DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 11.5.22

 Thinkon These Things “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians4:8) It’s nearly impossible these days to turn on the TV, go shopping, go out to eat, read a newspaper, go online, etc., without our minds being cluttered and our thinking infiltrated by all sorts of improper thoughts. In our text, Paul gives us guidelines for ourthinking. Let’s investigate them. True—or genuine, honest, and sincere. We should concentrate on honesty in all our dealings, for “God is true” (John3:33), and Christ said, “My record is true” (John8:14). Honest—or better, honorable toward all. Strive to “lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1Timothy 2:2). Just—or equitable. “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal” (Colossians4:1). Pure—without spot or stain. “Neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure” (1Timothy 5:22). Lovely—literally “toward love,” i.e., those things that demonstrate love or a response of love. This word only appears here in the New Testament. Of good report—that which elicits praise. Virtue—a standard of righteousness. He “hath called us to glory and virtue” (2Peter 1:3). Praise—our speech should be to “the praise of them that do well” (1Peter 2:14). Surely our lifestyle and thought patterns need adjusting as noted above, particularly when the verb tense in the command “think on these things” implies a lifelong habit—a continuous way of doing things. JDM ------------------- Bornof God “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” (1John 2:29) This is the first of seven occurrences of the phrase “born of God,” or “born of him,” in the little epistle of 1 John. If anyone wishes to know how to recognize one who has truly been “born again,” these seven descriptors are available for that purpose. The first such test, in our text, is that such a person is one “that doeth righteousness.” The second and third are found in 1 John 3:9: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” That is, he will not practice sin because God’s own nature has been implanted in him. Another evidence is genuine love. “Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1John 4:7). Still another is genuine faith in Christ, which in turn produces genuine love. “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him” (1John 5:1). Those who are truly born again will not be permanently defeated by the world. “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeththat Jesus is the Son of God?” (1John 5:4-5). Finally, “we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1John 5:18). The term “born again” is being used very loosely these days, and we need to realize that true regeneration is a permanent, life-transforming miracle accomplished by God Himself in a believer’s life. HMM ----------------- PraisingYahweh at All Times “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison….At midnight Paul and Silas prayed,and sang praises unto God.” (Acts 16:23, 25) In this world, we live every day with trouble (Job 5:7). How should believers in Christ cope with this reality? In Paul’s missionary travels recorded in Acts 16, God directed Silas and him to Philippi, where they found themselves beaten, tortured, and left for dead in a dungeon. Yet, they reacted to this trouble by singing praises to God! What enabled them to respond this way? The answer—they filtered theirdire situation through two awesome realities found in Psalm 100: “Know ye that the LORD he is God” (v. 3) and “the LORD is good” (v. 5). The full verse of Psalm 100:3 reads, “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” Paul lived life knowing that Yahweh was the potter and he was the clay, just an earthenvessel employed in the Lord’s service (2 Corinthians 4:7). Although Paul faced countless trials, he didn’t “fear” evil, for the Shepherd’s “rod and staff” comforted him (Psalm 23:4). Our Shepherd, like Paul’s, is a loving and caring Shepherd (Psalm78:13). Not only did Paul know that Yahweh is God, he also knew that “the LORD is good” (Psalm 100:5). God’s steadfast love motivates all He does. Both truths arepreceded with the following injunctions to praise God: “Make a joyful noise” (v. 1), “serve the LORD with gladness” (v. 2), “come before his presence with singing” (v. 2), “enter into his gates with thanksgiving” (v. 4), and “be thankful unto him” (v. 4). Like with Paul and Silas in prison, praise and thanksgiving should characterize all believers who truly know that Yahweh is God and Yahweh is good. CM --------------------- OurLiving Lord “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:19) We who believe on Christ have the promise of everlasting life because He lives, and we see Him by faith. Christ Himself is “our life” (Colossians 3:4), infact. He is the very sustainer of our life. He is both the “living water” (John 4:10) that is “springing up into everlasting life” (John4:14) and “the living bread which came down from heaven,” such wonderful bread “that a man may eat thereof, and not die” (John 6:50-51). Not only does Christ give us His living bread and living water, but also He provides Himself as the living way to God. “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecratedfor us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-20). He is also the solid foundation on which we build our lives, and that very foundation is vibrant with life. “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritualhouse” (1 Peter 2:4-5). Our spiritual lives are built on a living stone, nourished on living bread and living water while entering by a living way intothe presence of the living God! He “hath begotten us again unto a lively hope [same as ‘living hope’] by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1Peter 1:3-4). “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians2:20). All this is ours through our loving, living Lord! HMM ------------------- AnAcceptable Sacrifice “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1Peter 2:5) Our text instructs us that we, as a corporate church and as individuals, are designed for the purpose of offering up acceptable sacrifices to God. These are not animal sacrifices as before but “spiritual” sacrifices made “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” What kinds of spiritual sacrifices are acceptable? Prayer. An amazing scene is recorded for us in heaven, for an angel is seen at the altar offering up to God incense mingled with “the prayers of the saints” (Revelation8:4, see also 5:8). Our prayers are precious to Him. Giving. The use of our financial resources for the furtherance of His Kingdom becomes “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God” (Philippians4:18). Praise. In some way not fully comprehended by us, we can “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews13:15). Good work and sharing. “But to do good and to communicate [share] forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews13:16). Remember, we are saved entirely by God’s grace but also created specifically unto good works (Ephesians2:8-10). Ourselves. We have a distinct privilege in that we may “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is [our] reasonable service” (Romans12:1). God is a magnificent God! He can be trusted with our prayers, our resources, our praise, our works, and our lives. His perfect sacrifice has made it possible for our sacrifices to be meaningful. JDM ---------------- FallowGround “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not amongthorns.” (Jeremiah4:3) Fallow ground is ground that has been plowed and readied for sowing but then is withheld and allowed to lie useless and unproductive. God, through His prophet, had to rebuke His people not only because they had left their prepared ground unused but becausethey were actually sowing their seed on thorn-choked ground. That is, they were turning to idols and forsaking God. The word “fallow” occurs one other time in the Bible and to the same effect: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea10:12). It is poor stewardship and a bad testimony, at best, for the people of God to ignore His righteousness and fail to cultivate His grace in their lives, choosing instead the philosophies and pleasures of the ungodly world around them. Now, if the ancient Israelites had much unfruitful fallow ground in their lives, many modern Christians are still more blameworthy, for we have far greater opportunities and privileges than the people of ancient Israel. Most of all, we have the complete Word of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit, yet our lives are even more cluttered with the thorny ground of worldliness and paganism than theirs. We urgently need to break up our fallow ground, to sow righteousness and reapmercy. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians6:7-8). HMM ------------------- EternalResponsibilities “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servantsshall serve him.” (Revelation22:3) Frequently, Christians and non-Christians alike have a misconception about the nature of the coming life in heaven. We will not merely “go to heaven” and sit around in some semblance of holy laziness; we will be given jobs to do! Just what those jobs may be,or what they may require, is not specifically revealed to us, but it is abundantly clear that the kind of job, or the degree of responsibility, will be a privilege based on what we do here on Earth now. In the parable of the pounds (Luke19:11-27), the Lord Jesus illustrates judgment based on productivity. The same amount of money was given to each of the servants, and only one general instruction was issued: “Occupy till I come” (v. 13). The reward that each servant received was in directproportion to how much profit he had earned on the nobleman’s money. In the parable of the talents (Matthew25:14-30), the nobleman gave differing amounts to each of his servants, “to every man according to his several ability” (v. 15). The reward was based on efficient use of abilities, not on amount of profit produced. Both of these parables have a common thread: The rewards (analogous to our rewards when the Lord returns), whether based on their productivity or their effectiveness, were rewards of responsibility. To those servants who had proven themselves capable of leadership,the Lord delegated “authority over cities” and rulership “over many things,” assuring us that there will be some sort of social order in the age to come. Likewise we, in our present service for the Lord, are now given the opportunity to earn both God’s commendationand His future greater stewardship. HMM III ----------------- ARare Virtue - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls - Matthew 11:29 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-rare-virtue/- Listen Meekness is a quality that is lacking in many people today. It�s the opposite of being proud and arrogant. Jesus said, �Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth� (Matthew 5:5 NKJV). But what does it mean to be meek? A literal translation of the word is �power under control.� In the original language, it means riding a stallion but having control overit. It isn�t that the stallion no longer has the ability to do what it wants to do, but it has surrendered its will to the rider. That is strength under control. We once had a German shepherd we adopted from a program that trained guide dogs for the blind. He had some slight hip dysplasia, which prevented him from staying in the program,but he was a very loving, intelligent animal. One day, I took him to an outdoor mall where a lot of people walked their dogs. My dog was friendly and always approached people, but they moved out of the way. They thoughthe wanted to attack them, but he probably wanted to lick them. He had been trained since he was a puppy to be a companion. He still had power. He still had teeth and could inflict harm. But he wasn�t trained to attack. He was in love with the world. That is power under control. That is meekness. And who is a better example of meekness than Jesus, God in human form, who took the abuse and suffering of the Crucifixion? With one word, He could have wiped everyone out.But He embraced the abuse and suffering for us. Meekness results from having a correct assessment of one�s self before God. It leads one to approach others in a new way. A blessed or happy person will be a meek person. -------------------------- Are You Spiritually Hungry? - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org �Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.� �Matthew 5:6 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/are-you-spiritually-hungry/- Listen I�m amazed at how I can go from being not hungry at all to starving four minutes later. On Thanksgiving Day, for example, I can hardly wait for the big meal. And when thetime for it finally comes, I eat too fast and too much. The Bible talks about a different kind of hunger�a spiritual hunger. Jesus said, �Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled� (Matthew5:6 NKJV). A blessed or happy person will passionately desire a righteous life. God wants us to have a desperate hunger for righteousness, a real passion for spiritual things. The writer of Psalm 42 described it this way: �As the deer pants for the waterbrooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God� (verses 1�2 NKJV). When the prodigal son was hungry, the Bible tells us that he turned to his father: �But when he came to himself, he said, �How many of my father�s hired servants have breadenough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father�� (Luke 15:17�18 NKJV). In the same way, only God can satisfy the spiritual thirst deep within our souls. Jesus said, �I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believesin Me shall never thirst� (John 6:35 NKJV). Only God can satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. Do you starve for a holy life? Do you hunger for the best that God has in store for you? Here�s a little secret you need to know: If you live for happiness, you�ll never find it. But if you instead channel your energy into being holy, you�ll be happy. Holy peopleare happy people because happiness is a fringe benefit of holiness. ------------------- Humbled and Healed - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He wasalso a mighty man of valor, but a leper. �2 Kings 5:1 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/humbled-and-healed/- Listen The great Syrian general Naaman was famous. He was celebrated. But he also had leprosy, and at that time, leprosy was incurable. However, Naaman heard about a prophet in Israelnamed Elisha, whom God had used to heal people. Naaman made the journey to meet with Elisha, no doubt expecting that as soon as he rolled in with his entourage, the prophet would come to greet him and promptly heal him. However, when Naaman arrived at Elisha�s house, Elisha sent his servant with a message for the general: �Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restoredto you, and you shall be clean� (2 Kings 5:10 NKJV). This offended Namaan. He effectively thought, �What? He didn�t even come out to greet me! I�m going home. We have better rivers in Syria.� But then he realized that he didn�thave many options, and he decided he should give it a try. Why was Namaan reluctant? Immersing himself in the Jordan River meant that he would have to remove his beautiful breastplate. He would have to lay aside his royal robes. Hewould have to take off the helmet that he hid behind. Basically, he would have to expose the fact that he had leprosy. And that would be humiliating and embarrassing. Naaman was a proud man, a military man. But he also was someone who needed to humble himself in the sight of God. So Naaman went down to the Jordan and immersed himself in it one time. Nothing happened. He immersed himself a second time, and again nothing happened. Nothing changed eitherafter the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth time he immersed himself. But when he came up from the water the seventh time, he was healed. That�s because he humbled himself and did what God wanted him to do. Naaman had to see his real condition before God. We need to do the same. -------------------- Righteousness and Mercy - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org �Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.� �Matthew 5:7 What�s your attitude toward someone who has sinned? Whether it�s someone who doesn�t know the Lord at all or a Christian who has fallen, how do you feel toward the person? If your reaction is that you can�t believe they did what they did, and if you�ve thought, �What a loser! I thank God I would never do something like that!� then it tells mesomething about you. On the other hand, if your heart is broken, if you�re concerned for the person�s situation and want to help them get back on their feet again, it tells me that you�re a godlyperson (see Galatians 6:1 NKJV). A happy person will be forgiving and merciful. Jesus said in the Beatitudes, �Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy� (Matthew 5:7 NKJV). The statements ofJesus in the Beatitudes have a specific sequence; one leads to another, which leads to another, and so on. First, we see ourselves as we are. Then we mourn over our condition. Next, we become meek and empty ourselves, and we find a new hunger for God Himself. Then we become peopleof mercy. Because we have experienced mercy, we want to extend it to others. A litmus test of our real condition before God is whether we have gone through these steps. The more righteous someone is, the more merciful they will be. And the more sinful someone is, the harsher and more critical they will be. Show me a person who�s always condemningand nitpicking and I�ll show you a person who�s not walking closely with God. If you�re poor in spirit, if you�ve mourned over your condition and know what it is to be meek, if you hunger and thirst for God, then you will be merciful. And if someone isn�t merciful, the question is whether they know anything about the mercy of God themselves. ---------------------- Rootof Bitterness �Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up troubleyou, and thereby many be defiled.� (Hebrews 12:15) Bitterness and a bitter spirit should never characterize a person who has experienced the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. No matter how seriously one may have been wronged, if he has known God�s forgiving grace for his own wrongdoings, he should manifestthat same grace in his life toward others, even though they do not merit it (for neither did he merit God�s forgiving grace himself). Bitterness is a characteristic of the ungodly �whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness� (Romans 3:14). A Christian must never try to rationalize itas �righteous indignation� or to think that certain injustices give him the �right� to be bitter and resentful. �If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly,sensual, devilish� (James 3:14-15). Rooted bitterness will soon �spring up,� not only robbing the bitter believer of joy and true fruitfulness, but bearingbitter fruit whereby many others will �be defiled.� The antidote, of course, is never to �fail of the grace of God.� That is, we need to be �looking diligently,� moment by moment, at the wonderful grace of God by which we were saved through faith and in which we continue to live each day. Therefore, �let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ�s sake hath forgiven you� (Ephesians4:31-32). Otherwise, we not only hurt both ourselves and others, but we also grieve �the holy Spirit of God� (v. 30). HMM