The Upper Room of Nashville, Tennessee, United States Daily Devotional for "NO LIMITS" Tuesday, 15 August 2017 - Read Mark 9:38-41

The Upper Room of Nashville, Tennessee, United States Daily Devotional for "NO LIMITS" Tuesday, 15 August 2017 - Read Mark 9:38-41
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Mark 9:38 Yochanan said to him, “Rabbi, we saw a man expelling demons in your name; and because he wasn’t one of us, we told him to stop.” 39 But Yeshua said, “Don’t stop him, because no one who works a miracle in my name will soon after be able to say something bad about me. 40 For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Indeed, whoever gives you even a cup of water to drink because you come in the name of the Messiah — yes! I tell you that he will certainly not lose his reward.
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Whoever is not against us is for us. [Mark 9:40 (NIV)]
A fellow musician and I had just started a contemporary worship service with only two instruments: drums and an acoustic guitar. We did the best we could, but the service struggled with limited instrumentation. In the days that followed, a teenage member of our church kept insisting that I ask her brother to play with us. He was an incredibly talented electric guitarist, but he told me that he did not believe in God. I refused to allow an atheist to play in the church praise band. But my belief in God wasn’t big enough.
Fortunately his sister was persistent, and I finally agreed to let him play. While playing with the praise team, the young man came to faith in Christ. What an important lesson I learned — that there are no limits to how God can work!
The disciples learned a similar lesson. One day John saw a man who was not part of their group casting out demons in Jesus’ name. John tried to stop him. He assumed, as I did, that God works only through our approved methods. And this man hadn’t gotten proper approval! But Jesus said, “Do not stop him. For . . . whoever is not against us is for us.”
I pray that our eyes will be opened to see what God is doing in our world, especially through unlikely people in unexpected places.
The Author: Kevin L. Thomas (Alabama, USA)
Thought for the Day: God’s work in our world has no limits.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to see where you are at work and then to participate wholeheartedly. Amen.
Prayer focus: CHURCH MUSICIANS
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