DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 2.3.24

 TheGreat Commission “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark16:15) The so-called “great commission” of the Lord to His disciples is found in somewhat different form in each of the four gospels and in still another form in the first chapter of Acts. To get the full message of the commission, all five must be analyzed and organizedtogether. The most familiar statement is in Mark 16:15 above. This was in the upper room and must have followed the words recorded by John: “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John20:21). The commission was then further defined as recorded in Luke 24:47-48: “That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.” Still later, on a mountain in Galilee, He told the disciples (literally), “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commandedyou” (Matthew28:19-20). Not only were they to preach the saving gospel, implemented by true repentance unto remission of sins, based on His death, burial, and resurrection (Luke24:46), but then to “disciple” people, baptize them, and indoctrinate them in all His teachings. Finally, just before His ascension, He summarized the commission once again: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermostpart of the earth” (Acts1:8). Above all, we are to go and to witness to all people in all places, as God enables. HMM ------------------------ Spiritof Antichrist “And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now alreadyis it in the world.” (1John 4:3) The four passages in the New Testament that use this term are unique to the apostle John (1John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7). The term itself is a transliteration of the Greek compound word anti plus christos, meaning one who is “against” Christ. John distinguishes between “the” Antichrist (1John 2:18) and the “many” antichrists against whom we are continually fighting today. Although a sincere Christian should be aware of the Antichrist (the “man of sin” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10), far more caution is urged to identify and fight the spirit of antichrist that is already here! To begin with, it should be noted that there is no specific word for “spirit” in 1 John 4:3. The English word is supplied by the translators to clarify the obvious meaning of the text, that it is the attitude or character of antichrist of which we are to be wary. Those who have this spirit are liars (1John 2:22), mainly because they refuse to accept the truth that Jesus is the Christ. Further rejection of that truth centers around denial of the incarnation of Christ, that Jesus is the Creator God come in human flesh (1John 4:3 and 2 John 1:7). Those who would deny that truth embrace the very core of all lies and become anti Christ. Such persons are like the thief and the robber who harm the sheep (John10:1), embrace another gospel (Galatians1:6-9), and teach other doctrines (1Timothy 1:3-7). From such as these we are to turn away (2Timothy 3:5). HMM III --------------------- TheEnduring Work of God “Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: andGod doeth it, that men should fear before him.” (Ecclesiastes3:14) God is both omniscient and omnipotent. He has the wisdom to know what is best to do and the power to do it. Thus, He makes no mistakes and never needs to go back and revise or redirect something He started. What He does is forever! This fundamental principle has many profound implications. It anticipates the basic scientific law of conservation, the most important and universal law of science. The basic physical entities that comprise and organize all natural processes—energy, mass, momentum,electric charge—are all “conserved” throughout nature, being neither created nor destroyed in the present natural order of things. The same applies to the basic kinds of plants and animals— evolutionists to the contrary notwithstanding. “After its kind” is the universal law of reproduction, and there is not the slightest evidence in the real data of biology that this law has ever beenviolated or even could be violated. And it also applies to the created cosmos as a whole. Many Scriptures (e.g., Psalm 148:1-6) assure us that the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the renewed earth, will continue to function through all the endless ages to come. Nothing can defeat God’s primeval purposes in creating them. Most of all, it applies to our great salvation: “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John10:28). “The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him” (Psalm103:17). “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away” (Daniel7:14). “My salvation shall be for ever” (Isaiah51:6). “The word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah40:8). The remarkable principle of universal conservation is given “that men should fear before him.” HMM -------------------------- HeHath Chosen Us “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and withoutblame before him in love.” (Ephesians1:4) Although we cannot really understand how God could choose us (same Greek word as “elected”) before the creation of the world, we can rejoice in the fact and praise Him for “his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the worldbegan” (2Timothy 1:9). The preceding verse (Ephesians1:3) testifies we have received “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,” all “according to the good pleasure of his will” (v. 5), “according to the riches of his grace” (v. 7), and “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed inhimself” (v. 9). It must thus all be “to the praise of the glory of his grace” (v. 6). It is clear from this passage that God’s choice of us was not simply a matter of His foreseeing our choice of Him but was a choice solely by His own will and grace. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bringforth fruit” (John15:16). This in no wise lessens our own responsibility to trust in Christ and to believe “the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians1:12-13), even though in our finite minds we cannot understand how to correlate these two concepts. Both are true because both are taught in His Word, and both are occasions for rejoicing because they reflect both His love and His omnipotence. God told Jeremiah, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah31:3). Before the world began, God knew each of us and loved us, and prepared to die to save us from our sins and then to draw us to Himself. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it” (Psalm139:6). We can only thank and praise Him, and then seek earnestly to live fully for Him all our days. HMM --------------------------- Walkingin the Dark - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. �Isaiah 40:31 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/walking-in-the-dark/- Listen There�s a time for running and a time for walking. And most of the time, it�s a lot easier to walk than to run. The Bible uses the metaphor of walking as well as running, and in the Book of Isaiah, we find this promise: �But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They willsoar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint� (Isaiah 40:31 NLT). In the race of life, the objective is not to run fast; it�s to run long. The objective is to cross the finish line. The apostle Paul wrote, �I press on to reach the end ofthe race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us� (Philippians 3:14 NLT). Then Paul added this thought: �Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things� (verse 15 NLT). In other words, he was saying that if we want to grow spiritually,then we need to learn how to pace ourselves in the race of life. Some people seem to have a yo-yo type of relationship with God. Either they are fully passionate, or they are half-hearted. One day they are so excited about Jesus that itborders on being obnoxious. But another day they�re depressed and struggling with sin. We need to learn how to pace ourselves. We need to learn how to find consistency. That is why, after his sin with Bathsheba, King David prayed, �Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me� (Psalm 51:10 NLT). David was saying, �Helpme to be consistent.� And that is what we need in our lives too. When we first come to Christ, there is initial excitement. There�s joy and peace. That is not to suggest those things go away. But it is to say that sooner or later, we mustlearn that the Christian life is a walk of faith and not of feeling. Feelings will come and go. Therefore, we need to learn to walk by faith. That is what a man named Enoch did. In fact, the Bible tells us that he walked with God for 300 years. He walked with God when most others would not. And his story teachesus how we can not only win the race of life but also keep going, even when things get hard. Enoch lived during the time before God�s judgment on the earth by the Flood. The Bible says of this time, �The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, andhe saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil� (Genesis 6:5 NLT). People were extremely wicked�so wicked, in fact, that God said He was sorry that He had ever made them. Yet in the midst of this dark world was someone who walked with God.Enoch showed us that it is possible to live a godly life in an ungodly world. --------------------------- Ageless Faith - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org So that day Moses solemnly promised me, �The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedlyfollowed the LORD my God.� �Joshua 14:9 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/ageless-faith/- Listen The pages of the Bible are filled with stories of those who did not cross the finish line in the race of life. They had great potential. They started well. But they endedmiserably. Yet how important it is that we make it over the finish line. The writer of Hebrews warned, �Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts arenot evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. . . . For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ� (3:12, 14 NLT) Caleb was someone who was faithful to the end. Of the two to three million people who left Egypt in the Exodus, he made it across the finish line. An unsung hero of the Bible,Caleb stands as a shining example of someone who never lost his edge spiritually. At the age of eighty-five Caleb said, �I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then� (Joshua 14:11NLT). So where did Caleb find the resources, the true spiritual grit, to do so well when others failed so miserably? Joshua 14 gives us some insight. Speaking to Joshua, Caleb said, �I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh-barnea to explore the landof Canaan. I returned and gave an honest report, but my brothers who went with me frightened the people from entering the Promised Land. For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God� (verses 7�8 NLT). Forty-five years earlier, Moses, along with Joshua, Caleb, and the children of Israel, arrived at Kadesh-barnea on the edge of the Promised Land. Their trek across the wildernesshad been quick. But instead of entering the land that God had promised them, they first sent in spies. Moses sent in twelve men, and among them were Joshua and Caleb. And when the spies brought back their report, ten of them were terrified by what they saw. They looked at theland through eyes of unbelief, and fear had paralyzed them. Meanwhile, Joshua and Caleb saw the land through eyes of faith. Caleb said, �Let�s go at once to take the land. . . . We can certainly conquer it!� (Numbers 13:30 NLT). But it was the majority and not the minority that influenced the people. The fear and paranoia of the ten convinced them more than the faith and belief of the two. In fact, the people were so angry with Joshua and Caleb for even suggesting they enter the land that they wanted to kill them both. Yet Joshua and Caleb refused to give in. Caleb followed God fully and completely. And if we can learn to follow the Lord wholeheartedly like Caleb did, then the results can be the same for us. Because Caleb�s Godis our God. ------------------------ SinningAgainst the Lord �And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hathput away thy sin; thou shalt not die.� (2Samuel 12:13) A basic truth is expressed in this confession of David�s. Every sin�not only the sin of blasphemy or of unbelief�is essentially a sin against the Lord and His nature of absolute righteousness. This does not mean, of course, that sin hurts no one except God. In David�s case, his sin resulted in the murder of a faithful soldier, Uriah; the implication of Bathsheba in David�s adultery; and then the death of his infant son. It probably also contributedto the subsequent sins of two other sons of David, Amnon and Absalom. Furthermore, as Nathan said, it had �given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme� (v. 14). Nevertheless, it was, above all else, a sin against God. God had chosen David as king and had blessed him abundantly, yet David was not content and elected to make his own decisions in rebellion against the will of God and the Word of God. But when he was madeto realize, by Nathan, what he had done, he immediately repented of his sin and thereby received forgiveness. God, in His grace, has made a wonderful provision for forgiveness and restoration because �the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.� Therefore, �if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us fromall unrighteousness� (1John 1:7, 9). Confession must be specific and sincere, of course, not general and superficial, to be effective. But if this is done, then we can exclaim joyfully with David: �Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,� because he first, as he said, �acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid� (Psalm32:1, 5). HMM ---------------------------- Howto Know the Truth �If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak ofmyself.� (John7:17) The apostle Paul, in his last epistle, wrote about certain philosophers who would be �ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth� (2Timothy 3:7). In the next verse, Paul makes it clear why such people, no matter how scholarly or well educated they seem to be, are still incapable of accepting real truth. �So do these also resist the truth,� he says (v. 8). They could not learn the truthbecause they were not willing to believe or obey the truth when they learned it. For example, a very vexing controversy among modern Christians is whether or not the Genesis account of six-day creation can be so interpreted as to accommodate the billion-year,geological-age system of Earth history. Perhaps the difficulty, in this as well as in other such doctrinal controversies, is a basic unwillingness to believe doctrines plainly revealed in God�s Word when they conflict with doctrines based solely on human reasoning. When the Lord Jesus spoke the words of our text, He was speaking to arrogant religionists who regarded Him as nothingbut an itinerant preacher, rejecting His teachings even though they knew these teachings were fully biblical. His rebuke of these hypocrites is truly a timeless criterion for recognizing God�s truth and knowing His will. Such a heart does not try to twist God�s Word to accommodate a human philosophy, nor does it try to accommodate one�s personal will by persuadingoneself that it is God�s will. God�s will is always consistent with God�s Word, which is written to be easily understood by anyone who is willing to believe His Word and do His will. HMM -------------------------- Give It Your All - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? �Galatians 5:7 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/give-it-your-all/- Listen The Bible is an honest book. It gives us its heroes, warts and all. It tells us the truth so that we can find hope and comfort from people just like us. Just think of some of the individuals in the Bible who had so much potential but self-destructed in the end. Take Saul, for example. God had anointed him as the first kingof Israel. God�s Spirit came upon Saul, the Bible tells us, and he prophesied. King Saul had tremendous potential to do good things for his nation. But he disobeyed God and allowed pride and paranoia to destroy him, and he met a tragic end on the battlefield.Ultimately Saul had no one to blame but himself. He had everything he needed to make a difference, but he threw it away. Then there was Samson, whom God had blessed with superhuman strength. He was able to vanquish his enemies with relative ease, yet he squandered his potential in continualcompromise, culminating in his own death. Samson had his moments of greatness, his moments when God worked through him. But it was Samson�s fault that he never fully realized his potential. Gideon came from humble origins, but God chose him to lead the children of Israel into battle. God used him mightily to vanquish Israel�s enemies. But in the end, Gideon loweredhis standards, and he fell into immorality and pride. His beginnings were good. He had his great moments. But everything came crashing down in the end. Lifted like Gideon from humble origins, King David became beloved of God as the man after His own heart (see 1 Samuel 13:14). He was a good king, and God did use him. Butlike his persecutor Saul, David also played the fool and almost threw his entire life away. And to some degree, he undid some of the great good he had done. Fortunately, in the end, David came to his senses. He repented, and God restored him. But it was not without facing the continual repercussions of sin in his own life. Herewas someone who started well, who faltered and was almost destroyed, and in the last moment, he began walking with God again. Yet he still paid a price for it. These people started out with great potential, but they didn�t all find their way across the finish line. Maybe you can relate to them. Maybe you�ve been sidetracked. Maybethere was a time when you had an intense commitment to Jesus Christ, but other things have begun to crowd Him out. It isn�t too late. Don�t let your life be wasted. Maybe as you look at your spiritual life today, you realize that you�re not doing well. You realize that you�re easing up and slowing down. Or maybe you�ve even walked offthe track, so to speak. Now is the time to get back into the race and give it your all so that one day, you won�t wake up and realize that you�ve wasted the resources and potential God has givenyou. ----------------------------------- TheFirst Sacrifice �Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord GOD make coats of skins, and clothed them.� (Genesis3:21) This action by the Lord is very significant. God Himself apparently sacrificed some of His animal creation (possibly two innocent and blemish-free sheep) in order to provide clothing for the first man and woman. In the first place, this tells us that clothingis important in God�s plan for human beings; nudity became shameful once sin entered the world. In the second place, we learn that symbolically speaking, clothing must be provided by God Himself. Man-made �aprons� of fig leaves will not suffice, as they represent human works of righteousness that can never make us presentable to God. �We are all as anunclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags� (Isaiah 64:6). However, God has sacrificed His own �Lamb of God� (John1:29), pure and spotless, yet also willing to die for us. Thereby �he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness� (Isaiah61:10), fashioned from the perfect righteousness of the Lamb. But in order to do this, the innocent blood of the sacrifice must be shed, for �the life of the flesh is in the blood� (Leviticus 17:11). When sin enteredthe world, there also came �death by sin� (Romans 5:12), and �without shedding of [innocent] blood is no remission [of sin]� (Hebrews9:22). We do not know how much of this could have been comprehended by Adam and Eve as they watched God slay their animal friends so that they once again could walk with God, but it changed their lives. Just so, when we really see �the precious blood of Christ� (1Peter 1:19) spilled in sacrifice for our redemption, our lives also are forever changed. He hath covered me with the righteousness of Christ. HMM ---------------------------- Closeness with God - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite because he wholeheartedly followed the LORD, the God of Israel. �Joshua 14:14 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/closeness-with-god/- Listen One of the reasons this world still appeals to many of us, one of the reasons the offerings of this world system still tantalize many of us, is that we�re lacking closenesswith God. However, if we can get our priorities right, we can see the world for what it is. That is what Caleb did. The Bible said that he �wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel� (Joshua 14:14 NLT). The key to wholeheartedly following the Lord is maintaining a love relationship with Jesus Christ. When you do, this world will lose its appeal. Caleb was looking forward.He wanted fellowship, intimacy, and closeness with God. And that sustained him through the most difficult times. In contrast, it was a lack of fellowship, a lack of closeness with God, that caused the other Israelites in the wilderness to turn to idolatry, immorality, complaining, andultimately testing God. When you are in love with Jesus Christ, you will see Him for who He is. And as a result, you will see this world for what it is. It�s like the hymn that says, �Turn your eyesupon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.� On the other hand, when you�re only giving God your bare minimum, when your love for Jesus is not burning brightly, then this world and its temporary pleasures will look moreand more appealing. To fully follow the Lord means that you will not compromise. You will stand your ground, wanting the approval of God more than the approval of others. It also means that youwill take God at His word and stand on it. And you�ll desire fellowship and communion with God, which will give you the strength to carry on. Finish well. We don�t know how much time we have left�both as His church on this earth and as individuals before the Lord. God is able to complete whatever we have committedto Him. Let�s learn from the examples of those who did not finish well�people like Saul, Samson, and Gideon. And let�s also learn from the examples of those who did finish well�peoplelike Caleb, Joseph, Peter, and Paul, who fully followed the Lord. We find the key to finishing well in Hebrews 12:1�2: �Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weightthat slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith� (NLT). May we all finish well. May we not be casualties in the spiritual race. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will make it. So run the race for Him. This is where we started, and this is where we must end.