DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 10.28.23

 JesusOwns It All “[God] hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, bywhom also he made the worlds.” (Hebrews1:2) The book of Hebrews exalts the Lord Jesus’ ownership of all things, including us. Four reasons support this. First, all things are destined to become the Lord Jesus’ inheritance. Second, He created it all. Of course, He did not create it independently of His Father or His Spirit. Working together, for example, they said, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis1:26). The New Testament reiterates Christ’s creative activity. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible” (Colossians1:16). The writer of Hebrews continues, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews1:3). Thus, the Lord Jesus also has full rights over all creation because He sustains it continually. The moment His powerful word ceases to uphold them, all things would cease. Last, Christ owns it all because He redeemed it through His selfless sacrifice. He did all the work necessary to buy His cosmos back, as though He did not already own it by right of inheritance, creation, and sustaining power. Moreover, His purging of our sinson the cross was so perfectly complete that the Lord is sitting down—for now. The Lord Jesus has the right of inheritance, of creation, of sustenance, and of redemption over all things. He owns us four times over! What kind of worship ought we to give Him? BDT ---------------------- Jephthah’sDaughter “Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peacefrom the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” (Judges11:31) The story of Jephthah has been a stumbling block to many who interpret it as teaching that Jephthah sacrificed his daughter to God as a burnt offering. As he prepared to face the Ammonite armies, he made the vow recorded in our text, if God would only givehim the victory. His only child, a beloved daughter, was then first to meet him at his return, and so it was she who had to be offered. It should be remembered, however, that Jephthah was a man of true faith (Hebrews11:32-33), and he would never have vowed to disobey God’s prohibition against human sacrifice. The problem is that the Hebrew conjunction waw (translated “and” in our text) is very flexible in meaning depending on context. Here, “or” is better than “and.” That is, Jephthah vowed that whatever first came out to meet him would be dedicated to the Lord: If a person came out (Jephthah was probably thinking of a servant), he or she would be dedicated to God’s service at the tabernacle, as Hannah later dedicated Samuel(1Samuel 1:11). Or if an animal from his flock came out, it would be sacrificed. His daughter, out of love for her father and gratitude to God for his deliverance from the Ammonites, insisted her father keep his vow. Since that meant that she, as a perpetual servant at the tabernacle, could never have a husband and children, she “bewailedher virginity” (not her impending death) and then “returned to her father” so that he could keep his vow, and throughout her life “she knew no man” (Judges11:38-39). Instead of a strange tale of human sacrifice, this is the story of the love of a God-fearing father and daughter for each other and for their Lord. HMM --------------------- ConfidentPrayer “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hearethus: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” (1John 5:14-15) This is the classic conditional promise. Confidence in prayer is tied directly to the qualifier: “If we ask anything according to his will....” It is, therefore, important that we understand “what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians5:17). Many surveys have verified that most people pray. All of those studies, however, note that a good portion of the prayers are directed toward an unknown “higher power.” It may seem obvious, but the first requirement for coming under the will of God is to “believeon the name of his Son Jesus Christ” (1John 3:23). Before God will respond to our “petitions,” we must be “born again” (John3:3). Jesus was once asked what the greatest command was. His response, quoting from Deuteronomy 6, was: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew22:37). That internal and invisible love of the heart is expressed by obedience to the commandments that God has given. John records it this way: “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1John 5:3). Thus, a simple formula appears. If we obey what God has commanded us (starting with faith in the saving work of Christ), then we are assured that God will hear us when we pray. Once our confidence is secured, we can know that God will respond to what we desiredfrom Him. The psalmist states the formula this way: “Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm37:4). HMM III ----------------------- CarestThou Not? “And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master,carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38) There are times when we have great problems and God seems to ignore our prayers, and finally we begin to wonder if He cares about us at all. There is no need to wonder. God cares about the sparrow, and He surely cares about His own dear children. If there isnot some clear reason why He fails to answer (such as sin in our lives), then perhaps it is simply (as in Job’s case) a test of our faith. When the disciples thought Jesus didn’t care, He rebuked them thus: “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). Mary and Marthasent word that their brother Lazarus was deathly ill, but then Jesus “abode two days still in the same place where he was” (John 11:6). When the sisterscomplained about His delay, He replied: “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). One day a woman of Canaan cried out to Him for mercy on her for her demon-possessed daughter, “but he answered her not a word.” He seemed not to care, but she kept calling on Him and worshiping Him, until He finally said to her: “O woman, great is thy faith:be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Matthew 15:23, 28). The disciples, the sisters of Lazarus, and the Canaanite woman all wondered at His seeming lack of concern, but He did care. He finally calmed the storm, raised Lazarus, and healed the daughter. His delay was in order to test and strengthen their faith. Can He not also test us, “that the trial of your faith...though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1Peter 1:7)? HMM ---------------- TheVine “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked thatit should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” (Isaiah5:4) In Scripture we find many references to vines and vineyards, but there are three major passages that together reveal three aspects concerning the character of God and His love for His people. The first, Isaiah 5:1-7, includes our text. Here we find that God, the owner, planter, and caretaker of the vineyard, cannot contain His disappointment, for despite the loving care showered upon the vine, it has brought forth improper, worthless fruit. In this parable, “the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant” (v. 7), the chosen people who had seen more clearly than anyone else His abundant provision, but who had chosen to reject Him and not bear Him fruit. To them,and to those of us who reject His cultivating grace, He says, “I will lay it waste” (v. 6). Psalm 80:8-19 gives us a picture of the abject desolation of the unfruitful vineyard once it is abandoned by the vinedresser. It is ravaged by enemies, wild animals, and fire, utterly helpless. The “vine” (Israel) may cry for help and restoration, but thereare consequences to be paid. What a graphic picture this is, and what a reminder to believers today that we cannot for long ignore His will for our lives. The last and most precious passage is found in John 15:1-16 and concerns fruitbearing. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (v. 5). Here are found the secrets of the believer’s growth and fertilityin glorious union with Christ. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (v. 8). JDM --------------- God�sTrade-In Deal - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God�s glorious standard. �Romans 3:23 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/gods-trade-in-deal-5/- Listen How we can find eternal life? Where do we look? And who has it? We find the answer in the Gospel of Luke, in a conversation that Jesus had with a man whom Luke simply identified as �a religious leader� (18:18 NLT). And the answer Jesus gave to this man�s question is relevant to each of us today. He approached Jesus and said, �Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?� (verse 18 NLT). Jesus replied, �Why do you call me good? . . . Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments: �You must not commit adultery. You must notmurder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother� � (verses 19�20 NLT). Jesus took him back to the law. That�s because God did not give us the commandments to make us righteous. Rather, He gave us the commandments to function like a moral mirrorin our lives and show us what we�re really like. When we look at God�s law, we realize that we fall short. Amazingly, this man said that he had obeyed all those commandments since he was young. So, Jesus told him, �There is still one thing you haven�t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,follow me� (verse 22 NLT). This leader had so much going for him. He was moral, religious, and powerful. He was sincere and could have easily qualified for membership in most of our churches today.Yet something was still lacking in his life. He may have been the only person who ever came to Jesus and then left in worse condition than before. It wasn�t because of what Jesus said. It was because of his own reaction.He didn�t like what Jesus said to him, so he walked away, filled with sorrow. Even though he came to Jesus with the right question and received the right answer, he made the wrong decision. Why? Because he was not honest with God or himself. As George Bernard Shaw pointed out, �There are two sources of unhappiness in life. One is not getting what you want. The other is getting it.� So many people believe that one of these days if they win the lottery, if they strike it big, then they will be happy. And if they do actually realize their dreams, they oftendiscover that it didn�t bring them happiness. The same Jesus who offered eternal life to that religious leader so long ago is also offering it to us. First, we must realize that we�ve sinned. We all have broken God�scommandments time and time again. Second, we must recognize that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for us. He shed His blood for every sin we have ever committed. And third, we must be willing to repent of our sins. That is what we need to do to inherit eternal life. That is God�s trade-in deal. ----------------------------- The Way We Look at Things - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. �2 Timothy 3:1 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-way-we-look-at-things/- Listen C.S. Lewis said, �I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.�[1] A Christian worldview will affect the way that we see everything. And why is this important? Because we are living in the last days. Jesus Christ is coming back again. Andif ever there was a time when we need to know our Bibles and have a close walk with Christ, the time is now. Describing the end times, the apostle Paul said, �In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastfuland proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control� (2 Timothy 3:1�3 NLT). Paul went on to say, �They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. Theywill act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly� (verses 3�5 NLT). Is that not an accurate assessment of the times in which we are living? The United States has never been more spiritual yet more immoral. We throw the word spiritual arounda lot. But do we know what it means? We live in an age when we can write our own apps and customize our home screens. We can keep the stuff we like and throw out the things we don�t. And we carry that thinkinginto other aspects of our lives. The result is something called moral relativism. Moral relativism is the belief that there are no absolutes. There is no right or wrong. Moral relativism teaches that we are all products of the evolutionary process and notmade by a Creator God. There is no devil. There is no good or evil. And there is no plan or purpose for our lives. Moral relativism also teaches that we are all basically good, and if we happen to go bad, then it�s because we�re simply products of our environment. It teaches that we makeour own truth. For instance, if you believe in a God of love, forgiveness, and mercy, you can keep that. But if you�re offended by the biblical teaching of a God of holiness, righteousness,and judgment, you can delete that. It works out perfectly. Or so it seems. Moral relativism may sound fine in theory. But what if we were to put it into practice? Will a god of our own making be able to save us in the final day? Of course not. A biblical worldview says there is a God as revealed in the Bible, and the Bible alone is the authority and source of that belief. It is not what we feel or what is popular,acceptable, or perceived as cool. It is what the Bible says. ---------------------- Moral Illiteracy - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Jesus replied, � �You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.� This is the first and greatest commandment. �Matthew 22:37�38 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/moral-illiteracy/- Listen Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. And more specifically, many of our founding fathers professed belief in Jesus Christ. Though revisionists try to changethat narrative, a careful study of history will show that it�s true. It�s our departure from this truth that has brought us to where we are today. With abortion on demand on an epidemic scale, marriages falling apart at record rates, and rampantviolence in our streets, this should not surprise us. The Bible says, �They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind� (Hosea 8:7 NLT). How true. Our departure from God�s principles has brought us to the moral illiteracythat we have today. In his book Why Johnny Can�t Tell Right from Wrong, William Kilpatrick wrote about how, as a college professor, he started noticing what he called signs of moral illiteracyamong his students. For instance, in a discussion about the Ten Commandments, no one could list them, either individually or as a class.[1] Kilpatrick was right in noting a connection between morality and the Ten Commandments. That�s because in the Ten Commandments, we find absolute truth written by the fingerof God on tablets of stone. It�s truth we can depend on, truth we can believe in. With the Ten Commandments God is saying, �Here is what I have done for you: I have forgiven you of your sin, redeemed you, and bought you. Now here is what you can do forMe: you can keep My commandments.� The Bible says, �We love each other because he loved us first� (1 John 4:19 NLT). In Matthew�s Gospel we read about an expert in religious law who tried to trap Jesus. He said, �Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?� (Matthew22:36 NLT). Jesus answered, � �You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.� This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equallyimportant: �Love your neighbor as yourself.� The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments� (verses 37�40 NLT). Now, Jesus wasn�t doing away with the Ten Commandments. Rather, He was summing them up perfectly. If we love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds, then we won�t have any other gods before Him. We won�t worship idols or take God�s name in vain. And if we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we won�t steal from them, lie to them, or covet something that belongs to them. Essentially Jesus was saying, �Get thisdown, and the commandments will come together for you.� It all starts with God�s place in our lives. We will serve what or whom we worship. Jesus said, �You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him� (Matthew 4:10 NLT). If God is number one in our lives, then everything else will find its proper balance. But if He is not, then everything else will fall into chaos. [1] William Kilpatrick, Why Johnny Can�t Can�t Tell Right from Wrong: And What We Can Do About It (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993). --------------------------------- Persecutedfor Righteousness� Sake �Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shallreproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man�s sake.� (Luke6:22) �Blessed� means �happy,� and it would seem paradoxical to try to find happiness by being persecuted. Most Christians are extremely reluctant to do anything that might make them less popular with their peers, let alone anything that might lead to social ostracismor even physical suffering. Yet, Jesus said that this is the way to find true happiness. He did not say that blessing comes through suffering for foolishness� sake, or for carelessness� sake, or for sinfulness� sake. �Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness� sake� (Matthew5:10). The principle is amplified by Peter: �If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye....But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men�s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian,let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf� (1Peter 4:14-16). It hurts, of course, to be �cast out�as evil� when one is sincerely seeking to do right and to honor God. This was the experience of the blind man to whom Jesus gave sight. The religious authorities responded to his testimony with: �Thou wast altogether bornin sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out� (John9:34). Nevertheless, he now could see! Likewise, the religious leaders �raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.� Nevertheless, �the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost� (Acts13:50, 52). The situation exists today in many countries�soon perhaps in America. If so, may the Lord enable us to honor His name in suffering with joy and without compromise, for �Christ also suffered for us� (1Peter 2:21). HMM ------------------------- Modern Idolatry - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org 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 personis an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. �Colossians 3:5 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/modern-idolatry/- Listen People get excited about a lot of things. They may not call them their gods, but in effect they are. What is the focus of your life? That, for all practical purposes, is yourgod. And when you come up with your own version of God, then you essentially have another god before Him. The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Colosse, �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. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming� (Colossians 3:5�6 NLT). Interestingly, Paul talked about sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. We have a sex-obsessed culture. And for some people, everything is a double entendre.Their minds are always in the gutter. Paul also warned about greed. Some people always want what others have. We might think that only those who are wealthy have a problem with idolatry. Maybe they do. And maybethey don�t. We can�t see their hearts. But we can have very little in terms of material possessions and still make an idol out of things. We don�t have to be wealthy. Sometimes we�re simply obsessed with money. The Bible says, �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 with manysorrows� (1 Timothy 6:10 NLT). Notice this doesn�t say that money is the root of all kinds evil. Rather, it says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. The problem is always wanting what othershave. We can make idols out of possessions. And they can become more important to us than God Himself. The Bible says, �You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him� (Matthew 4:10 NLT). He will never disappoint you. He will never let you down. But every person willin some way. Sometimes people keep us from God. A relationship pulls us away from Him, and we realize that if we really follow the Lord, we could lose our relationship that individual.Yes, we could. And it might be a choice that some of us have to make. Is someone dragging you down spiritually? Jesus said, �If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son ordaughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine� (Matthew 10:37 NLT). The gods we create in our minds really are not gods at all. They�re just false images that can�t do anything for us. Will those gods save you in that final day? Will thosegods give you the strength you need in your moment of crisis? And will those gods forgive you of your sins? If not, they�re false gods. Turn to the true and living God. ------------------------------ Renewedto Walk in His Statutes �For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you intoyour own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stonyheart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.� (Ezekiel36:24-27) Ezekiel prophesied God�s unilateral promise to redeem repenting Israel (Ezekiel18:30-32), but only after they embraced their Messiah in faith, turning from their sin to serve the living God (Jeremiah31:31). In the book of Ezekiel, the phrase �they will know I am Yahweh� is repeated 35 times to refer to punishment. But beginning with chapter 34, Ezekiel�s tone turns from severe judgment to unilateral new covenant blessings. �They will know I am Yahweh� is repeated six times to denote Yahweh�s blessing of steadfast love (Ezekiel34:27-30; 36:11, 38; 38:23; 39:6, 28). But don�t miss Yahweh�s reason for this deliverance�that His children would now walk in His statutes and follow His rules (36:27). Likewise, grafted-in believing Gentiles are also recipients of these same new covenant promises (Romans11:17). As former slaves to sin, believers in Christ become slaves to righteousness with changed hearts (Romans11:26-27). Each day, we now awaken and pray that Yahweh would cause us to walk in obedience. What a privilege and wonder that Yahweh states to His children, �Ye shall be my people, and I will be your God� (Ezekiel36:28). CCM ------------------------ What God Values - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. �Luke 10:1 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/what-god-values/- Listen It was a critical time in the ministry of Jesus. His ministry in Galilee was over, and His journey to Jerusalem had begun. So Jesus selected seventy-two disciples in addition to the Twelve who already were following Him. He gave these new disciples a special commission to work like an advanceteam going into various communities and cities. He also gave them these instructions: �The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers intohis fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves� (Luke 10:2�3). Clearly Jesus cared about people. In Matthew�s treatment of the same story, we read, �When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confusedand helpless, like sheep without a shepherd� (Matthew 9:36 NLT). Jesus felt compassion for these people. He loved and cared about them. Everywhere Jesus went, people mobbed Him. And not only did He take time for the people who wanted atouch here or a word there, but He also sought out hurting and empty people. For instance, there was the woman at the well in Samaria. Because of the tension between the Jews and Samaritans, it was highly unusual for Jesus to go to a city in Samaria.Not only that, but He sought out an immoral woman who had been married and divorced five times. Then He engaged her in conversation. He went out of His way to meet with her. He also went to Jericho and met the tax collector Zacchaeus. He called Zacchaeus to come down from the tree where he was sitting and said, �I must be a guest in your hometoday� (Luke 19:5 NLT). People criticized Jesus for talking to someone who made his living off the misery of others. But Jesus said, �Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shownhimself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost� (verses 9�10 NLT). In the original language, the word Jesus used for �lost� speaks of something with value that is broken. And people are broken because of sin. Yet Jesus sees behind the facade. He sees behind the defense mechanisms and hears the real cry of their hearts. We need to see people the same way. They are people for whomChrist died. These are critical times for getting the gospel out. There are open doors today that may not remain open forever. Jesus, speaking to the last days church, said, �I have openeda door for you that no one can close� (Revelation 3:8 NLT). We need to recognize how valuable souls are to God. Jesus said there is rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents (see Luke 15:7 NLT). God cares about souls. And weneed to care about them as well.