Month: November 2023

Will Graham Devotional

It has been one week since we Celebrated Thanksgiving. Let us always be with a thankful heart with full of praise for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We all have holiday traditions that are very important to us. For many years, the extended Graham family would gather at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina, for Thanksgiving. We would have met together at a house, but my grandparents (Billy and Ruth Graham) had five kids, each of whom had kids. Eventually great-grandchildren came along as well. Before long, our group was far too large!

I look back fondly on those dinners: the family, the food, the opportunity to catch up and renew relationships, and a special time to express thankfulness and gratitude. Those were special days.

Life is different now. My grandparents are in Heaven, I’m in my 40s, and two out of my three kids are in college. Thanksgiving means something different to me this year. At this point in my life, I’m simply excited to have my children home for a few days, enjoying each other’s company.

Do I miss the way it used to be, when my children were young and my entire family was together? Yes, of course. They call them the “good old days” for a reason.

It’s tempting to romanticize the past and grow sorrowful in nostalgia. However, King Solomon, whose “wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt” (1 Kings 4:30, NASB) had some guidance on the matter. In Ecclesiastes 7:10 he wrote, “Do not say, ‘why were the former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely concerning this” (NKJV).

It’s been said that memories make us rich. And emotionally we have an amazing tendency to remember the good times while minimizing the bad. However, we aren’t to live in the past, but wisely move forward in the hope of the Lord.

First, we must show gratitude for not only the life we’ve lived, but also our current situation. Psalm 100:4-5 says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (NKJV).

God didn’t stop being good when your child went off to college, or when your father passed away unexpectedly. The Lord is as merciful and trustworthy now as before, and focusing on your hope in Him is far better than longing for days gone by. Perhaps you feel that today isn’t as good as yesterday, but don’t let yesterday’s nostalgia rob you of today’s blessings.

Second, as you call upon Jesus as Savior, the best is yet to come. I hope that you’ve had a wonderful life filled with incredible memories. The fact of the matter, though, is that we are merely on a journey through this world. We are not yet home.

Philippians 3:20-21 says, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (NKJV).

This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to show gratitude for the days God has given you, the good times you’ve shared, and the memories you’ve made. But don’t stop there. Take a moment to ponder the blessings in your life today, and—most of all—the hope of eternity that awaits you in the presence of the Savior.

49.h. Wilderness – 13.n. “All the men of war had perished”

 

Deu 2:16-23  “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, the LORD said to me, ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’ (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) 

When all the men of war were consumed — Israel is not called to march against and attack the Canaanites till the men most fit for war, and who probably had learned the art of it in Egypt, and had been used to hardship, were all wasted and dead from among the people, and only a host of new raised men, trained up in a wilderness, were left, in whom, as being possessed of little knowledge, experience, or natural fortitude, no great dependance could be placed. Thus it became more fully manifest that the excellency of the power which subdued the warlike Canaanites, was of God and not of man. On the same principle, and with the same design, long after this, were the following words spoken by the Lord to Gideon: The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. And thus, to subdue the enemies of God’s church, and bring sinners to the obedience of the faith, he hath chosen the weak things of the world, and things that are despised, and things that are not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh may glory in his presence. (Benson)

49.g. Wilderness – 13.m. “Until they had perished”

 

Deu 2:8  So we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. “And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. And the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.’ (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD gave to them.) ‘Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.’ So we went over the brook Zered. And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

The Moabites were also distant relatives to Israel; they descended from Lot, who was the nephew of Abraham. And as with Edom, God did not want Israel to harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle – their land was not the land God intended to give Israel. One of the more famous Moabites in the Bible was Ruth. She was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite man named Boaz and became grandmother to King David and one of the ancestors of the Messiah.

The Moabites were of note because they defeated a Canaanite people known as the Emim, who were a large, fearsome race as were the Anakim. The term translated giants here is actually the Hebrew word rephaim. The term rephaim is often translated “giants,” but it actually means “fearsome ones.” The Rephaim were a group of large, warlike people who populated Canaan before the Israelites. In the area east of the Jordan River. (Guzik)

We have the origin of the Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites. Moses also gives an instance older than any of these; the Caphtorims drove the Avims out of their country. These revolutions show what uncertain things wordly possessions are. It was so of old, and ever will be so. Families decline, and from them estates are transferred to families that increase; so little continuance is there in these things. This is recorded to encourage the children of Israel. If the providence of God has done this for Moabites and Ammonites, much more would his promise do it for Israel, his peculiar people. Cautions are given not to meddle with Moabites and Ammonites. (Henry)

For this reason Israel was to remove from the desert of Moab (i.e., the desert which bounded Moabitis on the east), and to cross over the brook Zered, to advance against the country of the Amorites (see at Numbers 21:12-13). This occurred thirty-eight years after the condemnation of the people at Kadesh (Numbers 14:23, Numbers 14:29), when the generation rejected by God had entirely died out (תּמם, to be all gone, to disappear), so that not one of them saw the promised land. They did not all die a natural death, however, but “the hand of the Lord was against them to destroy them” (Keil)

For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them,…. His power was exerted in a way of wrath and vengeance on them, for their murmurings at the report of the spies; and therefore, it is no wonder they were consumed, for strong is his hand, and high is his right hand; and when lifted up it falls heavy, and there is no standing up under it, or against it: it smote them with one disease or another, or brought one judgment or another upon them: as the sword of Amalek, by which many were cut off, and the plague at Shittim in the plains of Moab, in which died 24,000; besides the destruction of Korah and his company, which was quickly after the affair of the spies, and the plague at that time, of which died 14,700; and thus, by one stroke after another, he went on to destroy them from among the host until they were consumed, even all of them but two. (Gill)

“Turning Point – Devotion”

 

Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet.
Luke 16:22, NLT

Some people mistakenly believe we become angels after we die. The Bible nowhere teaches such a thing, but it does tell us that angels will accompany believers on their journey to heaven at the moment of death. In His story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus said that when the beggar Lazarus died, he “was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). In other words, the angels escorted him to be with Abraham and all the rest of God’s children in the heavenly places. It’s normal to be apprehensive about dying but knowing Jesus as Savior turns the experience into an adventure. Death isn’t a drop into darkness. It’s a quick journey into the presence of Christ and our loved ones with angels as chauffeurs, bodyguards, and companions.

As you anticipate heaven, remember none of us will take the journey there alone. The Bible says that angels escort us to heaven. What a comforting truth!

Death for the Christian cuts the cord that holds us captive in this present evil world so that angels may transport believers to their heavenly inheritance.

49.f. Wilderness – 13.l. “I will not give you any of their land”

 

Deu 2:1-7  “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the LORD told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. Then the LORD said to me, ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’

And we compassed mount Seir many days. These “many days” are the thirty-eight years during which the people wandered in the wilderness before they camped the second time at Kadesh; their going round Mount Seir. (Unknown)

The descendants of Esau were distant relatives to the people of Israel (400 years earlier, the brother of Jacob was Esau). God didn’t want Israel to take the land that He gave to Esau and his descendants. Perhaps the most famous Edomite in the New Testament was Herod the Great. He was hated by the Jews because he was an Edomite, but he wanted to be received and respected as a Jew. Israel was not just some conquering army, out to get whatever land it could take. It probably was strong enough to simply take the land of Edom, but Israel only received what God had promised to them. God commanded Israel to treat the Edomites with respect, even though they could have dominated them as a stronger nation. How we treat those weaker than ourselves is always a good measure of character. When we have the capability to dominate or abuse others and do not, it shows that we have good character. For some of these reasons, God commanded Israel to treat the weaker nation of Edom well. (Guzik)

Only a short account of the long stay of Israel in the wilderness is given. God not only chastised them for their murmuring and unbelief, but prepared them for Canaan; by humbling them for sin, teaching them to mortify their lusts, to follow God, and to comfort themselves in him. Though Israel may be long kept waiting for deliverance and enlargement, it will come at last. Before God brought Israel to destroy their enemies in Canaan, he taught them to forgive their enemies in Edom. They must not, under pretence of God’s covenant and conduct, think to seize all they could lay hands on. Dominion is not founded in grace. God’s Israel shall be well placed, but must not expect to be placed alone in the midst of the earth. Religion must never be made a cloak for injustice. Scorn to be beholden to Edomites, when thou hast an all-sufficient God to depend upon. Use what thou hast, use it cheerfully. Thou hast experienced the care of the Divine providence, never use any crooked methods for thy supply. All this is equally to be applied to the experience of the believer. (Henry)

49.e. Wilderness – 13.k. “The LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you”

 

Deu 1:40-46  But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’ “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

The great excuse of Israel for their unbelief at Kadesh Barnea was, “If we go and take the land, our children will be killed” (Numbers 14:3). God answered their unbelieving excuse by saying, “You will be killed, and your children will possess the land.” “Anything, in fact, will serve as an excuse, when the heart is bent on compromise.” It is sobering to consider how easily, how quickly, and how completely, God sees through our excuses. We often feel confident in our excuses because other people can’t really challenge them – but God sees right through them. After hearing the consequences of their rejection of God, Israel had a change of heart. Yet they went forth in the flesh and not in faith, because God did not lead them. They did this in the midst of their supposed repentance. Their sorrow was not over grieving the heart of God but over forty more years in the wilderness. God therefore saw through their shallow repentance. After their total defeat, then they wept and wept – but again, this was over the consequences of getting caught, not over grieving the heart of God, and not over their sin of not believing the great love of God. (Guzik)

The Word of God must find purpose, meaning, reverence, and be more precious than gold and silver. If there is a lack of this in your heart and mind there will be room for tolerance, denial, and compromise which leads to and gives root to disobedience. Being lukewarm to God’s Word results in neglect and complacency. Things of this world become more enticing and things of God become less and less important in your life. Rejecting the leading of God will always put you on a path away from God. 

Keep His Word ever before your eyes, feast on it, meditate upon it, learn what God has said and is saying to you. Our Christian lives should be ever-growing in our knowledge and understanding of the things of God so that we will honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

 

1 Corinthians 1:4-5

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge

His blessings are endless.

Rejoice and be Thankful always for the Lord our God has done and is doing Great Things.

He is worthy of all our praise, worship, and thanks.

Pathway to Victory Devotion

The Idols Of Recreation And Money

 

If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, if I have gloated because my wealth was great, and because my hand had secured so much; . . . that too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, for I would have denied God above.

–Job 31:24-25, 28

If we do not guard against it, Satan can use our freedoms to lure us away from Christ. For example, there are many Christians who allow their love for recreation to suddenly become an idol in their lives that takes them further and further away from God.

In Eugene Peterson’s memoir, the pastor talked about a couple in his church who faithfully attended worship every week. But one Sunday, Peterson noticed they were not there, and again the next Sunday, and the next. After six weeks, he went to visit them. The husband explained, “A few weeks ago on a whim that seemed totally spontaneous–I didn’t really think about it–I said to Betty, ‘I think I’ll go fishing today.’ . . . We drove to the Big Gunpowder River, and while you preached, I fished and Betty caught the emerging bloodroot and round-lobed hepatica blossoms with her watercolors. . . . We had abruptly, even though casually, interrupted a forty-year routine of Sunday worship and nothing happened. We didn’t feel guilty. We didn’t miss it. Lightning didn’t strike us. Everything was just the way it had always been. We didn’t intend to make a habit of it, but I guess we have.” The freedom they had in Christ suddenly became an idol to them and led them away from God.

Another freedom we have as Christians is money. Money can be used for great good, but it can also become an idol in our lives. Job 31 explains, “If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust, if I have gloated because my wealth was great, and because my hand had secured so much; . . . that too would have been an iniquity calling for judgment, for I would have denied God above” (vv. 24-25, 28). He was saying, “If I have put my confidence in money, if I have gloated about the pile of money I have accumulated, that is the same as denying God Himself.” I read about a company that told its workers to tape a picture of a new lake house, a new car, or a new vacation spot on their refrigerators. And if they meditated on that thing they desired, it would motivate them to work harder. That is idolatry. That is allowing something other than God to captivate our thoughts.

What do money, recreation, and entertainment have in common? They are all freedoms we have in Christ that if we are not careful can wrap their tentacles around us and choke out our love for God. That is why we ought to use our freedom not to pursue sin but to pursue righteousness.

49.d. Wilderness – 13.j. “The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion”

 

Deuteronomy 1:34-39  “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’ Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.

In response to Israel’s unbelief and lack of trust in God’s love, God swore an oath (Psalm 95:11) that the adult generation which came out of Egypt would not inherit the Promised Land, but would die in the desolate wilderness instead. The only exceptions were Caleb and Joshua. These were the faithful two among the twelve spies which came back with the report from the Promised Land. Even Moses himself would not enter the Promised Land. (Guzik)

And the Lord heard the voice of your words,…. Of their murmurings against Moses and Aaron, and of their threatenings to them, Joshua and Caleb, and of their impious charge of hatred of them to God for bringing them out of Egypt, and of their rash wishes that they had died there or in the wilderness, and of their wicked scheme and proposal to make them a captain, and return to Egypt again: (Gill)

Doubts form out of lack of trust and reliance in God and lead to disobedience. Knowing God and having an ever-growing desire to know more and more of Him will give us confidence in His power and sovereignty over all things on earth and in heaven. I dare say that lack of desire for His Word and knowing Him more and more leaves a void that will be filled with foolish thoughts, doubts, fear, anger, worry, confusion, etc…. His Word is given to us so that we have examples of His awesome power, might, and control over all things. It also gives us examples of His grace, mercy, and love, as well as, right and wrong thinking which led to distrust, disregard, and denial of His power, promises, purpose, and plans.

49.c. Wilderness – 13.i. “Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land”

 

Deu 1:21-28  See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.’ “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’  Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God,  who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

As Moses remembered this suggestion, he looked back with regret. There really was no compelling reason to send forth spies into the Promised Land.  God had told them that the land was good. Unless they did not believe Him, there was no reason to confirm it on their own. God had told them they would take the land and defeat the nations living there. Unless they did not believe Him, there was no reason to take a look at the enemies and see if God was somehow up to the challenge. Moses must have had regret as he remembered this. The people suggested it and Moses agreed to it. Yet when ten of the twelve spies came back with a report filled with fear and unbelief, the nation believed them and refused to believe God’s promise and enter in. (Guzik)

Moses reminds the Israelites of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, through that great and terrible wilderness. He shows how near they were to a happy settlement in Canaan. It will aggravate the eternal ruin of hypocrites, that they were not far from the kingdom of God. As if it were not enough that they were sure of their God before them, they would send men before them. Never any looked into the Holy Land, but they must own it to be a good land. And was there any cause to distrust this God? An unbelieving heart was at the bottom of all this. All disobedience to God’s laws, and distrust of his power and goodness, flow from disbelief of his word, as all true obedience springs from faith. It is profitable for us to divide our past lives into distinct periods; to give thanks to God for the mercies we have received in each, to confess and seek the forgiveness of all the sins we can remember; and thus to renew our acceptance of God’s salvation, and our surrender of ourselves to his service. Our own plans seldom avail to good purpose; while courage in the exercise of faith, and in the path of duty, enables the believer to follow the Lord fully, to disregard all that opposes, to triumph over all opposition, and to take firm hold upon the promised blessings. (Henry)

Trusting and relying on God in all things leaves no room for doubting His promises, power, goodness, grace, mercy, and sovereignty. There is no room for doubt. When God speaks into your heart hear and obey His leading. It is far better for the soul to trust in our all-powerful God than to live in doubt and fear.