Category: Sometimes Occasional Devotions

I hope to put thoughts about God, which He brings to me, here. My desire is to contribute devotional thoughts regularly, but they may end up being occasional.

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Trust the Lord in Everything

Recently, Deb and I traveled to a speak in a supporting church. After the service, an elderly woman, who has also supported us for many years, invited us to her home for lunch. I asked her, “I am 68 years old and God has taught me many things about walking with Him. You are in your 90’s now. What is God teaching you that can help me walk with Him?” She thought for a second, and said, “He has taught me to trust Him in everything, absolutely everything.” She went on to relate how all the small chores of the day, which become difficult as you age, become a matter of prayer. She reiterated once again, “I pray and trust Him for everything.”

Numbers 13:30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” (NASB)

My Comments: Caleb was one of twelve men Moses sent to spy out the Promised Land of Canaan. Of the 12, only Caleb and Joshua believed the children of Israel should proceed to take the land, which God had already promised them.

Application: God has also given each of us challenges, over which He has already promised victory. This includes areas of business or ministry where our God desires to give us great and awesome victory. What is it God desires of you? What is His call to you? Do not shrink from the impossible if God has led you to it. Rather, be like Caleb, who when facing huge foes, impossible obstacles, and monolithic opposition, said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”

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Faith is not Perfection

Heb 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. (NKJV)

Me: Having faith is not the same as being perfect. Faith is the disposition of our heart towards God, but perfection involves bringing our whole being into submission to God, which never quite gets done until our Savior comes.

Notice how Rehab, labeled a harlot, is, nonetheless, declared to be an example of biblical faith. If you think through the list of the examples of faith listed in Hebrews 11, you will see that Rehab is not the only imperfect person commended for her faith. In fact, there are not many in Hebrews 11 whose life stories do not bring to mind many major behavioral inconsistencies.

This should give us hope, helping us not despair as we fight the battle to live holy. As we fail, repent and start again, we can still be, and should be trusting in the Savior.

If we do this, we can also be examples of faith.

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Keep Fear in Perspective

Hebrews 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.

27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.

29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.

NASB Hebrews 11:23-29

My Comments:

Verse 27 may be a summary of verses 28-29, or it may be a statement concerning Moses flight from Egypt after his slaying of the Egyptian was discovered. But I think it may as well be a summary of Moses dealing with the Pharaoh in general. As such it fits well with verses 24-26. Moses learned to trust God gradually–like all of us.

Somehow Moses came to the place where he seemingly had all kinds of confidence in his Jewish heritage and in the God of Israel. However, Moses confidence took a sever blow when he realized that Pharaoh was likely going to kill him for the crime of murder.

It took 40 plus years for Moses to grow-up enough in the Lord to be able to lead God’s people out of Egypt. The man who lifted his arms over the Red Sea was not the same man who fled Egypt fearing for his life. Yet, even when young and perhaps foolish, Moses chose fear of God over fear of Pharaoh–he did fear Pharaoh.

We travel along the path of life in the same way, sometimes overconfident, other times fearful. In the end, may our love and respect for God (our fear of God), lead us to trust Him in the big moments of life.

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Mop-up Time

Hebrews 9:23–28 (NAS): Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Thought; This passage is full of intriguing hints of celestial truth. I will just touch on some of these. Just notice, again, that the earthly tabernacle is only a type of what really exists in heaven. Jesus really was presented as our sacrifice for sin before the Father in the heavenly holy place. Notice also that it was at the culmination of the age. This means the battle of the universe, the real Super Bowl, if you will, has already been won. This reminds me of the Tampa Bay-Kansa City Super Bowl. Remember how it felt, Tampa Bay won that game quickly. In retrospect we came to realize there was no chance for KC to win—it just wasn’t going to happen. So it is in this age, as we look around at the contemporary struggles, we wonder as we did throughout the game—when would the vaunted KC offense take off. Then it was over. Today, in the real world, there are real and profound struggles in the trenches of life, as mammoth forces wrestle for control, but why do the nations rage and imagine a vain thing. It’s over, Christ has won. We eagerly await Him. So cool. 

Live as one who knows the victory is won.

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Sacred Chores

Hebrews 9:11–14 (NAS): But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Thought: “to serve the living God” The sacrifice of Christ our Savior allows us to serve the living God. He is alive and walks with us as we live in fellowship with Him moment by moment. He is involved with our daily occupation, a copartner in our daily decision making. He is living and moving and acting, and He acts through us and with us. He is intimately involved as we go about your weekly routine.

Understanding this adds meaning to our daily chores.

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Be Expedient

Hebrews 9:11–14 (NAS): But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Thought: Certain phrases strike me as particularly significant: 1) once for all, eternal redemption and through the eternal spirit. The sacrifice of our Savior for our sins is completed “once for all” and it accomplished eternal redemption. Trust in the Savior activates this eternal redemption. 

“Through the eternal Spirit” is a profound utterance. By this, it seems, eternity is attached to the sacrifice making it eternal in its’ moment to moment application. It is once for all forever moment by moment applied to us. This is why we are free from the law. And as Myron Houghton taught me that now all things are lawful but all things are not expedient. Sin is not expedient. It will hurt us. Sin is unwise to partake in, but we will never be condemned by it, for Christ has removed it. 

From my studio study,

Be expedient

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We Can Live Free

Hebrews 9:11–12 (NAS): But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Comment

“of the good things to come” Referring primarily (Jewish Readers) to the complete fulfillment of the New Covenant, when all will know and obey from the heart) but also to the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God indwelled the believers. Jesus, by His blood entered the authentic Holy place, which I believe is a literal place and my be seen in Revelation 4, where the 24 elders fall before the throne of God. Jesus accomplished our eternal redemption.

So, we can live free. This World’s tribulations are simply ripples on a sea of peaceful sailing. All will be good, all is good.

From my coffee house in Boston,

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The Reality We Face

Hebrews 8:13 (NAS): When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

Devotional Thought: That which is obsolete is the law that condemns. It is weak in that it is not able to stop us from sinning. The New Covenant, which is God’s covenant with Israel, is based upon the removal of all sin in the cross and results in a perfect relationship with God and sinless living. 

We non-Jewish people receive the benefits of the New Covenant as recipients of the Abrahamic covenant, “in Him all the nations will be blessed.” The two covenants are linked by the same foundation of Christ’s death to remove sin. 

However, we, as opposed to Israel, who will realize the full benefits of the New Covenant in the Millennial Kingdom, still struggle with sin, because we live in a time when the world, the flesh, and the devil still surround us with evil intent. So, although we have a heart that desires God and hates sin, we often fail allowing the world and the flesh and the devil to lead us astray.

What should we do then: 1) we don’t revert to the law, which says we deserve death. 2) we do confess our sin receiving forgiveness and start again, standing up straight realizing that Christ death is “far greater than all our sin”.

So we then exercise dominion 

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God is for Us

Hebrews 8:1–2 (NAS): Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

Devotional Thought: He is always present praying for us, having already removed all past, present and future sins, He intercedes in our behalf. Having saved us eternally, He is now working constantly to save us day by day—He has our back. 

If you blow it today, He will save you anyway. If you kill it, He is pumping His fist in exhilaration. 

Exercise Dominion

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Focus

John 18:11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” (NASB)

During these tense days, I am very tempted to spend an abundance of time focusing on the Black/White racial issues in the USA. Yesterday, during my personal Bible reading, I was reminded, of our Savior’s words to Peter in John 18:11.

Peter, a fisherman by trade and not a swordsman, sliced off the ear of one who was involved with the arrest of Jesus. Jesus corrected Peter, “Put the sword in the sheath.” In other words, Jesus was telling Peter that now was not the time for physical confrontation, for there was and is a greater and more necessary mission.

So it is today, in my life and ministry. While race issues dominate the USA, there remains a much more critical mission—Gospel ministry.

My stewardship, which is also true for Christians in general, is to make the gospel known (Jesus death in the place of sinners). This message is more important than the contemporary struggles of a Christ denying world (The Psalm writer prophesies, “Why do the nations rage?”).

The answer to all social ills is not ultimately better public policy. Rather, it is individual repentance of sin against God, and the receiving of Jesus Christ as Savior.

On the one hand, the problems of this world, including racism, will not be removed until Jesus comes to establish His Kingdom. On the other hand, our personal alienation from God, which causes all of our personal guilt and loneliness, can be healed. We simply need to trust in the Savior who died in our place for our sin, so we can have eternal life with Him.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish put have eternal life.”

Sharing this needs to be my focus.

Will you believe in the Son?

Bill