April 30, 2023
Psalms 102:7 “I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top”
Often when we pray, we pray for all who are lonely and afraid because loneliness is one of the common problems many people face. As many as 60 percent of us feel oppressive loneliness. Even though there are billions of us and we cram together in Walmarts, grocery stores, shopping centers, and restaurants, and we all have mobile phones in our hands, there is a sense of isolation, of detachedness. People sometimes feel that they are not close to anyone and that no one truly understands them. Today’s verse is part of a passage where the writer feels troubled and that there is no one to help. It is the picture of a vulnerable little sparrow, all alone, watching things from the housetop. Our Savior understands what it means to be forsaken and to be all alone in great pain and sorrow. He cried from the cross in Mark 15:34, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”. Jonah was all alone in the belly of the whale and Elijah felt all alone when He cried out to God in 1 Kings 19:10, “I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away”. But believers are never alone and we have the assurance of God’s continual presence. The Bible says in Hebrews 13:5-6, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me”. When we walk in the awareness that God is with us, speaking to Him and telling Him all that is on our mind, we have the confidence of a friend that is closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). He is not accompanying us as a judge, a critic, or a demanding boss but as a kind and compassionate friend. He is listening as we speak to Him and He is ready to help us. The Holy Spirit in us is called “The Comforter” and He comforts us in all our troubles. In the words of an old hymn, “He abides, He abides; Hallelujah, He abides with me! I’m rejoicing night and day as I walk the narrow way, for the Comforter abides with me”. The Lord has answers for loneliness. He gives the wonderful gift of marriage and we hear His words in Genesis 2:18, “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him”. God blesses us with Christian fellowship and opportunities to worship with other believers. But His presence, the nearness of the Holy Spirit is His greatest gift to us which He calls the earnest or downpayment on our eternal inheritance.
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April 29, 2023
Hebrews 4:9-10 “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his”
This part of Hebrews is speaking of the Jews when they had exited Egypt and were ready to enter the promised land. But because of their unbelief, God would not allow them to enter and they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness until the unbelieving generation died out. The promised land was their place of rest after 400 years in Egypt and after their march through the barren wilderness. On every level, their experience represents all of us who will not take God at His Word and instead, live according to our own ways and our own thinking. An example is how people hope to be saved. Some believe it’s all up to them to do good works and follow religious rules and so they trust in themselves to get to heaven. But Bible believers of the grace of God know that Jesus Christ is the end of our efforts for salvation and when we trust in Him, we enter into the rest God promised us. The Bible says in Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth”. It is the same when we are trusting the Lord and waiting on Him to move in our lives. When we have faith in His Word and we believe His promises for ourselves, we can enter into a place of rest where we wait on the Lord and believe He is working to bring His promises to pass. It’s easy to leave that place of rest and start fighting with our circumstances, complaining because our answer isn’t happening fast enough, or slipping into discouragement. But God has promised us rest as Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. The Lord is working all things for our good and we can take Him at His Word because it is impossible for God to lie. We do our part by trusting Him, thanking Him that He is bringing His promises to pass, and we keep doing what is right, expecting the Lord to be faithful. Jesus is our peace and He is our rest. It is not His will for us to be heavy-laden, burdened down until we have no joy and concerning about how we’re going to fix our troubling situation. In the jail, locked with chains, Paul and Silas in Acts 16 were not working on plans to get free, they were resting in the Lord, praying and singing praises to Him. The Lord was at work for them and He shook the prison with an earthquake and set them free. God has not abandoned you, He has not forgotten your prayers, and He is working seen and unseen on your behalf. Rest in the Lord, fully trusting His Word. Psalms 37:5, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass”.
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April 28, 2023
Psalms 91:1 “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”
These are uncertain times and there is a lot of fear everywhere. We just went through many months where the fear of Covid and all the suspicion that surrounded it dominated our thinking and many people lost their lives to the disease. The civil unrest and the political debauchery that is troubling our nation have taken away the confidence we once had in our “One Nation, under God”. All areas of morality, which not long ago, would not have been questioned by the majority of people, are under siege by groups determined to call evil good and good evil and make it the law of the land. And the voice of truth is being squelched and silenced by the threat of lawsuits and court action to stop the Word of God and His followers. But there is a place of safety and assurance, a place where we are invited to dwell which the Lord calls, “the secret place of the most High”. Being “under the shadow of the Almighty”, means being very close to God just as a shadow is near its object. And when we are in the shadow of the Almighty, He is between us and whatever is troubling us. Several times in the scriptures we are told of such a place of safety: Psalms 63:7, “Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice”. Isaiah 49:2, “in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me”. Song of Solomon 2:3, “I sat down under his shadow with great delight”. And Isaiah 32:2 speaks of Jesus as, “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land”. The Hebrew word here for “dwelleth” means “to sit down and stay, to remain in one place”. It’s one thing to come boldly to the throne of grace and seek God’s help but it is a better thing to sit down and remain in His presence. Jesus had three friends that were close to Him, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. When speaking about Martha, the Bible says this of her sister in Luke 10:39, “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word”. The enemy is all around us and many people follow His ways but we have God’s promise in James 4:7-8, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you”. Although we are saved, we need the nearness of the Lord, the secret place and shadow of His rest and safety. This is the point of Ephesians 2:6, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. The Lord is calling us to take time every day to kneel in His presence, to seek His face, and to sit in His shadow, in the secret place of His presence. He is calling us to immerse ourselves in His Word and be filled with the Holy Spirit. In the words of Psalms 57:1, “in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast”.
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April 27, 2023
Ecclesiastes 11:6 “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good”
The picture of a farmer sowing seed and then reaping a harvest occurs many times in the scriptures and was often used by our Lord when He preached. The New Testament makes the spiritual law of sowing and reaping clear in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” and in 2 Corinthians 9:10, “Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)”. The principle here in Ecclesiastes is one to remember each day and in every season of our lives. If we take the verse to mean mornings are the years of our youth then it applies to Lamentations 3:27, “It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth”. It reminds us that the years will catch up with us and as we grow older, we might not be able to do what we could when we were young. But it also says the Lord will provide opportunities as we grow older. Just because we may have missed opportunities when we were younger doesn’t mean the Lord is finished with us. In Joshua 14, Caleb was 85 years old and set his desire on conquering a mountainous region of the promised land. He said in verses 11-12, “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said”. He was not only ready to fight at 85, but he was also ready to fight the Anakims, the giants who controlled the mountains. If we see literal days in this verse, then we know from morning to evening we should praise, teach, preach, pray, witness, and give. We don’t know what God will do with our efforts to honor Him but we know the scripture says in 1 Corinthians 3:7, “So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase”. Keep praying, keep speaking the truth, keep doing what is right, keep walking by faith, keep giving, keep encouraging others, and keep winning souls. Not just on Sunday or during church times but morning to evening let’s be about the Lord’s work, honoring God, honoring His Word, encouraging the saints, and taking the gospel to sinners.
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April 26, 2023
Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth”
The Apostle Paul, the one God used to pen the doctrines of grace and the one that revealed the truth that salvation is by grace through faith apart from the law, writes to children here and reminds us that although the law was fulfilled in Jesus Christ the principle of the law concerning our honor for our parents is still to be followed. Families in our world are much different than at any time in the past and the definition of parenthood is constantly changing. But the Lord is speaking to us as children and calling us back to a place where we honor Him by honoring our parents. It is so important that God attaches a promise that when we honor our parents we will be blessed and live long lives. A characteristic of these perilous times is the fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3:2, For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy”. It may be that one of the reasons there seems to be so much disrespect of some children for their parents is the failure of some parents to live honorable lives before their children. The verse that follows today’s verses, says “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” where the “provoke not your children to wrath” carries the meaning of a bitter, negative, and combative manner of life. We can see it in the sarcastic, selfish, and disrespectful ways families are portrayed on TV and in the movies. It is difficult for children to honor parents that are drug addicts, liars, foul-mouthed, lovers of alcohol, lazy, and mean-spirited. It is difficult for children to respect parents that are not engaged with their families, always absent from the home, and are more interested in their own amusements than they are in the care and company of their children. But the command remains for us to honor our moms and dads and do it as unto the Lord. Our relationship with our parents changes when we pass from childhood to adulthood and although the command to obey our parents change, the charge to honor them does not. If you still have one or both of your parents living, determine that as best you can you will honor them. Pray for them and be thankful that the Lord used them to bring you into this world. If your parents have passed, honor their memory and thank God for them. Even those whose parents were not good, loving parents can hold firm to 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints”.
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April 25, 2023
Matthew 16:6 “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees”
Leaven, anything such as yeast that causes fermentation, is used in the Bible to remind us of the influence of evil and sin. In making bread, it is added to the dough to make it rise and a small amount of a leavening agent will spread throughout the whole batch of dough until the entire mass is fermented. The Lord’s warning here is that truth, the bread of life can become contaminated and He applied the metaphor of leaven to the doctrines of the religious groups of that day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their teachings had added so many things to God’s Word that the end result was a religious system that was far from the truth. The Bible says in Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar”. The Word of God stands complete as it is and needs no repair, no additions, and no human help. The foundational battle cry of the reformation was “Sola Scriptura” meaning “Scripture Alone” and was made in response to error that had crept into the Catholic church through the centuries that replaced the ultimate authority of the Word of God with religious beliefs apart from the scripture. Just like the Pharisees and Sadducees, Romanism became obsessed with tradition and ritual and these became, along with popish decrees, the final authority. Consider that for centuries the apostate church put to death, countless people who dared to translate the Bible into a language common people could read. Millions who believed the Bible, not the church, is the final authority were slaughtered in the name of “truth”. But it is not just in Romanism that the leaven of Christ’s warning is found. But it is in all beliefs that claim to be Christian but undermine justification by faith alone, the total depravity of humanity, and the finished work of Christ. When the church at Galatia had been infiltrated with legalism by teachers that rejected salvation and justification by faith alone, they were warned in Galatians 5:9, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”. An example for us is that a simple thing like the ordinance of baptism for a believer can become the object and method of salvation instead of faith in Jesus Christ alone. Entire doctrines are fabricated and taught as truth which in effect, leaven with hideous errors akin to Romanism, the doctrine of faith in the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ as the only atonement for sin. When saved, each of us has the teacher, the Holy Spirit, within us and He will guide us in all truth and will always do so in accordance with the pure Word of God. Our ultimate authority is not the pastor, the church, a religion or denomination, the pope, or any other thing or person on this earth. It is the Word of the Living God.
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April 24, 2023
1 Corinthians 6:20 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”
When people in Bible times named their children, they gave them names that had meaning and often the name would turn out to be prophetic. When the angel told Joseph and Mary that Mary’s firstborn would be called Jesus, the name means “The Lord is Salvation”. It is the identity of the name Jesus that carries all the power and glory of heaven and earth from God to us. The Bible says in Philippians 2:9-11, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Our names may or may not represent who we are because our culture does not name its babies based on the meaning of names but all of us have an identity with God that is personal. Today’s verse says that we belong to Him, that we are “bought with a price” and the scriptures tell us that one day God will give us a name that is perfectly suited to who we are. It says in Revelation 2:17, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it”. Jesus gave names to some of His disciples that identified their unique personalities and it is a wonderful thing that God takes such a loving interest in us that He will name us with a name that is special enough to be revealed as a promise in His Holy Word. When we meditate on this, it helps give us confidence in our identity with Christ and it gives a deeper meaning to our relationship with Him. We are not just “one of the flock” or “a member of the big group”, but the Lord is personally attuned to who we are and what our life is about. He knows our name and it’s not just “Hey you” but He has the plan to give us an eternal name that reflects His love for us. When the Lord spoke to His people in the Old Testament, He said in Isaiah 45:4, “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me”. Just as He promised the Old Testament believers that He calls them by name, His promise is to us as members of the body of Christ. Our verse today concludes with, “therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”, giving us the encouragement to live set apart for the Lord’s glory and with the identity of someone who is special and well favored by the Most High God.
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April 23, 2023
1Peter 1:8 “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”
Do you love the Lord? I believe you do else you would not be reading this devotion nor would you be drawn to the things of God. For believers, we can list many reasons why we love God but the greatest is stated in 1 John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us”. The end of the faith sequence given in Romans 5:2-4 is hope and the result of that hope is given in verse 5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”. Today’s verse says that even though we have never seen the Lord, we love Him and even though we do not see Him now, faith fills us with “joy unspeakable and full of glory”. Joy and happiness are often interchanged but we believe spiritual joy, a product of the love of God within us, goes beyond happiness. Happiness is a more temporary emotion brought about by something or some circumstance that we really like. Joy is often defined as a state of being, a sense of wellness and contentment that flows in and through us. Our Lord described this miracle as a well of water, like an artesian spring that flows from within and manifests outwardly. Just as the Philistines tried to stop the wells Abraham dug, the enemy works to stop the well and the flowing water of joy within us by filling our minds and hearts with trash. But the Lord has a purpose for us that causes us to have fulness of joy as Jesus said in John 15:11, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full”. Full joy belongs to us, it is a promise of our Lord and is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. But if we do not have the fullness of joy, the joy that words can’t describe then may the Holy Spirit reveal what is blocking the well of joy within. Our prayer is that all pride, unbelief, and self-will be removed and, in their place, we will be filled with the love of God. May the Lord give us the wisdom and will to turn away from the message and influence of the world and refuse to listen to its negative drumbeat. The hopelessness of bad news, political arguing and fighting, the vices of the flesh, and the anti-God poison all around us are tools of the enemy to steal the precious joy and peace God has given us. A few minutes of the world’s input can shift our view from the eternal joy of the Lord to the worrisome mess of this sinful world. Faith speaks that God is in control and we are not of this world but are citizens of glorious heaven and with this faith comes hope and joy.
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April 22, 2023
Job 42:12-13 “So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters”
The Book of Job is unsettling because it shows a man who goes through physical and heartbreaking pain yet never offers a reason as to why. Some grasp for reasons as to why Job must have suffered but the Lord, in describing Job, says he did not suffer because of some sin or flaw. This is clear by God’s words in Job 2:3, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause”. Most of the conversations between Job and his three friends in chapters 4 through 37 are the friends, with lofty and eloquent words, trying to say Job must have done something wrong and his pain is the punishment. Job always replies that he hasn’t done anything evil enough to warrant such a trial. But when God speaks to Job in 38-41, we can summarize His words by saying the ways of the Lord and all His doings are far beyond our understanding and that our part is to trust Him. It is essentially what Job had already decided in Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him”. God sees all and knows all and when we are in trials and seasons of suffering which seem unfair just like Job, it’s not because the Lord has turned the universe against us and is beating us down, it’s because it’s all a part of the bigger picture of life, well beyond our control and understanding yet it has not escaped the knowledge and compassion of the Lord. Today’s verse reminds us that when Job’s trial and suffering ended, the Lord restored him and blessed him with greater than he had before the trouble began. Verse 42:10 tells us, “also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before”. God’s promise to Israel for their time of sorrow is given in Joel 2:25, “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you”. In our times of sorrow, times when we are suffering and feel God has abandoned us or that we’re being dealt with unreasonably, may we remember that the Lord is not determined to destroy us but to bless us. And our times of trials will be followed by times of restoration and blessings, times of abundance and joy. We will never have all the answers down here but the promises of God remain eternal: Psalms 91:15-16, “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation”.
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April 21, 2023
Lamentations 3:40-41 “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens”
The book of Lamentations, lamenting meaning to mourn deeply with regret, put into words the excruciating sorrow and pain Jeremiah experienced on behalf of Israel as they were being defeated by the Babylonians. Jerusalem was destroyed, people were starving, and Israel’s army was crushed. From the nobility and priesthood to the poorest citizen no one escaped the pain of their demise. All the destruction and suffering were because of Israel’s sin and though the Lord loved them, His holiness demanded an end to their apostasy. In His perfect wisdom, the Bible says in Lamentations 2:8, “The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion: he hath stretched out a line, he hath not withdrawn his hand from destroying”. Correction is not something we like to think about and it is not mentioned in most preaching because it makes people uncomfortable. Complacency is the normal message for our teaching and we are like Israel’s prophets and ministers that even while the Babylonians were laying siege to Jerusalem, they assured the people that “all is well” and because they were God’s favorite people, He would not allow Babylon to defeat them. But we know what happened and God did exactly what He warned Israel He would do if they would not follow His ways. In the middle of it all, Jeremiah still encouraged people to take an honest look at how they were living and turn to the Lord. It is a message we desperately need today in these times when we’re seeing danger and darkness covering our world. Isaiah, who lived about 100 years before Jeremiah gave a similar warning in Isaiah 55:6-7, “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon”. Repentance is no a longer welcomed subject even though it was a staple in Jesus’ preaching as the Bible says in Matthew 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. While the Lord doesn’t want us to live chained to continual sin consciousness, there are times He does want us to search our ways and try them. Meaning that we take a close look at how we’re living, and the choices we’re making, and allow the Holy Spirit to show us where we stand in our walk with God. It is a good thing to raise our hands toward God in a display of worship as is done in many churches. But when we know we have laid aside everything that is not God’s will for us we can also lift up our hearts along with our hands and worship completely committed to Him.
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April 20, 2023
Romans 11:25 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in”
The mystery addressed here is the future of Israel and how God will deal with them in the end times. One of the great errors that crept into theology was to spiritualize the Biblical truth of God’s plan to resurrect Israel and make His chosen people of the past predominant again on the earth. Romans 11 becomes more of a metaphor where Israel represents all believers both Jews and gentiles. Yet a study of chapters 9, 10, and 11 shows it is not a depiction of the church, the spiritual offspring of Abraham but of the natural descendants of Abraham. Look at Romans 9:3-5 which is one, long sentence: “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”. Notice that twice here it is said the lineage is according to “the flesh” even mentioning that the fleshly lineage of Christ is part of Israel. The phrase in today’s verse, “blindness in part”, carries the idea of temporarily and implies the Lord has not permanently set aside the Jews. It is the meaning of verse 1, “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid”. For us who are a part of the church saved in this day of grace when the door of salvation has been opened to the whole world much to the chagrin of the Jews, we see in this verse a warning that opportunities that have abounded for nearly two millennia are coming to a close. The words, “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in”, raise the alarm that things are about to change. We have been so accustomed to the format God has been using since the Jews rejected the gospel after the day of Pentecost, we’re apt to think that’s the way it will continue. But a new day is on the horizon, a day in which God will restore Israel back into His full favor, and verse 26 will be fulfilled: “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob”. The example the Holy Spirit used to explain this is that of an olive tree with Israel as the branches. Because of their unbelief, God cut off those branches and grafted other wild branches, representing the Gentiles, into the trunk of the tree and that’s how it’s been for almost 2,000 years. Verses 17-24 tell us that God is about to graft the natural branches of Israel back into their place and it will be a resurrection of His people as declared in Romans 11:15, “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?”.
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April 19, 2023
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”
It seems strange that people believe there are many “paths” to God and they reject the open door that God has freely provided through Jesus Christ. What they are really rejecting is God Himself and His Word. The Bible speaks of this in 2 John 1:9 “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son”. It is an amplification of the Lord’s words in John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. The rejection of Jesus Christ as the only Savior, relegating Him to a mere prophet or “holy man” status is not some insignificant mistake that God overlooks for the scripture says in John 5:23, “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him”. A good picture of the preeminence of Christ can be seen when Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John. When they were on the mountain, Moses and Elijah appeared and the disciples saw Jesus talking to them. Moses was there representing the Law and Elijah representing the prophets of which connection the Lord spoke of in Matthew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil”. God the Father appeared in the brightness of a cloud and they heard His voice which said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him”. After falling to the ground in reaction, the Bible says in Matthew 17:8, “And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only”. The foundation for today’s verse is well laid in the scriptures that we need not look anywhere else for hope and salvation. Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, is all we need. The “author” here means the chief leader and “the finisher” means one who brings something to completion. He started it and when He cried, “It is finished”, nothing can be added to it. The deity of Christ sets Him apart from all others who claim to have words of life and be doors to heaven. The Bible says in Colossians 2:9, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” meaning that when we look to Jesus, we’re looking to the expressed fullness of God. He is God. Notice the words of Thomas after he’d doubted the Lord’s resurrection and Jesus appeared to him in John 20:28, “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God”. May this devotional encourage us to fasten our gaze upon Jesus and refuse to look anywhere else for the full assurance of faith. In the words of the old hymn, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace”.
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April 18, 2023
Romans 8:32 “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
God has given us the greatest gift imaginable, the ultimate gift of His Son. Before time began, He purposed to embody His only begotten Son in the likeness of our sinful flesh so that His Son could take our place, suffer God’s wrath against sin, and die for us. God did this willingly and because He loved us. The scripture says here, “He that spared not his own son” meaning that God did not hold back the most precious thing He had. The wonder of it is that He allowed Jesus to take our place, “delivered him up for us all”, and we were the epitome of unworthiness, hateful, despisers of God, and rotten to the core. The Father watched as we tortured His Son and mocked Him while He suffered and died. So if God gave us His Son, holding back nothing, why should it seem incredible that He will, along with His Son, freely give us everything? Some have mentioned that the “everything” here refers to the various spiritual gifts the Lord gives. But “everything” means all of it including everything He has created. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 1:14 that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, “is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”. We have already received the earnest or downpayment of our inheritance and we are just waiting until earth-time is wrapped up and we step into eternity as the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:9, quoting Isaiah 64:4, tells us, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”. We talk frequently about the Bible truth in Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ”. The promise that He will give us “all things” is referenced in Revelation 21:7, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son”. The new heavens and the new earth are for us, the children of God. The New Jerusalem was not built for angels but for the family of God! Streets of gold and a land where we’ll never grow old, where we’ll live in peace with our loved ones and the people of God, belong to us! Because we are the children of God, all the splendor of eternity is ours forever and with Jesus Christ, we will share the glory that is waiting for us. We don’t know all that awaits us when we pass from this life to our eternal home but we know it was prepared for us by our loving Father who proved His love and eternal intentions for us when He delivered up His own Son for our salvation.
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April 17, 2023
Lamentations 3:21-23 “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness”
There are some things we should forget as the scriptures tell us in Philippians 3:13, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before”. These are the things that hold us back, that discourage us, things that remind us of what has been painful and sorrowful. The enemy uses such memories to keep us stuck and tormented over what we can not change. People have wronged us, we didn’t get the breaks we hoped for, and a host of other things that were unfair and hurt us. The Lord says to allow the Holy Spirit to set us free from those memories and put all vengeance and regret in the hands of God. But there are things we should remember and today’s verses start us out by pointing our attention to the goodness of God. And the Bible says these things give us hope. All of us have seen the compassion and mercy of God displayed in our lives. We have enjoyed blessings, deliverances, healings, provisions, and abundant grace. If only we had kept journals of our prayers the Lord answered, miracles He performed for us, trials He brought us through, and situations He led us through step by step. If only those things were the substance of our memories because they are the evidence that God is for us and working all things for our good. Every day, and in my case, that’s been over 24,000 so far, God’s compassions and mercies are renewed to us. When we open our eyes in the mornings the Lord blesses us with a fresh start and new opportunities. He is faithful as the Bible says in Psalms 36:5, “Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds”. The enemy would have us focused on what seems to be trouble but God will faithfully care for us in all our troubles. Instead of concerning about all we think is wrong and allowing that to occupy our thoughts and conversations we should be telling about the faithfulness of God to conquer our battles, resolve all our trouble, and fill us with mercy and grace. We should use the memories of how He came through in the past to give us the hope that He will always do the same. When David faced Goliath, he remembered how the Lord delivered him from a bear and a lion and he knew that Goliath was no match for the power of God. Our cry of victory is, “God can do it, God will do it, and our God will never fail!”. When we see the mighty hand of God in all areas of our lives, we know we can never be defeated. When Jonah was swallowed by the whale, as he was alive in the stomach of the critter, the Bible says in Jonah 2:7, “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple”.
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April 16, 2023
James 5:7-8 “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh”
This chapter of James is lashing out against injustice, especially the injustice of the wealthy that control the money against those that are in need. The Lord sees the oppression of the poor and His ears hear their cries. It reminds us of what He told Moses concerning the time when the Jews were being crushed by the Egyptian system in Exodus 3:7, “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows”. When we see the evil mess of governments, corporations, and news organizations, and the wickedness of leaders and their lying ways it makes us angry and we want something to be done. Yet God’s answer as given here calls us to be patient until Jesus returns and establishes a kingdom that’s honest, fair, and filled with goodness. God tells us to think about the farmer that plants his seed and then must wait until rains fall and the crops mature. Then, he can enjoy the harvest. The good seed of truth has been sown and we are waiting until the season of the dispensation of grace is completed and then Jesus will set things straight. All the world has ever known since the fall of man has been strife, wars, sorrow, and trouble. The scripture declares this in Ecclesiastes 4:1, “So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter”. Praise God, our eyes of faith look beyond the turmoil and strife and see the blessed day when Jesus will reign and His kingdom will be a kingdom of peace. There will be no struggles between races, leaders and people, capital and labor and the earth will produce food and resources in abundance, no longer strangled by the curse. When we see the pictures and videos of starving children in the world and we know that there is food to feed them if only governments and the greedy food industries would do the right thing and provide food it makes us angry and long for the day when Jesus reigns and no one will be hungry. The Lord tells us to be patient and stablish, strengthen, and firmly fix our hearts because Jesus is coming. This verse helps us to have hope and keeps us from being overly frustrated when we see wrong and injustice daily. The people of the world cry for peace and safety, for justice and equality but only Christ can do it. God says, “Be patient”. The seed of truth has been sown in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His coming is close at hand.
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April 15, 2023
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones”
The greatness of God and His eternalness is given here but also the glorious statement that we too share with Him in His eternal place. The scripture says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit”. It points us to verses like 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” where the Lord promises that when we become humble before Him, He will exalt us which means, “to raise to dignity, honour and happiness”. Pride deceives us because it makes us think we can get power, honor, and satisfaction by exalting ourselves. The Edomites, descendants of Esau who fortified themselves by building their homes in the high, rocky cliffs of Edom and thought they were undefeatable, are examples of all who walk in pride. The Lord said to them in Obadiah 1:3-4, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD”. The Lord loves humble hearts and prizes the humble. The promise of revival in 2 Chronicles 7:14, begins with,” If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves”. We want to skip past that part and go straight to the praying and seeking God’s face part. But the prerequisite of approaching the Lord is having a contrite and humble spirit. Today’s verse promises revival to those who will value self-brokenness and the Bible says in Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”. The world teaches people to be self-empowered but the Lord teaches us to be powered by the Holy Spirit. The world tells us we are valuable and worthy of respect because we are human. The Bible tells us without the presence of God we are made of dirt and eternally lost. The world tells us to raise our children to be strong in themselves and believe in themselves but the scriptures tell us in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”. Humble people before God are people that know they are completely reliant on the Lord. We know every breath we take is a gift of God and if there is any value in us, it is because God has made us and not we ourselves. Every good thing we have has been given to us by God and without Him we are nothing. Humble people know it’s all about God’s grace. James 4:6, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble”.
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April 14, 2023
Romans 11:33 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”
This passage from Romans and the verses that follow are paraphrased from the Old Testament, such as Isaiah 40:13-14, “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?”. Verses like Job 11:7-8, “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?”. God loves us and came to us in the person of Jesus Christ yet He is unsearchable and even as He reveals Himself to us in His Word, we have nothing to compare Him to and no way to understand His being. In an earthly sense, it would be like a toddler hanging out with a genius nuclear physicist. The toddler brings nothing to the table in understanding the realm of nuclear physics. We bring nothing to our relationship with God that helps Him or contributes to who He is because He is not becoming something, He is not on a personal journey, and we have nothing by which we can instruct Him or make Him better in any way. Our part in all of this creator/creation bond is just that we are what we are by the grace of God. God alone is the beginning and end of all that exists and it is His will and purpose that is moving all creation to its culmination. Our purpose must be found in Him, in living created in His likeness and fulfilling His will. Like the toddler, we learn to trust the Lord because He is everything and our past, present, and future are completely in His hands. When we consider Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created”, we get insight that whatever pleasure and goodness we receive, it is a byproduct of the primary purpose of creation and that is that all that exists is for God’s pleasure. Our finite minds can not grasp the infinity of God’s attributes but we rejoice in the hope that He created us so that we can share eternity with Him. So much of our time is wasted on the temporary but God is faithfully moving us towards the day when the words of 1 Corinthians 15:28 will be fulfilled by the Son of God: “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all”.
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April 13, 2023
2 Timothy 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing”
The book of 2 Timothy is believed to be the last writing of the apostle Paul and was written shortly before he was martyred. It was written from a jail cell, literally a dungeon in Rome and Paul spent several months there. It was a dark, dirty, and damp confine built over running water with no window just an open hole at the top where food and other things were dropped down to him. It is believed that he was between 62 and 68 years old and had been preaching for over 30 years. At the end of his ministry as he wrote Timothy, the greatest Bible preacher besides Jesus Christ was mostly all alone. He told Timothy in verse 10 that Demas had deserted him and only Luke remained. Throughout his ministry he had been severely beaten several times, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked three times, mocked and ridiculed, and been in jail in many cities. Someone once said when Paul came to town some people got saved, riots broke out, and he usually ended up in jail. This is strikingly different from the highly lauded and moneyed ministers of our Laodicean church with their smooth smiles and crowd-pleasing appearances. He summarized his 30-plus years of preaching and ministering in verse 7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”. Then in today’s verse, the view is forward-looking to the day he stands before the Lord and receives a crown of righteousness and says that the crown is not only for him but for all who love the appearing of Jesus. Some people who deny the second coming, have tried to place the appearing of Christ here in the past tense and point to the Lord’s incarnation. Even some translations, attempting to pacify false and sordid theologies make a point here to render this in the past tense. But the New Testament is filled with references to the second coming of Jesus and there can be no doubt that this is the meaning of this verse. Paul was looking forward to being with Jesus and he calls us all to consider what we love in the hope that the appearing of Christ is predominant on our list. I don’t know about you, but I love the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ and it is one of the most precious promises I find in the scripture. As the darkness of sin around us seeps into every corner of our world, the longing for Christ to appear grows within us. This world offers no hope for the future of our families but the Bible says in Titus 2:13, we are, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”. Our consolation is Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory”.
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April 12, 2023
Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee”
It is hard to understand the love of God because we see love from a human perspective. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:8, “Charity (love) never faileth” but we’ve all seen human love fail, cease to be, or morph into something else. One of David’s sons loved a woman he thought he couldn’t live without and he was love-sick for her. But notice what the Bible says in 2Samuel 13:15, “Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone”. He had his way with her and then kicked her to the curb. Maybe you have had an experience where people who said they loved you then turned their backs for some reason, treated you like an enemy, and all of a sudden the taste of love became bitter and the experience painful. People usually get and receive love from their emotions and sometimes, love is based on desire and selfish interests like Amnon or comes from a place where it expects something in return. Unlike God’s love, it isn’t pure and unconditional and is subject to changes in circumstances or simply with the passing of time. When we know God’s love, we can then learn to love unconditionally as God loves us. God pledged in today’s verse that His love is everlasting, a word that means perpetual and without end. Because we reference love from our human perspective, the enemy and our flesh try to place doubt in us in times when we may feel we’ve done something that will change God’s love for us. The lie whispers to us that the Lord will somehow withdraw His love and that would mean His love is based on our performance or ability to measure up to some expectations He has. The good news is that even though that’s how some humans do it that’s not how God does it. The rest of this verse, sadly missing in many translations, says that it is by His love for us that He draws us to Himself. The fact that this truth belongs here is that it is paraphrased in the New Testament in Romans 2:4, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”. The work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God together have the power of God’s love which is extended toward us in a drawing force where God pulls us to Himself. The picture is of God lassoing us with a rope of love and reeling us in as described in Hosea 11:4, “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love”. Yes, people need to hear the message of sin but it is so that the love of God can be seen in its wonder. His love coming to us despite our condition and unholiness. The message of our sin is just an introduction to the best part of God’s plan. If there had been no sin and sinners, there would have been no need for a Savior and the loving grace of God.
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April 11, 2023
Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”
If you were ever taught soulwinning, you know that today’s verse is one of the verses used in what is called “The Romans Road to Salvation”. Eight verses from the book of Romans give a clear understanding of God’s plan to save anyone that will believe. The verses are:
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”
Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”
Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”
The first four of these verses point us to our sinfulness and the penalty for it, death. They tell us how we have never measured up to the demands of God’s glorious holiness and that every person from Adam until now is guilty of sin and under the penalty of death. It is a description and declaration of all humanity and if we stop at that point, all hope that we can be saved is lost. But despite our sins, God loves us and saw us as worth being saved. He proved His great love for us in that while we were still in our sins, Jesus died for us, an astounding display of grace that pulled us out of the kingdom of darkness and moved us into the kingdom of Christ. When we take an honest look at ourselves, we can see our failures and the enemy might tell us we are not fit for heaven. But again, God sees us as worth being saved and He is able to save us, transform us, and give us new life and a new purpose. Sin may have brought us low and far beneath God’s Holy standards but by the salvation of Jesus, God sees us spotless, holy, and as if we had never sinned. Romans 5:8 is the turning point of the Romans Road and with it, hope shines on us and grace flows through us. the Bible tells us that what God does for us is described in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”. We are worth saving and then made worthy of living eternally with our Savior!
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April 10, 2023
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”
This is one of the best-known verses in the New Testament and appears on wall art, t-shirts, and coffee mugs. It is a verse that gives us personal confidence because of the pronoun “I” and we know it means that through Christ we have God’s power working for us and in us. What’s not often considered with this verse is the previous 2 verses that set the stage for such a great statement. The Bible says in verses 11-12, “for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need”. When things are going the way we like, when we’re having good success, and when we feel good about our life it’s easy to say” I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”. That’s what the Bible is saying when it speaks of abounding, having plenty and times when we are full and running over with blessings. But the verses that precede it also speak of times when we are abased, which means brought low, humbled, and humiliated. Times when we are hungry, are times of lack and need. Verse 12 is a bit cumbersome to read but it literally means, “I know how to live victoriously in times of poverty or times of prosperity. In every situation, I’ve learned how to live in seasons when I’m full or when I’m hungry. I’ve learned the secret of living by faith when I have too much or when I have too little”. It’s all a summary of verse 11, “for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content”. Look at it from this view and see that it means when we are at our lowest points, we can endure them and come out in victory because through Christ we can do all things. When we are in times of lack and need, because Jesus will never fail us, we can make it through and come out delivered. In those times when the enemy tries to beat us down and we feel like there’s no way out of his traps, we can prevail and come out on top because through Jesus we can do all things. Moments of weakness, fear, and uncertainty may come our way but we will not be defeated because Jesus said in John 14:19, “because I live, ye shall live also”. The “I can” in this verse is linked to “through Christ who strengthens me”. These are not lessons believers come to without the work of the Holy Spirit because notice Paul says, “I have learned” where the word “learned” means it came through practice and experience. Let’s encourage ourselves and each other that in the hard times as well as the ones of rejoicing, we can make it, we can do it, and we can have victory through Jesus Christ our strength.
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April 9, 2023
1 Corinthians 15:12-14 “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain”
This is the day we celebrate Jesus’ empty tomb and all across the world on this Easter Sunday people gather to worship the risen Savior. When the Lord was raised from the dead, He resurrected bodily and the only thing that remained in the tomb were the grave cloths He left behind. Today’s verse speaks to all the false teaching and beliefs that say our bodies will not be resurrected and that in the afterlife we are just spirits or disembodied souls. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is linked to our own resurrection so that just as Christ arose from the dead in His glorified body so we also will resurrect in our glorified body. The Bible says in verse 20, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept”. The term “firstfruits” refers to the very first fruit that ripens in a season and is a sample of the harvest that is to come. So, as we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection today, we are also celebrating God’s promise that just as Jesus bodily arose, we also will rise completely with a body like His. It is a wonderful thing when we celebrate Easter that it reminds us that the Lord was crucified during the Jewish Passover and arose after 3 days and that it was all in the Spring season, a time when the earth is reborn after the winter. Looking back on our Easter photos, we can see the brilliant flowers and flowering trees and shrubs in the background. All the Dogwoods, Redbuds, Tulips, and Forsythia signal that spring and its resurrection have arrived and they remind us that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. He created us to inhabit eternity with Him. What a wonderful hope we have! What a future is waiting for us! We can expect to see our loved ones again just as the disciples saw Jesus after He arose. And, just as the grave could not hold the body of our Lord, the grave or death in whatever form it has, cannot keep us from living in heaven in a walking, talking, and fully functioning body. Today’s verses go on to say that if we deny a bodily resurrection then we say that Jesus did not raise and if that’s the case, all we teach and preach about Jesus is useless and faith is useless because the resurrection is a keystone of the gospel. Also, baptism by immersion is a symbolic display of the resurrection as we are buried in the water grave and then raised signifying we have come to life. Today as we remember our Lord’s empty tomb may we also remember that He proved that God’s plan is to raise all His family from the dead so that we all will pass from death unto life.
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April 8, 2023
Hebrews 9:12 & 24 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us”
These verses speak of Jesus as our High Priest who represents us in the presence of God. Under the Law of Moses, the high priest took the blood of the sacrificial animal and went behind the veil into the holy place and sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat, the lid, of the ark of the covenant. The blood was for himself and all the people and it pushed back the wrath of God against sin for a year until the next Day of Atonement. But Jesus, our Eternal High Priest, shed His blood for us and did not enter into the holy place of the temple, a man-made structure, but into the very presence of God. Unlike the earthly high priest who offered blood for himself before he offered it for the people, Jesus who knew no sin and needed no sacrifice for Himself, offered his blood for us once and for all. Many people will go to church this easter weekend and not grasp the meaning of the cross as a place of blood sacrifice. They might envision Jesus dying in their place and that is a wonderful and humbling picture. But it wasn’t specifically the death of Jesus that bought our forgiveness. It was His blood that spilled from His body as He prayed in the garden, as He was beaten and tortured, as the nails were driven through His hands and feet, and then when the soldier stabbed His side with a spear as He was hanging on the cross and His remaining blood gushed out as a sacrifice for our sin. The scriptures shout loud and clear in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” and again in Hebrews 9:22, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission”. The Bible tells us in Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” and in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot”. So, as we look to the cross this Easter weekend, may we remember it wasn’t just our Lord’s death on the cross that purchased our pardon, but specifically what is stated in Colossians 1:20, “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven”.
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April 7, 2023
Luke 23:18 “And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas”
It was customary for Pilate, the governor, to pardon a prisoner before passover and Pilate was determined to release Jesus because he couldn’t find any reason to put him to death. He said in Luke 23:16, “I will therefore chastise him, and release him”. But when he went before the people to ask which prisoner they wanted released, the people cried out like an angry mob, “Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas”. The Bible tells us Barabbas was a murderer and had taken part in a rebellion against the government yet the people would rather he be released back into their community than the one who had healed their sick, comforted them, and taught them how to have eternal life. Their cry is proof that we are so deceived by sin that we are unable to make a simple choice between right and wrong, between good, common sense, and absolute lunacy. The desire to murder a good man and allow a murderer to go free is insane but it speaks to us of the depravity of our hearts. We can’t help but wonder if any of the people screaming for the Lord’s crucifixion were some of the ones that a few days before had been crying, “Hosanna to the King”. We do the same things today as we shout and demand the arrest of one person who has broken no laws worthy of censure while we smile and praise others who are the personification of evil. Mob rule is the rule of idiots and driven by wickedness. Yet it testifies that when we see the worst of people displayed, it is usually in the power of revenge, violence, and the destruction of others, even those who are innocent. Almighty God used the hatred of the people as part of His plan to redeem us. Someone once said if anyone was able to say “Jesus died for me”, it would be Barabbas who should have died and Jesus set free. The cry, “Away with this man” still rings today and will not stop until that day, when God silences all who oppose Him and the truth. Our Lord gave us a parable of that day, when those who brazenly demand the death of God (and that’s what people were doing when they demanded the death of Jesus), finally stand before Him. Matthew 22:11-12 “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless”. The wedding garment is the covering of grace, the righteousness of Christ imputed to us when He died in our place. Let’s pray for a revival and an awakening where people will stop saying with their words and actions, “Away with Him” and instead say, “I want Jesus”. On this Good Friday, Let’s make the choice that will forever seal our destiny and declare as Peter did in Matthew 16:16, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”.
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April 6, 2023
Matthew 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Completely abandoned and left to suffer and die alone. This was what our Lord endured in His last moments on this earth as a man. In the last days of His ministry, when He was under increasing pressure and threats of death from the Jews, the Bible says in John 6:66, “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him”. When He was agonizing in the garden His disciples did not comfort Him but fell asleep. Then Judas, who Jesus called “friend”, appeared with a group of soldiers and betrayed the Lord with a kiss. As Jesus was being taken away to be falsely accused and beaten, Peter turned his back on Him and denied he even knew Him. Then on the cross, in His hour of greatest pain and suffering, His Father abandoned Him. Most people have experienced loneliness, feelings of abandonment, and times of betrayal. We may go through trials when it seems there’s no one that understands our circumstances and maybe even no one that’s listening when we try to talk about our trouble. The enemy whispers that even God is not listening and that He doesn’t care. But Jesus knows our burdens and He understands our pain. He was separated and abandoned by His father so that we will never be separated from God. People may and will let us down. We will go through times of disappointment and sorrow. Our family may turn their backs on us and friends may treat us like an enemy. But the Lord will remain faithful. There are many people who have grown up without the unconditional love of a parent and the Bible says in Psalms 27:10, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up”. God’s promise to never forsake us is an eternal promise and can never fail. God the Father turned His back on His son because Jesus not only carried our sins, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. Jesus was made sin and not only suffered estrangement for the first time from His Father, but He took the force of God’s wrath against all our sin. The glory of Easter cannot be seen at its fullest until we see the holy vengeance of God against sin upon the body of Jesus Christ who stood to receive it in our place. Without that, the empty tomb is just a partial view of that glorious day. In the words of the hymn written by Duane Allen and Sager Powell, “He Did it all For Me”, “Once a man whom we know as the Son of God. Hung upon a cruel tree. He suffered pain as no mortal man, He took my place, He did it all for me”.
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April 5, 2023
John 19:28 “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst”
If you have studied the seven things Jesus said while He was on the cross, you know this was the fifth saying: “I thirst”. He had been arrested, beaten to a pulp, humiliated, crowned with thorns, made to carry the cross, and then for hours He had suffered the brutal, horrid pain of the crucifixion. His throat was parched, His tongue was swollen, His lips cracked and bleeding, and He was severely dehydrated. A thousand years before, the Book of Psalms prophetically recorded this moment. Psalms 22:14-15, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death”. And in Psalms 69:20-21, “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink”. Thirst is both physical and spiritual and our Lord identified with us in both. His physical thirst was our human condition where, weakened by sin, we are susceptible to suffering and death. Whenever we read this, we think about the millions around this world who have no water or clean water to drink. 60% of our bodies are water and it speaks of how God made us from the earthly elements. We are as the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:47, “The first man is of the earth, earthy”. The natural thirst points us to the spiritual thirst which is our heart longing for our Creator God. On the cross, Jesus was separated from His Father and there was a thirst for the restored fellowship He had before His crucifixion, the oneness He declared in John 10:30, “I and my Father are one”. Every person desperately needs a personal relationship with God and every person has a thirst for God that nothing else can satisfy. It is only when the Holy Spirit comes to live within us that this thirst is quenched. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is not to hunger and thirst for our own righteousness because we have none. It is to thirst for the righteousness of Jesus Christ which God imputes to us when we are saved. There was no water given to the Savior that day but sour wine vinegar. Some have taught He was given a concocted pain medicine of diluted wine but our Lord received no such thing. He was preparing Himself to utter His final words as a human which were: “It is finished” and then, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”. All the misery and desire of humanity can be satisfied when we look at our suffering Savior and believe all that happened on the cross was for us.
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April 4, 2023
Psalms 126:5 “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy”
We don’t like rainy days and when there are several in succession, we long for the sunshine. The forecast for this week is showing almost every day cloudy, rainy, and chilly in the evenings. We’re already rearranging our activities to work around the rain. There’s a feeling that comes with such weather that makes us want to find a warm dry spot, settle down with some hot coffee, and wait until the skies clear and the sun comes out. Times of sorrow, seasons of difficulties, and long spiritual valleys are like seasons of rain and storms. We cry because we need a change, a new direction, and some help in our circumstances. Our tears may fall like rain and we long for an end to our suffering, closure to our dilemmas, and deliverance from our sorrow. We may be crying over the loss of someone or something that was precious to us. Maybe our children or grandchildren or another family member is going through a painful time and we want the Lord to move in their lives and help them. Perhaps we are overcome with stress and discouragement and we need to see a way out, a way where we are no longer under a heavy burden. Psalms 126 speaks of the Jewish captivity and how the Jews were finally seeing the hope of restoration. Today’s verse is reminding them that the tears they cried were like seeds planted and what was sown in sorrow was going to bring a harvest of joy. A few hours of rain makes the grass come alive with vibrant green and all of nature responds with amplified color and new growth. When we cry out to the Lord and weep over our burdens, His ears are open to us and He stands ready to answer us with a flood of joy. The promise of verse 6 is, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him”. It might be the lost souls of our family we’re praying for or perhaps we are in a desperate situation. But the Lord has given His promise that when we cry to Him we will without a doubt reap a joyous harvest. The “precious seed” here can refer to the seed of God’s Word which we hold fast by faith and as we cry out to Him we seek the light of the Word of God. We speak the Word of truth into the lives of those we are praying for and over the circumstances we are up against. We proclaim as Moses did, “Thus saith the Lord”. A companion verse is Psalms 30:5, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”. The times of our greatest joy sometimes follow times of great trials and weeping. Great mountaintop victories come after wandering through deep valleys. But the promises of God are eternally established: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy”.
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April 3, 2023
Matthew 27:36-37 “And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS”
All of humanity was represented at the cross. The Jews were there, represented both by their leaders and common folk. The gentiles were there represented by the Roman soldiers. People who will enter eternity rejecting salvation were there represented by the thief who cursed the Lord and refused to acknowledge Him. Saved people were there represented by the dying thief who asked for mercy. But today’s verse hits us hard when we picture what people were doing at the cross. They sat down to watch the Lord suffer and die almost as if they had come to see some theatrical event. Or maybe like people who seek chairs in the viewing room to watch the death sentence of criminals executed, watching as the electric chair or the lethal chemicals take the criminal’s life. Some paraded around the cross, spewing insults at Him as the Bible says in verse 39, “And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads” and verse 41, “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders”. This is a picture of humans at their worst, gawking while someone dies and showing no compassion or mercy but satisfying their macabre curiosity or their satisfaction of hatred and revenge. Jesus Christ, who helped people, blessed people, delivered people from their worst conditions, and loved people beyond what they were able to understand died alone as a common criminal. Even His Father turned away from Him and left Him suffering, bleeding, tormented, and alone. There was no one to comfort Him, no one to help Him. The Bible says in Hebrews 1:3, “when he had by himself purged our sins”. If you look around at the people at the cross, you will find yourself represented by one or more groups of people. I like to think I’m represented by the thief who, as he was dying, cried out to the Lord recorded in Luke 23:42, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom”. And, blessed be the answer of Jesus given in the next verse 43, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise”. The thief’s cry for mercy was answered by the One who is merciful and full of grace. There was no altar call, no baptismal service, no ceremonies of confirmation, no church membership, and no time to amass a record of good deeds. Just a simple request and a simple answer from the King of Heaven and Earth. The Bible says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ” and we know it is speaking of how the Father imputes the death of Jesus to us. But it’s a wonderful thing to also see ourselves in the forgiven thief who endured the pain of his own humanity but enjoyed the greatest privilege and honor that can be imagined: to die, beside the Christ.
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April 2, 2023
Psalms 107:8 “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”
The Bible says in Nahum 1:7, “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him”. When we know this and when we have experienced God’s goodness, we can’t help but praise the Lord. Our lives are a testimony of the grace of God and every breath we take, every second we live we do so because the Lord is the source of our life and our sustainer. It sounds so elementary to believers but untold millions upon millions on this earth know nothing of the Lord and they do not celebrate and praise Him and His goodness. There are entire countries with massive populations where the truth of God is forbidden. Can you imagine living in such a place where the name of the Lord is not allowed, the Word of God is banned, and where there are no public displays or conversations about the Lord and His mercy? Generations have grown up without hearing the gospel and the hope of heaven. How blessed we are and how fortunate to have the freedom to openly worship and praise the Lord! I wonder if we have taken for granted the opportunity to assemble and publicly proclaim the name of the Lord? May our hearts cry out today’s verse as a cry of blessing and hope that we, above all the people on this earth, have seen firsthand the goodness of God and we have experienced His wonderful works: “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”. Instead of blaspheming His Holy Name, instead of mocking Him and His Word, instead of fighting against His truth we should be a nation that daily lifts our hands heavenward and loudly proclaims the worthiness of God and that He alone is worthy to be praised. We should be looking to Him, praying to Him, honoring Him, and giving Him the glory. Every good thing we have is sent to us from heaven and it is because of the Lord’s mercy and grace that we are not destroyed. All our victories, our successes, and even our very existence in this nation are because of the plan and purpose of God. We should proclaim, as an anthem of praise, Psalms 145:3, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable”. If only believers would turn loose, stop being embarrassed and afraid, and freely and publicly praise the Lord what a difference it would make in their lives and their families. If children could hear their parents’ giving thanks and praise to the Lord what a change would take place in our homes. If spouses and families would kneel together and pray as a family, sing hymns together, and open the Bible for family Bible study. Again, may our hearts cry out with longing and hope, “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”.
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April 1, 2023
1 Corinthians 3:18 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise”
It seems a contradiction to say that in order to be wise we must become fools. Wisdom here is not referring to the knowledge we have about the things in life but rather about the so-called worldly wisdom or the way the world perceives reality. The idea that we understand things, or that we have the answers is called the pride of life in the scriptures and it is to this mindset this verse is speaking. Verse 19 says, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” and verse 20 says, “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain”. Believers have the mind of Christ and the way we see the world around us, and the way we understand the past, present, and future is through the wisdom of God’s Word. The world’s wisdom is man and creation centered and is interpreted by the theory of evolution, survival of the fittest, and the natural sciences. The wisdom that is from above is Christ-centered and interpreted by the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit within us. The wisdom of the world does not lead us to God as the Bible says in 1Corinthians 1:19-21, “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”. When we renounce the world’s wisdom so we can gain the wisdom of God, we appear foolish to them as the scriptures tell us in 1 Corinthians 4:10, “We are fools for Christ’s sake”. Even the message of salvation we preach is declared in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness”. The world would rather die considering themselves wise and all-knowing than abandon their pride and self-sufficiency and become fools for Jesus Christ. Believers admit they know nothing without the knowledge of God. We declare without Him we can do nothing and have no hope. Believers trust the literal words of the Bible above the world’s wisdom and we glory in the cross and not in ourselves. The verse speaks to the deception of those who consider themselves wise and knowledgeable by the world’s standards and another place this is mentioned is 1 Corinthians 8:2, “And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know”. Human pride is a poison that robs us of the knowledge of God by tricking us into believing we already have understanding. On this April Fool’s Day may we declare we are fools for Christ and determine that all we are and ever hope to be, is because of Jesus.
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