Devotions

We studied the beginning of Acts 2 last week at Bible Study. We mainly focused on Peter’s sermon to the crowd on the day of Pentecost. [vs 14-41]

In the middle of the night, half asleep, I realized that Peter gave the perfect sermon – at least as far as my Bible College Homiletics Professor thought. He taught us that the perfect sermon has three distinct parts, an Introduction, Message (always 3 Points) and a Conclusion.

If that’s true, then Peter got it right! He began with the introduction and then gave a perfect three-point message:

Point 1 vs 22-24: He gave proof of Jesus’ Messiahship through the miracles, signs, and wonders which God did through Him.

Point 2 vs 25-31: He gave proof of Jesus’ Messiahship through the prophecies fulfilled about Him.

Point 3 vs 32-36: He gave proof of Jesus’ Messiahship through the many witnesses to His Resurrection and Ascension.

Peter then concluded – “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified both LORD and Christ.”

He followed that with an altar call “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

Peter’s perfect sermon had a perfect ending – 3000 people committed their lives to Christ that morning.

Amen&Amen

I like reading different Bible translations. I found when I stayed with one translation, I made “ruts” in it. I would end up focusing on those things I had already highlighted – or I would sometimes just breeze through them without much thought. As I began reading various translations, the “ruts” disappeared and I would often stop and think … “is that a different wording?”

That happened with my verse of the day recently. “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.” [1Chronicles 29:11 NLT]

I halted on that last sentence … “We adore you as the one who is over all things.” That sounded different, so, I looked it up in other translations.

“You are exalted as head over all [NKJV NIV]

As I studied those other translations, and the one in my daily verse, I realized that “We [I] adore you …” makes it a personal action. “You are exalted” can be used to eliminate personal participation – surely someone is exalting the LORD, but not necessarily me!

I adore you is my personal promise. One I intend to keep. Amen&Amen

I was reading a Max Lucado devotional and came across this quote. “Cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone. The saint dwells in grace, not guilt. This is the tranquil soul.” (Calm Moments for Anxious Days: A 90 Day Devotional Journal)

Saints of God dwell in grace, not guilt. What a marvelous gift God has given us – that of His Amazing Grace.

No matter what our past, once we surrender our lives to Christ and walk in His forgiveness, there is no guilt or shame. Those ‘old things’ have been brought under the blood of His cross.

Now we live and rejoice in His salvation. In fact, we are to be “overwhelmed with joy in the Lord [our] God! For he has dressed [us] with the clothing of salvation.” [Isaiah 61:10 NLT]

Every day should be spent overwhelmed with joy in the LORD our God. Every day we should experience the abundant joy that comes from being a child of God. The enemy of our soul, however, works hard to steal that abundant joy. He tries to get us to relinquish it through circumstances, trials, emotions, deceit. He will use every and any tactic in his nasty bag of tricks.

Don’t let him! Instead “cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone!” Then the enemy will have to flee!

It’s a beautiful morning. The sun is shining. Bob is off doing something. That means the television is off and I don’t have to listen to the news (how he loves the news!). I am surrounded by quiet.

How easy it is to quiet our soul before the LORD when everything is quiet around us! Yet it is when the television is blaring about the unrest in the world, the evil that people do to each other, or the latest commentary on some politician or leader that I need to most quiet my soul before the LORD.

As I sat in the quiet this morning, I remembered the LORD’s promise in Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” [NLT]

Knowing that God will be honored in “every” nation and “throughout” the world allows us to be still before Him.

But it is during those times when circumstances are difficult, when pain arises, when trials come at us from every direction that it is vital we make a determined effort to quiet ourselves. “Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.” [Psalm 131:2 NLT]

Psalm 131, three short verses, was sung by the pilgrims who ascended the hills to Jerusalem during the three Festivals (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles). It is a song of humility, childlike trust, and contentment in God. It reminds me that, yes, LORD, I WILL calm and quiet my soul … I WILL trust in You.

Amen&Amen

There is one last thing I want to look at about the Ways of the LORD and our responsibility to them. At the end of David’s life, as he looked back at what God had done, David noted that the ways of the Lord brought victory. You find His words in 2 Samuel 22 and in Psalm 18.

“David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: ‘The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior- from violent men you save me. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies … For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God.’”

The ways of the Lord are made for Victory!

David understood that the reason he was victorious, the reason he was delivered from all his enemies was that he kept the ways of the Lord. And even when he failed, he immediately repented and returned to the Lord.

By keeping the ways of the Lord, David knew firsthand what it meant to have the Lord as his rock, as his fortress and deliverer, as his refuge, shield and horn of salvation, as his stronghold and as his Savior.

We cannot experience that kind of victory unless we also keep the ways of the Lord.

The ways of the Lord are made for Victory!

Psalm 25:10-15 declares that “The ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”  [NIV]

The ways of the Lord are made for keeping!

God reminds us that His ways are loving and faithful to those who remain watchful of them. For those who keep their eyes upon Him, for those who respect and fear Him, for those who repent when they find they have sinned, He is “faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9]

God always does His part. God instructs us in the way chosen for us. God confides in those of us who fear Him. God makes His covenant know to us. God releases our feet from the snare of the enemy.

Our part is to keep the demands of His ways, and to seek forgiveness when we fail. Our part is to keep our eyes ever on the Lord.

The ways of the Lord are made for keeping!

Second Chronicles 17:3-6 recalls the character and acts of King Jehoshaphat. God was with the King and one of the things the Lord notes about Jehoshaphat was that “he was devoted to the ways of the Lord.” [NLT]

“The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because in his early years he walked in the ways his father David had followed. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The LORD established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the LORD; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.”  [NIV]

The ways of the Lord are made for worshipping!

The one notable thing in this passage about Jehoshaphat is that He worshipped God singularly. He did not follow the pagan practices that Israel had developed. He did not allow the high places of idolatry or the pagan worship symbols to remain but instead removed them from the nation. He worshipped God and God alone.

Our hearts are to be singularly devoted to the ways of God. We are not to be half-hearted. We are not to develop idols in our lives. Granted none of us probably has an Baal image in our backyard, but we may have created an idol in our 401K or in another person, or a hobby, or a religion, or a practice or an attitude.

The Lord God Almighty is to be the center of our lives; we were made to worship, to honor, to adore Him and Him alone.

The ways of the Lord are made for worshipping!

I often do not understand the ways God moves in my life and the lives of others and just when I think I do, He changes the way He moves. Scripture, however, talks about the ways of the Lord and reminds us that while we may not understand, we still have a responsibility to them.

Psalm 138:4-6 declares, “Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord, for all of them will hear your words. Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways, for the glory of the Lord is very great. Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud.”  [NLT]

The ways of the Lord are made for singing!

There is nothing grander on earth than a king, yet God commands kings to sing of the ways of the Lord. He also reminds them in this psalm that God looks upon or stays close to the humble of heart but removes His presence from those who are proud.

When we sing, or proclaim the ways of the Lord, we must acknowledge the grandeur and the glory, the awesome nature of our God. When we sing of His glory, we are reminded how much higher He is than we are, how mightier he is than we, how He is the Eternal Creator and Sustainer of all Things.

Whether we are a factory worker or the President of the United States, we must remain humble before Him. We cannot truly sing or proclaim or praise Him without that humility.

The ways of the Lord are made for singing!

God works in mysterious ways – yes, He does. And I don’t often understand His ways. But, not understanding does not eliminate my responsibility to walk in God’s ways.

Hosea 14:9 tells me that “The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” [NIV]

The ways of the Lord are made for walking. Those who do right things (righteousness) will walk in the ways of the Lord without stumbling. Our walk is how we live our lives, including our actions, thoughts, choices, and character. Our walk reflects our relationship with God. Our walk and God’s ways are reflected in …

… Our Obedience & Righteousness: “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” [1John2:6]

… Our Faith and the Spirit: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” [Galatians 5:25]

… Our Love and Holiness: “Walk in a manner worthy of God.” [Ephesians 4:15]

The ways of the Lord are made for walking!

I attend a precious Bible study on Thursday evenings every chance I get. One of the attendees reminds each week that “God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.

I began my day today thinking about the ways of the Lord. I wish I could understand the ways of the LORD but most of the time I have a very poor grasp of them. Every time I think I have God figured out, He proves me wrong. Every time I think I know what God will do, He does something different. Every time I try to put God “in a box,” He blows that box wide open.

Isaiah is quite clear that God’s ways transcend ours. “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” [55:8-9 NLT]

While I may not be able to “understand” the ways of the LORD does not mean I don’t have a responsibility to them. The ways of the LORD reflect God’s character, His moral and ethical standards, as well as His divine plan for mankind.

The Ways of the LORD are central to our life of faith, and they guide us in our walk with God and how we relate to others. I think I will meditate on the ways of the LORD over the next few days. I need to see how closely my life reflects His ways.