Devotions

Ever wondered what it must have been like for the residents of Jericho when Joshua and the Israelites crossed over the Jordan River?  They had heard the stories of what Israel had done to the kings on the other side of the river. Now, Joshua 6 tells us, they were shut inside the city because of fear.

God commanded Joshua to have seven priests march ahead of the Ark around the city, each blowing a ram’s horn. The entire army was to march with them (counted as 603,550 in Numbers 14). They were to march around the city once a day for six days, and then on the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times. They were not to speak at all until Joshua told them to shout on the seventh day. “Do not shout; do not even talk,” Joshua commanded. “Not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout. Then shout!” [Josh 6:10 NLT]

How unnerving that must have been for Jericho’s residents—the Ark, the priests blowing trumpets, the silent army.

There was only one person in the city who had any hope of a happy ending. She had gathered her relatives into her house marked by the scarlet cord. She was probably the least likely one to be saved—Rahab the harlot inn-keeper who hid Israel’s spies when they were sent into the city to explore the situation. And who would have thought that this survivor of Jericho, this professional prostitute, would end up in the lineage of King David, his great-great grandmother. [Matthew 1:5-6]

Last night as I slept the line of a song kept repeating in my mind … “Oh to be a friend of God. How sweet to be a friend of God.” What an amazing God! He numbers His friends from the great (Abraham the patriarch, Daniel the prophet) to the lowly (Rahab the prostitute, Levi the tax collector). Do you hear Him calling you His friend?

You were one of the lucky ones. You arrived early and are now sitting and listening to Jesus preach. Others, not so lucky, are standing outside or hanging in the windows. Suddenly dirt and grass and pebbles begin to fall from the ceiling. A bright light appears as the roof of the house is torn apart. You look up and see four men begin to lower a litter containing their paralyzed friend. (Read the story in Luke 5:17-26)

Luke tells us that the power to heal was present with Jesus. Initially, He forgives the paralyzed man’s sins but after a minor debate with the religious authorities present, Jesus also heals him physically.  Then “everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe. And they praised God, saying over and over again, ‘We have seen amazing things today.’” [Luke 5:26 NLT]

They certainly had, but the day was not over. They were about to see something perhaps even more amazing.  “Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax-collection booth. ‘Come, be my disciple!’ Jesus said to him. So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.” [vs27-28]

A despised tax collector? In those days, tax collectors could gouge as much as they wanted from people over and above what they were required to collect. They were instruments of Rome, hated and shunned. Even though they were Jews, they were treated like the worst kinds of sinners and prostitutes.

And when Jesus saw Levi, He said, “Come, be my disciple!”  No one, not even those considered by society to be among the worst kinds of sinners, is beyond the scope of God’s salvation. No one, not Levi, not me, not you. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen.

I was walking on my treadmill the other day since it was one of those wintery days outside and walking on the icy sidewalks isn’t what I wanted to do. I was reading in Psalms as I walked. (My Kindle fits just perfectly on the treadmill.) Psalm 96 gave instructions to “sing a new song.” It also directed me to declare and proclaim the glory of the LORD to the nations and to all people.

Midway through the song there was another command.  “Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.” [vs9 NIV]

“The splendor of his holiness….” Our God is Holy. His Holiness is His splendor. The word that the NIV translates as splendor is defined as “beauty, honor.” If there is anything about God’s Holiness that is vivid in Scripture it is that when man comes face to face with it, he comes undone. Remember Isaiah when he saw the vision of God high and lifted up and the seraphs crying, holy, holy, holy? [Isa 6]

Verse 9 commands us to worship God according to His Holiness. When we do that the result will be that we will, as Isaiah did, “tremble before Him.”  When we enter the presence of God, it will become apparent that one of us needs to change, and it won’t be God. It will be us.

I love to praise and sing and clap and dance freely in God’s presence as I think about His salvation and all He has done for us. But I need to also remember He is Holy, and that I need a good healthy “trembling” before Him also as I worship Him.

I love this time of year in Idaho. Some days are winter, some are almost spring-like. It can be confusing at times to wake up to snow when we were walking outside in shirtsleeves the day before. It was pretty cold last Monday, and overnight we got 3-4” of new snow in Caldwell. It continued snowing throughout the morning. I had to get lab work done at 8 AM and then off to the bank and Walmart, so I put the Jeep in 4-wheel drive and headed out. I took my time, reminding myself that 4-wheel drive helps you go but doesn’t help you stop!

In the Walmart parking lot, I was met by employees in heavy coats spreading ice melt and shoveling out the basket return areas and clearing the walkways around the handicapped parking. When I walked into the store I started to laugh. At the entrance against one wall were stacks of snow shovels and ice melt. On the opposite wall someone had recently set up a display of summer patio furniture, BBQs, and beach toys. I know it’s getting a bit warmer each week, but we still aren’t to the place where we are ready for beach toys!

Anticipation!  Walmart knows springtime and summer will come and they are making preparation for when they do arrive. They don’t want to be caught unawares or unprepared when people want patio furniture or beach balls.

Temptation! We need to be aware that it will come, and we should be preparing now for when it does arrive. We need to decide what we should be doing, or not doing. We need to know our vulnerabilities and have made plans to shore up those areas where we are most often tempted.  Jesus warned us to “Watch and pray so that [we] will not fall into temptation.”  [Matthew 26:41]

Watch! That means to be aware that we will be tempted and must be prepared to handle it.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” [Revelation 3:20 NIV]

We probably recognize the verse above from Jesus’ message to the lukewarm church at Laodicea.  I’m sure we are also familiar with the pictures of Jesus standing on the outside of the door knocking for entrance.

The verse that precedes that verse is a verse about discipline that leads to repentance. “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” [3:19]

Take a moment and read those two verses again, beginning with verse 19 and then verse 20, the way they are in the message Jesus had for the Laodicean church.

Jesus’ reminds us that it is out of His love for us that He disciplines us. Discipline is the knock at the door of our hearts.  Our part is to earnestly repent and open our hearts when we hear Him. It is then that fellowship with the Living Lord Jesus is restored.

Lord, I open my heart to your discipline. I want nothing to close the door of my heart to Your love and fellowship. Amen.

We watched much of the 2018 Winter Olympics. I enjoyed the cross-country skiing, bob-sledding and some of the snowboarding events. Loved the USA-Canada hockey game, but I’m not sure about curling.  What I really enjoyed were the backstories. It made the games more personal to know about the athletes and how they got there.

It was evident that each athlete was highly disciplined. I remember an interview with a bob-sled pilot who said that people thought they started ‘practicing’ for events just before the Olympics, when the truth was as soon as they finished one Olympics they were back to training for the next one in four years.  That’s discipline.

Ps 94:12: “Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your law.” [NIV]

Discipline.  Everybody who loves discipline raise your hand! Be interesting to know how many did, wouldn’t it? Discipline is probably not something we love. It is, however, a necessary part of life, especially our Christian life. Sometimes discipline is self-imposed, as with Olympic athletes. Sometimes discipline is imposed by others; we tend to think of that as punishment. I think the discipline definition I like best is “training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.”

The psalmist reminds us of one thing about discipline that we tend to overlook—blessing. We are blessed when the LORD disciplines us. Thank you, LORD, for training and teaching us from Your Word. Amen.

1 Tim 6:9-11:  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. [NIV]

We are to flee from the love of money, flee from the many griefs that come when we chase after wealth. John D. Rockefeller started Standard Oil.  Rockefeller was at one point the world’s richest man and first ever American billionaire.  He became a billionaire in the early 1900’s so many consider him the richest person in modern history.  When a reporter asked him, “How much money is enough?” He responded, “Just a little bit more.”

The unfortunate thing about the pursuit of wealth is that it never ends. It’s always, “just a little bit more.”

Paul tells us that we (children of God) are to have different pursuits. We are to pursue godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. These pursuits have eternal value. We are to be eager for godliness to rise in our lives. We are to have faith and love increase more and more. Endurance will pay many dividends as we go through life’s difficulties. And gentleness … gentleness reaps a wonderful reward.

Money, wealth, stuff remain on this side of the veil. Godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness fill our eternal bank account on the other side!

Father, may we always eagerly pursue the things that truly matter!  Amen.

Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” [NLT]

Proverbs 4:23: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” [NKJV]

No matter how you say it, good advice. Thinking about temptation yesterday led me to look at some of the things we can do. Let’s be aware that we are never going to get to that place where we outgrow temptation. We won’t become so “spiritually mature” that the devil gives up on us and doesn’t tempt us ever again. Jesus was the most spiritually mature and perfect person that ever walked this earth and the devil was constantly on His heels.  After the temptation in the wilderness (Matt 4, Luke 4), Luke ends with this comment: “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” [Luke 4:13 NIV]

The devil was always looking for opportunities to tempt Jesus. He’s always looking for opportunities to tempt us. So, we must guard our hearts. Temptation, remember, is an inside job. The devil cannot compel us to sin … no such thing as “the devil made me do it!” But the devil can lure us, appeal to our hearts if they are left unguarded, and we then make the decision to grab on to that temptation.

If we allow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life to take root in our hearts, we are going to welcome temptation. If, however, we fill our hearts with the Word of God, with the desire to be more like our Savior, with the power of the Holy Spirit, then our hearts will reject the enemy’s enticements.

Above all else … keep your heart with all diligence. It’s going to affect everything you do, every choice you make!

Temptation. It happens to all of us. While we are in this life, we are going to be tempted. Let’s remember, however, temptation itself is not a sin. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that “[Jesus] has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin.”  (You can read about his temptation in the opening verses of Matthew 4 & Luke 4.)

Jesus was absolutely sinless and yet suffered temptation. Very often temptation hits us at the point of our weaknesses. We are tempted to drink, or watch pornography, or get angry, or indulge in the weaknesses of our flesh. We usually expect temptation in those areas.

Other times we are tempted at the point of our strengths. If we have much talent, we are led by the enemy of our soul to pride. If we are influential, we might be tempted to use that to manipulate others. If we have successes, we often are tempted toward self-reliance. Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread to satisfy his physical hunger at the end of a 40-day fast. The enemy wouldn’t bother us with that temptation because he already knows we don’t have the capability of turning rocks into dinner rolls.

I remember hearing Rick Warren say that God will never get angry with you for being tempted. In fact, God’s promise is exactly the opposite, He promises to help, “God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.”   [1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT]

Father, thank you for the promise to lead us from temptation. Thank you for the power of Your Spirit in us. Amen

Ask 10 people what constitutes a Christian and I bet you will get 10 different answers. Some think it is simply being born into a Christian family or a “Christian nation” – if there is such a thing. Some will tell you it is those who believe in “God” or those who try to live a good life.

I recently received an email containing the title, “Christianity is not a hate-group.” There are many who think it is. I remember a college professor who gave me “A’s” on my papers but told me she did so under duress. She couldn’t fault the writing, but she hated the subject matter. Since we were writing about personal experiences and thoughts, much of mine centered around Christianity. I asked her why she hated the subject matter. Then she proceeded to explain that she felt Christianity was a hate group—after all, she proclaimed, Hitler was a Christian, the Ku Klux Klan asserted its “Christianity.” Ah.

I told her that to be a Christian, one had to be a follower of Christ, a disciple, and that God’s will for us is to be conformed to the image of Christ. I asked her if she thought that Hitler or the KKK acted anything like Jesus. She agreed they did not.  Then I told her that it isn’t who we claim to be that determines what we are, it’s who approves us.  “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” [2 Cor 10:18 NIV]

We need to make sure that both our words and our actions reflect who Christ truly is. We need to be true followers of Jesus. In doing that we can assure ourselves of Christ’s approval and the world will really know us by our love.