DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 1.28.23

Decisive Moments - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” —Luke 9:62 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/decisive-moments/- Listen As we are looking forward in life, it is so important to put our hand to the plow and serve the Lord. You might say, “I’m going to wait until I get a little bit older before I really start serving Jesus. Maybe when I’m around 95, I’ll really get serious. I want to have a littlefun first. I still want to do some things that interest me personally. I believe in Jesus and want to follow Him, but I will get serious later.” No, you need to do it now. Jesus said, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62 NKJV). To appreciate the point Jesus was making, we have to understand the land in Israel. Putting your hand to the plow meant moving at the decisive moment. It meant moving whenit rains. Between May and October there is hardly any rain in Israel. The ground is dry and hard, and everyone would wait for the first rain. First-century farmers didn’t have the advancedirrigation systems that we have now. So when the rain came, it was a decisive moment. Whether it was 3:00 PM or 3:00 AM, once it started raining, farmers had to go out with their plows and seed while the groundwas still moist. And with their eyes on the furrow, they went forward. In the same way, we must be aware of the danger and tragedy of the unseized moment. God will bring opportunities into our lives to go out and make a difference, and we haveto seize them. If we wait or if we’re not paying attention, we might miss them. And we might become so set in our ways that we’ll have no interest whatsoever in the things of God. Put your hand to the plow now—and don’t look back. ------------------------- Take the Next Step - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. �1 Peter 2:2 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/take-the-next-step/- Listen It�s always amazing to watch a baby grow. Babies start with milk for nourishment, then move to baby food, and then are fed digestible adult food. And eventually they graduateto feeding themselves. Growing up is a process, and we must nurture babies to maturity. In the same way, when we come to Christ, we�re spiritual babies. The apostle Peter wrote, �As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby� (1Peter 2:2 NKJV). At first, we need spiritual milk. Then we move to baby food, and then we consume food served in bite-sized pieces, which is called a sermon. But the goal is to learn how to feed ourselves and prepare our own spiritual food, which means that we learn to study the Bible for ourselves. However, some Christians have never taken the next step. They haven�t grown up spiritually. Although they�ve been Christians for quite some time, they never have really matured. The writer of Hebrews said, �Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentancefrom dead works and of faith toward God� (6:1 NKJV). It�s called growing up spiritually. Paul wrote that God gave us leaders in the church to help us mature and to equip us for the work of ministry. But he also said, �We should no longer be children, tossed toand fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head�Christ� (Ephesians 4:14�15 NKJV). There is more to living the Christian life than receiving forgiveness for our sins and the assurance of Heaven. Are you growing up spiritually? ------------------------------- TheFace of Jesus Christ �And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.� (Revelation22:4) This is the last reference in the Bible to the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a glorious promise it is, with its assurance that all His servants will finally see Him face to face! Although they give us no specific description of His physical appearance(the only description of His appearance is in Revelation 1:13-16), the gospel writers do frequently mention His face. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John saw how �his face did shine as the sun� (Matthew17:2) as He spoke of His forthcoming death. Shortly after this, �he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem� (Luke9:51) to meet His death. A few days after His entrance into Jerusalem, He was delivered into the hands of wicked men who took delight in desecrating that face which, in loving grief, had just wept over the city and its indifference to God. But first, in the garden just before His arrest,He �fell on his face� in agonizing prayer (Matthew26:39). Then the Roman soldiers began �to cover his face� (Mark14:65) and to �spit in his face� (Matthew26:67), and finally �they struck him on the face� (Luke22:64). In fact, they abused Him so severely that �his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men� (Isaiah52:14). But when He comes again, the Christ-rejecting world will cry out to the mountains to �fall on us, and hide us from the face...of the Lamb...from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away� (Revelation6:16; 20:11). All the redeemed, on the other hand, will rejoice forever in �the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ� (2Corinthians 4:6). HMM ------------------- Loquacity �He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.� (Proverbs17:27) The sin of loquacity (that is, talkativeness or chattering) is one of those �little foxes� that can �spoil the vines� of an otherwise godly lifestyle (Songof Solomon 2:15), and the Scriptures frequently caution us against it. For example, Solomon in his God-given wisdom warned as follows: �In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise� (Proverbs10:19). In fact, Solomon frequently returns to this theme. �Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few� (Ecclesiastes5:2). The apostles in the New Testament also stress how important it is for Christians to control their tongues. Too much talk can easily lead to gossiping or criticizing or even coarseness in speech. James reminds us to be �swift to hear, slow to speak, slow towrath,� for he says, �The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity...set on fire of hell� (James1:19; 3:6). �Study [that is, diligently strive] to be quiet,� Paul says (1Thessalonians 4:11), and avoid �foolish talking� (Ephesians5:4). When we do speak, our words should center on �that which is good to the use of edifying,� �always with grace, seasoned with salt� (Ephesians4:29; Colossians 4:6). The Lord Jesus Christ Himself warned against this sin of talkativeness. �But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, andby thy words thou shalt be condemned� (Matthew12:36-37). Such standards may seem impossible to meet, but we should always strive to meet them, for Christ is our example, and �hereunto were ye called...that ye should follow his steps� (1Peter 2:21). HMM ------------------- God'sSovereignty Over All �So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carryingaway into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.� (Matthew1:17) This verse follows a detailed genealogy leading to the family in which Christ was born in Joseph�s lineage. When we look at these verses, we should be thankful for God�s sovereignty over the affairs of humans. First, as Matthew points out, through God�s plan He ordained that exactly 14 generations should separate four key pivotal points in biblical history: 1) the giving of the promise of God�s seed (Christ) to Abraham, 2) the messianically prophetic rule of KingDavid, 3) the prophetic period of time until Judah�s destruction and exile to Babylon, and 4) the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. The second thing we notice is that this lineage, while having a number of godly parents, also contains wicked and evil sons. But at the end of this list of names comes the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even though Christ is the eternal God, He humbled Himselfto become a man, lived a sinless life, and became our prophesied redemption. His genealogy is another good example of how God uses the failings of evil men to bring about His purposes. In the same way, God demonstrated His goodness in the life of the patriarch Joseph, who had been sold into slavery, falsely accused and imprisoned, and then made the second-highest ruler in Egypt. With hindsight, Joseph said, �Ye thought evil against me; butGod meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive� (Genesis50:20). JPT -------------------- Hear,O My People �Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me....open thy mouthwide, and I will fill it.� (Psalm81:8, 10) This psalm was evidently used as an introduction to one of Israel�s feasts and begins on a note of joy (vv. 1-4) and a reflection on God�s sovereign provision for the people (vv. 5-7). But then it merges into a warning not to leave the God of their fathers,sternly reminding them of the commandment �there shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god� (v. 9). Such rebellion grieves God. �So I gave them up unto their own hearts� lust: and they walked in their own counsels� (v. 12). When we will not go His way, He does not abandon us but does allow us to go our way. He permits us to learn hard lessons by our own folly,lessons that He would rather have taught us gently while in fellowship with Him. �Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries� (vv. 13-14). He reminds us that He is capable of meeting all our needs, of every sort. �I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it� (v. 10). The imagery used here is that of a mother bird feeding her otherwisehelpless young. They are dependent on her for all their needs, even life itself. Jehovah invites us to wholeheartedly trust Him for all our needs. His reservoir is boundless; how much He gives to any one individual depends only on how much we allow Him to give. He adjures us to open our mouths wide so that He can abundantly fill them. May God develop in us not only �wide mouths� but also the faith to trust Him for abundant provision. JDM ---------------------- PowerOver Troubled Circumstances �God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear.� (Psalm46:1-2) Psalm 46 may have been written after Yahweh�s great military victory over Sennacherib in his failed attempt to besiege Jerusalem (Isaiah37:21-37). Trusting God resonates throughout this psalm, encompassing the physical (Psalm46:2-3), the political (vv. 4-7), and the international (vv. 8-11). Verse 1 captures Yahweh�s protective care, harnessing the words refuge, strength, and presence. Our refuge�a refuge paints imagery of an impenetrable fortress surrounded by fortified walls (vv. 7, 11). �The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe� (Proverbs18:10). When our world goes topsy-turvy, we must trust in His providence (Psalm62:7). Our strength�our ever-present weakness is swapped with Yahweh�s power. �But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength� (Isaiah40:31). God is exchanging our feeble weakness for His superior strength. Our presence�Yahweh is always present (Psalm73:23-24). Yahweh takes us by the right hand and leads us with His precious Word, especially when we find ourselves in places of trouble. �Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me� (Psalm23:4). Finally, look at Job when he was faced with hardships. He cried, �The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD� (Job1:21). When your world is turned upside-down, God is your refuge, strength, and ever-present help. While immersed in a troubling trial, my dear friend boldly claimed, �My adventure buddy, please be still and know that He is still God!� CM ----------------- Daily Devotion: A Prerequisite for Discipleship - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. �Luke 14:26 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-prerequisite-for-discipleship/- Listen The popularity of Jesus was exploding. Everybody wanted to be near Him. But He could see there were a lot of individuals who didn�t understand what it really meant to be Hisdisciples. He knew that a lot of them were nothing more than fair-weather followers. One day Jesus turned to the adoring masses and laid out the criteria for what it means to be His disciples. His words still ring true for us today. These perhaps were among the most solemn and searching words that ever fell from the lips of Jesus Christ. And this is the only time He explained the severity of His termsfor disciples. He began, �If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple� (Luke14:26 NKJV). A statement like that sounds shocking to us today. Why is Jesus asking us to hate members of our families and even our own lives? In the light of the New Testament, Jesus was not demanding an unqualified hatred. After all, He would not command us to honor our fathers and mothers and then tell us to hatethem. Nor would He command husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and then tell them to hate their wives. And He wouldn�t tell His followers to love their enemies and then hate them. Jesus essentially was saying, �Are you willing to be more than just a fair-weather friend?� If you really want to be His disciple and live the Christian life to its fullest, then you must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else. In what seems to be a paradoxical statement, there is very clear logic: by loving God more than anyone else, we develop a new love for others that we have never known. --------------------- A Prerequisite for Discipleship - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. �Luke 14:26 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-prerequisite-for-discipleship/- Listen The popularity of Jesus was exploding. Everybody wanted to be near Him. But He could see there were a lot of individuals who didn�t understand what it really meant to be Hisdisciples. He knew that a lot of them were nothing more than fair-weather followers. One day Jesus turned to the adoring masses and laid out the criteria for what it means to be His disciples. His words still ring true for us today. These perhaps were among the most solemn and searching words that ever fell from the lips of Jesus Christ. And this is the only time He explained the severity of His termsfor disciples. He began, �If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple� (Luke14:26 NKJV). A statement like that sounds shocking to us today. Why is Jesus asking us to hate members of our families and even our own lives? In the light of the New Testament, Jesus was not demanding an unqualified hatred. After all, He would not command us to honor our fathers and mothers and then tell us to hatethem. Nor would He command husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and then tell them to hate their wives. And He wouldn�t tell His followers to love their enemies and then hate them. Jesus essentially was saying, �Are you willing to be more than just a fair-weather friend?� If you really want to be His disciple and live the Christian life to its fullest, then you must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else. In what seems to be a paradoxical statement, there is very clear logic: by loving God more than anyone else, we develop a new love for others that we have never known. -------------------------- TheSummary of Divine Grace �Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant ofhis heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truthto Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.� (Micah7:18-20) The lengthy passage above is quoted in its entirety because, coming as it does at the end of Micah�s dual prophecy of imminent judgment of the sinful, rebellious nation of Judah and of the coming glorious reign of the Lord, it sums up the work of God�s gracein dealing with iniquity. Each of the three verses quoted describe a part. Such grace: Pardons iniquity (v. 18). As sinners, we have the assurance of mercy instead of judgment. God pardons our iniquity, passes by our transgressions, and retains not His anger. Why? �Because he delighteth in mercy.� Subdues iniquity (v. 19). As forgiven sinners who have tasted of His grace and mercy, we have assurance of deliverance in time of temptation. Why? Because �he will have compassion upon us.� Performs what it promises (v. 20). When circumstances surround and difficulties discourage, we have confidence in the inheritance of covenant promise, just as Jacob and Abraham did. Why? Because �thou hast sworn,� and God�s own reputation is at stake. Israel refused to respond to the warnings of the prophets to turn from their sinful ways. In doing so, they missed God�s great blessing and reaped His wrath. May God grant us the wisdom and conviction to accept His mercy and compassion and to believe He isstill trustworthy regarding His promises. JDM ------------------------- TheCrucified Life - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. �Luke 14:27 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-crucified-life/- Listen It can sound quite daunting and very unappealing to say, �I�m taking up the cross.� If we hear someone say they�re living the crucified life, we might think, �I don�t want to hang out with that person. They�re not going to be any fun. They�re never goingto laugh or want to do anything enjoyable. I don�t want to live like that. The crucified life sounds restrictive and oppressive.� But that isn�t the way it is. In fact, it�s the very opposite of the truth. Jesus said, �And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple� (Luke 14:27 NKJV). A disciple must take up the cross and follow Jesus. There are people today who say they are trying to find themselves. Some will abandon their spouses and children because they want to go find themselves. Jesus also said, �He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it� (Matthew 10:39 NKJV). Jesus was saying that if you want to find yourself,then lose yourself. If you want to find the purpose of life, meaning, and even personal happiness, then lose yourself. You come to God and say, �Father, here is my life. Here are my plans, aspirations, and dreams, along with my weaknesses, shortcomings, and sins. I offer it all to You. I believethat Your plans are better than mine.� Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, �For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future anda hope� (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV). God�s plans for us are good, so we can dedicate our lives to Him. If we will live the crucified life, if we will take up the cross, then we will find life. ----------------------------- Losing Yourself and Finding God�s Best - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. �Luke 14:33 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/losing-yourself-and-finding-gods-best/- Listen When Jesus said, �Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple,� did He mean that Christians must take a vow of poverty and give away every possession? No. Jesus was saying that we need to surrender our claim to our possessions. It simply means that we understand the ID tags on all that we have are not ours; they�re God�s. It means that you recognize it is the Lord�s family that He has given you. It is the Lord�s life that you are the steward of. They are the Lord�s resources that you are spending.It is the Lord�s house that He has given to you. The Bible says, �Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought ata price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God�s� (1 Corinthians 6:19�20 NKJV). We surrender our claim and say, �Lord, it belongs to You. What do You want me to do?� Then we pursue the path that He has for us. The apostle Paul summed it up well when he said, �I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in theflesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me� (Galatians 2:20 NKJV). The crucified life really means one thing: dying to self. It means losing yourself and, in the process, finding yourself. Through death you find life. What it doesn�t mean is that we will be miserable and unable to live life to its fullest. It means the opposite. When we discover God�s plan for us, life becomes what it wasmeant to be. ------------------------------- WhoIs Wise? �O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.� (Psalm107:1) Psalm 107 is eminently practical, pointing our hearts to humble instruction. The psalmist writes to the spiritually thirsty so that God�s children will ask the important question �Who is wise?� The answer is the one who pays careful attention to the steadfastlove (mentioned six times for emphasis) of Yahweh (v. 43). The centerpiece of Psalm 107 includes a set of four vignettes describing predicaments and the sure guarantee of divine intervention. The first is travelers thirsty and lost, wandering in a solitary desert (vv. 4-9). Second is prisoners rotting in jail, leftto die (vv. 10-16). Third, fools knocking on death�s door because of their sinful lifestyles (vv. 17-22). And fourth, seasoned sailors caught in a storm, at their wits end and nearing shipwreck (vv. 23-32). Look at this imbedded template (the four p�s: problem, prayer, pardon, praise) as believers are pictured in each of these illustrations. When one has a spiritual problem, he should first cry out to our Creator in prayer. Oftentimes, we instead first reach outto friends, social media, or the �fixers� of this life. We can be so unwise, behaving as practicing atheists. Indeed, the Lord always hears our cry, and He never turns away the spiritually contrite but always pardons the humble. And when our Lord answers,consider the exhortation to praise Yahweh�repeated six times for wisdom�s reminder. The bottom line is whom do we have in heaven but God? We need to call out to Him in prayer. When we do, He hears us and answers, bringing Himself the ultimate glory. His mercy endures forever. CM ------------------------- Lord of the Living and the Dead Romans 14:7-12 In the New Testament, Lord is the most frequently used title for Jesus Christ. Although we rarely use this term in our daily lives, we are all quite familiar with another word: boss. That is basically what Lord means�one possessing authority, power, and control. The Word of God describes Jesus as the head of the church, the ruler over all creation, and the Lord of lords and King of kings (Col.1:15-18; Rev. 3:14; 17:14). The realm of Christ's reign covers everything that happens in heaven and on the earth. No one�not even those who deny His existence�can be free of His rule or outside His sphere of authority. Although Satan tries to convince us that liberty is found in doingwhat we want, true freedom is acquired only through submission to Christ's loving lordship. Even death cannot release anyone from the authority of God's Son. He is Lord of both the living and the dead. All people must decide to either yield or rebel against Him, but they have the opportunity to make this choice only while they are still living.After death, they will acknowledge Christ's lordship through accountability to Him. If we have not bowed the knee to Jesus in life, we will be forced to bend it in the judgment. Have you submitted to Christ's rule over your life? His authority causes anger or fear in individuals who have not yet yielded to Him, but those who have experienced His lovingkindness, trusted in His goodness, and surrendered to His authority take comfortin knowing Him as the Lord of their lives.