DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 1.20.24

WhereIs Jesus Now? �Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secretchambers; believe it not.� (Matthew24:26) The above warning was given by Christ in His famous Olivet discourse about His future second coming, right after He had predicted that many �false Christs� would first come, deceiving many (v. 24). That prediction has been fulfilled many times during the followingcenturies, but He Himself has not yet returned, in spite of the claims of these latter days. However, His present location is no secret. After His resurrection and final instructions to His disciples, �he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God� (Mark16:19). We must remember that He arose bodily from the grave, then ascended bodily to God�s throne, and that �this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven� (Acts1:11) will return. Until He returns, therefore, He is seated bodily at the right hand of the presence of the triune God in heaven. In fact, there are no less than 21 references in the Bible to the Lord Jesus now being at the right hand of God. It is not strictly correct to say or sing that Jesus can come into our hearts unless it is clearly understood that He is there symbolically in the presence of the indwelling Spirit of Christ. In this way, �God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into yourhearts� (Galatians4:6) so that �Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith� (Ephesians3:17). In the physical sense, however, the Lord Jesus Christ, still in His physical but now immortal body, is at �the right hand of the Majesty on high� (Hebrews1:3) and will remain there until He returns physically back to fulfill all the remaining promises in the Scriptures and to establish the kingdom for which He created us. HMM ---------------------------- TheEverlasting Mercy of God “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm136:1) God’s mercy is a monumental theme in Scripture. The English word appears some 341 times in the Bible. The four Hebrew and three Greek words appear a total of 454 times and are also translated by “kindness,” “lovingkindness,” “goodness,” “favor,” “compassion,” and “pity.” Of the 66 books of the Bible, only 16 do not use one of the words for mercy. Even though “mercy” is an important concept, it is somewhat difficult to prescribe a definition for it, especially since “grace” is occasionally coupled with it. In the first reference where “mercy” is used, Lot has just been expelled from Sodom by the angels of judgment. In spite of the command by the angels that Lot and his daughters “escape to the mountain,” Lot begs: “Oh, not so, my LORD: Behold now, thy servanthath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life,...this city is near...Oh, let me escape thither” (Genesis19:17-20). And later, the New Testament saints are told to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews4:16). In these and other such passages, the two terms appear to address similar subjects. However similar they may appear to be, these words are not synonyms. “Grace” is most often associated with the sovereign dispensation of totally undeserved favor, and it is specifically connected to salvation. “Mercy” is more often connected to the withholdingof judgment. “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (James2:13). Set aside some time today to read and meditate on this psalm. You will find the day less wearisome if you do. HMM III ----------------------- TheIncarnate Wisdom “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting,from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” (Proverbs8:22-23) The book of Proverbs repeatedly extols the virtues of true wisdom founded on the fear of the Lord. In the eighth chapter, however, beginning at verse 22, the theme changes, retreating far back in time to creation itself and even before. The statements in thenext 10 verses, especially, must be of an actual divine Person. From the New Testament perspective, especially with John 1:1-14 as the definitive exposition, it becomes clear that the divine wisdom of Proverbs 8:22-31 is none other than the incarnate Word of John’s prologue. The Lord Jesus Christ, indeed, fits perfectly all the statements in this particular section of Proverbs, which then gives marvelous new insight into the events of creation and the divine fellowship in the Godhead before the creation. Note that in these firsttwo verses, the Lord’s “ways” were prior to His “works” and that He “possessed” His Son “from everlasting.” This is the profound doctrine of “eternal generations” whereby the Son is “brought forth” continually from the Father, forever manifesting Him in Hiscreation. The New Testament makes it plain that Jesus Christ is, indeed, the incarnate wisdom of God. He is the “Word” by whom all things were made (John1:1-3). He is “the truth” (John14:6) and “the light” (John8:12) by whom alone men can come to God and follow Him. He is called “the power of God, and the wisdom of God” in 1 Corinthians 1:24, and He called Himself “the wisdom of God” in Luke 11:49. All of the vaunted knowledge of the world’s thinkers and scientists is empty and futile apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, for in Him alone are found “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians2:3). HMM ----------------------- NoKing in Israel “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges17:6) Four times in the book of Judges we are told that “there was no king in Israel in those days” (Judges17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25), indicating that the book must have been compiled either by Samuel (the last judge) or someone else of his or a later generation. The first and last of these (which is the final verse in the book) add that “every man did that whichwas right in his own eyes.” With no centralized government, there were only tribal leaders. Occasionally, one of these would acquire followers from other tribes; these were the “judges” whom God raised up to lead the people out of bondage on the occasionsof widespread repentance and prayer. The intervening periods were times of oppression by enemies and moral and spiritual chaos among the people. They did have a King, of course, but they refused Him, as did the men in the parable who “sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this manto reign over us” (Luke19:14). When they finally requested a human king, Samuel rebuked them for saying, “Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king” (1Samuel 12:12). Lest we be too critical of the ancient Israelites for rejecting God as their king and going each his own way, that is essentially what people are doing today. “There is no fear of God before their eyes,” and they are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers ofGod” (Romans3:18; 2 Timothy 3:4). When every man believes what is comfortable and does as he pleases, he in effect becomes his own god, and this is nothing but humanism. But just as this ancient humanism was empty and the people soon desired a human king, so modern atheistichumanism will also revert to pantheism, and the world will then yield to a humanistic king to lead them on to a final deadly confrontation with the true King of kings. HMM ------------------ OvercomeThem “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he thatis in the world.” (1John 4:4) This is one of the most reassuring promises in the Bible for the believer. Because “we are of God” and because He is in us (as the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 3:16) and is “greater...than he that is in the world,” we have already overcome! I firmly believe that there are no empty promises in the Bible, and I know that this passage is true. But there are times when I do not feel like I am over anything. Just what does this promise promise? And who are “them” that I have to overcome? To begin with, the Greek word means to conquer, overcome, prevail, or get the victory. It is translated similarly in speaking of the Lord’s ultimate victory as He assumes the throne in heaven to bring about the end of the age (Revelation5:5). And in the same way, we are to conquer as we “reign in life” (Romans5:17) because we are “born of God” (1John 5:4). The Lord Jesus has overcome the world (John16:33), and since we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we too will get the victory over the world (1John 5:5; Romans 12:2). The “them” are those who are driven to embrace ungodly antichrist doctrines (1Timothy 4:1) and worldly philosophies (James4:4). They are those who “love the world” (1John 2:15-17) and seek to spoil (plunder and/or take captive) the people of God (Colossians2:8). We, on the other hand, are to prevail over evil with good (Romans12:21) and take them captive with the mighty “weapons of our warfare” (2Corinthians 10:3-5), which are the Word of God and prayer (Ephesians6:13-18). HMM III ---------------------------- SpiralingDownward - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There�s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacksrepentance, results in spiritual death. �2 Corinthians 7:10 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/spiraling-downward/- Listen Have you ever known someone who appeared as though they would really make their mark in life? They looked like they were going to do well, but then they self-destructed. That is what happened to Saul, the first king of Israel. He started out well, but things went from bad to worse because he disobeyed God. And when his successor, David, emergedon the scene, Saul began to relentlessly hunt him down. On more than one occasion, Saul tried to murder David because he was paranoid and jealous of him. And when Saul went to battle against the Philistines and realized that hewas clearly defeated, he killed himself. Saul had so much promise and potential, but he threw his life away. He was more concerned with what others thought of him than with what God thought of him. He was shallow.He was vain. And he was a fool. In fact, he once admitted, �I have been a fool and very, very wrong� (1 Samuel 26:21 NLT). Or, as the New King James Version puts it, �I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.� Like Saul, we can play the fool in our lives as well. We play the fool when we disobey God, even in the smallest matters. Spiritual decline is gradual. Saul�s failure wasn�t immediate. At first, he was humble, but then prideset in. He took matters into his own hands and did what God told him not do. We play the fool when we attempt to justify the wrongs we have done. More than once, Saul blamed others for something he had done wrong. And when he finally owned up to hissin, it was only to save face. We must be honest about our sin and admit it when we�ve done something wrong. We play the fool when we allow hatred and jealousy to control our lives instead of love. There always will be people who do better in life than we do. There always will besomeone who is better looking, in better shape, and more intelligent than we are. And if allow jealousy to control us, then we�ll be miserable people. Instead, we can thank God for everything He has given us because we don�t deserve any of it. Saul threw his life away, and his jealousy ultimately destroyed him. In the end, if he had genuinely repented, God would have forgiven him. The Bible says, �For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There�s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldlysorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death� (2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT). In other words, if we�re really sorry for something we�ve done, then we will stop doing it. But to say we�re sorry and continue in a path of disobedience shows that we�renot sorry at all. ------------------- ANo-Name Sandwich �And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us makeus a name.� (Genesis11:4) According to Genesis, people after the Flood built the Tower of Babel to make themselves a name. This theme runs through the Scriptures and our lives. We sinners exalt our own names. We want credit! This self-centeredness might drive us to outpace others ina career or to offer words that make us look wise. But at Babel, they took this desire to its extreme by collaborating on a monument of self-exaltation. One snag with self-made names is that they rob God of the glory He deserves. After all, the Lord gave us any knowledge, intellectual ability, or physical prowess we may have. It is also idolatry since it implies we believe we can save ourselves. �Thus saiththe LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD� (Jeremiah17:5). The brief account of Babel in Genesis 11 is sandwiched between �name� passages. Genesis 10 names Noah�s major descendants, and Genesis 11:10-28 names the generations from Shem to Abram. In contrast, God chose not to honor the names of the wicked Babel builders. In other words, even the literary structure in Genesis emphasizes the futility of trying to make a name for oneself. What should we then do? �Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up� (James4:10). �So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen� (Matthew20:16). Magnify the Lord�s great name and receive in the end �a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it� (Revelation2:17). BDT ------------------------- A Forward Path - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. �Psalm 37:23 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/a-forward-path/- Listen After God rejected Saul as the king of Israel, the prophet Samuel was having a hard time. Then one day God said, �You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected himas king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king� (1 Samuel 16:1 NLT). Samuel obeyed the Lord and went to Bethlehem, which created quite a stir. Bethlehem was a small, obscure place. In fact, the prophet Micah described it as �only a small villageamong all the people of Judah� (Micah 5:2 NLT). Therefore, when a guy like Samuel showed up, everyone was fearful. But Samuel wanted to meet Jesse and his sons because he knew that one of the sons would be the next kingof Israel. This reminds us that God usually leads us only one step at a time. He doesn�t give us a detailed blueprint of where we will be in the future. Rather, it�s a journey of faith. There may be times in our lives when the Lord clearly directs us to do certain things. But there may be many other situations in which we must simply take biblical principlesand, to the best of our ability, live them. Sometimes we will need to prayerfully take steps of faith. In the Book of Acts we find an interesting story about a man named Philip, who was preaching in Samaria. People were coming to faith, and miracles were taking place. But thenGod spoke to him through an angel and directed him to go to the desert. God didn�t tell him what would happen after that. The message was simple: go to the desert. How easily Philip could have argued and said, �Excuse me, Lord, we are having a revival here. Great things are happening. Why should I go to the desert? What�s in the desert?� To Philip�s credit, he obeyed. And there in the desert he saw an entourage of chariots. In the midst of them was a foreign dignitary from Ethiopia who had been in Jerusalemsearching for God. He had not found Him there. But he was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah that described the suffering Messiah (see Isaiah 53). When Philip saw this, he knew why he was there. God had sent Philip to talk with this man. When God tells us to do something, we need to do it. God�s way becomes plain when we start walking in it. Obedience to revealed truth guarantees guidance in matters unrevealed. Many times we don�t know what to do until we take a step of faith. Then, when we take it, we will realize what the next step is. What has God given you to do right now? Do it. Don�t worry about a year from now or ten years from now. Do what God has placed before you today, and He will show you whatto do next. ------------------------ TheGods Shall Perish �Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perishfrom the earth, and from under these heavens.� (Jeremiah10:11) This is a unique verse. Jeremiah, the second-longest book in the Bible, is written in Hebrew except for this one verse! Why would Jeremiah make this remarkable exception here? This verse was written in Aramaic, which was the official language of the great Babylonian empire�the world�s chief nation at that time. The Babylonians, as prophesied by Jeremiah, were soon to be used as a weapon in God�s hand to punish His chosen people,carrying them into exile and captivity, and the main reason for such punishment was apostasy. God�s people had corrupted the worship of the true Creator God with the teachings and idols of the Babylonians and all the other nations around them who had rejectedGod. Jeremiah had repeatedly condemned this apostasy, showing that God�s people were to be punished by the very nations whose religious philosophies had so attracted them. But those nations needed also to understand that this was not because of their own strength nor the merits of their own gods. Thus, Jeremiah appropriately inserted a special word to be conveyed to the Babylonians in their own official tongue. Only the trueGod, who made the heavens and the earth, is in control of the heavens and the earth. The same type of warning, delivered in the �official� language of the modern world (�science?�), is needed even more today than it was in Jeremiah�s day. Today�s �gods��Marx, Darwin, etc.�are even less deserving of trust than Zeus or Baal, and yet professingChristians have gone after them in droves. It is urgent that we call them back to the true Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ, urging them�before God�s judgment falls once again�to repudiate every vestige of evolutionary humanism. HMM ------------------------- An Inside Look - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org But the LORD said to Samuel, �Don�t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn�t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance,but the LORD looks at the heart.� �1 Samuel 16:7 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/an-inside-look/- Listen Our culture today is enamored with beauty. We elevate attractive people in our culture and give them a lot of attention. If God has given you natural good looks, that is awonderful thing. Just be sure that you don�t neglect what�s on the inside. When God sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, Samuel knew the next king of Israel was among Jesse�s sons. And when he saw Jesse�s sons, and Eliab in particular, he thoughthe knew which one it would be. But God told him, �Don�t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn�t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance,but the Lord looks at the heart� (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT) God was saying that for Him, motive and intent are everything. He was looking on the inside. Meanwhile, Samuel was missing it. Finally, Samuel said to Jesse, �Are these all the sons you have?� (verse 11 NLT). � �There is still the youngest,� Jesse replied, �but he�s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats� � (verse 11 NLT). In other words, �We have one other kid. He�s a shepherd. I don�t know if you want to talk to him.� It�s important to understand that in ancient Israel, a shepherd was not a great position in life. We have romanticized the idea of shepherds because they were watching theirflocks on the night the angels came to them and announced the birth of Jesus. But a shepherd in those days was pretty low on the socioeconomic ladder. In fact, the testimony of the shepherd wasn�t even allowed in a court of law. Jesse was saying, �He�s just a shepherd.� But Samuel wanted to see him. In walked David, probably smelling like sheep. And God said, �This is the one; anoint him� (verse 12NLT). Then Samuel took out his flask of oil and anointed David with it. No doubt David�s brothers were watching this and thinking that Samuel had lost his mind. There is no way this could be true. As for his father, Jesse, it doesn�t appear thathe had a lot of love for David. When he told Samuel, �There is still the youngest,� he was speaking of him in a derogatory manner. David later wrote in one of the psalms, �Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close� (Psalm 27:10 NLT). Those who are rejected by their parents often become beloved of God. Maybe you�ve come from a home where you were unappreciated by your parents. Maybe they never expressed their love toward you or even told you they were proud of you. Or maybethey showered their affection on an older or younger sister and forgot about you. And that has always hurt you through life. I came from a broken home. So, when I gave my life to Jesus Christ, it was amazing to realize that I had a heavenly Father who loved me. And He loves you as well. ------------------------------ Spiraling Downward - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There�s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacksrepentance, results in spiritual death. �2 Corinthians 7:10 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/spiraling-downward/- Listen Have you ever known someone who appeared as though they would really make their mark in life? They looked like they were going to do well, but then they self-destructed. That is what happened to Saul, the first king of Israel. He started out well, but things went from bad to worse because he disobeyed God. And when his successor, David, emergedon the scene, Saul began to relentlessly hunt him down. On more than one occasion, Saul tried to murder David because he was paranoid and jealous of him. And when Saul went to battle against the Philistines and realized that hewas clearly defeated, he killed himself. Saul had so much promise and potential, but he threw his life away. He was more concerned with what others thought of him than with what God thought of him. He was shallow.He was vain. And he was a fool. In fact, he once admitted, �I have been a fool and very, very wrong� (1 Samuel 26:21 NLT). Or, as the New King James Version puts it, �I have played the fool and erred exceedingly.� Like Saul, we can play the fool in our lives as well. We play the fool when we disobey God, even in the smallest matters. Spiritual decline is gradual. Saul�s failure wasn�t immediate. At first, he was humble, but then prideset in. He took matters into his own hands and did what God told him not do. We play the fool when we attempt to justify the wrongs we have done. More than once, Saul blamed others for something he had done wrong. And when he finally owned up to hissin, it was only to save face. We must be honest about our sin and admit it when we�ve done something wrong. We play the fool when we allow hatred and jealousy to control our lives instead of love. There always will be people who do better in life than we do. There always will besomeone who is better looking, in better shape, and more intelligent than we are. And if allow jealousy to control us, then we�ll be miserable people. Instead, we can thank God for everything He has given us because we don�t deserve any of it. Saul threw his life away, and his jealousy ultimately destroyed him. In the end, if he had genuinely repented, God would have forgiven him. The Bible says, �For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There�s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldlysorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death� (2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT). In other words, if we�re really sorry for something we�ve done, then we will stop doing it. But to say we�re sorry and continue in a path of disobedience shows that we�renot sorry at all. ----------------------------- Your One Thing - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The one thing I ask of the LORD�the thing I seek most�is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD�s perfections and meditating in hisTemple. �Psalm 27:4 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/your-one-thing/- Listen The most spiritual people I�ve met have been the most down-to-earth. They didn�t speak in pious tones or act like they were above it all. The truly godly people I�ve knownhave been fun to be around. They�ve been great salt-of-the-earth kind of people. David was a truly spiritual man. We know this from the psalms he wrote. They�re a window into his soul. For instance, he wrote, �My heart is confident in you, O God; my heartis confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!� (Psalm 57:7 NLT). David was focused. He knew where he was going and wasn�t fickle. He knew what mattered in life. In Psalm 27:4, he said, �The one thing I ask of the Lord�the thing I seek most�is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord�s perfectionsand meditating in his Temple� (NLT). The apostle Paul had a similar goal in life. He said, �No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and lookingforward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us� (Philippians 3:13�14 NLT). Do you have this �one thing� in life like Paul did? Do you know where you are going? Do you know what really matters? The problem is that a lot of us don�t know what matters in life. We�re trying to live in two worlds. We want to be Christians on the weekend. We�ll go to a church service,but the rest of the week we leave God out of our lives. God wants to be a part of everything we do. He wants to be at the forefront of our lives. What is your one thing in life that is more important than anything else? What are you really focused on? Some people might say their one thing in life is their business. They want be successful. They want to get established. They want to make money and a lot of it. Another person might say their one thing is family. They want a strong family and don�t want it to fall apart. Someone else might say their one thing in life is ministry. They want God to use them. There is nothing wrong with wanting to succeed in business, wanting a strong family, or wanting an effective ministry. But if you make that your main thing, then it is thewrong thing. The main thing should be Jesus. A truly spiritual person is someone who can enjoy life and love God. A truly spiritual person can have fun but at the same time know where their priorities are. If you put God first in your life, He might not give you everything you want. Or, He might give you more than you want. But He always will give you what you need.