Month: December 2024

Turning Point – Devotion

 

Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.
Psalm 105:5

Psalm 78:1-7.   Give ear, O my people, to my law;Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings of old, Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children,Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob,And appointed a law in Israel,Which He commanded our fathers,That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them,The children who would be born,That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God,And not forget the works of God,But keep His commandments;

 

We normally speak of time in three tenses: past, present, and future. But with every tick of the clock, the present becomes the past, leaving us only with the past and the future. As time passes, the past gets longer, and the future gets shorter. The ever-increasing past provides a growing memory of the works and wonders of God.

“Remembering” was an integral part of the Israelite culture as reflected in the Old Testament: “For He established a testimony in Jacob…that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God” (Psalm 78:5-7). What God did in the past—His works, wonders, and Word—were to be the foundation for faith in the future.

The same is true for us. What God does for us today will be a memory come tomorrow—and the foundation on which we will build a life of faith going forward.

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Let me remind you that Satan will attack you with your memory. He will tell you that you are worthless and bring to mind all of the sinful lusts and passions of the past trying to drive you into shame, despair, and uselessness. These are his lies. He is the father of lies. He is the great deceiver.

The past may all be true about you. The closer you walk with Jesus and the more you grow and mature, you will become more and more aware of just how unworthy of God’s grace, mercy, and love you are. PRAISE be to GOD for His grace, mercy, and love. He loved you so much that He gave up His one and only Son to take all of your past, present, and future sins, forgive you, and send His Holy Spirit to fill you and give you His Word readily available, full of His promises, examples, wonders, signs, miracles, and love, joy, hope, peace, and blessings.

You are a child of God! Do not let Satan deceive or confuse you about this. Scripture tells us that the blood of Jesus has removed your sins as far as the East is from the West. Though your sins were like scarlet they are now white as snow. You are a child of God!

53.g. Joshua 2:12-14

 

Jos 2:12-14  Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign  that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the LORD gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

After this confession Rahab entreated the spies to spare her family (father’s house), and made them promise her on oath as a sign of their fidelity, that on the capture of Jericho, which is tacitly assumed as self-evident after what had gone before, they would save alive her parents, and brothers and sisters, and all that belonged to them (i.e., according to Joshua 6:23, the children and families of her brothers and sisters), and not put them to death; all of which they promised her on oath. “A true token,” lit. a sign of truth, i.e., a sign by which they guaranteed the truth of the kindness for which she asked. This sign consisted in nothing but the solemn oath with which they were to confirm their assurance, and, according to Joshua 2:14, actually did confirm it. The oath itself was taken in these words, “our soul shall die for you,” by which they pledged their life for the life of Rahab and her family in this sense: God shall punish us with death if we are faithless, and do not spare thy life and the lives of thy relations. Though the name of God is not really expressed, it was implied in the fact that the words are described as swearing by Jehovah. But the spies couple their assurance with this condition, “if ye utter not this our business,” do not betray us, sc., so that we should be pursued, and our life endangered; “then will we show thee mercy and truth” (Keil)

Putting herself at risk, Rahab rejected her past identity as a Canaanite and wanted to be identified with the people of God, with Israel. She married a man from the tribe of Judah named Salmon. They had a son named Boaz, who married a Moabite woman named Ruth. They had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse, who had a son named David (Matthew 1:5-6). Rahab was a direct ancestor of David, the great king of Israel, and assuming no generations are left out of the record, she was his great-great-grandmother (the grandmother of David’s grandfather Obed). (Guzik)

Note how in their discussion with Rahab she told them of the fear the people of Jericho had of the God of Israel. They believed in the power of God and the blessings He gave to the Israelites. They heard of His awesome power, wonders, and might. And yet, It was only Rahab and her family that had faith to trust in the God of these people. 

 Scripture tells us that just like in the times of Noah, when people were told of coming judgment, they rejected it. Just as life in Sodom and Gomorrah was prosperous and people thought only of themselves and their hearts were filled with lusts of the flesh, judgment came. People know of God, and yet they reject Him, deny Him, and give no thought to His coming judgment. Here in Jericho the people knew and gave thought to it. They feared the God of the Israelites. Only Rahab and her extended family, by faith, trusted in the agents of this God, the spies. 

There is a time coming soon, when Jesus will return in the air and take all of His to be with him forever, and after this begins the tribulation period for the remaining people on earth. There will be people who, upon seeing the rapture of Christians, will believe, come to faith, and witness to others about faith in God. Note; all of those who remain after the rapture are the ones who had previously rejected Jesus Christ and the Gospel of Salvation. 

How many times in the bible does it say; “He who has an ear, let him hear”. Upon hearing there must be some form of action. That action leads to eternal life. Hear, repent, believe, trust, follow, obey, and rely in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the redemption of your soul. This is the action required upon hearing the Gospel. To reject it will end as it has in hundreds of examples given in scriptures, judgment, death, and eternal separation from God in total darkness and torment.

Will Graham – Devotion

 

 

After hundreds of years of disobedience to the Lord, God punished the Israelites with seven decades of captivity in the city of Babylon.

After this discipline, one would think the people of Israel had learned their lesson. The exiles had returned, the Temple was rebuilt, and Jerusalem had reestablished some degree of normalcy.

However, it didn’t take long for complacency to set in, bringing with it spiritual pollution.

Unfortunately, this is somewhat similar to many Christians today. They believe, but live like God doesn’t exist. They go through the motions, undistinguishable from the world around them, compromising the truth for worldly pleasures.

In light of this, perhaps it’s worth examining the spiritual pollution of the Israelites—and, in particular, their priests—in their attitude toward God, found in Malachi 1:6-14.

Disrespectful (Verses 6-7)

First, we need to realize that spiritual pollution causes us to serve God in a disrespectful manner. God asks a question, “Where is My honor?” The priests were cutting deals, accepting blemished animals for selfish reasons. They disrespected the Lord because they allowed spiritual pollution to cloud their spiritual sight.

What about us? Because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, we no longer offer blood sacrifices, but do we truly honor God with our lives, praise, time and treasure, or are we offering disrespectful cast-offs on our own terms? Don’t disrespect God by offering Him second choices and halfhearted service.

Unfit (Verses 8-9)

Next, we realize that spiritual pollution causes our services to be ineligible unto the Lord. God will not accept them. Deuteronomy 15:21 says, “But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.” This is exactly what the priests were doing. Not only did God reject their offering, but twice in verse 8 He referred to the offerings as “evil,” because the offerings were unfit.

When we allow spiritual pollution to remain in our lives, we offer God disqualified service, and He will not accept it. Sin keeps us from fully participating in God’s plans.

Apathetic (Verses 10-14)

Finally, when we allow spiritual pollution to remain in our lives, we develop disdainful attitudes. In verse 13, the priests referred to their calling as “weariness.” They would “sneer” at the work. They—the priests—were bored with serving the Lord. Their attitudes were so bad that God wished that they would shut the doors to the Temple.

Again, this is similar to us, and it’s an easy trap as you slip into spiritual complacency. The Creator of the universe calls us to worship Him, and yet we struggle to attend church or spend time in Bible study and prayer. We claim to be God’s children, but our hearts are far from Him. We cling to the things of this world, while treating the holy as mundane.

Remember God’s admonishment to the church in Laodicea in Revelations 3:15-16: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

My friends, this is a very dangerous place to be. Spiritual complacency and pollution are a problem. What’s the answer?

  • First, take an inventory of your spiritual life. Similar to a medical diagnosis, you must first recognize the issue before you can move forward in fixing it.
  • We must confess our sin to the Lord and allow Him to purify us of that which taints our lives and souls.
  • With God’s help, you must develop a new fervor (passionate, deliberate and intentional) for service unto the Lord.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” This promise still holds true.

Will Graham – Devotion

 

Haggai 1:6-7     “You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.” Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!

 

Priorities and idols can be a constant struggle. Though we call on Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we tend to let the things of this world assume an exaggerated level of importance that crowds out our focus on Him.

It could be our jobs, our hobbies, our comfort, or even our children’s sports teams. We would rather skip church than miss the first five plays of an NFL game. We prefer sleeping in over gathering for worship.

Haggai may be one of those Old Testament books that gets quickly skipped over, but the whole account of Haggai is incredibly practical for the 21st century. One may even think that it was intended just for us living in this post-modern era, though it was written in 520 B.C.

In the first chapter, we see that the people had begun putting themselves before the Lord, focusing on building their own houses while neglecting the temple. In the years since returning from exile in Babylon, they had disregarded the house of God.

In verse 4, God–through His prophet Haggai–says, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?”

This question tells us that the Israelites were doing the work required to build a certain level of luxury for themselves. Rather than having walls of mud or stone, their homes were overlaid (paneled) in wood. Conversely, no one was working on the temple. It laid in ruins.

The Israelites to whom Haggai was speaking were putting themselves before the Lord. The sin was not living in luxury or “paneled” homes, per se, but it was the idea of satisfying themselves instead of working on the things of God.

There are consequences to sin, and this was no exception. In fact, Haggai declares in verse 6 that many of the hardships that Israel was encountering were a direct result of their disobedience:

“You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

(This sounds a lot like our modern age, doesn’t it?)

In other words, the farmers would work hard on their crops every year, but the harvest would be inadequate. There was food, but children and adults alike would still be hungry at the end of the day. Those who could afford new clothes in order to stay warm were still cold. In essence, God showed them that if they try to meet their own needs, they would never be satisfied.

However, in verse 8, God gives a prescription for renewal with three imperatives: “Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified.”

Go, bring, and build. These were immediate marching orders. God demanded obedience now, not later.

The Israelites responded, reordered their priorities, and rebuilt the temple for His glory. In doing so, they grew spiritually as they returned God to His place of Lordship in their lives.

Let me ask you this: Has God given you direction, but you are waiting because you think it is not the right time? Are you avoiding your God-ordained calling because the work is too hard? Are you giving God the scraps while putting the majority of your focus into your own pursuits?

Or perhaps you’re accumulating all of the “toys” (your own version of “paneled walls”) you can get while neglecting your church.

I don’t ask these questions to make you feel guilty, but to encourage you to follow God’s prescription in the first chapter of Haggai. If you take a fair assessment of your spiritual life and realize that you’ve elevated other items or comforts above God, it’s time to go, bring, and build.

Go get the idols in your life–your education, your job, your hobbies, your addictions, your comforts. Bring them to God and lay them at His feet, repenting of your disordered priorities.

In their place, build your relationship with God by obeying His commands, through prayer, and studying His Word. Just as the Israelites grew spiritually as they turned back to God, you will find a new and deeper fulfillment in Him.

Pathway to Victory – Devotion

 

 

You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

–1 Corinthians 5:2

When it comes to the issue of confronting sin in the church, churches tend to go to one of two extremes. There are some churches that have the “live and let live” motto. They say, “Who are we to judge if somebody is in sin? That is between the individual and God.” Then there are other churches that want to confront every sin in the church. Every sin becomes a federal issue.

Neither model is good to follow. The fact is, all sin in our lives and in the church should be confronted, but not all sin in the church demands to be confronted publicly. There are three categories of sin that must be dealt with publicly if the sinner does not repent:

  • Sins that threaten the moral health of the church.
  • Sins that threaten the doctrinal health of the church.
  • Sins that threaten the emotional health of the church.

Instead of dealing with the brazen sin of immorality in their church, the Corinthians ignored it. Look at 1 Corinthians 5:2: “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.” The Corinthians were priding themselves on the fact that they did not deal with this sin. Perhaps they said, “In our church, we do not judge people. We are a church that teaches grace.” Paul said that was the wrong response; instead, they should have mourned this sinner as if they had lost a loved one.

Years ago, I had a friend who abandoned his family and fell into immorality. And every time I talked to him, it was like I was talking to a blank wall. It was as if the person I had known had died and somebody else was living inside his body. That is exactly what Paul was talking about. He said when a Christian falls into sin and will not repent, we ought to mourn as if we have lost a loved one. And if that sin is threatening the health of the church, we need to take action.

Turning Point – Devotion

 

 

You cannot discern the signs of the times.
Matthew 16:3

Have you ever been confused by highway signs like these: “Slow Children at Play.” Or “Caution Pedestrians Slippery When Wet.” A traffic sign in England says, “Right Lane Must Turn Left.” One man saw a sign reading, “Entrance Only. Do Not Enter.” A sign in California said, “Please Slow Drively.” And if you see a large sign announcing, “Welcome to Accident,” you’re probably entering the town of Accident, Maryland.

The world is giving us a lot of confusing signs right now, and sometimes we hardly know where we’re headed or what we’re doing. We feel lost. But let your mind go back to when Thomas felt the same way. He asked, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:5-6).

When we focus on Jesus, we find the Way, we know the Truth, and we experience the Life. There’s nothing confusing about that. He can help you on your journey!

Jesus is the way; He knows where to go; He is the truth; He knows what to say; He is the life; He knows who He is—the One who gives us life both abundant and eternal.