February 29, 2024
Psalms 73:25 “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee”
Very few people in this world, floating in the abundance of possessions, can say the above verse and honestly mean it. Many people would have to say that the Lord is the last thing on their minds and that they never seek or honor Him for anything. The phrase “none upon the earth”, has an all-inclusive meaning and it means nothing at all. There is nothing at all upon the earth that I desire beside thee. When the devil took the Lord Jesus upon a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, he was trying to temp the Lord’s desire for the things this world offers. The irony of it was that the devil was trying to tempt the very One who created all things including the angel who became the devil. The Bible says in Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein”. Jesus could not be tricked into wanting what was His already because it was just a matter of time until all things were delivered into His hands. When we see that as heirs of God and joint heirs of Jesus, we have the promise in Revelation 21:7, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son”, then we know that it is just a matter of time until everything is ours. Our faith speaks to us that in this life, the Lord will supply all we need and in eternity, everything will be given to us. And, there are times in this life when we have reached the place where only Christ matters because we know He has us safely in the palm of His hands. Those are the moments when we declare that He is all we need, all we want, He is our only hope, and we are complete in Him. In the words of the old hymn, “Jesus Christ is made to me, All I need, all I need, He alone, is all my plea, He is all I need”. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s”.
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February 28, 2024
Romans 8:19-22 “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now”
The word given as “creature” here means the things that were created, the material universe. Our sense of the word has been colored by modern use to refer only to living things and to monsters such as “The Creature From The Black Lagoon”. But here it speaks as defined by Thayer’s Greek definitions as things created and, “the sum or aggregate of things created”. The Bible is speaking about the universe and all that is therein especially the earth and all that was created there in Genesis 1. The Scripture is telling us that all created things, animate and inanimate, are waiting for the Day when Jesus returns and perfect order is restored to the universe. When Adam sinned, his disobedience not only plunged the human race into sin but also the rest of creation lost its purpose and began to decay. When Jesus comes, we will receive our glorified bodies and we will be changed into His likeness. But also all of creation will transform from the cycle of entropy where death and instability rule into a resurrection of life and abundance. The Bible speaks of this in Isaiah 11:6-9, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”. God’s plan to bring life and freedom to all that is under the curse is not only for His people but also for His entire creation.
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February 27, 2024
Revelation 3:10-11 “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown”
If you believe the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3 were literal churches at the time the book was written but that they also correspond to seven church ages from the beginning of the church to the coming of Christ, then you probably believe that we who see ourselves as Bible believers are a part of the last remnants of the church age of Philadelphia. As we slide deeper into the lukewarm age of Laodicea, there are people who are holding fast to the Bible as the inspired, infallible, inerrant, and eternal Word of God and salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. We are looking for the appearing of Jesus as he declared in John 14:2-3, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. The promise given in today’s verses tells us that because we have contended for the faith with endurance, the Lord will protect us by keeping us safe from the time of testing which will come upon the whole world. The promise is backed up with a warning that Jesus is coming quickly, a word that means suddenly and unexpectedly, and that we should hold fast to our faith and the open door of evangelism declared in verse 8. The Lord says we have kept His Word and have not denied His name. Everything is changing around us and there is mass confusion everywhere but we serve a God who said in Malachi 3:6, “For I am the LORD, I change not”. I’m incredibly thankful to have heard the gospel message, the truth that God is offering salvation to anyone who will believe on His Son Jesus Christ. I am also incredibly thankful for the day I prayed a sinner’s prayer and asked the Lord to forgive me and save me and He did. The crown mentioned in verse 11 is a victor’s crown and we will keep contending for the faith until the day our Lord appears and the church will be united with Him in a final victory.
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February 26, 2024
Ephesians 5:20 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”
It is good to keep this verse in our hearts and before our eyes every day. It is similar to one we’ve looked at in our Daily Devotions before, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” and causes us to consider where our hearts are in every situation. It’s easy to be thankful when we’re having a great day and all is well. But in times of testing, times when we are going through valleys and trials that are hard and sometimes long, complaining comes more naturally than giving thanks. The starting point for a life of thanksgiving is that we must believe and internalize the truth that no matter what the situation looks like, feels like, or where it seems to be taking us, God is fully in control and He will never allow anything to touch us, harm us, or blindside us that will not ultimately be for our benefit and His glory, period! When we grow in grace and see Jesus and His hand in everything that comes to us be it an obvious blessing or the most difficult of burdens, then praise and thanksgiving become our way of life. It’s not wrong to ask the Lord “Why am I going through this trial and where is it taking me?”, but we ask it knowing that if God will not reveal His purpose at the time that doesn’t mean He is not working. We accept His direction for us and the circumstances we are in as Divinely appointed and directed with or without an explanation. Even if it is a time of correction, the Lord is doing what He does and allowing what comes to us as a part of His love and care for us and when we are tried, we will come out like gold, refined in the furnace of affliction. Our prayer during those times is something like, “Lord, thank You for this trial, I know You are working all things for my good. Thank You for going with me through the afflictions and when You bring me out, it will have accomplished Your will in me”. There’s nothing wrong with asking God to make our trials come to pass quickly but we always thank Him that no matter the path He has purposed for our feet, He has promised He will never leave us or forsake us.
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February 25, 2024
Luke 15:1-2 “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them”
The religious leaders of Christ’s day the Pharisees and the scribes saw people in one of two categories. They were either righteous or sinners and in the communities throughout Israel, the religious crowd made sure everyone knew where they stood in the eyes of the religious bunch. When Jesus appeared, preaching the message of the kingdom, the Pharisees and Scribes were appalled at the way He presented Himself as representing God and yet mingled with those they saw as sinners. The Lord’s life seemed almost a contradiction. On one hand, he talked to sinners, visited the homes of sinners, ate with sinners, and proved by His actions that He loved sinners. And yet, the Bible says in Hebrews 7:26, “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens”. Being separate from sinners means that while He reached out to them, befriended them, and loved them, He did not join with them in their sinful ways. Unlike the religious leaders who were high-minded and aloof from all they saw as unclean, looking down on them with disdain, our Lord remained in contact with sinners and gave the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son that represented lost people who needed rescuing. Thank God for the words, “This man receiveth sinners” and thank God He came to where we were, saw us in our need, and instead of religious contempt, reached down to us with love and compassion. Religion doesn’t save, it usually pushes people further away from God but Jesus saves. He set us an example that while we have been delivered from the power of sin and are now the children of God, we can see those trapped in sin through the eyes of Jesus Christ and reach out to them with a message of hope. There is room at the cross for all who have been battered and disgraced by sin, for all who are stuck in the mire like the prodigal son, and for all who are lost in the wilderness of sin’s confusion like the lost sheep. In the words of Revelation 22:17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely”.
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February 24, 2024
Proverbs 27:20 “Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied”
The word hell here is the Hebrew “Sheol” and refers to hades or the world of the dead. It is used here to describe something that can never be filled up or satisfied. The eyes of man speak of human desire to look upon, to possess, and to want and it is a truth that we can never be fully satisfied but that we must control desire. It has been said by some that after Alexander the Great conquered all the known world, he sat down and wept because there were no more worlds left to conquer. The desire to see and possess is a furious trap because once we are ensnared, the cycle of seeing, wanting, and obtaining continues endlessly and can, like a fire out of control, consume our lives. King Solomon had wealth and possessions beyond imagination and here is what he said in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, “And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun”. Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. The Lord wants us to be aware of the nature of our flesh, the driving desire to see and possess and He would have us find satisfaction in following the Lord and looking to Him to supply all our needs. The world offers so much that can be had with cash or a credit card that only by prayerfully seeking the Lord’s will are we able to keep our eyes and desires in check. Sin is everywhere and opportunity for the flesh abounds. But when we walk contentedly in Christ, we find the rest for our souls He promised.
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February 23, 2024
1 Corinthians 15:57-58 “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord”
More than ever in these uncertain times, we need to stand firm in our faith. The foundation of our faith has been laid and there is no other foundation that we can build on that will withstand the forces of the enemy. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” and in 2 Timothy 2:19, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure”. We are like the houses in our Lord’s parable where one was built on the rock and one on the sand. The storms, floods, and waves are crashing against us as we are being battered by the world’s system. But God gives us the victory and it’s time to dig in our heels and completely place our trust in Him. The gospel is a message of hope. It’s the only message of true hope being offered to this world and we are the ones that hold this truth in our hands. It’s like a life preserver being offered to all who are sinking and drowning in sin. The Lord has made us strong for these times and we’re not holding on, grasping as if we are going to be swept away. The enemy has already been defeated at the cross and the empty tomb and all we’re seeing is his wrath against his coming final destruction. The storms, winds, and waves of opposition against the truth are his last-ditch efforts to wreak havoc against the church, the body of Christ and to keep the gospel from being proclaimed. The promise to us is that the Lord will not forget us in our stand with Him and what we do in the name of the Lord will never be in vain. His words, “Be ye steadfast, unmovable” encourage us to never quit, never yield to compromise, and always give ourselves fully to God’s work. Today’s devotion is to encourage us to keep believing, keep honoring God, keep following Jesus, keep proclaiming the gospel, keep being faithful to do what is right, and keep looking for His return.
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February 22, 2024
Psalms 81:6-7 “I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee”
This portion of Psalms 81 looks back to the time the Jews were enslaved in Egypt. When the Lord sent Moses and delivered them, the burden of slavery was removed from their shoulder and they no longer served Egypt. The cry for help mentioned here references Exodus 2:24-25, “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them”. The phrase “God had respect” means He turned His full attention towards them, knowing and understanding their trouble. For the Jews, this set up their passover and deliverance from slavery and for us, it speaks of Jesus our passover Lamb coming to our aid and delivering us from the bondage of sin. The Bible says in John 8:34 & 36, “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” and, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”. Because sin is our normal condition, we do not know how heavy is the load we are carrying until the Savior lifts it from us and we experience the freedom of His salvation. But our nature is such that we soon forget the depth and despair of sin from which we were delivered and just like the Israelites, we take our salvation for granted. God gave the Jews festivals and holy days like the season of Passover to help them remember how He saved them and set them free. For us in this dispensation of grace, the Holy Spirit brings us revival and times of refreshing to stir up our memory of when the Lord saved us. The hymns like the old Fanny Crosby song help us to remember: “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever, I am”. And, gospel preaching reminds us that our sin debt was paid in full by the blood of the Lamb. He removed the burden of sin from our shoulders. Our hands no longer work to secure our salvation. And when we call to Him, He will always deliver us.
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February 21, 2024
1 Corinthians 2:1-2 “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”
The account of Apostle Paul’s visit to Corinth is recorded in Acts 18. He preached there for a year and a half and despite great opposition, many people were saved including the Jewish ruler of the synagogue. His method of preaching is given to us in today’s verse and he did not speak like an eloquent intellectual, a philosopher, or a salesman hawking his wares. He preached as he described in verses 3 and 4: “And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”. Paul did not preach with great self-confidence, using impressive, swelling words, and persuading people with the skills of an orator. But the Bible says he was weak and afraid and physically trembling and shaking. He had decided to forget about everything and focus his attention on only one thing: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Remember there were no New Testament scriptures in those days because they had not yet been written and compiled. Paul was not persuading people to salvation by following a hammered-out creed or urging them to join a church. He was not using the Roman road or salvation verses of passages from John 3 as all those had not yet been written. He was declaring the person of Jesus Christ and His cross. The message of salvation is simply the person of Jesus Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection and that message can be blocked by too much human effort and too much craftiness in our sermons. Even the scriptures if they are not rightly divided can obscure the gospel as evidenced by so much legalism from those who use the Old Testament law mingled with the grace of God as if that is God’s plan of salvation. The heavenly power of preaching is not in human ability but in the work of the Holy Spirit who uses the message of Jesus Christ and His cross to draw us to God and change us.
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February 20, 2024
John 13:15-17 “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them”
Our Lord spoke these words after washing His disciple’s feet. In Bible times, roads and pathways were dirt and people mostly walked. When they returned home with their dirty, dusty feet, if they had servants, the lowest servant of the household was the one charged with washing the feet of people who were entering the house. It was not a job desired by anyone. And yet, our Lord humbled Himself and chose this action to demonstrate how we are to treat one another. His words, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you”, speak to us of the desire of our hearts and where our attention and efforts are focused. The Creator of the universe washing the feet of the creatures He created is unthinkable to say the least but Jesus didn’t instruct His disciples in the theology and theory of being a humble servant, He demonstrated it, leaving no question as to its practice. Because knowing the way of serving others and what Jesus taught about it is far different from actually doing it with a willing mind. On a grand scale, it is a demonstration of the heart and will of the Lord of heaven and Earth. God is not detached and at a distance from the people He created but He is with us and as Jesus Christ, He is experiencing our human condition. And we can use the present tense, “He is experiencing” because past, present, and future are all one and the same with God as there is no time in His heaven. The Bible says in Philippians 2:7, that Jesus, “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”. If we seek the duty of the servant and the most unrewarded, unwanted, and uncelebrated work for the Lord, we will find there are plenty of opportunities because most people do not want such positions. There is little or no glory, no esteem, and no desire for the things that rank so low in human value. But the promise is that if we do them, we will be happy, a word meaning supremely blessed, fortunate, and well off. It is a matter well worth deep consideration.
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February 19, 2024
Isaiah 5:1-2 “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes”
This Old Testament parable is about a man who had an excellent parcel of property to plant a vineyard. He carefully prepared the soil, removed all the rocks, and built a fence around it for protection. He planted only the best grape vines, built a watchtower to guard it, and built a winepress in preparation for the harvest. But instead of fine grapes, it produced wild grapes where the word for “wild grapes” means not just some wild fruit, but poisonous, foul, and rotten fruit. It is a picture at first, of Israel and God’s love and desire for them. But it is also the truth of all mankind, blessed and loved by the Creator. We were given favor, kindness, and opportunity to enjoy all that God provided and by all means, should have honored God, loved Him, and chosen to do what is right. But the course of humanity has always been everything except honorable and good. We callously reject God’s goodness and grace, turn away from His ways, and create our own gods and enslave ourselves to them. The fruit we bear is sin, manifested in violence, self-destruction, ingratitude, pride, and unfathomable wickedness. The fruit of the Spirit that the Lord desired for us, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are lacking. Instead, the human race is often awash with anger, selfish ambition, perversion, promiscuity, drug use, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, drunkenness, and such. Our sinful nature is such that we cannot become what God intended for us without the new birth. Our history is one of continual wild grapes. But when we are born from above and the Holy Spirit lives within us, God changes our past, present, and future. He wipes out the past, never remembering it anymore. He fills the present with His presence and we walk in His favor, in the newness of Life. And He gives us a future filled with hope and the unfailing promise of eternal life. We can become what the Lord intended for us and by His grace, we can produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit that blesses us, blesses others, and brings honor to our Lord.
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February 18, 2024
Genesis 37:28 “Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt”
The two sons of Abraham are represented here. The Ishmeelites, descendants of Ishmael, and Joseph and his brothers, descendants of Isaac. They all unwittingly in this story played a part in God’s plan to create the nation of Israel. If Jacob and his family had remained in Beersheba, an area of southern Canaan, they would have remained nomadic shepherds, each family moving on its own as their flocks grew larger and more pasture was needed. But God purposed a great nation of Abraham’s descendants and He led them by the events in Joseph’s life to an area of Egypt where they would be confined together for 400 years while their population grew. Because they were unaccepted as equal in status by the Egyptians, they never assimilated into the Egyptian culture and remained a separate people. We usually see the hand of God working on a day-by-day basis or within the span of a lifetime and sometimes miss the view of how He works over decades, centuries, and even millenniums to accomplish His will. We usually want Him to act now, to do things quickly, and may lose sight that He is always working His purpose no matter how slowly it may seem things are moving along. The years that Joseph endured being hated and sold as a slave by his brothers and the injustice he suffered in Egypt were a necessary part of God’s plan. And, while it may seem unfair that Joseph was placed in such situations, the Lord blessed him greatly. God paid him back for his suffering and all that it looked like that he lost. It could be said of him that was said of Moses in Hebrews 11:27, “for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible”. The forces that are against us are against us because they are against God and no matter how great they are, God will always use them for His advantage. Joseph’s brothers, the Ishmeelites, and all the power of Egypt could not stop God from fulfilling His purpose and we can take heart that no matter what comes against us, it will never stop the Lord from working good on our behalf. The Bible says in 1 John 4:4, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world”.
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February 17, 2024
2 Corinthians 7:10-11 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (11) For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter”
When some people tell of their salvation experience, they describe it as it seemed like a great weight lifted off them or that they suddenly felt clean and whole. Other people sensed a change but it was so wonderful they couldn’t find words to describe it. The Bible says we are born again, that we become new creatures, and that we pass from death to life. The verses in today’s devotion speak to such change when we hear the truth and they include parts of salvation that seldom get mentioned any more: godly sorrow and repentance. These are not the foundation of salvation because faith is always the way we must approach the gift of God’s grace. But being sorry for our sins and turning away from them towards God, is part of the course of salvation. The Holy Spirit uses the preaching of the gospel and the cross of Christ to awaken us to our need for salvation and our spiritual eyes are opened to our personal sinfulness, the wages of sin, and what the Lord offers instead: eternal life. The Holy Spirit helps us to turn to God and that very act of turning to God means we are turning our back on this world and sin, an act of repentance. But what salvation produces in us is described in verse 11 and speaks of the disgust we have towards sin, the cleansing power of God’s forgiveness, the desire and zeal we have towards the Lord, and the desire that the wrong of sin should be corrected. The revenge against sin is seen in the desire Zacchaeus had after he met the Lord, to repay all the people he had cheated in his collecting of taxes. Salvation is not a little head nod towards Jesus as if we acknowledge Him, but it’s a transformation of our entire being. And, although we cannot produce godly sorrow and repentance on our own, they are a part of the work of God within us when we are drawn to the light of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We need the truth and we need it preached and declared clearly, rightly divided, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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February 16, 2024
Hebrews 13:6 “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me”
Apart from the promises of the Lord, is there any hope for this world? Can you think of anyone or anything that offers any solutions to how to fix the world’s innumerable problems? And then, there’s the world’s global picture of the future. There are no answers for the social, environmental, economic, military, and all the other factors like the food supply uncertainty, the danger of epidemics, failing healthcare systems, and the instability of the earth itself that all predict a doomsday forecast for the future. And here in America, how about the upcoming 2024 elections and the future of our nation? If you are a believer, today’s verse tells us we can boldly declare, “The Lord is my helper”. It is a rephrasing of Psalms 118:6, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”. God is certainly not silent about our present situation and our future. He has laid out His plans for us clearly and we can have the most comfort, confidence, and certainty of where we are and where we are headed. If we dwell on the daily news, the angry talk show jabbering, and the overall sense of hopelessness that hangs like a cloud over a lot of people, pretty soon we will feel the fear, the uncertainty, and the despair of a future without hope. It’s time to change the channels, stop feeding on the gloom of this world, and look again to the Words of the Lord. He will never leave us or forsake us and He has a future for us that’s glorious beyond description. Let’s look again at God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end”. The words “An expected end” mean a future of hope, success, and blessing. When Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he could walk on the water. But when he paid attention to the circumstances of the storm, he began to sink. Let’s fasten our attention back to the only eternal thing we have to give us hope: The Word of God, the Holy Bible. Our hope is not in the church, religion, preachers, and priests but in the infallible, eternal promises that our God declared in His Holy Word. He assures us that our future grows brighter with glory and hope every day.
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February 15, 2024
1 Corinthians 4:7 “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”
This verse has three questions that speak to an issue in verse 6 called being, “puffed up”. The word’s meaning comes from the action of an inflated bellows used to pump air into a fire, like in a blacksmith shop, to make the fire burn hotter. It is a picture of people who have an inflated view of themselves and points us to the root of it, pride. The first question: Who made us all different? Whatever our abilities may be, it is because God made us as He chose and He did so for His own purposes. Esther in the Old Testament, was blessed with exceptional beauty but God made her that way to capture the heart of the king so she could be used to save the Jews from destruction. Talents, exceptional abilities, and whatever else might set us apart should be submitted to the Lord who gave them to us and not twisted into a point of pride. The second question: What do we have that was not given to us? Intelligence, stature, opportunities, and the such are from the hand of God and we should receive such as being gifts from Him, not measures to promote prideful superiority. Some people credit themselves with creating their provisions as if they created their own standing, blessings, and opportunities for success. Their foolish pride deceives them into thinking they’re better or smarter than others who did not receive the same things. Everything we possess comes from God and humble hearts will always acknowledge that. The third question is: If all we have was given to us by the Lord, why would we want to take credit for it and seek some kind of honor as if we are the source of our blessings? Pride works on a lot of levels and for many, the battle against self-glorying pride is a daily battle. The Lord is not demanding that we strike ourselves down as if we are worthless and worthy only of the “crumbs from the table”, for He has made us children of the King. We battle pride by acknowledging the Lord in all our ways and in every circumstance, we steadfastly attribute all glory to Him. We use the three questions of today’s verse to examine our attitudes, motives, and our view of ourselves to help us keep honoring the Lord and testifying that it’s Him, not us, that deserves all the praise and glory.
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February 14, 2024
Psalms 139:7-10 “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me”
These wonderful verses give us the comforting assurance that no matter what part of heaven and earth we consider, God is there. There are many times when we are in a trial or going through a valley that it might seem we are all alone and that God is a million miles away. The enemy and our flesh rise up with the lies that if God really cared for us, He would show up and deliver us immediately. But the Lord is always there and these verses are not saying that He is one with His creation but that He is present in, although distinct from, His creation. From the highest heaven to the lowest hell there is no place that He is not sovereign over all. The Bible speaks of the right hand of the Lord holding us and that phrase refers to God’s strength and ability to sustain us. The New Testament amplifies this truth for believers in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. His eternal and ever-present care for us is demonstrated in His great love for us. The Lord is not present in His creation just watching and taking notes, but He is acting according to His will, and for believers, that means He is at work on our behalf. In the person of Christ, not only is He present but He understands and knows our situations and needs. In His attributes of omnipresence (always everywhere), omniscience (knows everything), and omnipotence (all-powerful), God is unfathomable to human reasoning, and yet that is who He is. By faith in His Word, we know He is everywhere and that no matter where we are or what circumstance we are in, He is with us. Not only is He with us, but He understands and knows all about us, and He is always able to help us. And, the greatest comfort of all, He is willing and ready to help.
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February 13, 2024
Romans 8:5 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit”
Biblically, there are just two ways of viewing and interpreting reality. We can understand it through our earthly nature and its reasoning apart from Divine influence and truth or we can understand it through God’s Word and the influence of the Holy Spirit. And, there are two types of people. Those who live their lives and make their choices from an earthly, or what the Scriptures here call the fleshly perspective, and those who live and make their choices guided by the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. The words here, “do mind” means where we set our minds and our minds are the place where the battle between the flesh and the Spirit takes place. The Bible says in Colossians 3:1-2, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth”. The words, “Set your affection” means to direct your mind, to form your opinion, or to sharpen your interest. When we fill our minds with the thoughts, teachings, words, and thinking of this world, it produces a worldly or fleshly view of reality. The Bible calls it a carnal or worldly, fleshly mind. God teaches us that even the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (1 Corinthians 3:19). And, if the world’s wisdom is foolishness consider what the crass, crude, and vulgar things must be. Believers have the pure Word of God and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit as their teacher and when they choose to fill themselves with the things of God, they follow the Holy Spirit and become spiritually minded. The Bible says in Romans 8:6, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”. Bible reading and study, Bible-based preaching and teaching, fellowship with others who love the Lord and follow His ways, and reaching towards the things of God and making choices that follow His Word produce a Spiritual mind that guides us in a way of life that honors God and builds our faith. God’s promises for both ways of life are given to us in Galatians 6:8, “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting”.
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February 12, 2024
Psalms 66:16 “Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul”
When we declare something, we are verbally affirming something we believe or acknowledge as the truth. As a part of our salvation, a declaration of our faith in Jesus is seen in Romans 10:9, “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”. The word “confess” means to declare or affirm. Our verse today reminds us that when we speak to others, we should declare what the Lord has done for us. Our words matter and often spoken words declare everything except the goodness of the Lord and what He has done for us. For example, in Psalm 118:24, the Psalmist declares, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it”. If we see this as a statement or a stated principle, it is not the same as when we see it as a declaration. As a declaration, we are declaring the truth that the Lord has given us another day, and no matter what happens, no matter the circumstances, we are approaching the day with the faith that we are going to rejoice and be glad. It’s a decision we make that before any trouble comes, before any set-backs occur, and before the enemy throws some stumbling block in our way, we’re going to take the path of expectation that God is good, He is working all things in our favor, and He will handle all the adversity. What if we approached everything in our life with the same faith and expectation and made a conscious choice to declare our faith in God’s goodness and deliverance as truth before we ever faced our giants, dealt with tough situations, or experienced any adversity? David declared victory over Goliath before he ever flung the stone. The three young Jewish men declared God’s greatness and their determination to remain faithful to Him before they were ever thrown in the furnace. What if every day we declared the truth by saying things like, “I am a child of God. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. All my sins have been forgiven and God will never remember them anymore. The Lord is working all things for my good. God has never let me down and He never will. I am more than a conqueror. God is meeting all my needs and fighting my battles”, and the list could go on. Declaring the truth is far better than declaring, “I don’t know how I’m going to make it. Things are bad and they’re gonna get worse. I’m in a mess and I don’t see a way out. If prices keep going up it looks like we’re going to starve to death”.
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February 11, 2024
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”
This time of year, when we celebrate Valentine’s Day, there is a lot said about love and we see hearts and symbols of love everywhere. Sadly, the world knows little of true love and what is called love is usually a convoluted jumble of emotions, jargon, and nostalgic thinking. Believers know what love is because we have received it from the Lord and we have been taught the truth of love from the Holy Scriptures. The irony of it is that even though we know love and have the power of love within us by the Holy Spirit, we sometimes act contrary to the love of God. Today’s verses form the foundation of what it means to live out the Christian life and are echoed in the teaching of 1 John 3:23, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment”. In every situation and with everyone I know and meet, I should be asking myself, “How can I show God’s love here and to this person and how can I be a blessing as Christ has blessed me?”. Many people are hurting, discouraged, lonely, and afraid and we have God’s Word and God’s love to share. We know the truth and to think about love or to teach about love is not enough. Love goes into action and reaches out in compassion and mercy. Love looks away from self and refuses the egocentric obsession of today’s culture. Love sees the needs and pain of others and stands with them. Love causes us to sacrifice our time, energy, and resources to make a difference in our world. Love forgives, love covers people’s mistakes and flaws, and love asks for nothing in return. Love doesn’t need a card, a slogan, a gift, or recognition to make it real. It is real because real, true love is of God and everyone who loves knows God and is born of God (1 John 4:7). Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us”. It is not how religious are, how holy we live, and how strongly we stand on and talk about our convictions that testify of the reality of our faith. It is by verse 35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”.
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February 10, 2024
Ephesians 3:12 “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him”
Several times in the New Testament the scriptures speak of how we can come boldly before God and how we have access, an open door to speak with Him. The word “boldness” means to speak freely, to hold nothing back, to be blunt and confident, and with cheerful courage. Most of us have a fear of public speaking and we might have a sense of embarrassment or timidity when we are in the presence of someone famous or powerful. We might feel awkward and inadequate in our words. But may the Holy Spirit help us to get it down into our spirit and souls that through faith in Jesus Christ, the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth has opened heaven’s doors to us and He is always ready to hear anything and everything we have to say to Him. God’s plan from the beginning was to restore us to a place where we could have access to His presence. He wants us to be with Him, to speak with Him, and live with Him eternally. When we speak of “getting back to the garden”, it’s a phrase that pictures all of creation, especially people, back in harmony and communion with the Lord. That is the expressed purpose of Jesus Christ as declared in Colossians 1:19-20, “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 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”. Jesus is the door and that means more than just the door to salvation. He is the restorer of all things and the end of the curse for people and all creation. When we view heaven and earth and all that is therein as something God chose to make for His pleasure and ultimately for our benefit, it changes the way we understand our purpose and destiny. God made us to share His image, His eternity, and His presence. His plan to redeem us was to display His love, grace, and mercy throughout all eternity and the fact that as redeemed children of God, we are invited and welcome to come before Him boldly is the invitation of a loving and caring Father who enjoys being with His children and listening to them. To say that we can have boldness and access to come to Him with confidence removes any dread, despair, or intimidation we might have about approaching Him.
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February 9, 2024
1 Corinthians 1:1-2 “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours”
The details in the epistles of First and Second Corinthians tell us more about that particular church than any other mentioned in the New Testament. It had many problems including moral issues, lack of unity, church government flaws, errors in doctrinal beliefs, issues in worship services, and a mixed-up mess concerning spiritual gifts. And yet, Paul writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, refers to them here as “sanctified” and “called to be saints” and recognizes them as part of all believers everywhere with the phrase, “with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord”. When we consider the scope of the books of Corinthians, we need to take a step back from all the criticism and lambasting that sometimes happens when people condemn other Christians because of some perceived sins. The Lord is not excusing sinful practices as acceptable, but He is patient with us as we grow in grace and mature in our faith. And, while the city of Corinth was known for hundreds of years for its wealth, prosperity, sports, arts, and intellectual accomplishments, it was even more well known for its sinfulness and openly displayed depravity. The Corinthian church is an example to us of how the world around us can seep into our thinking and how difficult it is to separate ourselves from ways of life that are commonplace in our culture. We might be tempted to see and label ourselves as progressive, forward-thinking, and culturally sensitive but in reality, such thinking might create a church-culture just like the Corinthian church, far from the will of God. The Lord called the saints at Corinth back to the truth in these letters and He is still speaking to us today through these same words. We are sanctified by the blood of Jesus, set apart from the world and we identify with Jesus Christ, not the spirit of the age. We walk in the steps of our Lord of whom the Bible says in Hebrews 7:26, “is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens”. We are saints of the Most High God but we’re a work in progress. The Holy Spirit is leading us from grace to grace, step by step, into a stronger, closer, and more fulfilling relationship with our Savior.
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February 8, 2024
Lamentations 3:22-23 “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”
When we consider the meaning of “mercy”, it has several synonyms including Kindness, grace, favor, goodness, great love, and benevolence. As believers, when we think of the Lord’s mercy, we usually think of it as connected with salvation and how He showed us mercy, allowing the justice of His wrath against our sins to be placed on Jesus and in its place, gave us grace and forgiveness instead. But today’s verses speak of the plural, mercies, and our view is enlarged beyond our personal salvation to that of the whole world being under the mercies of God. Every person is called to the cross of Jesus Christ by the love and grace of God. The wrath of God and the complete annihilation of humanity is held back because of the Lord’s mercies. He never stops showing compassion and He never stops desiring that all sinners come to Him and be saved. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9, that the Lord is, “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. And, even better news is that with the dawn of every day, the Lord’s mercies and compassions are renewed afresh. We start every day like the first day of a new life with renewed favor, renewed opportunities, renewed hope, and renewed heavenly encouragement. Think of all the people who are trapped by worries of the past, who can not forgive themselves and others for past mistakes and injustices. Think of all the peace they could have if they would just believe that the Lord wants us to start every day with renewed faith and renewed assurance that the past does not dominate the present and that He wants us to be free. He starts every day in our life as a new day and He wants us to receive it in the same way. Turn away from your sins, your errors, and your mistakes, and receive the Lord’s mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and restoration. It’s all by faith in what He said and He is extending His arms of favor and love to us if we will but receive Him. You might say, “But I’ve made too many mistakes and I have a past record that’s too bad for the Lord to forgive”. But Jesus is saying that He came, bled, and died to give you a new start and not only a new start but a daily new start with new favor, new compassion, and new hope. His great love never fails.
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February 7, 2024
1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity”
The primary goals of the Christian life are not greater spirituality, miracles, and prosperity but they are given as a summary of 1 Corinthians 13: Faith, hope, and love. And of these three, the greatest is love. Sometimes we interchange faith with hope but they are distinctly different. Faith works in the present tense and it’s believing that something is already here and already happened because the Eternal God said it. It’s the confidence that something exists and can be trusted. The words of our Lord in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”, is in the present tense and literally means, “Believe that you have already received them”. Hope looks forward to the future, expecting something to happen, and when combined with faith in what we know to be true because God’s Word has declared it, faith and hope are a powerful force that propels us forward. When we know what God’s Word says concerning something and we are waiting for the Lord to bring it to pass, hope keeps our faith alive. For example, we know God says He is always working things for our good. (Romans 8:28). When we are in a trial, we claim the promise by faith, believing that no matter what the circumstances seem to be, God is working for our good. Then, hope looks forward to that day when the trial is over and we are at rest. So we keep believing Romans 8:28 and declaring it to be true even though we have not yet seen the good we are receiving. When someone asks us about our situation, faith speaks and says, “The battle is the Lord’s and He is doing something that will be for my good”. All the while, our eye of faith is looking forward in hope to the time when we can say, “Thank God that trial is over”. Hope keeps our faith trusting and expecting until finally, the Lord brings His Word to pass. And, what we have been believing for as though it has already happened, passes from the spiritual to the natural. Faith, hope, and love are the bedrock of the Christian walk and they anchor us in every step we take towards becoming all God has purposed for us. Keep believing, keep hoping and expecting God’s best, and keep loving one another.
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February 6, 2024
Hebrews 7:24-25 “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them”
In Old Testament times of the law, the priesthood and the royal throne were always kept separate. But Jesus is both King and priest in the fashion of Melchizedek, the King and priest of Jerusalem whom Abraham met in Genesis 14 at least 400 years before the law was given. Jesus is the King of heaven and earth and He is also our High Priest. The priesthood of our Lord is eternal because He is eternal and the power that He has to forgive sins is both unlimited and complete. That’s the meaning of the word “uttermost” here: perfect, throughout all time, completely, and utterly. Jesus did not make a downpayment on our sin debt but He paid the debt in full. There is no balance owed, nothing in arrearages, and He paid the debt for sins of the past, sins of the present, and sins forward into the future. Perfectly, completely, and throughout all time. To the uttermost. There is never a moment when Jesus is not at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. The enemy, called the accuser of the brethren in Revelation 12:10 where the Bible says he accuses us before God day and night, is confounded by Jesus, representing us and speaking on our behalf. The enemy not only accuses us before God, but he also tries to discourage us and raise doubt about our standing with God when he reminds us of our flaws, weaknesses, and imperfections. The Bible says he is a liar and the father of lies and we stand upon the truth that the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin. The priesthood of Jesus Christ is unchangeable and our salvation is complete and sealed unto the day of redemption. The Bible does not say here, “from the uttermost” as some people sometimes misquote, but “to the uttermost”. The words point us forward to the true meaning of the truth that our salvation will never end. Salvation is not some common trinket gift from God, fragile, apt to be lost or destroyed, or repossessed if we default on payments. It is a display of God’s love, mercy, grace, and compassion and when we receive Jesus Christ by faith, it’s a done deal.
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February 5, 2024
1 Kings 19:11-12 “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice”
One chapter before this one, Elijah and the people had seen God show up in a mighty way on top of Mount Carmel, answering Elijah’s prayer by fire from heaven. But in this chapter the prophet is discouraged, running from Jezebel, and hiding out in a cave in the mountains. The Lord came to him and manifested His glorious presence but not in a way we might expect. First, Elijah experienced a wind so strong it broke rocks. That was followed by an earthquake and a fire but the Lord’s presence was in none of those three dramatic things. This is commonly how some people expect to experience the things of God: Experiences that shake us, thrill us, and dumbfound us. Experiences that knock us out, have us up and running, or some manifestation of God’s glory that is supernatural and spectacular. For Elijah that day, God appeared in a still small voice. Sometimes the Lord can, has, and does show up in astounding, powerful ways and there is no limit to what He can do. But such times are not normal, day by day ways He directs our steps and guides us. When we silence ourselves before God waiting upon the Lord, the Holy Spirit within us brings the Word of God to us, and by His comforting peace, He leads us in the ways of God. It’s a voice that is unlike human voices and though it is not a shouting, thundering voice of command, it is an urging, a longing, and always in complete agreement with God’s Word. Sometimes it’s through strong impressions and strong thoughts that carry a sense of authority. But as we learn to still ourselves before the Lord to listen to Him, He will not turn us away. He will not compete for our attention with the noise and ruckus of the world but He is always ready to speak and our prayer should be that of young Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:10, “Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth”.
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February 4, 2024
Psalms 126:5-6 “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him”
Times of great joy are often preceded by seasons of sorrow and hardship. We don’t like to endure the times of hardship, the times when we find ourselves crying out to God to deliver us, to rescue our children, to work on our behalf in a situation that is causing us pain. Our Lord spent such a time in the garden of Gethsemane when He was crying and pleading with the Father until His sweat became as great drops of blood. Of the season of Jesus’ suffering, the Bible says in Hebrews 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”. Notice that before the joy our Lord received, the joy of defeating death, hell, and the grave, the joy of reconciling us all back to the Father, He endured the horror of the crucifixion and the pain of the tormentors. Sometimes we are so broken for our lost families and the circumstances of those we love that all we can do is weep tears of heaviness as we intercede to God for them. The great and precious promise in today’s verses is that when we sow the seed, watered by our tears, we with certainly see the victory and the fruit of our season of tears. It is one thing to be broken for our own sins but to be broken to tears for others is when we identify with the heart of God. When the people of Jerusalem turned away from the Lord’s message of hope, Jesus walked to the city and the Bible says in Luke 19:41, “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it”. Our Lord was brokenhearted at what people would suffer because they rejected the truth. In the old hymn “Rescue the Perishing”, the lyrics say: “Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them of Jesus the mighty to save”. The Lord will not forget our tears and gives us the promise of Psalms 30:5, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”.
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February 3, 2024
Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes”
This verse summarizes the 400 years of Israel’s history when they were governed by Judges. It was 400 years of chaos, sin, war, and idolatry. There are at least seven cycles of apostasy, servitude to other nations, and by God’s mercy, followed by apostasy. There was confusion and violence, and the Jews sunk into the depths of depravity that mirrored the pagan nations around them. When there is no good moral leadership and Godly structure and people are left to their individual principles, they never rise to greater levels of goodness and achieve standards of excellence and this is a great flaw in our world today. There are movements that scream to throw out the rules, mores, and laws that demand accountability and responsibility. The movements demand that people should live as they choose. From a church-age point of view, we are living in the period of Laodicea where that word means “The rights of the people”, or “Civil Rights”. But look how our definition of Civil Rights has morphed in the past 4 or so decades. From meaning freedom and equality for all Americans to now we’ve been hearing the chants to abolish police forces, open the borders to anyone and everyone, and erase all our history as evil including the memories of great statesmen like Abraham Lincoln. The unchangeable Word of God declares in Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn”. God’s perfect plan for Israel was for them to acknowledge Him as their king and follow His Word and ways. But the scripture says of them in Judges 2:10-12, “There arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. The New Testament warning for us in this is Romans 2:8, “But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile”.
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February 2, 2024
Psalms 107:2 “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy”
If you have been saved, if the Lord has rescued you from sin and destruction, then the Bible says to declare it! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. We have a testimony that tells of the goodness and grace of God and people need to hear it. Some believers have been delivered from the most unimaginable depths of sin, brought out of pits of darkness and addictions and there are people just like them still trapped by chains they can’t break and Jesus has the power to set them free. Some believers were good moral people who were still miserable and crushed within and their hearts were crying out for love and acceptance and the Lord rescued them. All around us, people are struggling with all kinds of sorrow and they’ve looked everywhere for help and found none. But the Lord stands ready to come to their aid and they need to hear what God has done for us. They need the assurance that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And, as He has helped us, He will help them. Maybe when we’ve been saved for a long time and we get busy with the routines of life we might think our testimony doesn’t matter all that much. But our testimony might be the very thing that gives hope to someone else who is looking for an answer to their trouble, someone who is empty and broken and needs the Lord. The church we attended used to sing the words of a hymn that said, “I’m redeemed by love divine! Glory, glory! Christ is mine, Christ is mine! All to Him I now resign. I have been redeemed!”. Every believer has a testimony that is unique to them and the enemy wants to silence us from sharing it. But our testimony is our personal story of how the Lord gave us the greatest gift in the universe: eternal life. We can speak about a lot of things concerning this life and all of us have stories we can tell about our childhoods, our families, and our journey. But nothing speaks louder and more powerfully to a lost soul that’s hungry and thirsty for God than the personal, simple truth of how Jesus came into our hearts.
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February 1, 2024
Galatians 6:14 “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”
The word glory here means to brag or boast and people brag about a lot of things. When their favorite team wins, you’d think they were the ones that played. Past achievements, awards we hang on the wall, pictures and stories about our children and grandchildren, how much money we saved on a good deal, and the list is endless. It’s interesting that while we might be tempted to brag on ourselves directly or indirectly, most of us can’t stand a braggart and after a while of listening to someone glorify themselves, we want to roll our eyes and get away from them. For believers, there is one thing that is worth bragging about: The cross of Jesus Christ. In the earthly, natural realm, all the things we might brag about pass with time and after a while, lose their meaning or importance. The greatest achievements get surpassed, become irrelevant, and most of them drop into other people’s “I don’t care” category. But what happened on the cross applies to us eternally and what we received there is beyond any value we could ascribe. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ bought our salvation, wiped out our record of sins, secured our peace, paid for our healing, and set us apart from this world and its fallen nature and corruption. We are children of God because of the cross. The cross has made us eternally righteous, made us new creations, and given us a blessed hope that nothing else could do. Compared to anything on this earth or anything we are or hope to be by our own will or abilities, the cross is all that matters because the cross looks back to the past and wipes out all that was against us. The cross looks forward into eternity and locks us into a future where we have an eternal home with our Heavenly Father that’s certain and unchangeable. We boast in the cross because what happened there displayed and explained God’s nature to us. His love, His wrath, His grace, His mercy, His wisdom, His Godhead, His power, His majesty, and everything else He is can be seen in the cross. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to this world but to us, it is how we boast.
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