Devotions

Phil 3:13-14:  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  

Forgetting what is behind is sometimes hard to do, especially since the enemy of our soul is always reminding us of our failures and those times when we were less than we should have been. I think it must have been a difficult task for Paul also, since he brought it up in his letter to the Philippians. He could have just as easily omitted it, simply stating that he strained toward what is ahead and pressed toward the goal.  But he didn’t omit it, he included it…

But aren’t we also to remember what is behind? Even Paul acknowledged his own sinful past: “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” [1 Tim 1:16]

How can we both remember and forget our pasts? I think when Paul said that he was forgetting what is behind, he was saying he does not let what he once was (the worst of sinners) dictate to what he does now (pressing on toward the goal).

The enemy of our soul wants to use our past and the guilt associated with our sin to forestall moving on with God. If he can keep us focused on how unworthy we are, he can keep us immobile. Christ Jesus our Lord is calling us to keep moving, keep straining to mature and grow.

Father, I know I am a sinner saved by Your love and grace. I will not let the enemy of my soul drag me back into that past or load me down with a burden of guilt. You have saved me, forgiven me. Now may I strain to attain all that You have for me in Christ Jesus. Amen.

I am enjoying the “one thing” verses I am finding in Scripture. John 9 contains the story of Jesus and the blind man. There are many characters in this story. In addition to Jesus and the unnamed blind man, there are the disciples asking questions, the rulers throwing accusations, and the man’s fearful parents trying to dodge being involved in any of it. (Read John 9 today.)

I love the formerly blind man’s testimony when confronted by the rulers who were furious because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  After all the accusations and responses, however, it was the personal testimony of this man that truly settled every argument. “He replied, ‘Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!’”  [vs 25]

One thing I do know … I was blind but now I see!  John Newton wrote, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

The one thing in each of our lives that cannot be refuted is the healing that Christ brought to us. We who were lost and blind, are now saved and seeing. We are not what we once were. Each of us has a personal testimony. Christ met us one day along the way and nothing has been the same since. Glory to God.

Father, thank you for that divine meeting with the Savior. Thank you that I, who was blinded by the god of this age, now see the beauty and glory in the light of Christ Jesus my Lord. That You would save a wretch like me is almost beyond my ability to comprehend. I bow to Your amazing grace. Amen. 

Luke 10:41-42: “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  

How many sermons and articles have been written about the one thing found in the story of Mary and Martha. I have heard some great ones, and I’ve heard some that seemed to me to miss the mark.

Most of the time we see ourselves as predominantly one or the other. We are either Martha, bustling around trying to feed and care for a bunch of guys who show up for dinner. (Who knows how much that big fisherman could eat all by himself!) All the while her sister is lounging with the guys in the living room.

Or we see ourselves as Mary, choosing the better part to remain at the feet of Jesus to hear what He is saying, ignoring the work that needs doing, resisting the strains of complaining from her sister bearing the burden of service.

I love these two ladies. Jesus loved these two ladies. I don’t think we are to choose between being a Mary or a Martha, between being in the presence of the Lord or serving. Martha’s problem was not her service, it was her worry and anxiety in her serving.

Our lives are to combine Mary and Martha. We are to sit at His feet and find there the motivation and power to then serve with humility and peace. Spending time with Jesus always results in the desire to serve Him more, and how do we serve Him? By serving others.

Father, give me the desire and power to both bask in Your presence and serve Your people. Amen.

The last couple days we have been looking at some of the “one things” I have found when I searched the Scriptures.  Yesterday’s one thing uplifted me – God is strong and God is loving.  Today’s one thing saddens me. It comes in the encounter Jesus had with a rich young ruler in Mark 10.

The ruler wondered what he had to do to gain eternal life. Jesus took him to what the law said. The ruler countered with the fact that he had always kept those external commandments.  Jesus then took him to what the heart was clinging to.  “’You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’  But he was stunned at this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.” [v17-22 HCSB]

It all came down to a choice, either a heart that had only one treasure, that of loving God to the extent nothing else mattered, or a heart centered on earthly possessions.  The rich young ruler could not give up his earthly treasures.

Jesus asked the young man to pick up his cross. It was right there before Him. Jesus invited him to follow. But the call of worldly riches caused him to leave his cross at the feet of Jesus and turn away. It says, “he went away grieving.”

Still, he went away. There was only one thing he lacked, a heart that hungered more for God than for the treasures of this life.

How many go away because of similar one things?  I fear too many leave their crosses at the feet of Jesus and turn their backs because of their one thing.

I found another “one thing” in Psalm 62 when I was searching in the NIV:  One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. [v11-12 NIV]

It reads a bit differently in other translations. “God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: strength belongs to God, and faithful love belongs to You, Lord. For You repay each according to his works” [HCSB]

God is strong; all power belongs to God.  The Lord is loving; mercy belongs to the Lord. God rewards / repays to each one according to what we have done.

Our God is strong, and all power does belong to Him. If we remember one thing about Him, we remember He is all-powerful. Would we want to serve a God who does not have the power to keep His promises? Every year we elect people to positions of authority based on the promises they make to us, and most often those promises are not kept because they lack the power to do so. God has the power to keep His promises.

But there is another one thing we need to remember about our God. He is loving, mercy belongs to Him.  The all-powerful Right Hand of God is extended to us in mercy and love.  We need never be afraid of rejection or refusal.

And our God will reward us – He will render to us according to what we have done. And the one thing we have done is trust in Jesus. Amen and Amen. 

Writing about the one thing David wanted yesterday had me researching other “one thing” passages in the Scriptures. My search took me to one of my favorite stories in 2 Kings. It is the story of Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he also had leprosy. A slave girl captured from Israel told of a prophet in Samaria (Elisha) who could cure Naaman. You can read his story in 2 Kings 5:1-19.

Initially Naaman goes to the king of Israel who fearfully passes him off to the prophet Elisha. Elisha’s simple command is to go wash in the River Jordan. Naaman balks at the simplicity of the command and departs until his soldiers convince him to return and give it a try. Naaman goes down into the Jordan a leper and arises from it cleansed.

Naaman gives glory to the LORD God of Elisha, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel,” and then he promises to “never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD.” 

He ends his visit with Elisha with one thing – a request for forgiveness.  “’But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also-when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.’ ‘Go in peace,’ Elisha said.” [vs 18-19]

One thing. Naaman understood that his official duties would require him to accompany the king in religious ceremonies and asked forgiveness of Jehovah’s prophet. Elisha granted it – “Go in peace.” I wonder if we’ll meet Naaman when we get to glory. I hope so. I hope that his heart remained true to the God of Israel.

I went to prayer last Thursday at CFC Middleton. It was in the refurbished “The Way” building (where I pastored for about a decade). I was reminded Thursday of the one thing that I really miss now that I am no longer pastoring there.

I used to go into that old log cabin building whenever I wanted. I would sit in one of the chairs and look up at those log beams and pray. The quiet and solitude always made me aware of the presence of the LORD.

Later in the morning I was reading in the psalms and came to Psalm 27:4: “I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking Him in His temple.” [HCSB]

“One thing.”  David wants one thing from the LORD … one thing. He wants that one thing that Moses also wanted, to remain in the presence of the Lord all His life. That made me ask myself, is this the one thing I truly want from God?  Or is my life consumed with wanting many things?

I think my focus is too often diverted to many things. At times I feel like the dog that has its attention set on its master until it sees the squirrel cross its path and it’s off and running, only to return to the master a bit bedraggled after much calling and coaxing.

Father, one thing I ask of You this morning … to remain in Your presence all the days of my life. May I forever gaze upon the beauty of my LORD Jesus wherever I am. Amen

Jesus chose 12 men to be His closest disciples. Matthew 10 gives their names: “First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew (sometimes called Nathanel), Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.” [vs 2-4 HCSB]

Some were fishermen, one a tax collector, one part of a political movement called the Zealots. It appears Phillip was practical and levelheaded. Bartholomew may have been thoughtful and wise. Thomas had a moment of doubt. And Peter was often rash and spoke before thinking.

We don’t know a lot about these men prior to being named Jesus’ apostles. If someone had met these men before their association with Jesus, they would probably have called them ordinary.

And truthfully, we do not need to know a lot about them prior to their being named Jesus’ disciples. It is not what they were or what they did BEFORE Christ that is important. It is what they were and what they did AFTER Christ that is important.

Jesus still calls ordinary people to His side. I look around at church on Sundays and what I see are ordinary people given an extraordinary calling. And as I do, I remember what Matthew recorded prior to recording the disciples’ names:

Verse 12a: “Summoning His 12 disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. These are their names [insert yours here]…” [HCSB]

1 John 3:1:  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  

Ever feel misunderstood?  Have your motives ever been questioned?  Your sincerity doubted?  Your words misconstrued?

Of course.  We have all experienced that at times.  Perhaps no more so than when we acknowledge our belief in Christ Jesus as Lord, Savior, King.  It is one thing to tell people that God loves them; quite another to declare that every knee will one day bow to His Lordship.

John begins this passage in his first letter with the wonderful exclamation: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us.”

Then John immediately warns us that the world will not understand us.  Why?  Because the world does not understand God.  The world’s view of God has been warped by lies and perverted by sin.  The world has a made-up view of God that they use, thinking it releases them from acknowledging Him as Lord.  He’s that man upstairs, the big guy, a nice teacher, a doddering old stick-in-the-mud trying to ruin fun.

And if the world does not understand Christ Jesus our Lord, it will certainly not understand those who have placed their trust in His Lordship and are daily seeking to be conformed to His image.

Misunderstood?  You bet!  Still, we must remember, Christ died for those who were His enemies, for those who misunderstood and did not yet know Him.  And such were we once.

Father, give us the courage to show the world Who you are in truth …. To reflect the love of Christ to all those who do not understand Your love for them. Amen.

Acts 4:13:  … they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 

It was only a short time after the miracle at the Gate Beautiful and Peter’s preaching to the crowd about the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus that the enemies of the Gospel took notice.  Acts 4 begins with the fact that the priests, captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came.  “They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”  [Acts 4:2]

They were so disturbed that they threw Peter and John in jail until the next day when they could be questioned. When brought before the authorities for questioning the next morning, Peter used that time of conflict to once again preach to those gathered. He didn’t pull his punches this time either.  “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.”  [Acts 4:10]

The courage of Peter and John didn’t go unnoticed.  Those who were listening realized that although unschooled and ordinary, Peter and John had been with Jesus.

Miracles gave Peter the OPPORTUNITY to share about His Lord.  Conflict also gave Peter the OPPORTUNITY to share about His Lord.  And it was evident to all present that Peter knew what and Whom he was talking about.

Do you see a pattern here? Whether miracles or conflict, healings or persecutions, we should be sharing Christ and Him crucified and resurrected.  We should be sharing with great courage.  When we do that, people will then take notice that we too have been with Jesus.