Devotional Archive April 1, 2013 thru April 26, 2013

Transcription

1 April 26, 2013 Devotional Archive April 1, 2013 thru April 26, 2013 Matthew 23:27-28 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. He sees me for who I am God sees me for who I am. I can fool other people but not God. Jesus compared the Pharisees to white-washed tombs. The tomb was hewn out of limestone that had a very clean appearance on the outside, almost beautiful. You have probably seen immaculate headstones in a cemetery that have wonderful words etched on their faces. In both cases, inside the tomb and the grave beneath the headstone, lie death and a rotting corpse. On the outside, we can appear beautiful, smiley-faced, no cursing or drunkenness or any outward sign of the disease of sin. However, on the inside can be an insatiable appetite for sin in an endless variety of manifestations. On the inside can be hate, envy, lust, jealousy, and the list continues. Jesus warned that it is useless to try and pretty ourselves up because while we may fool others, we will never fool God, not even for an instant. The only remedy is to come before Him and confess our sin, to yield to him the desire to be sulky, moody, lustful, angry, bitter or envious of what others have. You and I can fool each other, but we will never fool the God who sees us for who we truly are. The good news is that God sees that sin and His only desire is to forgive and heal. He truly wants us to be beautiful on the inside. The idea that God desires to punish sin is contrary to the doctrine of grace. God desires to forgive, and once that process of forgiveness begins, our outer self will be transformed as well. Father, forgive my inward sins, those sins which I am able to hide from others but which are evident to your eyes. Make me beautiful so others will see instead of me. Amen

2 April 25, 2013 Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Giving the Tithe Giving ten percent of our income is a very good practice, and one which every one of us should practice faithfully, whether we have established careers or whether we have a paper route. Giving a consistent portion of our income back to God in thanksgiving is a great practice. However, it is simply one way to honor God, and should be the reflection of a pure heart. Jesus saw the insincerity of the Pharisaic heart and condemned it. It isn't that he was condemning tithing at all, but rather a heart that was not sincere and joyful in the practice. The practice of giving of our finances back to Kingdom work should be accompanied by the more important condition of our heart which should be justice, mercy, and faithfulness. When these attributes produce grateful giving, God is most pleased with our tithe. Then we can go on to give above and beyond our tithe to find other areas of Christian giving that will simply be a further reflection of a heart in tune with God. Tithing is not the issue Jesus is concerned about. The inner man or woman is what Jesus is concerned about. Holy Spirit, change me from the inside out that I may become the man you have called me to become. Amen

3 April 24, 2013 Matthew 23:5-8 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. Look at me! I don't know how many times I have seen a young child shout to a parent or some other observing adult "look at me!" The child would be doing some feat or another and wanted desperately to be seen and given approval for his bold action. The Pharisees wanted to be seen as "spiritual" leaders, and so they would go to great lengths to prove how spiritual they were. They wanted to be seen praying, or teaching, or somewhere in front of the synagogue where all eyes would be on them. They even strapped the phylacteries on their foreheads and arms so people would see that they always carried God's Word with them wherever they went. Kind of like carrying a big Bible in a leather cover with a sword on the outside. (Good thing we've gotten over that kind of excess in the Church today.) At the end of this passage, Jesus says "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." In God's economy, we are all brothers and sisters under the common bond of Jesus. There is no one greater or more important than another. That doesn't mean we don't have leaders like a pastor or an elder, but it also doesn't mean that somehow those men are more important or even more spiritual than anyone else. They are filling a position that is needed, just like a Sunday School teacher or even the church janitor. Go without this last position for a month and see how important it is! None of us should seek to be noticed except by God. It is Him whom we serve, and Him alone whose attention, affection, and approval we seek. Holy Spirit, there is nothing more important than making sure you receive the glory in my life. Assist me by keeping me humble and remind me when I want to be seen by others. May I give all the glory and honor in my life to you. Amen

4 April 23, 2013 Matthew 22:34-40 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." The Greatest Commandments The Pharisee who asked this question did us all a favor. For all of human history we could have been left on our own to decide what was most important about the teachings of Jesus, or about being a Christian. Maybe the most important thing would be financial sacrifice, or a willingness to become a foreign missionary, or someone who never uttered a curse word, or...you fill in the blank. Jesus, however, makes it abundantly clear that there are two defining characteristics that should consume the heart, mind, and strength of every born again believer: that we love God supremely and that we love others sacrificially. You can eliminate thousands of Christian best sellers because Jesus tells us what he wants every one of us to look like, act like, and think like with these two commandments. What's more, to master these two commandments will take a lifetime of work, prayer, commitment, and service. Just like the act of becoming a Christian is so simple most people miss it, the act of growing into what God wants every Christian to become is deceptively simple. We are to love God and love others. Let's just try and make that more complicated so it sounds like there is more to it. You can't. There is no fancy Greek sentence structure, no hidden prophetic meaning, and no complicated exegesis necessary. Love God and love others. Pray for these two things to be real and increasing in your life, and God will answer that prayer. You can be sure this is the will of God for you. Jesus, thank you for making your message of loving you and loving others so simple I cannot miss it. Now help me to please you by loving you and loving others. Amen

5 April 22, 2013 Matthew 22:29-33 But Jesus answered them, "You (Saducees) are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. What's Next? After this life, what happens? Jesus gives us a brief glimpse of the reality of heaven and our place in it. It does no good to speculate about what heaven will be like, but we should be confident that heaven is a reality for us. The Saducees questioned Jesus on the reality of heaven, and he basically told them they were ignorant and incorrect in their thinking. (One of the things I really appreciate about Jesus is he doesn't pull punches when people say stupid or blasphemous things.) Jesus tells us in this passage that God is the God of the living, meaning believers (Moses, Daniel, Elijah, etc.) who have died and are now living with Him. God also raises those believers in a state like angels, meaning they are eternal and don't resemble normal human beings. And he reinforces the reality of heaven. Heaven is no child's hope; heaven is a real state of being for those who die in Christ or are alive at the time of His ultimate return. In our own day to day lives back here on planet earth, we should take comfort in Jesus' confirmation of the reality of heaven. If we are not careful, we may live our lives closer to what the Saducees believed, where we tend to think this life is all important and all there is. Our reality as Christians is this life is just a short warm up for the real thing. Heaven is for real. Father, heaven is a reality for your children. Thank you for this truth, and may I live my life in light of this eternal truth. Amen

6 April 19, 2013 Matthew 22:11-14 But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." Wearing the Right Clothes Jesus had just concluded his parable about the wedding feast, where the king sent his servants out to the roads and highways, inviting as many into the wedding feast as would accept his invitation (Matt. 22:1-10). Here Jesus identifies one singular guest who somehow manages to get into the wedding hall, but he is not wearing the proper clothing. The king wonders how he got into the hall without the right clothing, to which the man is speechless. His jaw drops because in that moment, he realizes there is no good answer. These verses help us see the importance of each individual's response to the Gospel. There will come a day when the King asks each of us to identify either with His Son, or with no one. Our works will do us no good in that moment, for we must be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. My own clothing is dirty and soiled and lacks any merit in the sight of the King. Have you in fact clothed yourself with Christ? We must be in a personal, abiding, trusting relationship with Christ, for there is coming a day for every one of us when we will stand in the presence of the King. His eyes may be friendly and familiar as He welcomes us home, or we may get a quizzical look as He looks at our clothing and asks us "who invited you?" Jesus, I pray my life would be clothed in your righteousness alone. I confess there are times when I put on clothes that appear fashionable to me, but may I be dressed to look like you. Amen

7 April 18, 2013 Matthew 21:43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you (the Jews) and given to a people producing its fruits. The Gentile Offer The Jews rejected Jesus and his ministry, causing our Lord to give the offer of eternal life to the Gentile nations. This free offer of salvation would have happened anyway but Jesus wanted the Jewish nation to be the vehicle to reach all nations, and by doing so, to fulfill perfectly God's plan for Israel. Instead, he would have to bypass, in large part, the Jews and take the message of salvation by grace through faith to the Gentiles by the apostle Paul. How often in our lives does God have something in store for us, some ministry He wants to use us in, but we hold back, or hesitate, and by doing so, miss His blessing to us and through us? God will always get His work accomplished, but will we be the instrument available for Him to use? If we lay our lives before God and commit ourselves to Him, He can use us in ways we can't see and certainly don't want to miss. But if we hold back in selfishness or fear, God will move onto to someone else who is more willing not more qualified, just more willing. Father, may I be willing to be used of you where and how you determine best. Though fear and doubt may come, I will resolve to serve you and follow you by faith not by sight. Amen

8 April 17, 2013 Matthew 21:18-22 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?" And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." The importance of Fruit The cursing of the fig tree by Jesus is really a foretelling of what would happen to the nation of Israel. The Jewish nation had become fruitless and of no spiritual good, so God would curse them, and as a nation, they would wither and die. About forty years from the time of this verse, the Roman army (70 CE) would enter Jerusalem and destroy the city, and this would begin the great dispersal (diaspora) of the Jewish people around the world. Jesus, as God incarnate, had no time for the nation He had set aside for His special blessing, if they were not going to be a people of prayer, praise, and power. In our lives, the last thing God wants is religious people who appear pious at church but are really just shell Christians. A shell Christian is a false believer who holds to some form of outward righteousness but on the inside is all manner of secret sin. This sin keeps him or her from effective prayer, real praise from a thankful heart, and honest power in godly service. Other Christians can be fooled by such a person, but not God, for He alone sees deep inside where no one else save He and the sinner can enter. God is a patient Person, but there comes a time when he will ultimately bring a curse on an individual just like the fig tree. At some point, God will say to us, "either produce some fruit or go find another god to serve.'' You never want to be in a place where God sees all the nice leaves you have on the outside but knows that no real fruit is possible because of the inside condition. Jesus, may I be a Christian through and though. By the power of your Holy Spirit, may fruit be evident in my life from the inside out. Amen

9 April 16, 2013 Matthew 21:6-11 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." The Triumphal Entry Jesus is the King and Jerusalem came out to proclaim him as such and welcome his coming into Jerusalem. This was truly the fulfillment of prophecy for Jesus (Zech. 9:9) and the procession is still remembered today as Palm Sunday. The passage says that "when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up." In our lives, it is easy to get "stirred up" now and then. Sometimes it happens during a church service, or when we are young at a youth meeting or camp. We sense a spiritual high and we make commitments to God. But then comes Monday morning, and we come back to earth and the reality of what it means to keep those commitments in the drudgery of everyday life. A week after Palm Sunday, the crowds were shouting "crucify him!" As Christians, our commitment to Jesus should be day by day, or even minute by minute, and should not depend on how we "feel" but on our continued love and service to him, whether on a mountain or in the valley of work, school, house cleaning, or every day stuff. To whom are you committed this day. Father, may I be committed to you every day, regardless of how I feel. Help me not to look for mountain top experiences, but instead to see your face in all that I do each day. Amen

10 April 15, 2013 Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." What does it mean to be Great? The mother of James and John approached Jesus on behalf of her sons and asked the Lord to let them sit one on his left and one on his right when the Kingdom of Heaven had been ushered in. Jesus replied that that decision belonged to the Father not him. However, the request did give Jesus the opportunity to teach the disciples (and mom) on what it meant to be truly great in God's eyes. To be considered great in the Kingdom that is to come, we must be servants (the Greek word in verse 26 is the word we use for deacon today) in the name of the King. Jesus did not come to rule over men or lord over them with his power, but he came to serve and to give his life as a ransom. Greatness, at least in terms of how we think of greatness, was never a part of his mission. He never sought public recognition, and often went to great lengths to try and keep himself from such recognition. He never wanted people to admire him but to comealongside him in ministry. He didn't seek to give autographs but he did want to change people's lives. There is a temptation for all of us to want recognition, notoriety, or just admiration in our own little circle of friends. Instead, we should seek the opportunity to serve as Jesus served, without fanfare or fortune, just for the sake of serving others. Often times Christians pray for the will of God as if it was some secret passage known only to those who beg the Father for guidance, but the will of the Father for every Christian is to serve Him right where they are and not to seek to be served. Serving in the name of Jesus is God's will for your life. Seek that opportunity and you will know His will for you. Father, may I seek to serve and not to be served. May my heart be to seek you and find you, while losing more of myself. Amen

11 April 5, 2013 Matthew 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. Winning your Brother (or Sister) People are going to sin against us, sometimes intentionally and sometimes just because, as humans, we do inconsiderate and unkind things. Jesus doesn't say in this passage that "if your brother did something accidentally to offend you, and you can tell he didn't mean it, and it wasn't too serious, and you feel up to it, then go reconcile with your brother." He simply says "when your brother sins against you, go to him and try and reconcile your brother." It's pretty clear that we are not trying to win an argument, or trying to hurt the other person like they hurt us. The point is to win the brother or sister back into a right relationship with us and with God. This kind of conflict resolution does not happen often in society or in church, but where could reconciliation better take place than in church? After all, we have been reconciled to Christ (Rom. 5:10) through his death, and he died for us while we were still unlovable sinners. We place ourselves in a higher position than Jesus when we refuse to reconcile with someone who has sinned against us. Many years ago a pastor in a church in the Northwest sinned against me by something he did. I was offended but let it go because of not having a relationship with that church any longer. One Sunday morning a few years after the incident, he called me and asked for my forgiveness, which I was glad to give. We were reconciled and he had won back his brother. He could have let time just sweep it under the carpet, but it was on his heart. I could have brushed his apology away and told him no thanks, I wasn't interested in his apology. Instead, God's Spirit worked in both our hearts and we were reconciled in spite of the wrong suffered. In our lives, we have to realize that relationships are the most important gift God gives us, and we have to work to keep and sometimes restore those relationships. It's worth the effort and the humility it takes. Jesus, help me to be at peace with my brother. Where conflict exists and when that peace is broken, may I allow you to work in my life to restore that broken relationship, even if it means approaching my brother in humility. Amen

12 April 4, 2013 Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Who's the Greatest? It is difficult to imagine Jesus' disciples arguing about who is or would be the greatest among them. But when you think about recent events, like Peter, James, and John having been singled out to go with Jesus up on the mountain to witness his transfiguration with Moses and Elijah, maybe it isn't so difficult. All of us as humans have an ego that drives us to have a certain amount of pride, and pride can cause even the best of us to do some pretty ungodly things. Pride will drive us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, and these proud thoughts turn into actions. Jesus tells his disciples that they ought to approach their Christian faith like a child, withtrust, openness, and humility. Our only agenda should be to look intently at our Father's face. Instead, too often Christians are looking in the mirror wondering how do I improve my standing in the church or society? How do I get noticed for what I do? In churches you will often see people wanting to run committees, or be in front of the congregation, or tell the pastor what he should do, or just about anything else except to sit at the feet of Jesus and worship him. The disciples argue over who was the greatest in the kingdom. The question they should have been discussing, and the question still for us today, is how do we serve and honor the King in His Kingdom. We should see ourselves simply as servants, servants who all have equal standing at the foot of the cross. None of us greater or lesser than another. Father, may my eyes be steadfastly watching you. Give me a greater desire to know you and to listen to your voice. May any desire to serve myself diminish as I grow deeper in my relationship with you. Amen

13 April 3, 2013 Matthew 17:24-27 When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the tax?" He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax?from their sons or from others?" And when he said, "From others," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself." Offend or not Offend? Sometimes as Christians it almost seems we are given a mixed message. Here, Jesus performs a miracle so that Peter can pay the temple tax when they have no money, and the reason given is so that no offense is given. Clearly in other places in Scripture we are told not to worry about offending people for the sake of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16; Matt. 10:22). When it comes to the way we live our lives each day, we are not to be an offensive people. Our attitude about our government, our jobs, or our families is to be supportive, positive, and affirming. However, when it comes to the way we live out the Gospel, we should not care so much about offending as presenting the truth, with the recognition that for the most part it will be taken as an affront by many people. So as Christians, we should strive not to be offensive by the working out of our citizenship here on earth, but we should be true to the Gospel calling and be an offense, if that is what it takes, to present the Gospel to a lost and dying world. Jesus, may my life not be an affront to others. However, if being true to the Gospel becomes an offense, let me be the kindest and most gracious offensive person possible. Amen

14 April 2, 2013 Matthew 17:14-20 And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Little Faith As we grow older and more mature physically, God expects that we will grow and mature in our faith. He does not want or expect that we will stay immature and unable to do good and even great works for Him. In this passage, Jesus chastises the disciples for having too little faith to cast out the demon from this boy. He says it in such a way that there is no doubt they could have, but they just weren't able to. Why? This passage, and the corollary in Mark 9:14-29, tells us that faith and prayer are required to do great things for God. Notice, you don't need to have a bible degree, a certain I.Q., a certain age (the disciples were fairly young at this point), or even nice hair, you just need to pray, have faith, and obey. Nothing too exciting about that but those are the essentials in serving God. The disciples had strayed from these, and had become ineffective. For us to effectively serve God, we have to spend time in prayer, for it is in prayer that our hearts and God's heart unite. At that point, we can begin to understand what it is He wants us to do and will enable us to do. Then, we must act on faith. Oswald Chambers said, "Faith is not intelligent understanding, faith is deliberate commitment to a Person where I see no way." Of course the person is Christ. If we can see a solution in our own strength or the way to accomplish a goal or solve a problem with our own mind, ability, and resources, then what faith does it take? True faith relies on God to provide a way when we see no way. Real faith is that ability God gives that I do not innately possess. Lasting faith is that faith that only God gives that I can never conjure up on my own. When we spend time in prayer and exercise our faith, God will use us in ways we can't imagine and to accomplish things that would otherwise prove impossible for us. Father, I pray that my faith may increase and that as a result I am better equipped to do works which bring glory to you. May I walk by faith and not by sight, and may I go where you lead not where I can see. Amen

15 April 1, 2013 Matthew 17:1-6 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. Shut up and Listen! Peter was a great apostle. Jesus said earlier in Matthew: "I tell you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." Peter would go on to do great things for God, and would team up with the apostle Paul to turn the world on its head. However, Peter had a problem. He couldn't stop talking and acting impulsively. In this passage Peter sees Moses and Elijah talking with the glorified Lord Jesus and rushes to break in and suggest they build tents so they can all hang out on the mountain and listen to this discussion. The Father from heaven thunders from above "Shut up! and listen!" This is my paraphrase of the Greek. They all fall immediately to the ground and are finally where God wants them: trembling on their faces with their eyes closed and their mouths shut. I am not wise enough to offer God suggestions or help. I don't do Him any favors when I pray and I don't have anything to offer except my little life in service to Him. He doesn't even need that, but He takes it and will use it to glorify Himself, if I offer it in the right spirit. God wants us to listen to Him and to wait on Him and to follow Him. He really isn't interested in my many words in prayer but He does enjoy me coming to Him with an open heart, offering my sincere praise, confessions, and petitions. But He also wants me to listen, to open my heart in silence before Him so that He can speak words to me. is not just my communication to God, but as important, and perhaps more so, His communication to me, if I will shut up and listen. Father, today I choose to listen while you speak. Amen

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