Time Out! Devotions

It’s one of the most compelling narratives in all of Scripture. So fascinating is the scene, in fact, that Luke opted to record it in detail.

Two disciples are walking down the dusty road to the village of Emmaus. Their talk concerns the crucified Jesus. Their words come slowly, trudging in cadence with the dirge-like pace of their feet.

“I can hardly believe it. He’s gone.”

“What do we do now?”

“It’s Peter’s fault, he shouldn’t have … ”

Just then a stranger comes up from behind and says, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing you. Who are you discussing?”

They stop and turn. Other travelers make their way around them as the three stand in silence. Finally one of them asks, “Where have you been the last few days? Haven’t you heard about Jesus of Nazareth?” And he continues to tell what has happened. (Luke 24:13-24)

This scene fascinates me—two sincere disciples telling how the last nail has been driven in Israel’s coffin. God, in disguise, listens patiently, his wounded hands buried deeply in his robe. He must have been touched at the faithfulness of this pair. Yet he also must have been a bit chagrined. He had just gone to hell and back to give heaven to earth, and these two were worried about the political situation of Israel.

“But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”

But we had hoped … How often have you heard a phrase like that?

“We were hoping the doctor would release him.”
“I had hoped to pass the exam.”
“We had hoped the surgery would get all the tumor.”
“I thought the job was in the bag.”

Words painted gray with disappointment. What we wanted didn’t come. What came, we didn’t want. The result? Shattered hope. The foundation of our world trembles.

We trudge up the road to Emmaus dragging our sandals in the dust, wondering what we did to deserve such a plight. “What kind of God would let me down like this?”

And yet, so tear-filled are our eyes and so limited is our perspective that God could be the fellow walking next to us and we wouldn’t know it.

You see, the problem with our two heavy-hearted friends was not a lack of faith, but a lack of vision. Their petitions were limited to what they could imagine—an earthly kingdom. Had God answered their prayer, had he granted their hope, the Seven-Day War would have started two thousand years earlier and Jesus would have spent the next forty years training his apostles to be cabinet members. You have to wonder if God’s most merciful act is his refusal to answer some of our prayers.

We are not much different than burdened travelers, are we? We roll in the mud of self-pity in the very shadow of the cross. We piously ask for his will and then have the audacity to pout if everything doesn’t go our way. If we would just remember the heavenly body that awaits us, we’d stop complaining that he hasn’t healed this earthly one.

Our problem is not so much that God doesn’t give us what we hope for as it is that we don’t know the right thing for which to hope. (You may want to read that sentence again.)

Hope is not what you expect; it is what you would never dream. It is a wild, improbable tale with a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming ending. It’s Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see not his grandson, but his son. It’s Moses standing in the promised land not with Aaron or Miriam at his side, but with Elijah and the transfigured Christ. It’s Zechariah left speechless at the sight of his wife Elizabeth, gray-headed and pregnant. And it is the two Emmaus-bound pilgrims reaching out to take a piece of bread only to see that the hands from which it is offered are pierced.

Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no, it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks and be there in the flesh to see our reaction.

From God Came Near: Chronicles of the Christ
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 1985, 2004) Max Lucado

Hebrews 13:1-5 (NCV)

¹ Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.² Remember to welcome strangers, because some who have done this have welcomed angels without knowing it. ³ Remember those who are in prison as if you were in prison with them. Remember those who are suffering as if you were suffering with them. ^{4, 5} Marriage should be honored by everyone, and husband and wife should keep their marriage pure. God will judge as guilty those who take part in sexual sins. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be satisfied with what you have. God has said,”I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.” — Deuteronomy 31:6

Romans 12:1-13 (NCV)

¹ So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. ² Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. ³ Because God has given me a special gift, I have something to say to everyone among you. Do not think you are better than you are. You must decide what you really are by the amount of faith God has given you.⁴ Each one of us has a body with many parts, and these parts all have different uses.⁵ In the same way, we are many, but in Christ we are all one body. Each one is a part of that body, and each part belongs to all the other parts.⁶ We all have different gifts, each of which came because of the grace God gave us. The person who has the gift of prophecy should use that gift in agreement with the faith.⁷ Anyone who has the gift of serving should serve. Anyone who has the gift of teaching should teach.⁸ Whoever has the gift of encouraging others should encourage. Whoever has the gift of giving to others should give freely. Anyone who has the gift of being a leader should try hard when he leads. Whoever has the gift of showing mercy to others should do so with joy.⁹ Your love must be real. Hate what is evil, and hold on to what is good.¹⁰ Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves.¹¹ Do not be lazy but work hard, serving the Lord with all your heart.¹² Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times.¹³ Share with God’s people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your homes.

Do you feel ill equipped to serve the Lord? A sense of inadequacy is one of the many excuses people use to avoid ministering for Him, but it is not a valid one. Failing to follow His call has three consequences: 1) we hinder God’s work on earth, 2) we miss a blessing for obedience, and 3) we lose out on rewards in heaven.

Jesus Christ knew all about the human tendency to feel inadequate. That is why He assured His followers they would receive a Helper—the Holy Spirit—who would come to abide in them forever. The Spirit enables, energizes, and equips believers to serve the Lord. One of the ways He aids us is by providing spiritual gifts, which are special capabilities given to believers.

Our heavenly Father has a ministry in mind for each of His followers. Therefore, necessary spiritual “equipment” has been selected to help us carry out His work. These gifts will complement and augment the natural talents our Creator built into us before birth. It is His purpose that we combine the two in order to serve Him with all of our heart. Even the smallest job contributes to the Great Commission and the strengthening of Jesus Christ’s body, the church.

The Lord has a plan for every believer. To ensure that we can meet the Lord’s expectations, He first builds natural talents into us. At salvation, He adds a spiritual gift. Then God opens doors of opportunity and the Holy Spirit manifests His power so that we can carry out the work set before us.

(devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley from the February 2010 issue of In Touch magazine)

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

In one of Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman’s meetings, a man stood up and gave his testimony: “For one year I begged the streets as a tramp and one day I tapped a man on the shoulder and said ‘Mister, could you please give me a dime?’ As soon as I saw his face, I realized it was my father. He threw his arms around me and said ‘I have found you. All I have is yours!’ I had stood there begging my father for ten cents while he had been looking for me to give me all he had.”

So often, Christians approach God like a stranger on the street, begging Him just to help them get by. But when we have accepted Christ as our Savior, He is no stranger to us; He is our Father, waiting with open arms, ready to embrace us in love and offer us everything He has.

Do we approach God from a beggar’s perspective or as His cherished child? If we have any difficulty seeing Him as our loving Father, we need to ask Him to help us develop a healthy Father/child relationship.

Luke 15:21-32 (New International Version)

²¹“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ “

God is still on His throne and man is still on His footstool.

There’s only a knee’s distance in between.

Jim Elliot

(http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/magazine.aspx?id=3602)