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And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Acts 8:29

Have you ever been at your job. or at your desk at school. or doing chores at home, slugging through yet another day and found yourself thinking, “What real difference is my life making, anyway?”

It is very easy to fall into the rut where you draw your breath. and draw your salary. and go through the motions of life but lose the meaning and purpose of your existence on this earth. And what is that meaning and purpose? To chase chariots. Chasing chariots makes life EXCITING and brings GREAT JOY!

PHILIP’S CHARIOT STORY

Philip, a man full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3), was called of God to go to a desert road and join himself to a chariot that was traveling from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. Although it must have sounded like a strange request to Philip, he obeyed God and ended up leading a “big shot” (a court official and treasurer for the queen of Ethiopia), to faith in Jesus Christ. What a great story and a great lesson for you and me!

Why are we left here on this earth after receiving Christ as Savior and Lord? Why doesn’t God just take us to heaven immediately and deliver us from the sin, sickness, and depravity that surround us? We are left here to let our light shine for Christ and to tell others about Jesus, “the way, and the truth, and the life.” As the Bible says, “How shall they (lost people) hear without a preacher?” God wants that preacher to be you! It is amazing the difference you and I can make in the lives of hurting, hopeless people as we point them to Jesus through our life AND through our lips.

MY CHARIOT STORY

Just this week, I was eating at a restaurant. When the food came, I asked my waitress, a young woman in her twenties, if I could pray for anything in her life when I prayed over my lunch. Her answer floored me. She said, “Yes. Pray for me. Last summer I lost two children. My two year-old drowned, and a month later, my two month-old died of SIDS.” My heart broke as I saw the great hurt in her eyes.

While it may not have been appropriate in a restaurant setting, I got up and gave her a big hug. I prayed for her, gave her a 500% tip, and asked her to come by the church so we could talk with her. She came by the next day, and our women’s minister and I talked to her, cared for her, prayed for her and, best of all, led her to receive Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and Lord. It brings tears to my eyes to think how God used one simple question – “Is there anything I can pray about for you” – to make an eternal difference in her life.

Regardless of what challenges or difficulties I may have been facing this week, nothing could compare to the joy and excitement I felt knowing God used me to show His love and grace to a young lady who was really hurting and in need of Him.

THE BIG QUESTION?

Will you start chasing chariots for Christ? Will you let your light shine and your lips loose to share the good news of love, forgiveness and life in Jesus? There are opportunities all around us if we will pray and obey.

My friend, Dr. Paige Patterson of Southwestern Seminary, challenged our church to pray three things each day. I would like to challenge you to the same:

1. God give me an opportunity today to tell someone about Jesus.
2. God help me be aware of it when that opportunity comes.
3. God give me courage to open my mouth when that opportunity is before me.

My friend, I truly believe Jesus is coming very soon. May we be found faithful to the main assignment He gave us to d “Go and make disciples of all the nations.”

Jeff Schreve

“A man named Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was coming from the fields to the city. The soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross for Jesus” (Mk. 15:21)

Simon grumbles beneath his breath. His patience is as scarce as space on the Jerusalem streets. He’d hoped for a peaceful Passover. The city is anything but quiet. Simon prefers his open fields. And now, to top it off, the Roman guards are clearing the path for some who-knows-which-dignitary who’ll march his soldiers and strut his stallion past the people.

“There he is!”

Simon’s head and dozens of others turn. In an instant they know. This is no dignitary.

“It’s a crucifixion,” he hears someone whisper. Four soldiers. One criminal. Four spears. One cross. The inside corner of the cross saddles the convict’s shoulders. Its base drags in the dirt. Its top teeters in the air. The condemned man steadies the cross the best he can, but stumbles beneath its weight. He pushes himself to his feet and lurches forward before falling again. Simon can’t see the man’s face, only a head wreathed with thorny branches.

The sour-faced centurion grows more agitated with each diminishing step. He curses the criminal and the crowd.

“Hurry up!”

“Little hope of that,” Simon says to himself.

The cross-bearer stops in front of Simon and heaves for air. Simon winces at what he sees. The beam rubbing against an already raw back. Rivulets of crimson streaking the man’s face. His mouth hangs open, both out of pain and out of breath.

“His name is Jesus,” someone speaks softly.

“Move on!” commands the executioner.

But Jesus can’t. His body leans and feet try, but he can’t move. The beam begins to sway. Jesus tries to steady it, but can’t. Like a just-cut tree, the cross begins to topple toward the crowd. Everyone steps back, except the farmer. Simon instinctively extends his strong hands and catches the cross.

Jesus falls face-first in the dirt and stays there. Simon pushes the cross back on its side. The centurion looks at the exhausted Christ and the bulky bystander and needs only an instant to make the decision. He presses the flat of his spear on Simon’s shoulders.

“You! Take the cross!”

Simon dares to object, “Sir, I don’t even know the man!”

“I don’t care. Take up the cross.”

Simon growls, balances the timber against his shoulder, and steps out of the crowd onto the street, out of anonymity into history, and becomes the first in a line of millions who will take up the cross and follow Christ.

He did literally what God calls us to do figuratively: take up the cross and follow Jesus. “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me” (Lk. 9:23 CEV).

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. John 1:14

Whether they are traveling through a small farming town in Nebraska, a surfing village in California or an industrial community in Pennsylvania, politicians love to show how they can relate to the people in that area. But the sad thing is that they can’t really meet those people on the same level; they can’t identify with them no matter how hard they try to make it appear like they can.

Jesus, though, never gives us that illusion of identity. He doesn’t throw up a façade to try and appear like he gets where we are coming from. Jesus Christ connected with the people of two thousand years ago, and he connects with you and me today on a level that we can understand and appreciate.

At one point we’ve all said, “No one understands my situation.” But that statement could not be farther from the truth. Jesus understands; he’s been there; he knows what we go through day in and day out. He had a job – for most of his life he was a carpenter. He had the same relationships that you and I have today – mother, father, brothers, sister, friends, and enemies. He even faced the same temptations that you and I face. Jesus knows what daily living is like. He knows because he’s been there himself.

So this week, when you feel like there is no one that can grasp what you are going through; when you feel like throwing up your hands and giving up; when you have that gut reaction of, “No one understands my situation…” remember that our Savior has been there and then add two words to your statement: “Like Jesus.”

by Ed Young

For more information about this and other subjects, visit the Ed Young Ministries website: www.edyoung.org

What a statement of trust! Whatever you want me to have is all I want. Some days the plate runs over. God keeps bringing out more food and we keep loosening our belt. A promotion. A privilege. A friendship. A gift. A lifetime of grace. An eternity of joy. There are times when we literally push ourselves back from the table, amazed at God’s kindness. “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup fills with blessing” (Ps. 23:5 MSG).

And then there are those days when, well, when we have to eat our broccoli. Our daily bread could be tears or sorrow or discipline. Our portion may include adversity as well as opportunity.

This verse was on my mind last night during family devotions. I called my daughters to the table and set a plate in front of each. In the center of the table I placed a collection of food: some fruit, some raw vegetables and some Oreo cookies. “Every day,” I explained, “God prepares for us a plate of experiences. What kind of plate do you most enjoy?”

The answer was easy. Sara put three cookies on her plate. Some days are like that, aren’t they? Some days are “three cookie days.” Many are not. Sometimes our plate has nothing but vegetables—twenty-four hours of celery, carrots, and squash. Apparently God knows we need some strength, and though the portion may be hard to swallow, isn’t it for our own good? Most days, however, have a bit of it all. Vegetables, which are healthy but dull. Fruit, which tastes better and we enjoy. And even an Oreo, which does little for our nutrition, but a lot for our attitude.

All are important and all are from God.

The next time your plate has more broccoli than apple pie, remember who prepared the meal. And the next time your plate has a portion you find hard to swallow, talk to God about it. Jesus did. In the garden of Gethsemane his Father handed him a cup of suffering so sour, so vile, that Jesus handed it back to heaven. “My Father,” he prayed, “if it is possible may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39).

Even Jesus was given a portion he found hard to swallow. But with God’s help, he did. And with God’s help, you can too.

by Max Lucado

“He who is not with Me is against Me.”
—Luke 11:23

After Jesus cast the demons out of the man who lived among the tombs, they went into a herd of pigs and ran over a cliff. When the people saw that, instead of rejoicing that their neighbor was saved, “they began to plead with Him to depart from their region” (Mark 5:17).

That really sums up the reaction of all humankind to Jesus Christ. You are either saying, “Jesus, I want to be close to you,” or you are saying, “Jesus, go away. I don’t want you in my life.”

You might protest, “Now wait a second. I admit that I haven’t yet made a commitment to Christ. I’m simply saying I haven’t decided yet.”

But if you don’t say yes to Jesus, you are essentially telling Him to go away. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Luke 11:23).

Either you have faith and trust in Christ or you have unbelief. There is no other option.

Have you said, “Away with Him?” You say, “What do you mean, away with Him. I have never said, ‘Go away Jesus.’ ”

Maybe you have, indirectly. Maybe you resisted God’s work in your heart. Maybe you don’t want to give up some things in your life that you know are wrong. Or maybe you are just too busy—you have time for everything but Jesus.

It really boils down to this—what have you done with Jesus? What are you going to say right now? “Away with Jesus!” Or will you ask Him to become a part of your life?

He offers you His forgiveness. Take it. The choice is yours. Don’t put it off.

The next-to-last phrase in the Lord’s prayer is a petition for protection from Satan: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Is such a prayer necessary? Would God ever lead us into temptation? James 1:13 says, “When people are tempted they should not say, ‘God is tempting me.’ Evil cannot tempt God, and God himself does not tempt anyone.” If God does not tempt us, then why pray, “Lead us not into temptation”? These words trouble the most sophisticated theologian.

But they don’t trouble a child. And this is a prayer for the child-like heart. This is a prayer for those who look upon God as their Abba. This is a prayer for those who have already talked to their Father about provision for today (“Give us our daily bread.”) and pardon for yesterday (“Forgive us our debts.”). Now the child needs assurance about protection for tomorrow.

The phrase is best understood with a simple illustration. Imagine a father and son walking down an icy street. The father cautions the boy to be careful, but the boy is too excited to slow down. He hits the first patch of ice. Up go the feet and down plops the bottom. Dad comes along and helps him to his feet. The boy apologizes for disregarding the warning and then, tightly holding his father’s big hand, he asks, “Keep me from the slippery spots. Don’t let me fall again.”

The Father is so willing to comply. “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand” (Ps. 37:23–24 TLB). Such is the heart of this petition. It’s a tender request of a child to a father. The last few slips have taught us—the walk is too treacherous to make alone. So we place our small hand in his large one and say, “Please, Abba, keep me from evil.”

by Max Lucado

I know I’d read that passage a hundred times. But I’d never seen it. Maybe I’d passed over it in the excitement of the resurrection.

But I won’t miss it again. It’s highlighted in yellow and underlined in red. You might want to do the same. Look in Mark, chapter 16. Read the first five verses about the women’s surprise when they find the stone moved to the side. Then feast on that beautiful phrase spoken by the angel, “He is not here, he is risen,” but don’t pause for too long. Go a bit further. Get your pencil ready and enjoy this jewel in the seventh verse (here it comes). The verse reads like this: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.

Did you see it? Read it again. (This time I italicized the words.)

“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.”

Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure.

What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall—and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help him back up again. “Be sure and tell Peter that he’s not left out. Tell him that one failure doesn’t make a flop.”

Whew!

No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance.

Not many second chances exist in the world today. Just ask the kid who didn’t make the little league team or the fellow who got the pink slip or the mother of three who got dumped for a “pretty little thing.”

Not many second chances. Nowadays it’s more like, “It’s now or never.” “Around here we don’t tolerate incompetence.” “Not much room at the top.” “Three strikes and you’re out.” “It’s a dog-eat-dog world!”

Jesus has a simple answer to our masochistic mania. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world?” he would say. “Then don’t live with the dogs.” That makes sense doesn’t it? Why let a bunch of other failures tell you how much of a failure you are?

Sure you can have a second chance.

Just ask Peter. The message came loud and clear from the celestial Throne Room through the divine courier. “Be sure and tell Peter that he gets to bat again.”

It’s not every day that you get a second chance. Peter must have known that. The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you’ve ever wondered what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.

It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day.

But in Jesus, Peter found both.

by Max Lucado