DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 7.22.23

 TheFirst Love “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold myglory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” (John17:24) This is the very heart of the moving prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in the upper room before His arrest and crucifixion. As we hear Him pray, we are translated back in time, before time began, and there we encounter the indescribable love within the counselsof the triune Godhead—Father, and Son, and Spirit—three persons, yet one God. Then, after speaking of this love, Jesus prayed—in the final words of His sure-to-be-answered prayer—“that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (v. 26). This love—the love within the Trinity—was the primeval love and, therefore, is the spring from which flows every other form of true love—marital love, mother love, brotherly love, love of country, love of friends, love for the lost, or any other genuine love. It’s appropriate that the first mention of love in the Old Testament refers to the love of a father (Abraham) for his son Isaac (Genesis22:2), and then that the first reference to love in the New Testament (Matthew3:17) speaks of the heavenly love of God the Father for God the Son. In both cases, the son is called “beloved,” yet in both cases the father and son are prepared to go to the altar of sacrifice, that the will of God might be done and a way of salvationbe provided for lost sinners. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans8:32). One day—as He prayed—we shall be with Him, see His glory, and even experience His own eternal love in our hearts. HMM -------------------- KnowingJesus Christ “I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.” (Mark1:24) Today’s verse records the response of a demonic host just before Christ cast it out. In Mark 1:34, we are told that Jesus “suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.” One thing we can learn from this is the uselessness of a mere intellectual knowledge of Jesus Christ. Playing off this idea, James 2:19 says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” The problem is that the demons knew who Christ was—as did many of the scribes, Pharisees, and other Jews of the day who witnessed His miraclesand teachings firsthand—but this knowledge was not unto salvation. A mere knowledge of the truths and doctrines of Christianity will never save one’s soul. This type of intellectual acknowledgement is no better than the belief of the devils who knew that Jesus is Christ. Clearly, our faith in Jesus needs to be of the heartas well as the head. Our knowledge, faith, and love of Christ should also have a sanctifying effect on our affections and our lives. Let us not only believe that Jesus is God’s Son and the Savior of the world but rejoice in Him and cleave to Him with purpose of heart. Let us not merely be acquainted with Him by head knowledge but by daily prayer imploring His mercy and grace. “The life ofChristianity,” said the reformer Martin Luther, “consists in possessive pronouns.” It’s one thing to say “Christ is a Savior” but quite another to say “He is my Savior and my Lord.” True Christianity is one of daily relationship and dependency on the LordJesus Christ. JPT ------------------------ God'sWell-Designed Creation “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soulknoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuancewere fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” (Psalm139:14-18) All of God’s creatures are fearfully and wonderfully made. Just look at the direct hand of God in the well-designed formation of a baby, as described in today’s passage. Lamentably, Darwin’s Pandora’s box of death-based, anti-design, hit-and-miss ideology is alive and well in many origins teachings, conflicting with the theology that’s celebrated in this psalm. Regrettably, many believers are “evolutionized” in their thinking.They hold on to the vestiges of natural selection, which treats the chaos, mutations, and death that sin thrust into God’s originally “very good” creation as though they are the building blocks God used to create! Many have sold out to anti-design theory,evolution’s “center of gravity” for Darwinian ideology. In fact, natural selection’s broken randomness is counter to God’s “wonderfully made” design as depicted in Psalm 139. We see the reverse of randomness as we view the marvelous Designer’s works. We must turn from past compromises and examine God’s ordered creation through the lens of Scripture, praising Yahweh’s wisdom, power, and genius, and proclaiming, “The heavensdeclare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm19:1). CM -------------------------- Into the Storm - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. �Matthew 14:22 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/into-the-storm/- Listen Typically, we want to avoid storms. Pilots, for example, fly away from storms, not toward them. But there are times when storms can protect us. In three of the four Gospels, we find the account of Jesus walking on the water to reach His disciples. But that event followed the most popular miracle that Jesus ever performed:feeding five thousand men, plus women and children, with only five loaves of bread and two fish. The people thought Jesus was someone they could follow because He not only healed people, and even raised some from the dead, but also fed them. In fact, they wanted to makeHim king by force. As a result, Jesus sent His disciples across the Sea of Galilee, away from that situation. And then Jesus slipped away by Himself to pray. Meanwhile, a huge storm arose on the Sea of Galilee, which grew worse and worse. Finally, during the fourth watch of the night (around 3:00 a.m.), Jesus came walking to themon the waves. So, how was that a protecting storm? Jesus was protecting His disciples from something that could have destroyed them. If Jesus had allowed the people to make Him king by force, the disciples would have beenpulled into it. They were ambitious men, and on more than one occasion, they argued about who would be greatest in the kingdom. It was a diversion. It wasn�t part of God�s plan. So, Jesus protected them. And the storm they feared actually was a barrier that kept them away from what could really harmthem. When we�re experiencing success, we can be more vulnerable than when we�re facing failure because we can become prideful. Success can be as dangerous as failure�or sometimeseven more dangerous. Maybe you�re experiencing a protecting storm in your life today. God�s thoughts toward you come from a motive of love. He has a plan and a purpose for you. ----------------------------------------- Pruning Season - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. �Psalm 139:23�24 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/pruning-season/- Listen victim to tiny insects. Massive trees that survived storms and wildfires have been destroyed by little beetles that ate their way through the trees� massive fibers. It mayhave taken months, or even years, but the little beetles did their work. In the same way, we might appear to be doing well spiritually, but there could be hidden sin in our lives that hinders our walk with the Lord and our usefulness to Him. The psalmist David prayed, �Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the pathof everlasting life� (Psalm 139:23�24 NLT). We, too, can lay our lives bare before God and ask for the truth of His Word to shine into our lives. And He may say, �Well, I see something right here. It�s growing likea cancer. It needs to be dealt with.� It may appear to us as insignificant. We might even say, �Okay, Lord, I acknowledge that it�s a compromise. But it won�t amount to much. I mean, look at those people overthere! They�re committing big sins, blatant sins! I�m just doing this little thing.� But little things turn into big things. And sometimes God must make changes in our lives and remove things that will harm us. We may have our defenses up against the big sins, as it were. Yet the so-called little sins we toy with could be eating through the fibers of our lives and eventually willbring them crashing to the ground. If God has been doing some pruning in your life lately, know that it isn�t to tear you down or make your life miserable. He wants your life to produce even greater spiritualfruit in the days ahead. ------------------------------ Thine,O Lord �Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for allthat is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.� (1Chronicles 29:11) This is one of the great doxologies of Scripture, originally a part of King David�s prayer at the time of Solomon�s coronation as his successor. Although David and Solomon were the greatest kings of Israel, and two of the greatest kings in the world of theirage, David rightly acknowledged that the Lord Himself was the true King, not only of Israel, but of all heaven and Earth. He is head, the supreme ruler, over all. This is the first occurrence in Scripture of the great testimony of worship: �Thine is the kingdom.� In the modern world, however, there are relatively few who acknowledge Him as King of creation. Except for a small minority, most people believe that the universehas evolved and man is king. But David�s prayer will be echoed again in the great prayer of the cherubim: �Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created� (Revelation4:11). Then, soon afterward, �the four and twenty elders� utter their prayer: �We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty...because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned� (Revelation11:16-17). Someday, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. �Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion....Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth....Blessed are all they that puttheir trust in him� (Psalm2:6, 10, 12). In that day, �there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him� (Revelation22:3). HMM ------------------------- When Words Sting - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Their tongues sting like a snake; the venom of a viper drips from their lips. �Psalm 140:3 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/when-words-sting/- Listen If we were to list the ten worst sins that we could think of, how many of us would put gossip on the list? Yet when God identified seven of the things that He hates, He included,by implication, the sin of gossip or misusing our words. In Proverbs 6 we read, �There are six things the Lord hates�no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil,feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family� (verses 16�19 NLT). At one time or another, we all have felt the bitter sting of gossip in our lives. Someone told a lie or passed along a story about us that simply wasn�t true. The psalmist David lamented those who gossiped about him and lied about his character. It obviously was a source of great pain to him because he prayed, �O Lord, rescue mefrom evil people. Protect me from those who are violent, those who plot evil in their hearts and stir up trouble all day long. Their tongues sting like a snake; the venom of a viper drips from their lips� (Psalm 140:1�3 NLT). We are living in a wicked, vicious time. It appears that people have an unhealthy appetite for gossip. David was saying, �Deliver me from people like this, Lord.� That�s because he was facing a carefully planned campaign of slander and lies. So, what did David do with this concern? We find the answer in Psalm 140:6: �I said to the Lord, �You are my God!� Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy!� (NLT). David cast his burden on the Lord. Are you burdened today? Is someone or something troubling you? Cast it on the Lord. ------------------------ Mouth Guarding - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Take control of what I say, O LORD, and guard my lips. �Psalm 141:3 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/mouth-guarding/- Listen Have you ever noticed that God gave us one mouth and two ears? Perhaps it�s because He wants us to listen more and speak less. How often we will jump to conclusions and passjudgment in a situation. Yet the Bible says, �Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish� (Proverbs 18:13 NLT). Sometimes we�ll hear a rumor and immediately conclude that it�s true. Instead, it would be better to say something like this: �I don�t know whether that necessarily wouldbe true. What if it�s a complete lie? Let�s go ask that person about it.� You just might stop a rumor or put an end to gossip. But how often we will pass a rumor on as though it were the truth. As a result, we can be guilty of slandering another person. James 1:19 tells us, �Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry� (NLT). David�s enemies lied about his character, and he wanted to be sure he didn�t make the same mistake they did. In Psalm 140 we read his laments over the lying tongues of others.But in the psalm that follows, we read how David recognized the danger of his own tongue. He prayed, �Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips� (Psalm 141:3 NLT). That is something every one of us should pray daily. David was essentially saying, �I can�t stop other people from lying about me, but I will not do it to them. I will not be guilty of it. But I need Your help, Lord. I can�tdo this in my own strength.� One little rumor, one little statement about someone that comes from our lips could inflict terrible damage. Don�t let that happen. Ask God to guard your lips. ------------------------------ Mouth Guarding - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Take control of what I say, O LORD, and guard my lips. �Psalm 141:3 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/mouth-guarding/- Listen Have you ever noticed that God gave us one mouth and two ears? Perhaps it�s because He wants us to listen more and speak less. How often we will jump to conclusions and passjudgment in a situation. Yet the Bible says, �Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish� (Proverbs 18:13 NLT). Sometimes we�ll hear a rumor and immediately conclude that it�s true. Instead, it would be better to say something like this: �I don�t know whether that necessarily wouldbe true. What if it�s a complete lie? Let�s go ask that person about it.� You just might stop a rumor or put an end to gossip. But how often we will pass a rumor on as though it were the truth. As a result, we can be guilty of slandering another person. James 1:19 tells us, �Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry� (NLT). David�s enemies lied about his character, and he wanted to be sure he didn�t make the same mistake they did. In Psalm 140 we read his laments over the lying tongues of others.But in the psalm that follows, we read how David recognized the danger of his own tongue. He prayed, �Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips� (Psalm 141:3 NLT). That is something every one of us should pray daily. David was essentially saying, �I can�t stop other people from lying about me, but I will not do it to them. I will not be guilty of it. But I need Your help, Lord. I can�tdo this in my own strength.� One little rumor, one little statement about someone that comes from our lips could inflict terrible damage. Don�t let that happen. Ask God to guard your lips. ------------------------------ Fellowshipwith the Father �...and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.� (1John 1:3) One marvelous reason for which God has adopted us (Ephesians1:5), indeed part of the very �calling� to become God�s children, is to fellowship with the great God of creation (1Corinthians 1:9)! Jesus prayed in John 17 that His chosen disciples might have the same kind of relationship with the heavenly Father that Jesus Himself had throughout eternity. Our minds may not totally grasp that wonder down here�except as we try to understand something ofthe key of walking �in the light� (1John 1:7). The nature of light in our universe gives us clues. Light is unchangeable; one cannot make light dark. Light exposes everything (reveals and brings clarity). Light is the sustainer of all life as we know it. The nature of darkness is also very instructive. Darkness is driven away by the smallest spark. Darkness covers everything (hides and obscures). Darkness will kill all life as we know it. �The path of the just is as the shining light....The way of the wicked is as darkness� (Proverbs4:18-19). The promise of fellowship with God is that He �will lead them in paths that they have not known� and that He �will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight� (Isaiah42:16). Therefore, �let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation� (1Thessalonians 5:8). Since we were �sometimes darkness� (Ephesians5:8) but have been delivered from �the power of darkness� (Colossians1:13), we should no longer �fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them� (Ephesians5:11). HMM III ------------------------------- The Table of Contents for Our Lives - byGreg Laurie � www.harvest.org The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. �Proverbs 18:21 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-table-of-contents-for-our-lives/- Listen In a sense, the words that we speak are the table of contents for our lives. What we say gives away who we really are. Jesus said, �For whatever is in your heart determineswhat you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart� (Matthew 12:34�35 NLT). The Bible also tells us, �The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences� (Proverbs 18:21 NLT). Christians who never would consider murder can be guilty of character assassination and backbiting. Yet the Bible warns about this and tells us that it�s wrong. Our wordscan hurt others. In 1 Peter 3:10 we read, �If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies� (NLT). Words can chart the course of our lives. Saying �I do� means marriage for life, or at least it should. Saying �I won�t� to the offer of drugs, alcohol, and premarital or extramarital sex will free us from a lot ofmisery and the consequences of sin. And saying �I will� to the offer of forgiveness from Jesus Christ will change our eternal destiny. James points out, �We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. . . . In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grandspeeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire� (3:3, 5 NLT). God did not give us vocal cords, a tongue, and lips to tear down and destroy others. Rather, He gave them to us so we can build up others, speak the truth, and worship Him.The highest use of our words is to offer them in praise and honor to God. --------------------------------- WhyDid Christ Die? �For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins accordingto the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.� (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) This passage is often considered the defining passage of the gospel, stating the great truth that Christ died for our sins, then was buried (thus stressing that His resurrection was a physical resurrection, not just spiritual), and then rose again. As such,it�s interesting that verse 1 that introduces it (�I declare unto you the gospel�) contains the central mention of the more than 100 times the Greek word for �gospel� occurs in the New Testament. However, it does not say why Christ died for our sins. It was not just to pay for our salvation and make us happy. There are, in fact, numerous references to His substitutionary death that do give us further insight into just why Christ died for us and our salvation. For example, �he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again� (2 Corinthians5:15). And consider Galatians 1:4, in which Paul tells us that Christ �gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world.� Peter�s testimony and explanation was that the Lord Jesus �his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness� (1Peter 2:24). John said: �[God] loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another� (1John 4:10-11). There are many other verses to the same affect. Christ did not die merely to save our souls but to empower us to live in a way that would glorify God right here on Earth. HMM ----------------------------