DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 9.30.22

From Jerusalem to the Ends of the Earth - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, �A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.� Andso, he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. �Matthew 13:57�58 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/from-jerusalem-to-the-ends-of-the-earth/- Listen The hardest people to reach with the Gospel are members of your family because they�ve known you for your entire life. When I became a Christian, it was not well receivedby my family. It took me years to reach my mother. In fact, 30 years passed before she prayed and committed her life to Christ. Even Jesus didn�t reach His family before he died and rose from the dead. We read that His family would show up on occasion and say, in effect, �He�s lost his mind. We needto take Him home.� Matthew�s Gospel, referring to Nazareth, tells us that Jesus �did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief� (Matthew 13:58 NLT). They had known Jesus, the carpenter�sson, since He was a little boy. But when Jesus laid out for the early Church His battle plan for reaching people, it started in Jerusalem, their home, and expanded from there. He said, �But you will receivepower when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere�in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth� (Acts 1:8 NLT). Jesus�s battle plan is the same one that we should follow today. That means starting with your spouse if you�re married, and with your parents, grandparents, children, andextended family. That is your Jerusalem. Next is your Judea, which is your sphere of influence, your larger circle. That might be your workplace or the people who follow you on social media. Finally, go to people everywhere. During His earthly ministry, Jesus went out of His way to reach people who were �outside His comfort zone.� Are you willing to do that? God wants us to reach people everywherewith the Gospel. ----------------------- Lightof the World “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walkin darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John8:12) We live in a dark and sin-cursed world that seems to be getting darker every day, and this second of the “I am” declarations of Jesus is the solution. Before we put our faith in Christ, we were dead and lost in the darkness of sin. “And you hath he quickened,who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians2:1). This quickening is based on Christ’s light. “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Corinthians 4:6). Beyond the new birth, the need for Christ’s light continues daily in the life of the believer. “The darkness is past, and the true light now shineth” (1John 2:8). Just as plants need light to grow, continuing life will never occur apart from light. The light of Jesus through His Word guides and sustains us. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm119:105). We desperately need this infusing light because we are prone to darkness, with a proclivity toward sin. We are not only sustained by Christ’s light, but our new identity in Him is to reflect God’s light. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set onan hill cannot be hid” (Matthew5:14). And “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew5:16). JPT ----------------------- Jesus,Our Bread of Life “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger.” (John6:35) This verse is the first of seven “I am” statements of Jesus in John’s gospel that vividly describe His character and nature to His followers. It was announced to the people shortly after the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 with only two small fishes and fivebarley loaves. As the well-fed crowd followed Jesus, He rebuked them, saying, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled” (John6:26). He further exhorted them to “labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you” (v. 27). But how do we feed our souls using the analogy of bread nourishing our physical bodies? We don’t have long to wait in this narrative because Jesus soon proclaims, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you,they are spirit, and they are life” (v. 63). When Christ was tempted by the devil to satisfy His bodily hunger after 40 days of fasting, He proclaimed, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew4:4). The Lord also proclaimed, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness” (Isaiah55:2). Let us purpose in our hearts to prayerfully and daily feed upon God’s sustaining and powerful Word. JPT ------------------------ SingingGarments of Life “The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy,they also sing.” (Psalm65:13) This is the concluding verse of the beautiful 65th Psalm, climaxing a remarkable series of testimonies about God’s providential care of His creation. In this final figure, the lands are pictured as clothed in beautiful, living garments—garments that shout andsing in joyful praise to their Maker. The figure would be better appreciated in biblical times or in certain lands (e.g., New Zealand) today where flocks of sheep are so abundant that they literally seem to cover the pasture lands in wool. The flocks first provide a metaphorical garment for thepastures, then literal clothing for men and women. Similarly, the fertile valleys are everywhere arrayed in golden grain, which later provides food for both the animals and human beings. And “the sounds of the earth are like music,” as the song so eloquently expresses it. For those with ears to hear and eyes to see, praise is everywhere being offered up to our great Creator and faithful Sustainer by the very creation itself. Jesus also spoke of the beautiful garments of creation: “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed likeone of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” (Matthew6:28-30). The verse following our text, therefore, appropriately exhorts, “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands...All the earth shall worship thee” (Psalm66:1, 4). HMM -------------------- TheCreation of Plants “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruitafter his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.” (Genesis1:11) One of the favorite biblical arguments used by Christian advocates of an old earth comes from a forced interpretation of this verse. While the verse seems to teach “sudden” creation, old-earth advocates interpret the verse to necessitate an indefinite timeperiod, at least long enough for seeds to grow up into mature, seed-bearing plants. Plants differ widely and are thought to have evolved all throughout Earth history. The third day, then, must be understood as long enough to witness the appearance of all “kinds” of plants and is equated with a vast stretch of geologic time. However, there are many biblical problems with this view—a few of which follow. Scripture teaches that “in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exodus20:11; see also Genesis 2:1-4), and no meaning other than a solar day is biblically defensible. The “herbs” and “trees” mentioned can only mean small or woody plants that supposedly arrived late on the evolutionary scale, for the same words are used to identify food plantson Day 6. Furthermore, the verb “bring forth” (Genesis1:11) is also used when God made animals, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature” (v. 24), on the sixth day. It cannot be referring to the growth of a seed out of the ground but rather must imply the sudden creation of both plants andanimals in abundance. Such compromises are impossible biblically and are quite unnecessary. There are no true facts of science that are incompatible with the young-earth teaching of Scripture. We can be sure of its teachings. JDM ---------------------- Bringing Others to Jesus John 1:35-42 Andrew is the disciple known for bringing people to Jesus. Immediately after meeting the Lord, he introduced his brother Simon to the Messiah. Another time, when a great multitude was hungry, he found a boy with five loaves and two fishes and brought himto Jesus (John 6:8-9). When some Greeks wanted to meet Christ, Andrew and Philip made the introductions (12:20-22).This disciple never lost his enthusiasm for the Savior. Andrew's own conversion experience motivated him to let others know about the One who'd changed his life (1:36-37). How about you--have you lost the joy of your salvation? If your Christian life has become stale and musty, it's time to remember what Christ has done for you and to ask that He restore your excitement. In addition, Andrew longed to know the Savior and spend time with Him (vv. 38-39). The disciple's example is a good reminder that sweet fellowship with the Lord isn't supposed to end with devotional times. It should also stimulate a desire to share withothers the joy we find in our relationship with Christ. Finally, Andrew was motivated by his conviction that Jesus was the Messiah (v. 41). He'd found the answer for a lost and hurting world and wanted others to know. When Andrew answered the call to discipleship, Jesus told him he'd be "catching men" instead of fish (Luke 5:10). Since we, too, are followersof Christ, we have this same assignment. Our styles and opportunities vary, but we're each responsible to develop a lifelong habit of bringing others to Jesus. ----------------------- Walk This Way: Walk in Love By Dr. Michael A. Milton "Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as isproper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead, let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, anidolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them. The grass withers and theflowers fade, but the word of the Lord will endure forever." - Ephesians 5:1-7 Walk This Way Learning to walk is a universal experience. Indeed, learning to walk is one of the first lessons our parents give us. Our parents teach us how to walk in at least two ways. They teach us by motivation, and they teach us by prohibition.“Walkthis way! Yes, that’s right. Come on, then. You can do it. Walk to daddy!” The father motivates his child with love. The excited, smiling face of the father is an unseen but genuine force creating the child’s willto walk. But there is another instruction. “Do not walk over there!” “Over there” could be a step-down in the living room, a sure danger zone for tumbles and tears. By guiding the child to “walk this way, but not that way,” the loving parents erect a verbal “danger sign.” Likewise, the Lord calls us to walk toward the Lord Jesus Christ and away from those sins that threaten our souls. The Lord God calls believers to “walk the walk” of obedience in Christ faithfully and yet cautiously. How, then, shall we walk? Walk in Love Verse one calls believers to be “imitators” of the Lord. There are “incommunicable” attributes of the Triune God. He is eternal. We were created. He is omniscient. We see through a glass darkly. Yet, there are “communicable” attributes, one of which is love. God demonstrated His love to us in that He sent his only begotten Son to save us from sin and its consequences. His perfect life and sacrificial death on the cross provide us with the righteousnessand atonement we need. Our lives might then show obedience that flows from grace and gratitude, the wellspring of love. Paul says that such offerings of love-prompted obedience are pleasing to God. So, we are to walk this way: follow the Lord Jesus in the loveof God that produces undefiled worship. While we walk in love with Jesus and, thus, each other, we must walk cautiously away from the world. The love of God is contrasted with the uncleanness of this world, specifically, the uncleanness of sexual impuritiesand of filthy language. The uptick in the use of foul language in, for example, film and popular music is not unexpected though it is deplorable. Filthy language is a sign of a heart unhinged from the love of God and subject to the foul winds of evil. Whileour secular age is saturated with course language and the dehumanizing use of sexuality, we must be on guard. Such sins are corrosive to your mind and your body. Stay clear of the danger zone. Walk this way. The Last Walk No walk matches the pathos and power of that footpath from Pilate’s kangaroo court to Golgotha. The Via Delarosa—the way of the cross—is the ultimate walk of love. This is the love we are to imitate: dying to self to live for God, andin doing so, knowing the fullness of joy in Christ. This is the love that motivates us to “walk this way.” Intersecting Faith and Life: To walk like Jesus is to cultivate a life of love. But how do we encourage such love in our lives, in our relationship with God and others? Dr. Donald Whitney urges us to take the revealed “spiritual disciplines of the Christian life.” Through Scripture, prayer, and other disciplines, God has given us the resources we need to walk in love. -------------------- Faith, Suffering, and Identity By Amanda Idleman “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” - Matthew 5:3-6 The story of Job is a popular one in the Bible. It is referenced to provoke discussion on many topics: how to comfort another through dreadful experiences, the ultimate sovereignty of God, and what to do when we are the ones going through a truly terrible time. In my college Old Testament course, our teacher alluded to the fact that some believe the story is just too awful and too dire to be real. Those theorists believeJob was a fable passed through the times to teach the listeners the aforementioned topics. God is sovereign, and who are we to question His ways? Life can be very hard; in the end, God honors our faithfulness. I used to believe this as well. It didn’t make sense that a God could be that cruel. It’s easier to believe the story of Job when we soften it by saying it’s most likely not completely true. We could get into the sovereignty of God, the chaos of the world, and how sin can create similar terrible experiences in our lives,but the point of this article is to highlight one key fact. Life is hard. It may not be hard now, but at some point, everyone experiences something that rocks them to their core, challenging beliefs and identity. I don’t think many Americans like the story of Job because it’s a bit…uncomfortable. Job had plenty of challengesand troubles that ailed him physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of his dire story is that, in losing each of those things in his life, that meant a lot, he lost his identity. He lost everything that made him who hewas. Or did he? Job responded in two ways: by complaining a bit and by remaining faithful to God. After a reprimand, he was eventually honored for his faithfulness. Why? To us, it looked like Job lost all those factors that formulated his identity, but as we found out, his identity was held, not in vices, fame, money, or family, but in his eternal, provincial identity asa son of the one true God. Job saw himself first as a citizen of Heaven before anything else. What will happen when you lose an integral part of who you are? If not your faith, what factor or factors make up who you are in the first place? These are the questions I want us to ponder.With answers, we can start preparing so we can respond like Job by eschewing the identities the world tells us to sow into and which will inevitably fail at some point. I think our culture is having an identity crisis. We value comfort, quick relief from pain, and, some would say, even our less privileged citizens live better than the majority of third-world countries. Many of us are the sum of multiple factors that weconsider crucial to who we are. Unfortunately, for many, these supplant our identity in Christ and include vices, addictions, fads and trends, pop culture, and hobbies. The moment we put more importance on something outside of God, we will be challenged. Whenwe let our job or even our family consume us in idolic fashion, we will be disappointed because those things won’t be there forever. We see booming numbers of believers in countries in which Christians are persecuted. How?! This is the crux. Those believers have no choice but to acknowledge the truth, something we all must reconcile with someday. We are all broken. We all need a Savior. Our eternal needs are met by Christ alone. The first four Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-6 teach us this. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” What do mourning, meekness, hunger, and thirst have in common? They are traits of broken people, those who have come to the end of themselves and must rely on God. They have no other choice. They’ve lost their house, job, family, health, and friends, as Job did, and they have nowhere else to go but God. The following ideas are just a few ways we can try to find the end of ourselves and place our identity in Christ: 1. Stop trying to look like you have it all together. The American way is one of resilience, self-help, looking tough, and getting it done. Those traits are why we are number one leaders in the world, some would say, but we have lost sight of the original example of what it means to be a leader. Jesus served.He broke tradition, turned the other cheek, and cleaned people’s dirty feet. We need to acknowledge and even accept our brokenness. Mourning is ok. Weeping is welcome. Letting go of all the other identities we hold onto is what God wants. Next time someoneasks you how your day is going, actually think about it instead of responding with the ubiquitous, “I’m good.” If you’re not, be honest. We gain admirers when we have it all together; we gain friends when we show our weaknesses. 2. Look to the past We learn from the past. That’s why we should study it. To prevent us from making the same mistakes, we should invest in reflection, in which we consider how God has helped us before, so we might strengthen our faith that He will help us again. David’s psalmsare full of reflections in which he realizes that God was always there and always helped him. This can only happen if you actually stop and reflect, meditate and pray. Ecclesiastes 7:2 reminds us that “Death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” That is…..sobering.Yes, death awaits everyone, but it is not the final stop for everyone. As citizens of Heaven, we ultimately get to go home to be with God. This reassurance can assuage the fear of death that plagues us all. With too much stock in temporal things, we risk losingourselves. Replacing all of that with the only identity that remains forever, being a child of God, can help us navigate the valleys all of us will inevitably experience. Intersecting Faith and Life: What is blocking you from claiming Christ as your true and only identity? What things do you put before your relationship with the Lord? How can you begin to sow into your relationship with the Lord so you will have access to his perfect peace when life’s strugglescome your way? Further Reading The Bible Story of Job What Is the Story of Job in the Bible? ---------------------- You Have No Choice But to Forgive By Clarence L. Haynes Jr. “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” – Colossians 3:13 When you think about the marks of a Christian, there is one mark that should be present, which sometimes we can too easily gloss over. That mark is forgiveness. When we need forgiveness, it is amazing how we seek after it. Yet when we must give forgiveness,sometimes we can be a little slow on the draw. Have you ever wondered why that is? One reason is we forget how much we have been forgiven, and when that happens, we can treat the act of forgiving someone else as if we are doing them a favor instead of extendinggrace that we ourselves have received. I want to remind you if you are going to be a true follower of Christ, then you must exercise forgiveness. You really have no choice if you truly want to follow Christ. Why Must You Forgive? There really is one good reason why you must forgive. Because God has forgiven you. That alone should be enough to motivate you to forgive others, and yet, many times, it is not. I want you to look back on your life for a moment and think about all the sinsyou have committed against God and against other people. (I would ask you to start writing them down, but you will soon discover that list is going to get very long.) Regardless of how long that list is when you came to Christ, that entire list was wiped clean.God forgave all your sins because of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for you. You don’t need any other reason to forgive someone because this one reason is enough. A Terrible Example of Forgiveness In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the story of the unmerciful servant. Allow me to sum up the story for you. A man owed the king a debt of ten thousand bags of gold. Just for perspective, one bag of gold was the equivalent of twenty years of a day laborer's salary.This servant owed ten thousand bags. It would have taken him two hundred thousand years to repay the debt, which means the debt was never going to be repaid. Not by him, not by his family, nor by any generations of people that came after him. However, eventhough he owed the king this much debt, the king chose to show him mercy and forgive his debt. This same servant then went out and found a man who owed him a hundred silver coins which was the equivalent of a day’s pay. This man could have easily repaid thisdebt, possibly in as little as one day. However, this servant had the man thrown in jail because he could not repay him. When the king heard this, he rebuked him and had him thrown in jail because he failed to show mercy and forgiveness for a small debt afterhe had received it for his big debt. May I ask you to guess who we are in the story? By comparison, we are the man who owed a debt we would never be able to repay, and yet God, in his mercy, forgave us. After having received so much mercy, why then do we harbor unforgiveness toward those whohave hurt us? Unfortunately, saying “but you don’t know what they did to me” is not good enough. If you should ever feel this way, all you have to do is remember how big your sin list was and how many times you violated God’s commands and yet today, you standforgiven. Let me say this. There is no reason to justify not wanting to forgive someone. It does not matter what they have done. To think otherwise is to behave like this unmerciful servant forgetting how big a sin debt you really owed. Let’s not be that person. A Practical Exercise As you look inward today, ask the Lord to show you if there is anyone you have not forgiven, and then forgive that person. Forgiveness does not mean you forget; it means you no longer hold it against that person. When you can do that, you are operating in thegrace and forgiveness you have received. I promise you will be thankful that you did. Intersecting Faith and Life: Forgiveness is not just for the other person. Forgiveness releases you from the grip the other person’s actions have over your life. ------------------- Where Our Focus Should Be - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, �Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?� �Acts 1:6 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/where-our-focus-should-be/- Listen After His resurrection, Jesus said to His disciples, �But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about meeverywhere�in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth� (Acts 1:8 NLT). This statement was prompted by the following question from the disciples: �Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?� (verse6 NLT). The disciples thought that the Messiah, Jesus, had come to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. This was why it seemed like a mistake when He was crucified. But as the Scriptures foretold, the Messiah would come first to suffer and die for the sins of the world. Then He would return to Earth and establish His Kingdom therein. Jesus told them, �The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know� (verse 7 NLT). In other words, �Guys, will you get overthis already? I�m not going to establish My earthly kingdom right now. That will come later. Stop focusing on when I�ll return and instead focus on what you are to do until I return.� Today, there are still people asking when Jesus is coming back. And an occasional misguided person will say they know the date of Christ�s return. But Jesus said, �No oneknows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows� (Matthew 24:36 NLT). Our focus, therefore, should be on what we�re supposed to do while we await Christ�s return. The early Church had a job to do, and so do we. Jesus�s words in Acts 1 were notonly for the first-century believers. He is still calling us to tell people everywhere about Him. -------------------- Patient for Our Sake - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The Lord isn�t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyoneto repent. �2 Peter 3:9 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/patient-for-our-sake/- Listen When it comes to the subject of studying Bible prophecy, sometimes we miss the point. We can become obsessed with things that we think are fulfillments of Bible prophecy butactually are not. We forget that Bible prophecy is not given to inflate our brains but to enlarge our hearts. If we really understand what Bible prophecy is about, then it should cause us to want to live godly lives. The Lord is not late in returning to Planet Earth. He has just beenpatient with us. Here�s what the Bible says: �The Lord isn�t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to bedestroyed, but wants everyone to repent� (2 Peter 3:9 NLT). God is waiting. I remember, back in the early 1970s, everyone was talking about Jesus�s return. We were praying, �Lord, come back!� Aren�t you glad that He didn�t answer ourprayers? After all, there are a lot more people who have come to Christ since 1970. I believe that someone somewhere walking Earth today will be the last person to believe before the Lord calls His Church home to Heaven. This is what we often call the Raptureof the Church. Writing about this event, the apostle Paul said, �For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from theirgraves� (1 Thessalonians 4:16 NLT). If you knew who the last person was who needed to come to faith in Christ before His return, it would be tempting to apply a little pressure on that person, wouldn�t it? Imaginesharing the Gospel with that person and leading him or her to Christ, and suddenly, we�re all in Heaven! God is waiting for more people to believe. ------------------------ TheGood Shepherd �I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.� (John10:11) This verse contains the fourth �I am� statement of Jesus in John�s gospel. It�s given in the same discourse in which He previously indicated He is also the door of the sheepfold. The two ideas are connected because Middle Eastern shepherds would often sleepat the entrance of the sheepfold and literally become the door by which predators were barred and the sheep were led in and out. But Christ is adding yet another dimension, and He elaborates with the clause �the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.� And we know this to be so because through Him �we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins� (Colossians1:14). When Jesus is referring to His sheep, He�s not just talking about His initial mission wherein He was �sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel� (Matthew15:24). In fact, He clarifies who His sheep will eventually be in John 10:16: �And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.� Praise God that Christ�s mission went global, as prophesied by Isaiah: �I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth� (Isaiah49:6). And Paul proclaimed, �Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shallbe saved� (Romans 10:11-13). JPT ------------------- Doorof the Sheep �Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.� (John10:7) Jesus was not just making another notable �I am� statement in this verse but also putting forth a sober warning. This warning is related to the statement likening His followers to sheep, a common theme for God�s people in the Old Testament as well. Sheep aredirectionless, weak, prone to wandering, timid, stubborn, easily frightened, and utterly defenseless against predators. Without a shepherd, they are in deep trouble. Jesus goes on to say, �I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture� (John10:9). The sheepfold is the pen in which the sheep are kept at night, and the shepherd controls the door. On a daily basis, the shepherd leads the sheep to feed. �He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters� (Psalm23:2). This discourse of Jesus is made even stronger by pointing out the nature of our adversary, a thief who seeks to enter the sheepfold to �steal, and to kill, and to destroy� (John10:10). Christ also pointed out the influence of bad shepherds (hirelings), who �seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep� (v. 12). But thankfully for us, Jesus is �the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep� (v. 11). �And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice� (v. 4). Let us put aside the distractionsand deceptions of this world and follow Jesus to green pastures. JPT -------------------- You Have Been Healed By Emma Danzey 1 Peter 2:24 says, �He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his woundsyou have been healed. He Himself Bore our Sins in His Body on the Tree When we take a step back and look at an overview of Scripture, we see such detail and thought in the redemptive plan of Christ. God knew that humanity would sin. He instructed Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis2:17) The serpent then twisted the words of our Creator and tempted the woman and the man who was with her. Unfortunately, both disobeyed and sinned. Humanity was officially separated from their loving God because of their choices. Fast forward to the time of Christ. Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not live. He suffered, died, and rose again on the third day. (Luke24:46-47) Death was defeated, Satan lost, and our Lord won us back to Himself. It is particularly amazing that Jesus�s death was on a tree. In thinking back to Genesis, sin began at a tree, and now, sin would be defeated on a tree. Jesus� sacrifice wassufficient for all. Anyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. This is not just an overview of sin that He bore, but our personal sins. Any evil thought, bad habit, rude words, or sinful attitudes or actions were taken on the cross.We do not need to live in fear of eternal punishment when we have accepted this great gift through Jesus. That We Might Die to Sin and Live to Righteousness This is not a one-and-done kind of life. So many people are tempted to make a salvation decision and stop there. However, God has invited us into His kingdom work. He has a particular mission for each of us on this earth to complete. He wants us to know Him through His Word, by His Holy Spirit, and in prayer. We have full access to the Lord of all. He calls us to die to sin and live righteously. This means each day, when we are tempted to think and act sinfully, we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us live by the Spirit and not our flesh. This means that we are continually open to the conviction of theHoly Spirit. This means that we are relying on God to help us to navigate hard decisions in representing Him well. The Lord does not require perfection from us because we have already failed, this is why Jesus came. Jesus took our place. God does, however,invite us to live lives that model Christ through the Holy Spirit as a witness to those around us. By His Wounds You have Been Healed Ultimately, the worst diagnosis we could get is eternal death and separation from God. Unfortunately, this was everyone's fate. However, by Jesus� wounds, His death, and resurrection, He has healed and set us free. He is the eternal antidote. He is the Saviorof the world. When we are tempted to forget His great sacrifice and gift to us, we can ask Him to remind us what He has already healed us. He has taken away our eternal woe and dread and given us hope and peace of an eternity with Him in Heaven. We can havecalmness of mind. We can rest in God alone. Jesus� sacrifice was once and for all. Hebrews 9:26 says, �Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.� Intersecting Faith and Life:? How does thinking about Jesus� sacrifice on a tree put you in awe of God�s redemptive plan from the Garden of Eden? In what ways is God calling you to die to your sin and live for Him? How can you celebrate the eternal healing that Jesus has given you by Hiswounds? Further Reading: •Genesis 2:17 •Isaiah 53:5 •Luke 24:46-47 ---------------------- TheResurrection and the Life �I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.� (John11:25) The backdrop to this fifth �I am� declaration of Jesus in John�s gospel is the death of Lazarus four days before Christ�s arrival with His disciples in Bethany. Martha, Lazarus� sister, met Jesus and said, �If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died� (John11:21). Jesus then gave her the powerful declaration in today�s text, followed by �and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die� (v. 26). Jesus� declaration of being �the resurrection, and the life� went well beyond what He was going to do in raising Lazarus from the dead. He was proclaiming His divinity and power to raise any man from the dead and impart resurrection life. In John 5:21, we read, �For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.� While our mortal life ebbs away, the life Jesus gives to those who put their faith in Him never ends. John 5:24 says, �He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed fromdeath unto life.� The resurrection life of Jesus is not just for the afterlife but also provides hope and strength in the midst of a sin-cursed world. Paul declared that God �hath quickened us together with Christ�and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenlyplaces in Christ Jesus� (Ephesians2:5-6), and �as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life� (Romans6:4). JPT ------------------- Spiritual Dynamite - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away�all who have been called by the Lord our God. �Acts 2:39 Looking at Jesus� disciples, we would likely wonder how a ragtag group of individuals could change the world. This group of 12 included some fishermen and a tax collector.Next to Jesus, their leader was Simon Peter, who denied Christ after the words of a servant girl in the high priest�s courtyard demoralized him. The disciples� group consisted of flawed individuals, very ordinary people. So how could any of them go anywhere and preach the gospel? Jesus answered this question when Hesaid, �But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you� (Acts 1:8 NLT). The way they would do it was with power they didn�t naturally possess. It was supernatural power, a power to do something beyond what they had done before and had the naturalpower to do: the power to change the world. Later in Acts, we read how God poured out the Holy Spirit on the disciples in what we now know as the Pentecost. Addressing the crowd, Peter said, �This promise is to you,to your children, and to those far away�all who have been called by the Lord our God� (Acts 2:39 NLT). What was the promise that Peter was talking about? It�s the promise of the Holy Spirit. And when Jesus said, �You will receive power when the Holy Spiritcomes upon you,� the word He used for �power� was the Greek word dunamis. Our English word �dynamite� comes from this term. But Jesus was talking about spiritual power�the power to change our lives and the world. Therefore, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit to do what God has called usto do. The same power that set the first-century Church in motion is available to us today�the power to be witnesses, the power to share our faith, and the power to turn the world upside down. -------------------