…his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”Those words and others in this passage—and in the other readings for today—are sobering. The power of the tongue… I ask the Lord to walk me back to times my words have been casually, thoughtlessly uttered. Humility that comes from wisdom….
Psalm 66:10 says, “For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.”To be refined like silver, to have the humility that comes from wisdom—that rings in my heart as I grow older, as my hair grows grayer. Lord, I pray to keep learning, to keep growing. Show me the path to deeds done in humility. Reveal pride that I may repent and change those ways and grow in wisdom.

Hosea 2:2-14; Psalms 66, 67; Matthew 13:44-52

Monday, September 29
Luke 5:1-11 When he had finished teaching, he said to Simon, “Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.” (v.4 MSG)

The subtitle of this passage in The Message is, “Push Out into Deep Water.” That alone catches my breath! In my profession as a counselor, I sit, day after day, across from hurting people. Often the pain I hear and see pouring out is deep and dark like the sea in a storm—and just as easy to get lost in.

I have learned that people lost in the sea of their pain need someone to be willing to “push out into deep water” and swim with them. They need someone who has paid attention to their own needs for healing from their own deep waters, and thus will not be sucked into the undertow of pain, and can swim steadily beside the suffering other to guide them through the storming sea back to peace and calm; someone who heard Jesus say, “Push out into deep water and point that suffering one to me.” We call that act “empathy” or “synchronizing with the hurting one.”

What deep water is Jesus calling you to push out into?

Hosea 2:14-23; Psalm 89:1-18; Acts 20:17-38

Tuesday, September 30
Luke 5:12-26 Jesus instructed him, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done. But the man couldn’t keep it to himself and the word got out. Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of their ailments.” (vv.14-15)

To have a cleansed and obedient life that bears witness to what Jesus has done in me! To be noticeably different from a culture that accepts, even craves and demands, or at least doesn’t notice the increasing violence and coarseness of the media and entertainment that is leaking out of our TV’s into our thoughts and behavior patterns; a culture that condones lifestyles that chip away at truth.

What is the leprosy in me? What causes decay and rot in my body, soul, and spirit? What about my life stinks in my own nostrils as leprosy did the leper?

Show me, Lord, what I have become so used to that I don’t notice the smell. I ask you, Lord, to heal the soul pain that shows itself in restless activity and makes it hard to “be still and know that you are God.” Show me, Lord, what my part is—what tasks I must do, what habits I must change to walk it out. I can’t make others change, but

I can focus on you and me, Jesus.

Hosea 4:1-10; Psalms 97, 99, 100; Acts 21:1-14

Wednesday, October 1
Hosea 4:11-19 They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. (v.12b NIV)

What are the wooden idols in my life? What or who do I consult? To what or to whom do I look for solutions? My books? My training? Friends? My own mind, “leaning on my own understanding”? Lord, some days I find myself doubled over from the weight I put on my own shoulders as I consult the “wooden idols” of my own understanding. I find my own understanding can be as much a “stick of wood” as a cane is to a physically lame person. I can lean on it, but only limp. With Your wisdom, Lord, I can dance and leap!

Psalms 101, 109; Acts 21:15-26; Luke 5:27-39

Thursday, October 2
Luke 6:1-11 Then he said, “The Son of man is no slave to the Sabbath; he’s in charge.” (v.5 MSG)

Jesus showed us by his example how to spend the Sabbath. He ate. He laughed. He loved his people. God revealed to us by His example what to do on the Sabbath. He rested from His work of creation.

Lord, I am so grateful for Your example. I am weary of the noise and busyness of our culture. I am grateful for the change of pace that the Sabbath brings—a rest from the noise and the hurried lifestyle of our times. I like what Thomas Aquinas said of the Sabbath:“ad vacundum divinis,” a day of vacation with God. Let’s see, 52 Sundays; that’s almost 7 ½ weeks of vacation with God!

Hosea 5:8—6:6; Psalm 105:1-22; Acts 21:27-36

Friday, October 3
Psalm 102 Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you. Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn you ear to me; when I call answer me quickly. (vv.1-2 NIV)

This is a time of life transition for me. I’m moving from one stage of life to another. There’s an uncertainty of who I am and what I will be in the next season of my life. Even the rhythm of life is shifting. When I work, rest, play, and spend time with God are forming new patterns. I grieve the lost sense of purpose and predictability of my former season in life and don’t know yet what to anticipate with joy. “Yet you, God, are sovereign still, always and ever sovereign.” (v.12 MSG) I cling to the age-old admonition to keep my eyes on Jesus and the faith that he has plans for me.

Hosea 10:1-15; Acts 21:37—22:16; Luke 6:12-26

Saturday, October 4
Luke 6:27-38 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that.” (vv.32-33)

These verses turn a spotlight on my soul. It is easy for me to be loving and give time and energy to love and support those who welcome me and smile lovingly at me—those whose words are encouraging and nurturing.

But when I do a roll call in my mind of those who cross my path whose moods, attitudes, habits, or even hygiene are unlovely—do I love them? Will I treat them lovingly, seeing them through heaven’s eyes, or cross the street to avoid them when I see them coming?

As I write, the answer wells up in my soul. I want to be so filled with the Spirit and joy of Jesus that I’m not adversely affected by the moods and behavior of others. Then I can reflect him to them. As a dear friend of mine says, “I want to be so full of the love of Jesus that it splashes all over others.”

Hosea 11:1-9; Psalms 107: 33-43, 108; Acts 22:17-29

by Barbara Maybee

Used with permission from the BIBLE READING FELLOWSHIP
P. O. Box 380, Winter Park, FL 32790