Category: Devotional

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Quite Dissimilar

December 7, 2019
In today’s cynical world of so called “no absolutes,” people still want to experience truth, meaning, and purpose for themselves and their loved ones. Here, we still want to know God’s plan for our lives, and when someone “speaks truth” into our lives, we want to be sure God is speaking through him or her.

Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed His role as God’s representative in John 10:11-15 (NIV):

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Throughout His entire earthly ministry, the Lord demonstrates how as The Good Shepherd, He cares for His Sheep as He healed the sick, fed the hungry, raised the dead, and comforted the distressed. Even more telling was how He taught timeless, irrefutable truths, and He secured our reconciliation with God by dying on Calvary’s cross to pay our sin debt.

Unlike the hired hand, who is not committed to caring for the Lord’s Sheep—nor can he save the Lord’s Sheep—The Good Shepherd shows His great love and commitment to His Sheep by providing us access to an unbreakable union with God that begins on earth and continues in Heaven.

The Lord Jesus Christ is unlike any other person who represented God in all human history. No person ever predicted His death and resurrection as the Lord did. In addition, no one has ascended into Heaven, intercedes for us before God, gives us His Spirit, and will return to establish His eternal Kingdom as He has and will do as well.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts the life and works of true and false prophets (or hirelings):

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7:15-20 (NIV)

The Lord Jesus Christ is quite dissimilar from any other person livng or dead, and His is still the only name under Heaven given unto us whereby we must be saved, just as Acts 4:12 teaches.

Likewise, we the Lord’s Sheep are quite dissimilar as well. Jesus taught that we love Him and will keep His commandments.1 Thus, we will always seek to reflect a compelling Christ-likeness. Not perfect, but ever striving to reach perfection Christ.

What a wonderful Savior!

 

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We Can Praise God and Give Thanks

For November 30, 2019
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem when He encountered ten men who were lepers.2

Because of the contagious nature of their condition, and that they were regarded as a health risk, the men remained isolated from the public. Scripture is silent about their individual family situations, and of how long they had been suffering. However, the Bible does tell us that when Jesus arrived, all of them stood at a distance yelling for His attention and assistance: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

While looking at them intently, Jesus told the ten men to go show themselves to the priests. As they went their way to the priests, they were completely healed of their leprosy, and their skin was cleared and restored.

Luke 17:15-19 (NLT) tells what happens next:

One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

No one can tell whether the nine others felt entitled as if they “deserved” God’s special attention and assistance. Yet the fact remains, only one of the ten lepers returned to Jesus to thank Him.

Only one would return to praise God and thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His wonderful intervention in his life. Truly, the man took to heart that he was a recipient of God’s loving kindness and tender mercy as demonstrated in the restoring of his health and well-being. He also understood that his life was now transformed from isolation to community—now having the opportunity to resume connections with family, friends, and loved ones.

Ultimately, he came to experience a loving, caring, living, personal, God who anxiously desires to intervene positively in our lives for (His glory and) our benefit.

Many of us today seem a bit shortsighted because we take the Lord’s blessings for granted. For example, we tend to forget how we are privileged to live in a country where we can freely worship, express our opinions without censorship, and travel where we want when we want without restrictions so that we can share a Thanksgiving meal with family and friends

Even more, we can thank God for sending us His Son to die for our sins, and to be raised for our justification. And we can thank the Lord for His Spirit, who is our “security deposit” towards our glorious, eternal, Heavenly home He prepared for all of us who love His appearing as 2 Timothy 4:8 teaches us.

During this time of reflection and celebration, let us praise God by giving thanks for His loving kindness and tender mercies.  What a Wonderful Savior!

 

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The Lord is More Than Adequate

November 24, 2019
Over the years, I have noticed an increase in the numbers of people who have professed their faith in the Lord, yet they worry about their day-to-day well being.

Doubt and fear are a normal part of the human experience, and it is normal to wonder if the Lord is with us in our distress. In a recent conversation about God’s ability and willingness to answer our prayer, a person who felt abandoned by God posed the question: “Does God even care?”

In 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NLT), the Apostle Paul relates a similar situation:

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

It is unbelievable to think how the Apostle Paul, someone who played such an essential role in the development, progress, and stability of New Testament Church not having his prayers answered. However, even our Lord Jesus Christ had feelings of abandonment while on the Cross when He cried: “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”3

Despite the intensity of our sorrow, or how convincing the Enemy’s lies seem at the moment, we can know beyond a doubt that our Lord will comfort and console us, just as He promised:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NLV)

As the Lord was dying on the cross for our redemption, He affirmed that His work is forever finished. All that we will ever need for reconciliation with God had been accomplished;  nothing else is required to secure our place in His Kingdom. Moreover after rising from the dead, Jesus reassured us that all power in heaven and earth is entrusted to Him alone. In Him, we have all we will ever need to successfully navigate this life.4

Because of the free gifts that He bestows upon us beyond measure, the Lord is more than able to comfort us when we are distressed and heal us when we are brokenhearted; especially when we come to Him with sincere and contrite hearts.

Ultimately, we can find comfort knowing our Lord is more than adequate to help us meet any situation successfully, just as Psalm 34:19 affirms: “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time!”

What a wonderful Savior!

 

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Ultimate Refreshment Today!

For November 17, 2019
The warm Palestinian sun was near its zenith when our Lord arrived at Sychar along with His Disciples as presented in John Chapter 4. Weary from His morning travels—being around noon—the Disciples went to buy food for the group while He sat by Jacob’s Well.

Almost immediately, a certain woman came to the well to draw water. There she encountered Jesus, and her life along with certain cultural mores and traditions would change forever.

It was customary to draw well water during the late afternoon or evening hours when temperatures were much cooler.5 Although Jesus was considered a Jewish Rabbi, He was forbidden to engage in a public dialogue with the woman.6 Nevertheless, He breaks tradition by engaging in public dialogue.

Moreover, Samaritans7 were considered “half-Jews” at the time of Christ. And as such, contact between the two races was discouraged.

However, the Lord ignored the social, cultural traditions and initiated a conversation with the woman that shifted from drinking the water from Jacob’s Well to experiencing eternal ultimate refreshment through the “living water” that only He provides:

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 (NIV)

The woman accepted Jesus’ invitation to receive His living water because she, like so many of us today, grew tired of her mundane, unfulfilled life. She too discovered that a life of sin does not fulfill the deep longings of the heart as a personal relationship with the Lord does.

Moreover, acquiring the newest, biggest, or best material thing that we can have might feed our egos or tantalize our senses briefly, but they will never fill the spiritual void we have in our hearts for a personal, loving, eternal, relationship with the Lord.

She discovered that only Jesus Christ can give us ultimate refreshment that lasts forever, and she craved His living water, which He offers everyone freely, and without measure.

She came to the well looking for regular water. But, after meeting Jesus, she found living water that provides ultimate refreshment forever. Overjoyed, she dropped her bucket and ran into town, telling others about her encounter with the Lord and of His living water. Her compelling story led others to the Lord that day as well.

Having living water will not exempt us from the adversity or the pain we can experience in this life. Yet, it will ensure our victory just as Jesus promised in John 16:33 (NIV):

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

What a wonderful Savior!

  

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Trust the Lord Nevertheless

For November 10, 2019
In John 1:29, John the Baptist introduces Jesus to the assembly as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Shortly thereafter, those who heard His teachings and witnessed His miracles would follow the Lord in droves wherever He went.

One of His more reluctant followers initially was Simon who encountered the Lord near the shore at the Sea of Galilee. On that particular morning, as recorded in Luke 5, a large crowd surrounded Jesus, listening intently to His every word.

Then, stepping into a nearby fishing boat, Jesus asked Simon to pull it away from the shore so that He could use it as a speaking platform to accommodate the large crowd that gathered along the shore.

Simon and his brother, Andrew, along with the brothers, James and John were exhausted after returning from an unsuccessful, all-night fishing expedition. In their minds, they were distracted by this meddling teacher, who kept them from washing their nets and performing other necessary chores in preparation for a more productive fishing expedition that evening,

One can imagine how the entire crew must have dozed off to sleep occasionally while the Lord taught. After all, they were exhausted from the night before. Even more stressful for Simon was when the Lord finished teaching, He instructed him to launch into deeper nearby waters, and prepare to catch fish.

Knowing that Jesus was not a skilled fisherman, Simon’s initial response was: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything!” (Luke 5:5a NIV): In other words, Simon was saying: “Lord, I realize you are a great teacher, but we are experienced fishermen. We’ve  spent all night fishing and we’ve caught absolutely nothing!” (Your idea does not make any logical sense!)

We can identify with Simon when we feel our efforts have gone for naught. When we have tried to do things “our way” with disappointing or even disastrous results. The anger, frustration, and disappointment can be most unbearable when we have “taken matters into our own hands” and have failed—miserably.

After his initial angry feelings subsided, Simon had the good sense to surrender to the Lord and say: “But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5:5b NIV) In essence, Simon chose not to trust in his feelings, or unfortunate circumstances. Instead, he chose to surrender everything he had to the Lord, and trust in Him for the results.

Then immediately, Simon and his crew were so overwhelmed by the vast number of fish that they had to call James and John on the other ship for help collecting the fish.

When our work yields futility, surrendering to and trusting in the Lord is always the best response. This may require us to:

    • Spend time fasting and praying for clarity of the Lord’s will and purpose for our lives,
    • Perform an honest reassessment of our purpose, mission and goals to confirm they exalt Jesus Christ—not us, or
    • Reverse our current course immediately so that we can conform to the Lord’s divine plan for our lives and others.

Ultimately, we choose to obey the Lord’s instructions and trust Him for the results, nonetheless. Then, we can experience His excellence and our fulfillment just as Proverbs 3:5-6 (N KJV) teaches:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Won’t you trust in the Lord today?

 

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