Here are the week 2 devotionals.
January 5, 2015
Today's Reading: Genesis
10-12 and Matthew 5:1-20
Devotional:
Genesis 10 contains what is often referred to as the Table of
Nations. It is a long list of names
tracing the lines of Noah's sons.
Reading the names can be tedious, but they serve a very important role
in the story of the Bible.
We learned from Genesis 6-9 that God destroyed every living creature on
the face of the earth in a worldwide flood.
The only ones excluded were those who were on the ark. As we come to Genesis 10 and read the list of
Noah's descendants, we are reminded that all people come from a common
ancestor. This demonstrates very clearly
that we are all related.
It is important that we take time to think about the implications of
such a reality.
One of the implications that immediately stands out to me is that it
leaves no room for us to think of ourselves as more valuable than other
people. God has created each one of us
in His image, and we have all descended from Noah. Therefore, we all have dignity and worth
before God.
This truth was underlined in Genesis 9 when God laid out the penalty
for taking the life of one of His image bearers. The penalty was death (Gen. 9:5). God values all human life, and we should
too. We considered this some in the last
devotional.
It is also interesting to think about this in light of what we read in
Matthew 5. The end of Matthew 5 contains
a section on loving our enemies. This is
a difficult section for us and goes against what our flesh tells us we ought to
do. Our flesh wants to retaliate. Our flesh tells us that our enemies hate us,
and we should hate them too.
But the way of Jesus is different.
The way of Jesus is better. The
way of Jesus views our enemies as those who are separated from God because of
their sin and can only be reconciled to Him through Christ. The way of Jesus recognizes that when others
wrong us, we have an opportunity to live out the gospel before them, giving
them grace and love, something they and we do not deserve.
Matthew 5 is all about Jesus turning the conventional wisdom of the day
on its head. "You have heard it
said, but I say to you," is repeated several times throughout the chapter. Even the statements known as the Beatitudes
are contrary to popular thought. Jesus
wants to change the way we think. He
wants to give us a wisdom that is not of this world, but that comes from God.
Take some time today to consider the way of Jesus and how different it
is from the desires of your flesh and the wisdom of the culture around you.
Prayer Focus:
Pray that God would reorient your thinking. Pray that He would help you to see the
difference between the ways of the flesh and the way of Jesus. Pray that God's Spirit would empower you to
live in the way of Jesus.
January 6, 2015
Today's Reading: Genesis
13-15 and Matthew 5:21-37
Devotional:
The story of Genesis is moving quickly.
Yesterday we were introduced to Abram as we saw God call him to leave
his homeland and move to the land of Canaan, the land God would give to him and
his descendants. God promised to make a
great nation of Abram and multiply his descendants. It would be through Abram and his descendants
that all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
Then before we were given a chance to treat Abram as a hero, we saw him
neglect his wife and allow Pharaoh to take her as his wife. Get used to this kind of thing as you read
through the Bible this year. The
"heroes" of the Bible aren't very good heroes. Abram neglects his wife. Moses was guilty of murder. David committed adultery. Peter denied Jesus. Paul was previously a persecutor of
Christians. The list goes on.
There is only one hero seen on the pages of Scripture that never lets
us down. His name is Jesus. He is the one to whom all of the other heroes
point. The Bible is intended to direct
our attention to Him, the author and perfecter of our faith.
I do want us to think about Abram some more though. Chapter 12 of Genesis tells us of God calling
Abram and includes some promises God made to him. In chapter 15 we see God reaffirm His
covenant with Abram, promising to make a great nation of him and his
descendants. Abram's descendants would
be as numerous as the stars in the sky.
God is seen doing something special here in the first half of
Genesis. He is beginning to establish a
people for Himself. He is entering into
relationship with these people, such that they are His people and He is their
God.
While it may seem that God is limiting His work to a certain ethnicity
of people at this point, we do catch glimpses of God's missionary
purposes. We see that God is going to
use Abram and his descendants to bless all the nations of the earth. This blessing would ultimately be fulfilled
in Jesus, a descendant of Abram, who came and died for people from every tribe
tongue and nation.
God is establishing not just a line of physical descendants of Abram,
but also a line of spiritual descendants.
We haven't gotten there yet, but Galatians 3:29 says, "And if you
are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to
promise." The promises God made to
Abram are for you and me, those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus and
now belong to Him.
As you read the promises of God to Abram and his offspring, take joy
knowing that you too are his descendant.
Prayer Focus:
Pray that God would help you to find joy today in His promises made to
your father, Abram. Pray that God would
remind you of His purposes for the whole earth, not just one group of
people. Seek God's direction as to how
you can be a part of spreading the message of Jesus to all nations.
January 7, 2015
Today's Reading: Genesis
16:1-18:21 and Matthew 5:38-6:15
Devotional:
Matthew 6 begins with three very important spiritual disciplines:
giving, praying, and fasting. Fasting is
part of tomorrow's reading, but we will address it here.
Notice a phrase that shows up to introduce each of these, "When
you…." When you give to the needy. When you pray. When you fast. You see, Jesus is not calling His disciples
to do these things. Instead He assumes
that they will do them, and gives instructions for them when they do.
I doubt any of us would say that these things are not important or necessary. At least we wouldn't say that out loud. There is just too much Scripture concerning
each of them for us to make that argument.
But if someone looked at our lives, they may conclude that we do not
view them as important.
Maybe you are strong in one of them.
Or maybe two. But I expect you
can find room for growth in at least one of these disciplines, if not all
three. Consider your giving. Does it represent a heart of generosity or
greed? What about your prayer life? Do you faithfully devote yourself to prayer?
Fasting is a spiritual discipline that is unfortunately often lost in
the church. It is a way to express our
dependence on God rather than temporal things.
Fasting helps us to overcome self-reliance and focus our attention on
God. Missing a meal or series of meals
reminds us that man does not live by bread alone. It helps us to feast on the Bread of Life.
You will also notice about each of these that Jesus is not just
concerned with the outward action. He is
also concerned with the heart behind the action. In fact, it is the heart that concerns Him
most. We saw that in chapter 5 when
Jesus focused not on murder and adultery, but on anger and lust.
Getting our outward actions right is hard enough, but doing those
actions with the right heart makes it feel almost impossible. Of course, that is part of the point Jesus is
making. It is impossible. Though the scribes and Pharisees never
murdered or committed adultery and could always be seen giving to the poor,
praying, and fasting, they were not righteous.
In fact, Jesus calls them hypocrites.
They followed God's laws on the outside, but their hearts were filled
with anger, lust, greed, and self-reliance.
Part of what Jesus is doing in the Sermon on the Mount is demonstrating
very clearly that no one meets God's standard.
As Paul would write, "There is none righteous, no not
one." Jesus intends to direct the
attention of the people to Himself, the only one who has ever done everything
right with all the right motives. He wants
them to recognize that He is their only hope.
He wants us to recognize that He is our only hope.
Rather than trying to do better to earn God's approval, will you lean
upon Jesus and His righteousness?
Recognize that you are right with God because of Jesus. God has declared you righteous because of the
righteousness of Christ. Now, through
His Spirit, He continues to produce righteousness in your life through the
spiritual disciplines of giving, praying, and fasting.
Prayer Focus:
Pray that God would help you to trust in the righteousness of Jesus
rather than your own. Pray that as you
trust in the righteousness of Jesus, the Spirit of God would produce good fruit
in your life through growth in the spiritual disciplines of giving, praying,
and fasting.
January 8, 2015
Today's Reading: Genesis
18:22-19:38 and Matthew 6:16-34
Devotional:
Matthew 6:25-34 is a passage of Scripture to which I find myself
constantly coming back. I have found it
to be helpful so often in my ministry.
It seems that without fail this passage is applicable to the person to
whom I am ministering. Whether it be the
husband who is struggling in his marriage, or the mom who is raising the kids
on her own. It might be the teenager who
feels out of place, and struggles with his/her identity. Maybe it is someone who just received a
terminal health diagnosis.
The reality is that most of us have chalked up anxiety and worry to
just part of the human experience. Life
is hard, we reason. So we have just come
to accept that we will be anxious and worry.
How else can one respond to the difficulties of life?
This passage presents us with a better way. God does not intend for us to live life
crippled with fear. Jesus tells us that
we can live a life that is free of anxiety and worry.
One of the things that I love about this passage is that Jesus doesn't
say, "Do not be anxious," and then stop. He goes on to provide help to the one who
doesn't know what a life without anxiety looks like.
He first reminds us that there is more to life than the here and
now. This is a point he just made in the
preceding section. There is something
eternal. There is a treasure which moth
and rust cannot destroy and thieves will never break in and still. Jesus reorients our thinking to the things
that last. Life is more than food. It is more than clothing. A good marriage, obedient children, ample
money, and excellent health are all good things. I do not mean to minimize the importance of
these things. But they are not the MOST
important thing.
There will be no marriage in heaven.
Familial relationships won't matter anymore. Money will be a thing of the past when the
streets are paved with gold. And we will
all have glorified bodies. We need to be
reminded to set our minds on the things that last.
Second, Jesus points to the birds of the field and the lilies of the
field. God takes care of them. The birds have food. The lilies are arrayed beautifully. You are God's image bearer. You are infinitely more valuable to God than
the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. What makes you think God doesn't care about
you? Why would you think He would forget
you? We can trust that the good God who
is sovereign over the universe holds our lives in His hands. We must combat anxiety by setting our minds
on this reality.
The final reason Jesus gives for not being anxious doesn't sound very
spiritual, but it is wise instruction from heaven. Don't worry about tomorrow because each day
has its own trouble. Focus today on
tackling the circumstances life throws your way today. Lean on Jesus. Seek first His Kingdom. Find rest in Him. Tomorrow will be here soon enough.
I don't mean to suggest that anxiety and worry are easy things to
overcome. They certainly are not. I am not recommending a try harder and do
better approach to worry and anxiety. I
am also not saying that your circumstances will suddenly improve when you
follow Jesus' instruction in this passage.
Life is hard. That is part of
living in a world broken by sin.
I am suggesting that we cling to Jesus, the one who knows our struggles
and cares for us. He knows us better
than anyone else because He made us. As
we place our trust in him in the midst of life's struggles and place our
burdens on Him, we will find that His yoke is easy and His burden is
light. There is rest for our souls in
Jesus Christ.
Prayer Focus:
Do you feel overwhelmed by the cares of the world? You cannot do this alone. Pray and ask God to help you cling to
Jesus. Cast your cares on Him for He
cares for you.
January 9, 2015
Today's Reading: Genesis
20-22 and Matthew 7:1-20
Devotional:
Matthew 7:1, next to John 3:16, is perhaps the most often quoted verse
in the Bible. Unfortunately, it is
usually stripped of its context to justify all kinds of sinful lifestyles. This is not surprising given the evolving
moral climate in our country. It seems
that increasingly the only thing immoral is to suggest that something is
immoral. The tolerance police swarm,
seeking whom they may devour.
The problem with the way this verse is often used is that it ignores
the context of the passage and the intent of Jesus when he spoke those
words. Jesus was not giving a general
prohibition against ever casting judgment about anything.
There are clearly times when casting judgment is appropriate. You don't allow the convicted felon to keep
the nursery. You don't give the
adulterer a position of leadership in the church. For the sake of their soul, you call the
serial sinner to repent of his sin and place his faith in Jesus.
Rather than saying, "Don't judge," Jesus is saying, "Don't
be hypocritical." Examine
yourself. Don't run around pointing out
the sin in everyone else's life when your life is full of sin. Remove the log from your own eye first.
In saying that this passage is often misused, I don't want to strip it
of all meaning as if it has no use. For
I think it is a very important word for each of us, the religious people in the
church. As religious people, we have a
tendency, if we are not careful, to look down our noses at others as if they
are not as righteous as we are. We have
no problem identifying the speck in someone else's eye, but identifying the log
in our own eye is a different story.
We need to hear the words of Jesus here. We need to be much more concerned with the
sin in our own lives than we are with the sin in the lives of others. We need to follow the pattern of David in
Psalm 139, "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
The reality is that we are often blinded to our own sin. We need someone who is invited into our lives
to come and help us identify areas where spiritual growth is needed. We need someone we can trust. We need someone who will be honest with us
about our faults.
This is where the body of Christ comes in. We need the church. We need brothers and sisters around us who
are involved in our lives. We need to be
willing to be confronted in our sin. We
also need to be willing to confront others in their sin when necessary.
God has called us to holiness.
Judgment is an essential element of that pursuit. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath
water. Let's learn to judge in a way
that is God-honoring rather than hypocritical.
Prayer Focus:
Spend some time examining your heart.
Is there sin you need to confess to God and seek His forgiveness? Pray that God would help you in your pursuit
of holiness. Pray that God would help
you to be willing to be judged by others.
Pray that God would place those people in your life if they are not
there already.
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