DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 8.19.23

Why Christians Should Be Different - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org So be careful how you live. Don�t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. �Ephesians 5:15�16 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/why-christians-should-be-different/- Listen Why is it that the Christians of the first century were able to do so much damage, in a positive sense, in such a relatively short period of time? And how is it that these first-century believers, without the tools, technology, and media that we utilize today, were still able to radically impact their culture? The short answer is they followed and practiced a Christianity that isn�t known by many in the twenty-first century. When we read about Christianity in New Testament bookslike Acts, we might classify it as something that was radical, over the top, and perhaps a bit on the extreme side. But for these first-century believers, it would have been nothing less than ordinary Christian living. It is not that their faith was so radical. Rather, it�s that our faithis wimpy. Our faith, many times, is anemic. It doesn�t measure up to the standards of the New Testament. Christians should differ from non-Christians in every realm, not just the religious realm. We should differ from non-Christians not simply because we show up at church onthe weekend or attend a midweek Bible study. Rather, we should differ from non-Christians because we conduct our businesses differently, we treat our spouses differently, and we raise our children differently. Our valuesshould be different from those of non-Christians. People need to see this in our lives, but all too often, it simply isn�t happening. Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, �So be careful how you live. Don�t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evildays� (Ephesians 5:15�16 NLT). If we want to impact our world like the first-century believers did, then we have to get back to the principles they applied. It starts with the Christianity they practiced. -------------------------- The sight of your eye - Bill Wilson � www.dailyjot.com With all the challenges of life and the negativity of a dark and dying world, it�s not difficult to adopt a mental state of cynicism, or even allow these current events tocondition our minds toward a negative attitude. The Lord puts the simple choice before us in Deuteronomy 11:27-28, �A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God�And a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God�� As Christsaid that if you love him, you will follow his commandments, and he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. But you see, a lot of it depends on our attitudes toward that life. We can�t let life get us down and have life more abundantly. God gives us the path that leads to blessing, and also the path that leads to the curse. As disciples of Christ, there is a personal responsibility to �choose life!� and walkit out in our own lives. Each of us is to see personally that our choice resulting in blessing or cursing affects others in our lives. We are as Christ said in Matthew 5:14 �the light of the world� and in verse 16 to �Let your light so shine before men, thatthey may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.� If we allow ourselves to be influenced negatively and view our life in the world as such, how then can we let our light so shine? Will it be a blessing or a curse to not only ourselves,but also to others who engage with us? We also are directed to look on others in compassion. Deuteronomy 15:9 says, �Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart�and your eye look grudgingly on yourpoor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cries to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin.� There is an imperative here urging us to be careful how we think, our thoughts affect our hearts, and that, in turn, affects our choices and actions. Cynicalthoughts are a symptom of a hardened heart that has trouble feeling sympathy for others. It�s one thing to be realistic and assess events in facts and in truth. It�s yet another to look at everything in a negative light because as a person thinks, he is anddoes. Our eyes truly are a mirror to the soul, what we choose to �see,� has everything to do with God�s favor. Proverbs 11:27 says, �Whoever diligently seeks good procures favor,but evil comes to him who searches for it.� The person who seeks good in Hebrew is called �the shocher tov,� a �seeker of good,� who uses the �good eye� to see the needs and pains of others in love and compassion. Just as God had given the Israelites a momentouschoice of the path to become a holy and blessed nation, we also have a choice to choose the path of our lives as well. What does your eye �see,� the blessings or the curses? For what your eye sees and your heart receives, you will be. It�s your choice. Choosewisely that you may have life and have it more abundantly. ---------------------------------- Fleeand Follow “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lordout of a pure heart.” (2Timothy 2:22) The first part of this twofold command is to run away from young (new, untested) desires. Sexual immorality is especially to be avoided because “every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (1Corinthians 6:18). Two other dangerous desires are identified in the New Testament. We are warned to “flee from idolatry” (1Corinthians 10:14) and to flee from the “love of money” (1Timothy 6:10-11). Obviously, there are many “lusts” wrapped up in these categories. They are all dangerous because they are “untested” and deceitful. Such things will inhibit and injure the Christian. “The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark4:19). “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1John 2:16). Such warnings are so common in Scripture that it’s easy to become inured to them. But they are critical to a godly life. We are told to “make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans13:14), but to be “as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts” (1 Peter1:14) in order to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2Peter 1:4). In contrast, we must follow after righteousness. The “youthful lusts” can be conquered by the “pursuit” of a godly lifestyle. Even the devil will flee if he is resisted in the faith (James4:7). HMM III ------------------------ ItIs Enough “And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.” (Genesis45:28) When someone exclaims, “It is enough,” either a requirement has been satisfied, a need has been fulfilled, or a limit has been reached. This phrase occurs seven times in the Old Testament (two different Hebrew words) and three times in the New (each a differentGreek word). In its first occurrence (our text), Jacob is overcome with thankful emotion at the news his beloved son, long thought dead, is still alive. For a very different reason, Pharaoh later cried: “Entreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderingsand hail” (Exodus 9:28). “It is enough: stay now thine hand” (2 Samuel 24:16; 1 Chronicles 21:15). God’s command to the death angel stopped the destruction of Israel following David’s sin of numbering his people. Later, when Elijah thought he could bear no more, “he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough” (1 Kings 19:4). On the other hand, “there are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough” (Proverbs30:15-16). In the New Testament, Jesus said: “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord” (Matthew 10:25). As His arrest drewnear, He told His disciples: “It is enough, the hour is come” (Mark 14:41). When they produced two swords, “he said unto them, It is enough” (Luke22:38). There are many types of circumstances that can lead one to cry “Enough!” But “in the ages to come,” there will never be an end to “the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians2:7). We can never get enough of God! HMM ------------------------ ToDie Is to Live “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s,the same shall save it.” (Mark8:35) The principle expressed in this verse must be of paramount importance, for it is found repeated in one way or another probably more often than any other single principle in the New Testament. Note the following examples representing at least four separate messagesfrom the Lord Jesus. Matthew 10:39: “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” Matthew 16:25: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Luke 9:24: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 17:33: “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” John 12:25: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” This remarkable divine paradox—that to die means to live—is also found expressed in many other ways in the epistles. Paul says, for example: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live” (Galatians2:20). Note also such Scriptures as Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 6:9-10; Philippians 1:21-24; 2 Timothy 2:11-12. There are many pietistic Christians who interpret such passages as implying a so-called “deeper life” that’s attained by certain Christians and not by others through some mystical experience. However, Jesus did not say to lose one’s life for a deeper life,but for “my sake and the gospel’s”! Christ wants us to live in simple obedience to His will as recorded in His Word, proclaiming in all we say and do that He is Creator, Savior, and coming King. HMM ----------------------- Faith “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believeon his name.” (John1:12) Scripture teaches that “by grace are ye saved through faith” (Ephesians2:8), and that faith (or belief, same word) in the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross is essential to salvation (John3:15-18, etc.). But faith does not stop there; it grows as a Christian matures. Let us look at some of the characteristics of a growing faith in God. One who has accepted God’s gracious offer of forgiveness and salvation, one who, by faith, has found God trustworthy, comes to trust Him and His promises in other areas as well. Paul, who had been sorely persecuted for his faith, claimed, “Nevertheless I amnot ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2Timothy 1:12). God will faithfully fulfill His promises, and we can have faith that He will. The great heroes of faith, some of whom are listed in Hebrews 11, all had one thing in common. They dared to trust God for great things, even impossible things, and moved out on that basis. Consider Joshua: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days” (Hebrews11:30). Joshua was confronted with an impossible problem but dared to trust God for a solution. Then there is the mature faith that can “rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him” (Psalm37:7) in the face of hardship and opposition. “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD...shall inherit the earth” (v. 9) At every stage of our Christian lives, God allows us opportunities to exercise and expand our faith. Remember, “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews11:6). JDM ------------------------- TrustingThrough Testing - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, forthe Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. �James 5:11 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/trusting-through-testing/- Listen Job�s very name is a point of reference for the worst suffering imaginable. Job was living a great life. He had a beautiful family and was very wealthy and successful. Butone day, seemingly out of nowhere, a series of calamities befell this man. We know from reading the Old Testament book of Job that a conversation took place in Heaven between God and the angels. Satan, who is a fallen angel, also was there. God hadbeen bragging on Job saying, �Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless�a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil� (Job 1:8 NLT). Satan essentially said, �Give me a break! Just let me have a little time with Job. Then we�ll see what he�s really made of.� So, God allowed the devil to bring a series of difficulties into Job�s life. And on that tragic day when he lost all his children and possessions, here�s what Job said: �Icame naked from my mother�s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!� (verse 21 NLT). The Bible goes on to say that �Job did not sin by blaming God� (verse 22 NLT). That is real faith. It has been said that character is not made in crisis; it is only revealed. Some people give up on God when hardship, even tragedy, comes into their lives. When somethingbad happens, they say, �I lost my faith.� However, a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. Don�t put your faith in a person. Don�t put your faith in a church. Put your faith in Jesus Christ.He is the One who will sustain you through times of difficulty. ------------------------------ Revived by God�s Word - by Greg Laurie � www.dailyjot.com LORD, how great is your mercy; let me be revived by following your regulations. �Psalm 119:156 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/revived-by-gods-word/- Listen As Christians, we are either progressing or regressing. We are either going forward or going backward. The moment we stop our forward momentum is the moment we begin our backwardregression. It�s the moment we start going in the wrong direction spiritually. Of course, we all have those times as believers when we stumble, when we trip up. There are times when we make the wrong decisions or think the wrong thoughts. When this happens,we need to repent, of course. But we also need revival and refreshment in our spiritual lives. And there�s refreshing power in the Word of God. The psalmist David wrote, �The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple� (Psalm 19:7 NLT). If we want to be growing Christians, then we need to be Bible-studying Christians. We want to build our lives on Christ and His Word. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave this summary statement: �Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solidrock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won�t collapse because it is built on bedrock� (Matthew 7:24�25 NLT). Every life will be tested. Every one of us will face storms as followers of Jesus. So, let�s make sure that we build on the right foundation, which is a relationship withJesus Christ. But we must also study the Word of God. As we read, study, memorize, and dig into the Bible, it will refresh us spiritually. Don�t build your Christian life on experience. Don�t build it on fickle emotions. Rather, build your life on Jesus Christ and God�s Word. ------------------------ TheBrazen Serpent �And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.� (John3:14-15) The Lord Jesus is referring to the incident in the wilderness where the children of Israel had just been granted a victory over the Canaanites. But we�re told in Numbers 21:4 that �the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way,� and they complained, even despising the daily manna God graciously provided. As judgment, �the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died� (v. 6). They quickly realized that they had sinned, and God had Moses make �a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass,that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived� (v. 9). We can glean several things from this incident in Numbers and Christ�s mention of it. First, we need to realize that we have all been bitten by the fiery serpent of sin. �There is none righteous, no not one� (Romans3:10), and we�re all death-deserving victims of that destructive venom and will perish without a curing intervention. The serpent is a symbol of judged sin, and brass speaks of divine judgment, such as in the brazen altar. Thus, the brazen serpent is a type of Christ in which the sinless Jesus, who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, was made sin for us and raised up asa sacrifice on the cross. If we want to live, we must look to Christ, trust in Him, and be saved. JPT ------------------------- The Battle We�ll Always Lose - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org LORD, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart�s desire is to glorify your name. �Isaiah 26:8 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-battle-well-always-lose/- Listen Vance Havner wrote, �You can�t break the law of God. Nobody ever broke the law of God. You break yourself against the law of God. He was right. We cannot break the law of God, but we will break ourselves against it. How we need God�s commandments today, and how we need to follow them. We can either accept the truths of His commands or fight against them and reap the inevitable results.It�s our choice: we can do it the easy way or the hard way. We can buck against God�s truths, say they don�t apply to us, and live the way that we want to live. Or, we can see God�s wisdom in giving us His commandments. In the Old Testament we read about King Solomon, who went on a sinful binge. He rebelled against the truth he had learned from God and decided to sample just about everythingthe world had to offer. And having almost unlimited resources, Solomon could build any building he wanted, have any woman his heart desired, and experience any pleasure he chose to experience. Yetafter he did all the things that he wanted to do, he said that it was all emptiness, like chasing the wind. He wrote, �Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone�s duty� (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT). Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived,was saying, �Here�s what I�ve learned in life. Don�t fight against the laws of God. They were given to us for a reason.� Someone might say, �Well, Solomon didn�t know what he was talking about. I�ll find out for myself.� You can go ahead and find out for yourself, of course, but it is much easierto do it God�s way. In His commandments, God has given us the blueprint for a fulfilled life. He has given us the blueprint for happiness. ------------------------------ RejoicingGreatly �Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.� (1Peter 1:6) Our lives today are continually badgered by various trials, or �manifold temptations.� The trials are to bring about a pure and effective faith, pleasing to God. But the apostle Peter is not referring to trials or their results when he declares, �Wherein yegreatly rejoice.� On the contrary, he�s summing up a list of blessings given in the preceding three verses. As we delineate them, let us rejoice as well. �His abundant mercy� (v. 3). Mercy implies a compassionate act on one who is in desperate need. In context, God�s mercy was granted to us in salvation when there was nothing we could do to save ourselves. �Begotten us again� (v. 3). We have been born again! We are now His children, born into His family. We now have spiritual life�eternal life. �A lively hope� (v. 3)�not just a living hope�it is much more than that. We have a hope that is actively, vibrantly alive. This �lively� state was accomplished in and through the bodily �resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.� Our eventual, eternalresurrection is thus assured. �An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you� (v. 4). This inheritance could not be more secure or more glorious. �Kept by the power of God� (v. 5). The protection of God extends far beyond the inheritance; it encompasses the individual heir also�the one who has tasted of His mercy �through faith unto salvation.� �To be revealed in the last time� (v. 5). Though the saved are now freed from the penalty and power of sin, there will be a final deliverance from the presence of sin. Indeed, there is much about which to �greatly rejoice.� JDM ------------------------ Yahweh'sMeasureless Creative Might �Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind.� (Psalm104:1-3) David directs our singing voices Godward to the Creator of the universe. In fact, our whole being is called to bless the Lord at all times. Dr. Henry M. Morris stated that Psalm 104 is one of the most important creation chapters in the Bible, covering Yahweh�scare for His creation before, during, and after the Flood. The first five verses cover the initial days of creation. We even get to witness the creation of the angels, occurring right before the laying of the foundations of the world (Psalm104:4-5). Then we see God�s care during the Flood judgment and His subsequent command to return the waters back to the sea (vv. 6-9). Next, look at Yahweh�s provision in caring for His creatures�even the leviathan (v. 26). What�s the Lord�s response to His glorious creative hand? �The LORD shall rejoice in his works� (v. 31). How about David�s response? �I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being� (v. 33). What�s your response,believer? Let our meditation and thoughts always be pleasing to Him. Let us be joyful for His provision in all of the God-given graces we witness and explore in His precious Word, including salvation (Ephesians2:8-10). Hopefully, you will find joy in shouting, �Praise ye the Lord� to Jesus Christ our Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. CM ------------------------ Bright Lights in a Dark World - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. �Philippians 2:15 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/bright-lights-in-a-dark-world/- Listen It never was a dull day for Paul and Silas. When we read about them in the Book of Acts, we find them creating a stir wherever they went. In Thessalonica, for instance, an angry mob shouted, �Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world, . . . and now they are here disturbing our city, too� (Acts 17:6NLT). This wasn�t meant as a compliment. But in a way, it was. It was a recognition that Paul and Silas were making a dramatic impact on their world. The first-century church consisted of a relatively small group of Christians whose numbers were not large like ours are today. Yet in spite of that, they made a remarkabledifference in their culture. We need Christians today who will take a stand for what is right, because it seems as though our culture is affecting us more than we are affecting our culture. Today withso many people naming the name of Christ, our impact on the world appears to be null and void. We wonder what difference we�re really making. We�re allowing secular attitudes to find their way into the church and into our lives as Christians. People say they are Christians, yet they live in immorality, have sexbefore marriage and outside of marriage, play with drugs, get drunk, steal, sue one another, and divorce each other. But do you know what our world really needs to see? They need to see flesh-and-blood Christians who are living the Christian life in the same neighborhood where they live,in the same place where they work, and at the same school they attend. They need to see the real thing. In short, they need to see you. God can use you, just as He used believers in the first-century church. Maybe you�re not a preacher, but you can proclaim the gospel messagethrough your life and through your words. You can make a dramatic impact on your world.