DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 7.16.22

How to Be Spiritually Refreshed - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Then He said to them, �Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men� �Matthew 4:19 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/how-to-be-spiritually-refreshed/- Listen I�m not much of a fisherman, but years ago I was in Alaska and went with some friends on a fishing trip for king salmon. I was with very seasoned fishermen who knew what theywere doing, but I didn�t even know how to bait my hook. I asked our guide, �How will you know when you get a real bite?� �You�ll know,� he said. It wasn�t long until my pole moved and I had a king salmon on my line. I reeled away until finally we had the fish next to the boat. And then it broke away. We talk aboutthe one that got away, but in my case it really happened. Jesus said to Simon Peter and Andrew, �Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men� (Matthew 4:19 NKJV). A literal translation of this is �catch men alive.� There�s a certain happiness that comes from sharing the gospel. Proverbs 11:25 says, �The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed� (NLT).When we reach out to others, when we put our focus on someone else, it spiritually refreshes us. Jesus said, �Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full�pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.The amount you give will determine the amount you get back� (Luke 6:38 NLT). He also said, �It is more blessed to give than to receive� (Acts 20:35 NKJV). Who, then, has God called to preach the gospel? All of us. In the original language, Jesus addressed the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19�20 to everyone, not just preachers,pastors, and missionaries. God has called all of us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. ----------------------------------- How to Cry Out to God Matthew 14:29-30 The phone rings, and you answer. A sullen voice informs you of a tragedy. Your heart is so heavy that you feel as though you could die. What do you do? Bad news, danger, and pain all cause us to look for help. As believers, we dwell with the almighty God, who is able to aid us. At those moments when we are sideswiped by life’s circumstances, we should cry out to Him. In the Bible, crying out refers to speaking audibly with great emotion concerning an urgent need. God invites us to use this form of prayer to communicate that we desperately need His mercy. It takes both faith and humility to share our heart’s concern aloud. Crying out, then, is a way for God’s children to express trust in the Lord’s ability and willingness to help. By calling upon Him with such urgency, wealso lay down our pride and any attitude of self-sufficiency. The Word of God assures us that our Father hears our cries and responds. In Psalm 3:4, for example, David wrote, “I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered from His holy mountain.” When we call aloud for help in Jesus’ name, we invite His power into the situation. Remember that there is strength in just speaking Hisname. When we cry out to God, He may remove the problem immediately, yet we often have to wait for His perfect timing. Harsh circumstances might even be allowed to remain for His good purposes. But we can always count on His comfort and presence, which enableus to live with joy and hope. --------------------- ComingJudgment “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness:it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.” (Zephaniah2:3) The theme of the book of Zephaniah is one of fearsome judgment. The immediate fulfillment took place when Babylon captured Judah about 50 years after this prophecy, but Zephaniah also speaks of a future judgment upon the ungodly nations at the end of this age. Some theologians take this “day of the Lord” to be the tribulation period after Christ has raptured His people, while others believe that it refers to the specific point Jesus returns with His redeemed people when “the Lord cometh with ten thousands of hissaints, to execute judgment upon all” (Jude1:14-15). Either way, you can be sure that judgment is coming. Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” And Isaiah 13:11 says, “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” Zephaniah 2:3 is a sober warning to not only the Israelites at that time but to this present world. The apostle Paul said, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1Thessalonians 5:4). The day of judgment is still coming. But those who have been saved through Jesus Christ don’t need to fear that day. Praise be to our redeeming God, who commands us “to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, evenJesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1Thessalonians 1:10). JPT ------------------ WhatIs Wonderful to You? “Thy testimonies are wonderful: Therefore doth my soul keep them.” (Psalm119:129) Wonderful is a worn-out word, overworked in our pedestrian English vocabulary. Life can be “wonderful” only because of the common graces granted by our heavenly Father. Yet, to the one desiring God and His precious Word, wonderful is the choice word earmarkingthe revealed truths of Scripture. Strength comes to the psalmist by feasting on Yahweh’s wonderful Word. Why such adulation for God’s Word? Our awestruck worshiper unpacks multiple reasons why. The unfolding of God’s Word opens wisdom’s door, lighting and giving “understanding to the simple” (v. 130). The worshiper’s intense desire to obey—his very being, or soul (Hebrew nephesh)—commits him to keeping all of Scripture’s commands. “I opened my mouth, and panted: For I longed for thy commandments” (v. 131)—his very survival depends solely on every word that proceeds “out of the mouth of God” (Matthew4:4). The psalmist then prays that the Lord would establish him by directing, delivering, and daily discipling him. “Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me” (v. 132). “Order my steps in thy Word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me” (v. 133). “Deliverme from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts” (v. 134). “Teach me thy statutes” (v. 135). Finally, he expresses deep sorrow for those rejecting God’s Word. “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law” (v. 136). Does this psalm express the love you have for Yahweh’s Word? Do you pray for your spiritual growth and for the spiritual condition of those unbelievers whom God has brought alongside you? How wonderful is God’s Word to you? CM -------------- Answers in Times of Great Disaster Deuteronomy 29:29 Almighty God reserves the right to reveal some things and conceal others. Although we may not know why natural disasters occur, the biblical truths we do know with absolute certainty allow us to trust the Lord even in times of great suffering. These include: 1. God is in control (Ps. 103:19). Nothing in heaven or on earth is outside of His rule and authority. He does notreact to events but sovereignly ordains or permits them to run their course. Although we cannot know for certain if He has sent a catastrophe or allowed it, we can trust in His goodness and wisdom. 2. The Lord loves people and wants them to be saved (John 3:16-17). Giving His Son for the salvation of the world proves without a doubt that He loves each person. This truth stands firm despite the fact that many reject the Savior. He cares for us, even when we can�t feel it or won�t accept it. 3. God ordains or permits events for His good purpose (Isa. 46:10). Though we cannot fully comprehend what He is doingin each incident, every disaster is a wake-up call for humanity. He is alerting us of the need to repent�so the lost can be saved and the saved can be revived to live totally for Him. Catastrophes open our ears to hear from the Lord. The One who loves us perfectly is in full control, working everything out according to His good purpose. Knowing this should fill us with hope, even in the midst of crisis situations. The Lord even promises to turn disaster to good for those who �are calledaccording to His purpose� (Rom. 8:28). ------------------------- The Greatest Display of Compassion �In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples untohim, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat.� (Mark 8:1-2) This is the only event in which Jesus speaks of Himself as having compassion. The Greek word used here (splagchnizomai) means inner organs, bowels, or �gut-wrenching.� Why is our Lord feeling a gut-wrenching compassion for something as simple as emptystomachs? People can survive for weeks without nourishment. Yet the compassion of God was fleshed out through Christ as He met the basic needs of these 4,000 men and their families�a display of the heart of our God and a compassion for which there is no parallel in any other religion in the universe. Not only is He concerned for our simple everyday needs as we pray �Give us this day our daily bread,� but our Lord is profoundly concerned about our spiritual needs. Our Creator and Redeemer was taken to the cross on our behalf in the greatest display of Hiseternal compassion. Hebrews 2:17 says, �It behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.� Theologically, this level of compassion is an attribute of God alone�an affirmation of Jesus� deity. Yahweh�s compassions �are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness� (Lamentations3:23). If the Lord Jesus showed such compassion for the crowds, how much more should we His servants show concern for the common needs of our fellow man? What�s more, we must address their spiritual needs above all else, for those needs have eternal import.CM ------------------ Breadand Wine “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” (Genesis14:18) After Abram’s victory over the pagan kings and the rescue of his nephew Lot, he was met by Melchizedek, King of Salem (Hebrew for “peace”). The name Melchizedek is actually a combination of two different words (malki‚-sedek) connected by a Hebrew symbolcalled a maqqef that functions like a hyphen in English. The word malki‚ literally means “my king,” and sedek means “righteousness.” This King of Righteousness and Peace is also called “the priest of the most high God.” He is described in detail in the book of Hebrews as “made like unto the Son of God.” Melchizedek was like Jesus Christ, our High Priest, in that both were “without father,without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but…abideth a priest continually” (Hebrews7:3). And most appropriately and prophetically, this amazing pre-Mosaic law theophany of the Lord Jesus Christ brings wine and bread to Abram. The direct redemptive connection is clearly forecasted. On the night before His sacrificial death, “Jesus took bread, andblessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remissionof sins” (Matthew26:26-28). Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest and King of Righteousness and Peace, “who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God” (Hebrews9:14). JPT --------------- July 9, 2022 Delighting in the Lord “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” (Psalm37:4) Christians tend toward two extremes regarding this remarkable promise of Scripture. Some forget the first half of the verse, seeing this as an unconditional promise for the fulfillment of every desire, no matter how carnal or worldly. Yet the verse clearlystates that the Lord will only give us the desires of our hearts if we first delight ourselves in Him. So the verse is not a license for the fulfillment of selfish whims (James4:3). Other well-meaning Christians, in an effort to guard against this first error, go to another extreme. They downplay or “spiritualize” the second half of the verse to such an extent that the promise becomes essentially meaningless. They do so by claiming thatthe promise only applies to the fulfillment of “spiritual” desires. But Christians can certainly have desires that aren’t sinful but aren’t necessarily spiritual either. Surely the desire for immortality would fall into this category, and God has already promisedus that (Psalm 21:4)! Christians may desire to see other parts of the world, or to play a musical instrument, or even to explore God’s vast created cosmos but cannot do so in this life. We may have to wait for His return for these desires to be granted, but grant them He will! “TheLORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). This should not come as a surprise. God has already given us the most selfless, lavish gift that He possibly could: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans8:32). Christians have a Father who is both willing and able to give good gifts to His children. JH ---------------------------------- WhatDoes a Little Leaven Do? “And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said untothem, Take heed and beware of the leaven of…the Sadducees.” (Matthew16:5-6) After taking a boat to the northern Sea of Galilee shore, the disciples realized they didn’t have bread. Jesus, with time running out before His imminent death, took the opportunity to teach them what was the most critical thing for their spiritual survival:spiritual bread (Matthew4:4). So, He warns them to “beware.” Beware of what? Leaven is a single-cell fungus that, once activated, permeates bread dough, feeding on the natural sugars. Our Lord likens this activated yeast to an insidious weapon and points to the Sadducees. The Sadducees, sons of wealthy aristocratic families, were highlyinfluential and controlled religious politics. They taught religious naturalism, all but denying God’s miraculous intervention in creation. These pragmatists constructed a synchronistic theology that is still alive and well. Today’s Sadducees spin their insidious influence in churches, schools, and seminaries. Their leavening influence includes rejecting the biblical teaching of a six-day creation, adopting Darwinian ideologies like natural selection, rejecting the Noahic worldwideFlood, nullifying miracles in Scripture, and denying Jesus Christ’s deity and resurrection. What does just a little leaven do? It blinds people from seeing the gospel. It dulls a believer’s understanding of clear biblical truth. Allowing these microbe-like single-cell ideologies to grow unopposed always spells spiritual catastrophe. Believer, don’t allow any of these influences a foothold in your life, the lives of your family, or those lives you shepherd in your spiritual family. As our Lord warns: Believer, beware! CM ---------------------------- Walk--Don'tWalk “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in thevanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleannesswith greediness.” (Ephesians4:17-19) In verses 1-3, Paul encourages believers to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” This humble,patient, loving, peaceful walk contrasts sharply with the walk described in our text. The walk of those outside Christ is characterized by “the vanity of their mind”—empty, futile thinking. The same word for “vanity” is used elsewhere for those who deny the obvious evidence for creation, who “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolishheart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Romans1:21-22). They are ignorant and blind, our text says, with darkened understanding and a blind heart. This has led them into a position of alienation from God, dead to any prompting they might receive from within or without. The result of such a mindsetis a shameless, reprobate lifestyle, full of lasciviousness, uncleanness, and greediness. Thankfully, we “have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians4:20). We are to be “renewed in the spirit of [our] mind” (v. 23) and walk aright. “Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (5:2). “Walk as children of light” (5:8). “Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (5:15), “filled with the Spirit” (5:18).Our Creator promises us an inward “new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (4:24). JDM ----------------------- ResurrectionWoman - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org So the people came streaming from the village to see him �John 4:30 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/resurrection-woman/- Listen She would go to draw water in the heat of the day, when no one else was at the well. The other women went there earlier in the day and caught up on the village gossip. Butthey ostracized her because of the life she�d chosen to live. But one day she arrived to find someone waiting for her: Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. He went out of His way to meet with her because unbeknownst to her, she had anappointment with God. Jesus entered her world, and she heard the truth of His message. He told her how, if she drank of the water He gave her, she never would thirst again, and there would be awell of living water coming out of her life. So she believed. And when she realized she had been talking with the Messiah, she left her water jar, ran back to the village, and said, �Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did!Could he possibly be the Messiah?� (John 4:29 nlt). The next verse tells us, �So the people came streaming from the village to see him� (verse 30 nlt). We don�t know this woman�s name, but she was a resurrection woman, a woman who had been changed. She had a bad reputation, but the people in the village saw her passion andher excitement for what Christ had done for her. As a result, they came and wanted to see and hear Jesus for themselves. Interestingly, 79 percent of unchurched people agree with the following statement: �I don�t mind talking to a friend about their faith if they really value it.� They wantto see if you actually believe it yourself and value it yourself. When you�re sharing your faith with others, there�s power in your personal story. You just need to be willing to share it. ----------------------------- Listen with Love - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, �He�s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!� �Luke 7:34 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/listen-with-love/- Listen When I meet someone for the first time, I usually don�t tell them up front that I�m a pastor because they probably will run away in terror if they realize they�re talkingto an actual preacher. Instead, I just try to listen to them and be a friend to them. When the Barna Group asked nonbelievers what they value most when talking about spiritual things, a majority said they want people to listen without judgment. This isn�t easyfor some Christians. Some believers want to judge people, condemn people, and even yell at people. But that isn�t how we�re going to reach them with the Good News of Jesus Christ. I love the way Jesus conversed with the woman at the well in Samaria. He asked her questions. He listened to her and didn�t come off as a know-it-all. We may know certainthings as Christians, but let�s not be know-it-alls. When you think about it, who on earth was more of a know-it-all than Jesus? He literally knew it all because He was God incarnate. He was omniscient, which means all-knowing. And sometimes people accuse Christians of being holier-than thou. Yet who was more holy than Jesus? He was the holiest of anyone who ever walked the planet, but He didn�tcome off as holier-than-thou. In fact, the Bible says that Jesus was a friend of sinners (see Luke 7:34). Jesus entered the world of the Samaritan woman. He listened to her. He took time with her, and it resulted in her transformation. Effective one-on-one evangelism is not a monologue; it�s a dialogue. The goal is not to win the argument; it�s to win the soul. The aim is not to burn the bridge; it is tobuild a bridge. Let them tell you their story, and listen with love. Then appropriately apply the message of the gospel. ----------------------- The Signs of Drifting Hebrews 2:1-3 Regularly gathering in the house of the Lord with brothers and sisters in Christ provides an "anchor" of support and accountability. But skipping church in order to pursue other interests is an obvious sign that a believer has begun to drift away from God.Less apparent are the men and women who mentally skip the worship service. The act of attending means nothing unless we make a deliberate decision to receive God's Word and apply it to our life. As the writer of Hebrews warned, if we do not pay attention towhat we have heard, we will drift away from it (2:1). However, Sunday morning is not the only time for receiving a steady diet of nourishing principles and encouragement from the Bible. We should be in its pages every day, reading and meditating for ourselves. When our interest in what God has to say decreases, we're already slipping out into troublesome waters. The only way to keep our way pure is by following His Word (Ps.119:9). If Bible reading is neglected, a prayer life has usually faded as well. Prayer is the way believers communicate with the Navigator. If we stop talking with Him, the God who once seemed so close soon feels far away. That chasm in our spirit is one more sign that we're far from shore andsafety. I've watched many a captain guide his cruise ship through a narrow channel. The crew members are intensely focused on their tasks because drifting means disaster. Life is full of narrow channels to navigate. We cannot afford to drift away from God and HisWord. Only He can bring us safely through. ------------------- OurGreat I AM �And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel,I AM hath sent me unto you.� (Exodus3:14) This verse is part of an answer to Moses� question of what to tell the Israelites when they ask for God�s name. Notably, this is the first time God introduces Himself like this in the Bible, and it takes place immediately before the pivotal event in which Hedelivers the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt and brings forth the concept of blood redemption with the sacrificial Passover lamb. Instead of a grammatically proper name (e.g., Yahweh), Elohim introduces Himself with the repetition of the verb �to be� (haya�) connected by the particle of relation (asher, that) to form this sentence: �I Am That I Am.� The two most dominant verbal forms in the Hebrew Bible are the perfect and imperfect, with the perfect typically indicating a completed action. As opposed to the perfect, the imperfect represents actions, events, or states that are continuing, in the processof accomplishment, or just now taking place. Profoundly, Elohim uses the imperfect form of haya� to describe Himself in this powerful declaration of who He is at this key point in biblical history. In other words, Elohim is not just the Creator and sovereign God of past history, He is our active, all-powerful God of the present and future. Our Creator-Redeemer-Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, employed this same power-packed theme with His series of �Iam� declarations in the gospel of John, underscoring His role as �Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending�which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty� (Revelation1:8). JPT -------------------- �Dunamis� Power - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching �2 Timothy 4:2 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/dunamis-power/- Listen Jonah had 40 days to reach 300,000 people with God�s message. So with urgency he went and preached to the Ninevites. The Bible says that we should preach the Word and be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not (see 2 Timothy 4:2). But preaching doesn�t mean yelling. Preaching isproclamation. It�s one thing to elevate your voice so that a large crowd can hear you. But I�ve actually seen Christians yelling at people. Don�t do that. Calm down. Lower your volume.Listen more, and lovingly share in an understandable way the things someone needs to hear. The primary way that God has chosen to reach nonbelievers is through the verbal articulation of the gospel. You may preach it, you may text it, you may tweet it, or you mayshare it conversationally. But the idea is telling people there is a God in Heaven who loves them and sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for their sin and rise from the dead three days later. The Bible tells us there are only two things that have power: God Himself and the gospel. Paul wrote, �For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the powerof God at work, saving everyone who believes�the Jew first and also the Gentile� (Romans 1:16 NLT). In the original language, the word for power that Paul used is the Greek word dunamis. ----------------------- The Gospel Defined - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org And they were preaching the gospel there �Acts 14:7 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-gospel-defined/- Listen What is the gospel? We know we should preach the gospel and live by the gospel, but do we know what the gospel is? A literal translation of the word �gospel� is good news. Now, sometimes before we can appreciate the Good News, we first have to know the bad news. Here�s the bad news: We�re all sinners. The Bible says, �For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God�s glorious standard� (Romans 3:23 NLT). And 1 John 1:8 tells us, �If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth� (NLT). If you�re sharing your faith with someone, don�t assume they�ll necessarily know what sin is. In the Bible, we can translate the word �sin� in different ways. We can translateit as �trespass,� which means to cross the line. Another translation comes from the Greek word hamartia, which means �to miss the mark.� When the Bible says that we�ve sinned or missed the mark, it means that we�ve fallen short of God�s standard for humanity. And what is that standard? It�s perfection. Are we perfect? No, we aren�t. That is where Jesus comes in. Because God knew we could not hit this mark, because God knew we could not be perfect people, Jesus died on the cross for our sin. That�s thegood news. Romans 5:6 says, �When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners� (NLT). Here�s the first verse every Christian should memorize: �For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish buthave everlasting life� (John 3:16 NKJV). That is the gospel in a nutshell. Share it with someone. Let�s not turn the Good News into bad news by the way we deliver it, distort it, or leave out parts of it. Let�s deliverthe explosive, dynamic, gospel. ------------------------