DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 2.25.23

 Graceupon Grace “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” (John1:16) We can never exhaust the riches of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we receive Him as Savior, we receive “grace for grace”—that is, one grace after another, grace upon grace. In the first place, we have received His saving grace: “For by grace are ye saved” (Ephesians2:8). We also receive justifying grace, because we are “justified freely by his grace” (Romans3:24), having the very righteousness of Christ credited to our account. It is then standing grace, enabling us to stand confidently in our grace-given salvation. “We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Romans5:2). That same boundless grace soon becomes working grace and serving grace. “By the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1Corinthians 15:10). “Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews12:28). Yet, there is more, for we need grace for times of testing and opposition as well as for serving. When such times come, “he giveth more grace” (James4:6). “My grace is sufficient for thee,” He says, “for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2Corinthians 12:9). He gives strengthening grace and sufficient grace for every need. The grace of Christ is thus truly abounding grace, for “God is able to make all grace abound toward you” (2Corinthians 9:8). It is even giving grace, and we should “abound in this grace also” (2Corinthians 8:7). Therefore, we should continually “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2Peter 3:18). HMM --------------------------- TrueWorship “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John4:24) The word “worship” is used frequently today in Christian circles—in addition to worship services, we now have worship choruses, worship teams, worship manuals, worship seminars, etc. Often, however, the basic meaning of worship is misunderstood. In the original Hebrew and Greek, the words translated “worship” mean simply to “bow down”! The Hebrew is so translated the first time it is used. When Abraham saw God and two angels approaching, “he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself towardthe ground” (Genesis18:2). That is, he recognized God’s “worthy-ship” and was submitting himself to do His will. The last time “worship” is used is when John “fell down to worship before the feet of the angel.” He was corrected by the angel with these words: “See thou do it not:...worship God” (Revelation22:8-9). Only God, our Creator and Savior, is worthy of true worship, and that worship involves simply bowing down in submission to do His will. That is why it must be “in spirit and in truth.” Our spirit must submit to God who is Spirit, and this can only be in truth. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus concerning the Spirit whom He would send to indwell His followers: “When he, the Spirit of truth,is come, he will guide you into all truth:...He shall glorify me” (John16:13-14). He would do this by revealing God’s Word to the writers of the New Testament, just as He had for the Old (2Peter 1:21). In His prayer to the Father, recorded by John, Christ prayed for us, saying, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John17:17). True worship is simply submitting to and doing God’s will as made known by His written Word and the guidance of His Holy Spirit, thereby glorifying Christ. HMM ----------------------- Emblemsof the Holy Spirit “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were openedunto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.” (Matthew3:16) There are several beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. The first is that of the dove, here mentioned in the very first New Testament reference to the Spirit. It was the dove, of course, that first assured Noah that the earth had risenout of the death waters of the great Flood, just as Christ now rose up out of the baptismal waters to receive the dove-like Spirit. The water itself is also an emblem of the Spirit in its cleansing efficacy and life-sustaining virtue. Jesus said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John3:5). This could also be translated “born of water, even the Spirit.” When He promised “rivers of living water” to those who believed on Him, “this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive” (John7:38-39). Then, there is the wind: sometimes a gentle breeze, sometimes a mighty hurricane, and this also symbolizes the Holy Spirit. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: sois every one that is born of the Spirit” (John3:8). John the Baptist said, “I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh....he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke3:16). The Holy Spirit is God; “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews12:29). The Spirit of God is a gentle dove and living water; He is the blowing wind and a consuming fire; He is our “Comforter” (John14:26), “the Spirit of truth” (John14:17), and “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans8:2). HMM ------------------ Watchand Pray “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.” (Nehemiah4:9) Prayer is a powerful weapon, but the wall-builders in Jerusalem also were careful to set a watch against their enemies “with their swords, their spears, and their bows” (Nehemiah4:13). They were ready to fight if necessary, but at the same time they were confident that “our God shall fight for us” (Nehemiah4:20). This is a sound biblical principle. God expects us to make appropriate use of whatever physical means are available for a needed ministry rather than to rely simply on prayer and divine miracle. The Lord rebuked those who came asking Him to perform a miraclemerely to test Him or to see something curious. “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe” (John4:48). Neither does He condone prayer in lieu of work, for “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James2:17). The same holds for prayer in lieu of obedience. As Joshua was praying for deliverance from the enemy, “the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenantwhich I commanded them” (Joshua7:10-11). But as prayer without working is dead, so watching and working without prayer are futile. “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not” (James4:2). “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm127:1). The biblical principle is not only to watch or only to pray. Both are essential. “Watch and pray,” said Jesus, “that ye enter not into temptation” (Matthew26:41). HMM ---------------------- Faithin All the Ages “And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, andof Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets.” (Hebrews11:32) Hebrews 11 is a thrilling catalog of the faithful servants of God in all the ancient ages. There were Abel, Enoch, and Noah before the Flood; then Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in the patriarchal age; followed by Moses, Joshua, and Rahab in the timeof the exodus and conquest. Finally, today’s verse summarizes the periods of the judges (Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthae), the kings (Samuel, David), and the prophets. All these were men and women of great faith, though each had to endure great testing. They, as the writer says, “stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword...had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreoverof bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder...destitute, afflicted, tormented” (Hebrews11:33-37). In every age, men and women of faith were more often than not despised and persecuted by the world (even by the religious world!), but the Bible notes, parenthetically, that it was they “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews11:38). In God’s sight, they all “obtained a good report through faith” (Hebrews11:39), and this is worth more than all the world, for it is the entrance into a far better and eternal world. Note that faith is not a sentimental wishfulness but a strong confidence in God and His Word, through Jesus Christ, who is Himself “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews12:2). Like those of past ages, we can also “run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews12:1) through the faith He offers us. HMM ------------------------- WhyWe Need Worship - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them —Matthew 18:20 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/why-we-need-worship/- Listen I came to Christ initially because I saw a bunch of Christians worshipping the Lord on my high school campus. I was just a kid who was into drugs, and I had no direction inlife. But one day as I was walking across my high school campus, I noticed a group of Christians sitting on the front lawn and singing songs. The very weirdness of it interested me. Why were they singing songs about God at lunchtime on the front lawn? I sat down far enough away to avoid looking like I was one ofthem. But I made sure that I was close enough to eavesdrop on what they were doing. And as I watched them sing their simple songs about God, I was moved by it. Something extraordinary happens when God’s people get together and sing His praises. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in themidst of them” (Matthew 18:20 NKJV). Jesus wasn’t saying that God only shows up when people worship. God is omnipresent; He is everywhere. But God manifests His presence in a special way when His people liftup His name in praise and worship. The first-century church was a worshipping church. Acts 2 tells us “they worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their mealswith great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people” (verses 46–47 NLT). It is a powerful testimony to the world when a Christian can praise God despite hardship. Christians face the same hardships that nonbelievers face. But when they see us praisingGod despite adverse circumstances, when they see us honoring the Lord, that is a powerful testimony. Our worship can be a witness. ------------------------------ Why We Need to Share Our Faith - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. �Proverbs 11:25 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/why-we-need-to-share-our-faith/- Listen Show me a church that doesn�t have a flow of new believers coming in, and I will show you a church that is stagnating. New believers help older believers stay on their feetspiritually. New believers are the lifeblood of the church. The Great Commission not only involves going out and preaching the gospel. It also includes making disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:19�20). This means that to the best of our ability, we seek to lead people to Christ and help them grow spiritually. New believers will ask you questions about things you�ve forgotten.They�ll motivate you to study your Bible as never before. And, of course, newer believers need older believers to temper them, keep them strong, and help them develop a good foundation in their faith. I have found that as I give out to others, God replenishes me. When you think of someone else, when you share the Word of God with them and encourage them, you will find thatGod refreshes you in the process. The first-century church understood this. It was an evangelistic church. As people watched these believers learning, caring, worshipping, and praying, it drew them in. TheBible tells us that �each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved� (Acts 2:47 NLT). And they helped young Christians grow in the faith. There was continual evangelism in the early church, and there was no apology for it. This is the church that turned their world upside down. Yet it seems to me that nowadays, the world is turning the church upside down. It seems to me that the world impacts us more than we impact the world because we are ashamedto be the church. ---------------------------- Johnthe Baptist and Jesus �There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of theLight, that all men through him might believe.� (John1:6-7) John the Baptist was, according to Christ Himself, the greatest man who had ever lived up to that time (Matthew11:11). As great as he was, however, there is a striking contrast between himself and the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said that John �was a burning and a shining light� (John5:35), but he was not �the true Light� (1:9). The two Greek words used depict something like a candle in John�s case and a brilliant light such as the sun for Christ. Similarly, John was a great �voice of one crying in the wilderness� (v. 23), but Jesus Christ was �the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God� (v. 1). John �came for a witness� (v. 7), bearing witness to the light and to the truth, but JesusChrist was Himself incarnate truth (14:6). Some even thought John was the Messiah, but he said, �I am not� (1:20). John�s coming was prophesied 400 years before: �Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me� (Malachi3:1). John was the divinely sent messenger, but Christ was the One whose way he came to prepare. John was �a man sent from God� (John1:6), but when Christ came, John �saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God� (John1:34). Both were called to baptize, but there was a great difference. John said, �I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire� (Luke3:16). John was a mighty man of God, but when Christ finally came, John could only say, �He must increase, but I must decrease� (John3:30). HMM -------------------------- It�s Time to Change Course - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? �Psalm 85:6 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/its-time-to-change-course/- Listen The United States of America is at a crossroads. Our nation is unraveling before our very eyes because we have rejected what God says in His Word. The closest parallel totoday that I can think of would be the 1960s and early 1970s. I was born in 1952. Elvis was still singing, Marilyn Monroe was on the screen, and Ike was president. Of course, decades have come and gone since then, but when I look atthe young generation of today, it reminds me a lot of what was happening during my youth. We have a drug epidemic sweeping our nation. We have 300 fentanyl deaths every day. This drug revolution started in the 1960s, propagated by the mentality of turn on, tunein, drop out. We basically smoked a lot of marijuana and took LSD. Ironically, those are also the two most popular drugs right now. Marijuana use is up, so much so that more people smoke pot than cigarettes. And in the wake of many stateslegalizing it, experts have warned of a cannabis use disorder that causes psychosis and addiction. Now add social media to all these things our young people are dealing with, and it�s like pouring gasoline on a fire. It amplifies everything. Self-harm among young peopleis up 334 percent. The suicide rate in the United States has increased 30 percent since 2000 and has tripled for young girls. This generation needs help. As believers, we should commit to doing anything we can to change this course, call people to Christ, and pray for a mighty spiritual awakening to sweep our nation and beyond. Now, we don�t decide when a revival happens. God does. We can�t organize it, but we can agonize for it in prayer. We can get our hearts ready. Revival starts with you. Itstarts with me. It starts with us as the church. And it begins right where we are. ----------------------------------- TheCure for Spiritual Weariness �For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faintin your minds.� (Hebrews12:3) Faith in Christ does not make one immune to spiritual weariness and faintness of mind. This condition may arise from frustration at our own natures, our inability to love God as we ought, to pray effectively, to understand the Scriptures, or to bear fruit forHim. We may feel that our best efforts to represent God in our community have been of no avail and very few show by their lives that our witness and ministry have been effective. Sometimes we may question why God does not choose to favor all those who follow Him with material blessings and pleasant circumstances, but instead, at times, the wicked prosper. Looking at the tide of evil sweeping our world can leave us faint and weary. But the answer to our dilemma is Christ! Reflection on Him will re-energize even the most discouraged saint, for He �endured such contradiction [or opposition] of sinners� (today�s verse), was victorious, and now promises to lead us to similar victory (see Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16, for example). It will help us to persevere if we notice how He endured, �who, when he was reviled, reviled not again� (1Peter 2:23), and that He endured it all, not just for Himself or just for His followers, but also for us, who, �when we were enemies [of Christ], we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son� (Romans5:10). The so-called Hall of Fame of Faith (Hebrews11) immediately precedes today�s verse. Reflection on the testimonies of those faithful and victorious warriors, coupled with our example of Christ, will make our greatest burden seem light and should spur us on to even more effective and sacrificial labor.JDM ---------------------------- It�sTime for Another Jesus Revolution - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation. �Joel 1:3 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/its-time-for-another-jesus-revolution/- Listen Some years ago, I was having a conversation with Pastor Chuck Smith, who has been called the father of the Jesus Movement. He was a man whom God used, someone who was willingto take a risk. And he was at the epicenter of this Great Awakening. I asked Pastor Chuck if he thought we would ever see another Jesus Movement. �Greg,� he said, �I�m not sure if we�re desperate enough.� That was awhile ago. And I think we now may be desperate enough to start seriously praying about it. The psalmist prayed, �Won�t you revive us again, so your people can rejoicein you?� (Psalm 85:6 NLT). Maybe you�re thinking, �Well, that was then. This is now.� It�s our responsibility to pass our faith on to the next generation. Speaking through the prophet Joel, God said, �Tell your children about it in the years to come, and letyour children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation� (Joel 1:3 NLT). Our prayer should be �Lord, do it again.� My generation has had its day, and now it�s time for the next generation to have their own spiritual awakening. Amazingly, the Jesus Movement was not a political revolution, although some called for that (and some are calling for it today). It was not a moral revolution. It was a JesusRevolution, as Time magazine called it. They recognized it was more than a movement. The word revolution means �upheaval,� �change.� It means �turning around.� And what are we returning to? We�re returning to New Testament Christianity, to the faith the Lordgave us, practiced by the early church. To his eternal credit, Pastor Chuck Smith stepped out of his comfort zone, and it was an explosive result. Today we need another spiritual awakening. We need another JesusRevolution. --------------------------------------- ByHis Doing �But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,and redemption.� (1Corinthians 1:30) In this one verse we find described four aspects of Christ�s work on our behalf. As we look at each one, let us first note that it is �of him,� literally �by his doing,� that we are in Christ Jesus, who �is made� or �who became� these things to us and for us. Wisdom of God: This is the preferred rendering. Paul was writing to the church at Corinth (a Greek city). The Greeks were infatuated with wisdom, but Paul declared Christ Jesus to be the �wisdom of God.� Such wisdom is likewise imparted to believers(v. 24), while �the foolishness of God is wiser than men� (v. 25). Righteousness: Christ, being �made� righteousness, becomes an all-sufficient righteousness to us. This imputed rightness before God gives us a new standing before Him, permitting us access to Him, peace with Him, and ultimate glory with Him. Sanctification: In Christ, we not only have this righteous standing, we are assured of a holy state as well. Through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we know that our lives will be constantly molded into Christ-likeness. Redemption: Christ is made redemption for us, and in its fullest definition, this is His final goal. Through His redemptive work, we have been completely delivered from the power of sin and will one day be delivered from the presence of sin. The introductory phrase �of him� or �by his doing� is emphatic in the Greek text. When we see what He has done, we realize just how helpless we were and how strongly He has acted on our behalf. �He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord� (v. 31). JDM ------------------------------ ThatMeans Us - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive theirsins and restore their land. �2 Chronicles 7:14 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/that-means-us/- Listen When we look at the breakdown in our culture, we�re quick to point the finger at Hollywood or the politicians in Washington, DC. They may all play a role in it to some degree.But when God sees the breakdown of a nation, He doesn�t point His finger at the White House. He points it at His house. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says, �Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hearfrom heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land� (nlt). Of course, we gravitate toward the last part of the verse that talks about restoring our land. But let�s notice that at the beginning of this verse, God says, �If my people. . .� That means you. That means me. Yes, there are people doing evil, horrible things today. But what about us? Do we need to humble ourselves and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways? According to Scripture, that is the prescription for revival. During the Jesus Revolution, the Holy Spirit was at work. There was a sense of expectancy in the church services. No one was late for church. There was a sense of anticipationabout what God was going to do. And this is the same Holy Spirit that set the first-century church in motion. God�s Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives. The question is, do we want Him to work? The Bible says, �Do not quench the Spirit� (1 Thessalonians 5:19 NKJV). Sometimes God�s Holy Spirit will nudge us to do a certain thing or go to a certain place, and we�ll say no. That is quenching the Spirit. Don�t do that. If we want anotherspiritual awakening, then we need the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, empowering us, filling us. ------------------------