Past Devotions

Last Tuesday I went for a walk. Since my surgery I’ve only been able to do a third of a mile, so I have a set route. When I got to the place where I normally turn back, I decided instead to keep going around the next block. That would stretch my walk to about a half mile, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that yet. Still, I really thought I should keep going.

When I got partway down the block after turning the corner, I started to pass a ratty older car. A man inside the car said, “Hi. God bless you.” I returned the greeting and the blessing.

His name was Jim. We began a conversation. He showed me pictures of his daughters. Then I asked if I could pray for him. As I prayed, the LORD brought a word of encouragement for him. He held my hand and started to cry, then told me some of the difficulties he was facing.

I held his hand while he cried. After about 20 minutes, I blessed him one more time and said goodbye and continued my walk – thinking about just how I was going to explain this delay to Bob when I got home!

When I left, I had no intention of going in that direction or walking that far. God apparently had other intentions. I guess it pays to stay attentive to His gentle leading.

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” [Psalm 37:24 NLT]

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:1 that “knowledge puffs up,” and Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:5 that we are to “add to our faith goodness, and to goodness, knowledge.”

It sounds contradictory, but it isn’t. Peter wants us to add the knowledge of God who called us by His glory and goodness. He urges us to add the knowledge of our Savior and LORD Christ Jesus. When we add that kind of knowledge to faith, we find ourselves well grounded.

Paul understood that also. Look at the admonition that follows his declaration that knowledge puffs up. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.” [1 Cor 8:1-3]

For Paul, knowledge and love are combined. The goal of knowing God is loving God and the one who loves God is known by God. God knows us. God knows us! God doesn’t just know about us, He knows us – to the very depths of our being. His knowledge of us is wonderful. Remember what He said to Jeremiah? “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” [1:5]

I need never put on a mask when I approach my LORD. He knows me, knows all about me, knows what is behind that mask that I often wear around people to hide my true self. To Him, my true self can be displayed, in all its vulnerability, because I know His knowledge of me is greater than even my knowledge of myself. And it is always, in every way, cloaked in the love that is so deep He sent His very own Son to ransom me from sin and slavery.

Col 4:2: Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. [NIV]

Devote, or as the KJV says, continue. It means to be earnest towards, persevere in, be constantly diligent, or adhere closely. We are to be all those things in prayer. Scripture is abundantly clear that God’s people are to pray – to come to Him confidently.

I love to hear the voices of the people I love. Family can call and I recognize their voices immediately.  Friends call, and I know with the first hello just who is on the line. When I hear their voices, I am instantly attentive to them. My thoughts don’t wander, and my focus doesn’t shift. I love the voices of those I love.

God is that way with us. We need not identify ourselves as if he has forgotten who we are. We don’t have to re-introduce ourselves, cite our spiritual history, or remind Him about the time we were saved.  He isn’t going to confuse us with someone else. He knows us. I love the verse found in 2 Timothy 2:19: “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his.’”  [NIV]

It is vitally important that we pray earnestly. We must persevere in prayer and be diligent in it. God certainly will not forget our voice; in that we can be assured, but we can so easily forget His. In fact, the goal of the world, flesh, and devil is to drown out God’s voice. The enemies of our soul want us to fail to pray so that across time we fail to recognize the voice of our Father when He speaks to us. Being devoted to prayer enables us to zero in on His voice amidst the many who speak to us.

Beloved, let us be diligent in our prayer life. Let not a day go by without our coming to our Father in prayer. Let us stay so attuned to Him that even the softest whisper from Him is recognized and trusted.

As I wrote yesterday, we cannot let the current climate of hate, violence and fear overrule the commands of God to speak the truth of the LORD. As I also wrote, however, we must not respond in like manner.

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” [1 Peter 3:15-16]

I have always found Peter’s words in these verses challenging.  First, we are exhorted to always be ready, prepared to respond to people who ask us why we can be hopeful when so many are not. That is especially challenging because you actually have to have the hope before people will ask you about it!  If you are as hopeless as they are, you won’t have to be ready for anything.

The second thing of note is that our response must be gentle and kind. It must be respectful. We live in a Democratic Republic. Our constitution grants people certain rights to live and worship in ways with which we may not always agree. Our job is to love people and through that love point them to Christ, who also loves them. Our job is not to condemn nor justify – when we do that, we usurp God’s prerogative as Creator and Savior.

The last thing to note? It may be the most difficult of all. We must keep a clear conscience. We must have “good behavior in Christ.” Our behavior needs to be above reproach and when it’s not, there needs to be repentance.

Hate. Violence. Fear. There is one thing those three have in common. They have a way of spreading. The media are all over the violence spawned by hatred. In the last couple months, I’ve seen people assaulted and killed because of their beliefs, whether they are religious or political. Our society believes they have the right to silence anyone they think is as an enemy just because they have a different point of view.

The climate of hatred and violence is spreading and being touted by various leaders as a way of getting what is wanted. When hate and violence spread, fear also spreads. We lose the freedom of being able to express our views on life, politics, or God without the fear of reprisals. When we fear reprisals, we will often simply not speak.

The LORD, however, does not want us cowering in a corner somewhere, voluntarily mute because of our fear.  In fact, the LORD commands us to speak, to tell others about His wonderful works. “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.  Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” [Ps 105:1-4]

One of the favorite sayings of Jesus was, “I tell you ….”  The Gospels are full of the things Jesus told about His Father, His own work, His Kingdom.

Beloved, we cannot let the current social climate command our response. We must obey the LORD rather than men.  But let’s remember that our response to hatred and violence cannot be in like manner. (More on that tomorrow.)

As you read through your Bible (and you should do that), you will notice that God reminds His people, especially when they begin to stray from Him or allow things in their lives that may cause them to fall or fail. In the Old Testament, He continually sent prophets to remind them that 1) He had delivered them from slavery in Egypt; and 2) He had brought them into the Promised Land. They, apparently, often forgot those things.

In the New Testament, the Apostles used the same approach. They reminded Christians that 1) God had sent His Son, Jesus the Christ, to save them; and 2) that salvation had a purpose, that they might live obediently and serve the Lord faithfully.

“This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them.” [1 John 3:23-24]

What is our purpose as Christians? Is it simply to escape judgment? Is it to avoid hell? If that is all it is, we will go through this life unfulfilled. We might gain heaven, but we will not live up to all we are in Christ Jesus.  We will fail to realize how abundant this life can be.

I want to be all I can be now … I want to be faithful and obedient to the One who saved me.

God calls me His child. I pray I can live worthy of that title. I pray that my life will honor Christ Jesus my Lord in every way, not just in eternity, but in the here and now.

One day Jesus and His disciples decided to leave Judea and return to Galilee. Jesus took them through Samaria because He had a supernatural “appointment” to meet a woman by a well.  Tired and weary, Jesus rested there while His disciples headed on down to the city to look for something to eat.

You all know the story from John 4. Jesus began a conversation with a woman, that alone was very unusual. The conversation turned from well-water to living water and Jesus tells her that He is the Messiah that all have been anticipating.

It is at this point that the disciples return and are shocked that Jesus is talking to a woman. When the woman leaves to tell the town what she has heard, the disciples urge Jesus to eat. But Jesus says to them “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” [vs 32 NLT]

The disciples are thinking that someone else literally brought Jesus something to eat. But He clarifies things for them. “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.” [vs 34 NLT]

Finish. It means to complete, perfect, accomplish, in both English and Greek. Jesus’ greatest desire was to finish the salvation that His Father has sent Him to do. Paul expressed the same desire in Acts, “if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.” [20:24]

What is our greatest desire? Is it to finish well what God has given us to do?

Want to hear something crazy.  Peter wrote it in his second letter to those who had received from God a faith as precious as his.  He proclaimed that “[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”  [vs 3 NIV]

That’s not the crazy part.  That comes in verse 5.  “Now make every effort to add to your faith ….”  Huh?

If we have everything we need in the precious faith given to us by God through Christ Jesus, why do we have to add anything? Ever thought about that?

Sitting on my couch is a bag. Inside that bag is an instruction book with a picture of a baby blanket. Also inside that bag is a Size G crochet hook, scissors, and six skeins of yarn in pink. I have everything I need to make a beautiful baby blanket for a baby arriving in December. Everything. And if I let that bag sit on my couch untouched, when December arrives, I will still have everything I need for that beautiful baby blanket, I just won’t have a finished product.

God has given us, via faith, everything we need to become a finished product, looking like His Son Jesus. But if we don’t make every effort to add the virtues Peter will go on to list in his letter, we will have wasted the here and now. We will gain heaven, because that is purely by faith alone, but we will not influence or change our world as Christ did and commanded us to do also.

You have it all … now add.

Recently a group of believers thought that the Second Coming of Christ would happen toward the end of last September. It didn’t. (I wish it had!) But even though it didn’t happen as they predicted, it will happen. And we need to be prepared.

The Bible speaks of Christ’s return as imminent, which means it could happen at any moment although the exact timing is unknown. We are to be eagerly anticipating His Return. We are to remain vigilant and faithful. But are we?

When Peter was talking about Christ’s Second Coming and the New Heaven and New Earth that would be created at that time, he gave an interesting instruction. ^“Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives should you live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.” [2 Peter 3:11]

Since Christ Jesus is coming back, how should we be living? Are we living holy and godly lives? Are we eagerly looking forward to His return. Are we focusing on how to advance the Kingdom of God throughout this earth – even how to advance it within our own sphere of influence.

Or are we giving in to the lure of this world? Focusing on goals and successes that will remain on this side of the grave?

Lots to think about!

I love the story of Gideon … I dub Gideon the “Who Me?” Mighty Warrior.  When the Angel of the LORD came to Gideon and called him “mighty warrior” in Judges 6:11-12, Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress.

What that means is that he was hiding. Threshing floors were open areas where the wheat could be beaten, allowing the heavier kernels to fall to the floor while the wind carried the chaff away. Winepresses were probably in cool hidden places, like caves. Gideon is hiding away from those invading the land. God finds him anyway and calls him a mighty warrior.

The part I really love though is a few verses later.  In verses 17-18, Gideon replies to the LORD’s calling to be God’s instrument to defeat the enemy. “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”

 Gideon goes home and prepares a meal, a young goat and bread. Ever wonder how long that took? There were no freezers with meat ready, nor bakeries down the block. He’s got to catch the goat, kill the goat, skin the goat, cut up the goat, and put the pieces in a basket and grab a pot with broth to cook. He’s got to get the flour and make unleavened cakes and bake it. All the while he has left the LORD waiting in the winepress for him to return.

I don’t know if God waited for an hour or four, but the LORD did wait. And when Gideon returned, the LORD accepted the sacrifice and consumed it with fire in an instant. That was Gideon’s sign.

What a gracious God we serve, He is willing to wait for us. Let’s not keep Him waiting too long while we are off finding our goats and baking our bread!