DAILY DEVOTIONALS: 6.8.24

 Paulas Our Example “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peaceshall be with you.” (Philippians4:9) The apostle Paul many times urged his readers to follow his example in living the Christian life. To the Philippians, Paul said: “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Philippians3:17). The initial reaction to such exhortations is to think of Paul as arrogant. To the believers in the Corinthian church, he said: “Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me” (1Corinthians 4:16). To those at Thessalonica, he said: “For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you....Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us” (2Thessalonians 3:7-9). At the same time, Paul considered himself to be “the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle” (1Corinthians 15:9). Later he called himself “less than the least of all saints” (Ephesians3:8), and finally he said that he was even the chief of sinners (1Timothy 1:15). In no way was the apostle Paul an egotist. Nevertheless, he knew that his converts needed an example to see, as well as precepts to learn. The Lord Jesus Christ, of course, is our real example (1Peter 2:21). But by living a life patterned after Christ, Paul could say: “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1Corinthians 11:1). People need to see Christ in the lives of their Christian leaders. By the grace of God, we also need to live as Christ did, so that when people follow us, they also will be following Christ. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew5:16). HMM ---------------------- Jesusand the Study of Scripture “And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (John7:15) In the midst of the annual Feast of Tabernacles, “Jesus went up into the temple, and taught” (John7:14), and the unique caliber of His teaching (literally “indoctrinating”) caused the Jewish scholars there to “marvel.” Their question on this occasion was how an uneducated man, who had never been taught by the scribes and rabbis, could have acquired such a remarkable understanding of the Holy Scriptures. He had never had formal training in the Word; yet, when He taught, “hetaught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew7:29). His answer to their question was amazing: “My doctrine [or ‘teaching’] is not mine, but his that sent me” (John7:16). There are two factors at work here. First of all, His working knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures was encyclopedic, acquired in the same way any other student of the Word can acquire it—by diligent and prayerful personal study thereof. He had done thisall His life from the time He was a small boy. Remember how He had “asked questions” of the astonished doctors in the temple, how He was “subject unto” His parents, and how He “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke2:46; 51-52). In all of this, He is a perfect human example to us as we also seek to learn the Scriptures and grow in wisdom and in favor with God. But beyond His human understanding of the Word, of course, was His own innate divine wisdom and authority. He was eternal God as well as perfect man. Thus, He not only has authenticated the former Scriptures and given us an example in their study and use, butHe has also conveyed perfectly to us, through His apostles and prophets, the Scriptures of the New Covenant. HMM ------------------------- TheHealing Ministry of Jesus “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out thespirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” (Matthew8:16-17) The earthly healing ministries of Jesus are here said to have fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:4: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” The Hebrew words used do allow this New Testament application, so this passage does, indeed, predictthe healing work of the Messiah in His earthly ministry. Isaiah 53:5-6 then predicts the substitutionary atoning work of the Messiah, concluding with the statement: “The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The order is important. The healing ministry preceded the atonement, just as the prophecy of healing preceded the prophecy of Christ’s atoning work. This means that particular healings cannot be a part of the atonement itself. The reason for the earthly healingwork of Christ was “that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew9:6). The saving work of Christ includes deliverance from the death penalty for sin in one’s past life, the power of sin in this present life, and the very presence of sin in the future life. Our great salvation has already delivered us from the eternal torments of the second death (Revelation20:14; 21:8), from the defeating power of physical infirmities in our present bodies, and from the very presence of sickness and pain in the future. In any case, there is no question that God is well able in particular situations right now either to provide direct healing in answer to prayer or sufficient grace to meet whateverphysical need we have in a way that honors Him (2Corinthians 12:7-9). HMM ------------------------- TheCup of Salvation “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, andcall upon the name of the LORD.” (Psalm116:12-13) Here is a remarkable question and answer. To everyone born into the world, God has given multitudes of benefits. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts17:25). Some receive more than others, but all receive many, so the question is what we should do for the Lord in return. The answer is simply to receive His great gift of eternal salvation! On one occasion, the people of Capernaum asked Jesus: “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” His answer must be profoundly surprising to anyone who believes that he can please God and earn salvation by doing good works. “This is the work ofGod,” said Jesus, “that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John6:28-29). The truth is we can never pay for our sins by good deeds. If one is ever to be saved from his sins and to obtain salvation, it must be received solely by faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. “For the wages of sin is death,” but “while we were yet sinners,Christ died for us” so that “the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many” and—in the words of our text above—“whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans6:23; 5:8; 5:15; 10:13). Therefore, when a repentant sinner calls in faith on the wonderful name of our gracious Lord, he drinks of the healing cup of salvation and receives everlasting life. Because Jesus drank the bitter cup of God’s righteous judgment on our sins, we can drink deeplyof the “living water....springing up into everlasting life” (John4:10-14), and we can say with the psalmist: “My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever” (Psalm23:5-6). HMM ---------------------- God’sShadow “The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under hisshadow we shall live among the heathen.” (Lamentations4:20) In the hot desert lands so familiar to the Israelites, a place of shade was considered a blessing wherever it could be found. This was often taken as a symbol of God’s protection from the hot hatred of their (and His) enemies. In fact, the Hebrew word for “shadow” is used 12 times in the Bible as a type of God’s guarding presence. The first is in Psalm 17:8: “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.” Three other times “the shadow of thy wings” is used (Psalm36:7; 57:1; 63:7). Isaiah speaks of His presence “as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” and as like being hidden “in the shadow of his hand” (Isaiah32:2; 49:2; also 51:16). The Lord is compared to “a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain” (Isaiah4:6). He is “a shadow from the heat” and like “the shadow of a cloud” (Isaiah25:4-5). The last reference to God’s shadow is in our text above in reference to the forced exile of God’s people into Babylon. In this sad context, Jeremiah laments that even “the anointed of the LORD”—that is, literally, the Lord’s Messiah (fulfilled in Jesus Christ)—hasbeen taken captive with His people. He is even called “the breath of our nostrils,” recognizing implicitly that it was He who breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life in the beginning (Acts17:25). Thus, He will even be with His people as they undergo their just chastisements; they can even “live among the heathen” under His shadow. No matter how dark our circumstances, we can say with the psalmist: “He that dwelleth in the secret place ofthe most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty....in him will I trust” (Psalm91:1-2). HMM --------------------- OnlyOne Race to Run - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org 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 3:14 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/only-one-race-to-run/- Listen When we�re running the race of life, our competition is not with each other. The goal is not to outrun someone else. The goal is to outrun the wicked influences that could bring us down. So, what race should we run? The race that is set before us. We are not to concern ourselves with who is behind or ahead of us. We are to run the race that is set before us. The apostle Paul, who had walked with the Lord for years, made this statement: �I don�t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection . .. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward 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 3:12�14 NLT). God has called each of us to run our own race. An incident from the life of Peter illustrates this truth. After Peter had been restored following his denial of the Lord, Jesus said, �Feedmy sheep� (John 21:17 NLT). Then Jesus went on to tell Peter how his life would end. As they were talking, Peter noticed someone was behind them: the apostle John. So, Peter said, �What about him, Lord?� (verse 21 NLT). In other words, �Lord, You told me to follow You andthat I am going to die for the faith. And I am willing to do that. But what about John?� Jesus told him, �If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me� (verse 22 NLT). Jesus was saying, �Peter, it�s none of your business. You just dowhat I�ve told you to do.� Like Peter, we might be tempted to say, �What about so-and-so? Why have I had this setback in my life, and they haven�t? Why has this tragedy befallen me, and it has not come to them?� That is not your concern. You are to deal with what God has allowed in your life. You are to run your race and keep your eyes on Jesus. Seeing Jesus gave the young martyr Stephen the abilityto run his race and finish it. And seeing Jesus gave Simon Peter the ability to step out of the boat and walk on the water. In fact, the Bible says that Jesus �lives forever to intercede with God on [our] behalf� (Hebrews 7:25 NLT). Circumstances will disappoint and, at times, devastate us. People will let us downand fall short of our expectations. Feelings will come and go. But Jesus always will be there with outstretched arms, saying, �Come on, you can do this. You can live this life. You can finish this race. I am here with you. Let�s do it.� Are you running the race of life as well as you ought to? Or, are you just offering a half effort? ------------------------------------------ The Difference of One Life - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. �Matthew 5:13 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-difference-of-one-life/- Listen Just a pinch of salt can make all the difference in the flavor of something. Jesus said, �You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless� (Matthew5:13 NLT). A lot of times, we�re not happy with where we are. We�re not happy with the neighborhood we live in, the jobs that we have, or the people who are around us. But does it ever occur to us thatGod has placed us where we are for a reason? The Bible tells the story of Esther, who won a beauty contest and became the queen of Persia. But she didn�t reveal the fact that she was a Jew to her husband, King Xerxes. Then a wicked mannamed Haman hatched a plot to execute all the Jews. Esther, however, was oblivious to it as she lived in the comfort of the palace. But her cousin Mordecai brought it to her attention and said to Esther, �If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but youand your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?� (Esther 4:14 NLT). Then there was Moses, who, through his godliness and personal integrity, essentially kept 2.5 million people from turning full tilt to idolatry. Deuteronomy 33:1 simply describes him as �Moses,the man of God� (NLT). What greater compliment could we pay than to describe someone that way? Moses potentially could have been the next pharaoh of Egypt. But he came to a fork in the road. The Bible tells us, �It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the sonof Pharaoh�s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God�s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin� (Hebrews 11:24�25 NLT). We all come to pivotal moments in our lives that can make all the difference as to how we end up. We�re making decisions now that will affect us later in life. How important it is that wemake the right ones. Moses knew that Egypt had a lot to offer. But that wasn�t what he wanted. Instead, he wanted to be with God�s people. So he gave up something. In fact, he gave up a lot. Have you given up something to follow Jesus Christ? Whatever you�ve given up to follow Christ will be more than made up to you in this life and in the life to come (see Mark 10:29�30). Moses made a principled stand in his life. What a difference one life can make. You may be the only Christian in your sphere of influence right now. You may be the only follower of Jesus Christthat others will see. --------------------------------- AVery Present Help �God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though theearth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.� (Psalm46:1-3) The modifier �very� in this verse is a strong word. God is an intensively present helper in time of trouble. �Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid� (John14:27). Those who hold a deistic philosophy argue that God is far away, leaving the earth and its inhabitants to work out their own evolutionary salvation after He first started it going billions of years ago. But they are wrong, for God is right here,right now! �The LORD of hosts is with us� (Psalm 46:11). There had, indeed, been a time when the earth was removed (literally �the ground was changed�), and even the mountains had been eroded away and washed into the oceans. The waters swelled higher and the mountains quaked until finally, in the words of the apostlePeter, �the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished� (2 Peter 3:6). This was the great Flood in the days of Noah�the greatest �trouble� in the world�s history. Even then, God provided a refuge for His people�the Ark that He instructed Noah to build. When the Flood came, �the LORD shut him in,� and throughout the height of thecataclysm, �God remembered Noah, and every living thing� (Genesis 7:16; 8:1). There are great judgments coming on the earth in future days as well (Psalm46:6-9), when the earth itself will be melted (literally �dissolved,� 2 Peter 3:10). Again, the Lord�s people in that day can still say: �The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge� (Psalm 46:7). From the beginning of creationto the end of the age, God is a very present help to His people. HMM ------------------------------ HowWould You Define Success? - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org The people of Israel mourned for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days, until the customary period of mourning was over. �Deuteronomy 34:8 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/how-would-you-define-success/- Listen Sometimes, when a Christian dies, other well-meaning believers might say that we shouldn�t cry because they�re in Heaven. But when you lose a loved one who has died in faith, go ahead andcry because the depth of your sorrow is an indication of the depth of your love. When young Stephen was martyred for his faith in Christ, Acts 8:2 tells us, �Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning� (NLT). The Bible also says the people wept when Moses died. In Deuteronomy 34:8, we read, �The people of Israel mourned for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days, until the customary periodof mourning was over� (NLT). They wept over Moses because he was such a special person. He was the friend of God. The Bible says, �There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face toface� (Deuteronomy 34:10 NLT). Even so, we can have a closer relationship with God than Moses had. And here�s what Jesus said about John the Baptist, who was the last of the Old Testament prophets: �I tell you the truth,of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!� (Matthew 11:11 NLT). Maybe you�re thinking, �How does that work? How could I be greater than John the Baptist?� You�re greater in the sense that you have a closer relationship with God because you have Christ living in your heart. When you believe in Jesus, He comes and lives inside you and changesyou from the inside out. Therefore, what kind of difference is your life making? What kind of legacy are you leaving? Where are you in your life? Are you in the morning of it? Are you in the afternoon of it? Or, areyou in the evening of your life? We don�t know how many more years we will live or how many more years of ministry we will have. We never know when the Lord will call us home. That is why we want to be ready to meet God. And we want to live lives that are worth emulating. Corrie ten Boom, a very godly woman who survived horrible things in a concentration camp duringthe Holocaust, said, �The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.� Think of people who have made history because they stood up for what is right and what is true. Edward Everett Hale said, �I am only one, but I am one; I cannot do everything, but I can dosomething. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.� We tend to think that success is defined by a long life. It is�if it is lived for the glory of God. But even a short life, if it is lived for God�s glory, is still a success. ------------------------------ TheChristian�s Speech �Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer everyman.� (Colossians 4:6) A Christian�s words are of transcendent importance, for Jesus has said: �Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment� (Matthew12:36). The word �answer� in the text above means more than simply an answer to a question. The Greek word is used 250 times in the New Testament, and in every other instance it is used in a simple narrative sense (such as �he answered saying�). Thus,it refers to ordinary conversation, indicating that every verbal response of a Christian should be gracious and tasteful�never crude, hurtful, or bland. The Scriptures include many other specifications for a Christian�s speech. In the first place, there should not be too much of it! �Study to be quiet, and to do your own business� (1Thessalonians 4:11). Our words should be carefully chosen, able to be substantiated��sound speech, that cannot be condemned� (Titus 2:8). People shouldbe able to rely on the truth of what we say. �Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour� (Ephesians 4:25). Furthermore, �letno corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers� (Ephesians 4:29). �But who ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth� (Colossians 3:8). Our words should always beedifying and helpful, wholesome and thoughtful. But if this seems humanly impossible, remember God is able to tame our tongues, even though we cannot! The key is prayer�earnest and consistent prayer�not just that our speech become innocuous, but that it may edify, testify, and minister grace. HMM ------------------------ Make Good Choices - by Greg Laurie � www.harvest.org It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh�s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God�s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasuresof sin. �Hebrews 11:24�25 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/make-good-choices/- Listen We all make countless choices every day, from what to have for lunch to which channel to watch on television. Those aren�t important choices for the most part. Then there are very importantchoices in life, like the person you will marry. And there are daily choices, like starting your day with the Word of God instead of social media. Moses chose not to do one thing and instead chose to do another. Hebrews 11:24�25 says, �It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh�s daughter. Hechose to share the oppression of God�s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin� (NLT). Notice the phrase �the fleeting pleasures of sin.� Yes, there is pleasure in sin. Otherwise, why would we do it? But it is a short-lived pleasure, and it can be a pleasure that leads to ahorrible ending. It can be very exciting to break the rules and do what you want to do. You can have those momentary pleasures. But then the problems will follow. That is why we want to make the right choices. Joshua stood before the people of Israel and said, �Choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amoritesin whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord� (Joshua 24:15 NLT). Elijah stood on Mount Carmel and spoke to the vacillating, fickle people of Israel, saying, �How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him!But if Baal is God, then follow him!� (1 Kings 18:21 NLT). Moses made a choice, and he chose difficulty over ease. But God�s worst is better than the world�s best. And what is God�s worst? Persecution, rejection, mockery, and things of that nature.What, then, is the world�s best? A few short-lived pleasures. Now let�s talk about God�s best, which is peace, purpose, meaning in this life, a relationship and friendship with God Himself, and the guaranteed assurance of Heaven beyond the grave. Andwhat is the world�s worst? Misery, guilt, emptiness, and a future of judgment in Hell. The Bible tells us that if we want to be happy, there are some things we should choose not to do, and there are other things we should choose to do instead. Psalm 1 says, �Oh, the joys ofthose who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night� (verses 1�2 NLT). And the most important choice you ever will make is whether to reject Jesus Christ or say yes to Him and follow Him. Ultimately, we all will stand before God and be held accountable for ourlives. And it�s going to come down to this: What did we do with Jesus Christ? --------------------------