DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 3.25.23

 HeIs the Owner “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul thatsinneth, it shall die. But if a man be just...he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel18:4-5, 9) What an awesome statement! The eternal Creator of all mankind asserting His ownership over each man’s soul to do with it what He deems proper. What is the worth of one eternal soul created in the image of God? The Creator is the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills. Indeed, the earth and all the galaxies are His, but there is something about a soul that is of far greater worth. A soul can choose,can worship its Maker, and can reflect the very nature of God. Nothing else in all creation has these powers. Yet, He owns all souls. He has an unquestionable right to them, and they will never be taken away, for He has created them. Furthermore, their numbers are growing, for He has given His subjects the command and power to reproduce. At each conception He suppliesa newly created, eternal soul. Truly, His wealth is great! How should we respond to His ownership? By obedience! By choosing to act according to His will as revealed in reason, our conscience, and above all in His written Word, we ascribe to Him the glory due Him. We must jealously guard our affections, reserving theadulation that He deserves for Him alone. We must lovingly care for His creation, including the many fellow souls whom He brings across our paths. Above all, we must avail ourselves of His gracious provision of mercy and forgiveness through the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus Christ. At that point, He performs another creative act, for “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [or creation]: oldthings are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Corinthians 5:17). JDM ---------------------- Power,Love, and a Sound Mind “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2Timothy 1:7) This little verse is full of information. In the previous verse, Paul insisted that Timothy “stir up” the gift that he had received and use it as it was intended because God did not give us a “spirit of fear.” The Greek word deilia, translated as “fear,” stresses timidity or cowardice as opposed to terror. God’s gift does not function well if we are too timid to use it. His gift has power, love, and a “sound mind.” The gift is not power. God’s gift (whatever it may be) comes with dunamis—the innate ability to carry out the gift. All the twice-born are given “the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians3:20). Whatever the Holy Spirit has gifted us with upon our entrance into His kingdom (1Corinthians 12:11), He has also given the necessary power to implement and use that gift. Your gift also comes with love. Again, “love” is not the gift but part of the character of our Lord Jesus and the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Were it not for the reflection in us of the unilateral and sacrificial love of our Redeemer, these supernatural giftscould be misused, distorted, and abused for personal glory. Diotrephes misused his gift, failing to use the spirit of love (3John 1:9). Sophronismos is the unique Greek word used to describe the spirit of a “sound mind” that is given to us with our gift. It’s a combination of the Greek verbs translated as “to save” and “to control.” Its basic meaning would be “safe control” or “wholesomecontrol”—perhaps even “control that saves.” With our spiritual gifts comes the perfect combination of abilities that empower the gift, the love that keeps the gifts focused on others, and the “safety controls” that keep it from doing damage unwittingly. HMM III ------------------------- Kingof Kings and Lord of Lords “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and Kingof kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation17:14) There is coming a time—perhaps not too far in the future—when all the kings and other rulers of the world will “have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (v. 13), the great humanistic world system of the last days, whose Satan-possessedleader will then have power “given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (13:7). Only one opponent will remain, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, against whom “the kings of the earth...take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm2:2-3). So they will proceed to “make war with the Lamb,” but they will lose! At the final “appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ...he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1Timothy 6:14-15). He, who as God’s sacrificial Lamb has taken “away the sin of the world” (John1:29), is greater than all kings and rulers. No longer as the submissive Lamb before His shearers (Isaiah53:7), but as the “Word of God,” out of whose once-silent mouth now “goeth a sharp sword” with which He shall “smite the nations.” He will have “on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords” (Revelation19:13, 15-16). Indeed, the kings and leaders of the whole world will think they can successfully “make war with the Lamb,” but He “shall overcome them.” In that great day that is coming, it will be far better to be with Him than with them! HMM ------------------- TheObedience of Christ “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mineown will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” (John5:30) Christ is our great example in all things—even in that of obedience to the Father and His will. As the perfect Son, He obeyed His Father in all things. “I do nothing of myself,” He said, “but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sentme is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (John8:28-29). There are three specific references in the epistles to the obedience of Christ. One of the most profound passages in the Bible is Hebrews 5:8: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” How could the omniscient Son ofGod have to learn anything? There are some things that cannot be learned in books but only by experience, and obedience in hard circumstances is surely one of these. Jesus learned obedience by actual experience. Christ obeyed His Father even after praying that the bitter cup might be taken away. “Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians2:8). Had He been disobedient, as was Adam, we could never have known salvation. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans5:19). Jesus was, indeed, always perfectly obedient to His Father’s word, “leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1Peter 2:21). As our text emphasizes, His obedience consisted simply of seeking and following the will of His Father in all things. “Not my will, but thine” (Luke22:42). HMM ---------------------- DivinePower, Divine Nature “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, throughthe knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2Peter 1:3-4) Certain passages of Scripture simply take one’s breath away. Our text for today is just such a passage. To those He has called, God has promised “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” He has provided all that we need to live godly and productivelives. It is “his divine power” (emphatic in the Greek text), imparted to us in the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit, that makes this possible. In order to properly utilize our resources, we must continue to grow in “the [full] knowledge of him.” Only then can we attain any measure of His “glory and virtue.” He has empowered us to reflect His glorious character and virtuous acts as we know who He isand what He has done. In so doing, we are “partakers of the divine nature” (also emphatic in the Greek). Initially, of course, at the point of salvation we are given the Holy Spirit, always present in the life of a believer. As we increase in the knowledge of Him and yield to the work of the Spirit, our nature is ever more conformed to the divine nature of JesusChrist. This appropriation of divine power to sample the divine nature comes to us through “exceeding great and precious promises” bestowed by His glory and virtue. Since God has promised, these promises are sure, and through them we have “escaped the corruption thatis in the world through lust.” JDM --------------------- Beholdthe Lamb “And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” (John1:36) As he spoke to two of his followers, John the Baptist was, in effect, telling them that they should henceforth leave him to follow Jesus. “And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus” (John1:37). On the previous day, when John had first seen Jesus coming, he had said, apparently to all his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John1:29). This is the first use of the word “lamb” in the New Testament, and it is significant that it refers here to the Lord Jesus as the one great sacrifice for our sins. He is called “the Lamb” 30 more times in the New Testament, the final time no longer viewingHim on the altar but on His eternal throne (Revelation22:3). Yet, even on His throne as our King, He is still the Lamb, and we can never forget that He once died for us that we might live with Him. Long before this, Isaac once asked his father, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God will provide himself a lamb” (Genesis22:7-8). God did just that 2,000 years later, when Christ, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation13:8), “came into the world to save sinners” (1Timothy 1:15). Then when God was ready to set His people free in ancient Egypt, He told them to place the shed blood of a spotless lamb on the doorpost of each home and said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exodus12:13). In fulfillment of all these ancient sacrifices and types, the once-for-all Lamb of God came, and “Christ our passover is sacrificed [even] for us” (1Corinthians 5:7). Now, like John’s disciples, it surely compels us, in the very depths of our souls, to “behold the Lamb of God” and follow Him. HMM ----------------------- Confrontingthe Darkness - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. �Ephesians 5:11 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/confronting-the-darkness/- Listen In our culture today, no one wants to speak up for what is true. The motto of modern society could be �I can tolerate anyone except someone who is intolerant.� If someone dares to say, �I think that is wrong� or �I disagree with that� or, even worse, �The Bible says, . . .� they are labeled as intolerant, judgmental, narrow-minded,and bigoted. As Christians, however, we cannot tolerate sin. We are to confront sin with intolerance and speak the truth�but we must speak the truth in love. We need to compassionatelyand lovingly explain what is true. The apostle Paul warned the believers in Ephesus, �Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them� (Ephesians 5:11 NLT). I don�t envy the responsibility of doctors who have to deliver bad news to a patient. No doubt they would love to be able to say that everything is fine. But in good conscience,they can�t do that, because the test results say otherwise. It�s difficult. It�s uncomfortable. But they have to tell the truth. We Christians must do the same. But we are dealing with something far more serious. We�re talking about eternal separation from God. We love to tell people that God loves them and has compassion on them. And of course, that is true. Yet we are reluctant to say they are sinners who are separated from God.We need to tell the truth. Our culture needs to hear the truth. Yes, it�s easier to blend into the background and avoid offending anyone. But do we want to offend God? If we don�t tell the whole truth,then we will. Every believer is called to declare the whole counsel of God. He has called us to preach the gospel and to be His representatives. Therefore, we must do our part and be faithfulto Him. ---------------------------- Flee and Follow - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord withpure hearts. �2 Timothy 2:22 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/flee-and-follow/- Listen If you will commit yourself to grow in your love for Jesus Christ and be enamored with Him and dedicated to Him, then you will see this world for what it is. As the hymn says, �Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.� The Bible warns us, �Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those whocall on the Lord with pure hearts� (2 Timothy 2:22 NLT). In other words, flee and follow. Run from anything that stimulates lust and follow anything that makes you want to do right. Psalm 1 tells us, �Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law ofthe Lord, meditating on it day and night� (verses 1�2 NLT). The best way to avoid losing ground is to gain ground. The best way to keep from going backward is to go forward. The problem is that a lot of believers are not following after righteousness. They are not pursuing God. Instead, they are coasting along in spiritual cruise control. Meanwhile,there are mountains to climb. There is rugged terrain to navigate. There are opportunities for growth. Yet many Christians are kicking back, and they will end up becoming spiritually lazy instead of moving forward. And sadly, it�s only a matter of time until they fall. I have often said that the Christian life is like a greased pole. You are either climbing or slipping. How about you? Are you climbing? Are you growing and maturing? Or areyou sliding backward? -------------------------- Dearly Loved - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. �Ephesians1:5 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/dearly-loved/- Listen When John baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, a voice came from Heaven saying, �This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy� (Matthew 3:17 NLT). Then we read in Ephesians 1 that �God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, andit gave him great pleasure� (verse 5 NLT). The next verse continues, �So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son� (verse 6 nlt). Or, as the New King James Version rendersit, �To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.� This means that as Christians, God loves us as much as He loves His own dear Son. Here�s what Jesus said to the Father: �I have given them the glory you gave me, so they maybe one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me� (John 17:22�23 NLT). Before knowing Jesus Christ, we were without hope. But through Jesus, God has adopted us as His own beloved children. And now we are precious and dear to Him. Yet God doesn�t love us because we are lovable. Rather, God loves us because we are in Christ. We have been made �accepted in the Beloved.� God loves us unconditionally, hasaccepted us, and has given us all that we need to effectively live the Christian life. And because we have this special relationship with God, it should impact us in the way that we live. -------------------------------- Countercultural - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God�s people. �Ephesians 5:3 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/countercultural/- Listen The ancient city of Ephesus was known for its wickedness. The capital of the Roman province of Asia and a busy commercial port, Ephesus was an affluent area. It was also theheadquarters for the cult of the goddess Diana. Thousands of prostitutes in the employ of the Temple of Diana combed the city. They essentially would sell their bodies to draw people to the temple, generate revenue, andpromote worship of their false goddess. Many believers in the church of Ephesus had come out of a very dark background. In their culture, prostitution and immorality were a way of life. Yet some who were professingfaith in Christ had returned to their old ways of immorality. And some had never left it to begin with. Writing to followers of Jesus living in this sex-obsessed culture, the apostle Paul said, �Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins haveno place among God�s people� (Ephesians 5:3 NLT). Paul was saying, �Stay away from immorality, adultery, and covetousness.� The parallels to our culture are obvious. It is clear that we, too, are living in a sex-obsessed culture. Yet God is saying to believers, �As My children, as My beloved, asthose who bear the family name wherever you go, stay away from immorality.� I thank God for every Christian man and woman who is standing their ground in this wicked and adulterous generation. I thank God for husbands and wives who are saying, �Weare going to remain faithful to each other.� And I thank God for each family that has drawn a line around their home, saying, �It stops here.� As followers of Jesus Christ, we should not only avoid the very sin of immorality but also avoid anything that would bring us remotely close to it. ---------------------- Magnified Mercy �Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hastshewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die.� (Genesis 19:19) This rather presumptuous plea of Lot to the angels who had spared his life when they called down fire from heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah is noteworthy because it contains the first reference in the Bible to the mercy of God. Lot was a believer and arighteous man but carnal in attitude and greedy in motivation. Yet, God not only showed grace in His dealings with Lot but even magnified mercy! As appropriate for the principle of first mention in Scripture, this first reference to mercy lays the foundation for the dominant theme of the doctrine of mercy throughout Scripture. The key is that God�s mercy can only be described properly in superlatives,and this fact is noted repeatedly throughout Scripture. �The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him,� said David (Psalm 103:17). �For as the heaven is high above the earth,so great is his mercy toward them that fear him� (Psalm 103:11). His mercy, therefore, is both eternal and infinite. Nothing could ever be more �magnified� than this! No wonder, therefore, that Paul says He is �rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us� (Ephesians 2:4), and Peter tells us that �his abundantmercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope� (1 Peter 1:3). It is only �according to his mercy he saved us� (Titus 3:5), surely �not [because of any] works of righteousness which we have done.� Therefore, with David,we can say, �Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever� (Psalm 23:6). HMM --------------------------- Should We Be Concerned with Coveting? - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! �Ephesians 5:8 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/should-we-be-concerned-with-coveting/- Listen The Bible is filled with stories of people who allowed coveting to destroy them. Achan, for instance, coveted something that didn�t belong to him, and he lost his life. JudasIscariot betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver and ultimately took his own life. In 1 Timothy we read, �For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves withmany sorrows� (6:10 NLT) Coveting is more than simply admiring something. It�s the mindset that says, �I�m going to get that, no matter what it costs me or anyone else.� It is an obsession with accumulationand possessions. Coveting can destroy us spiritually. Colossians 3:5 warns us about covetousness, which is idolatry: �So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity,lust, and evil desires. Don�t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world� (NLT). Writing to the church in Ephesus, the apostle Paul said, �For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!� (Ephesians5:8 NLT). Often, when the Bible tells us not to do one thing, it tells us to do another in its place. For instance, in Ephesians 4:28 we read, �If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead,use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need� (NLT). In other words, �You who have stolen, stop stealing and instead do something productive so you can give to others.� Coveting is a powerful and often misunderstood sin. It can cripple us spiritually and even destroy us. We must not underestimate it or leave it unchecked.