From the beginning, Jesus loved people enough to speak the truth. Yes, many times it seemed stern, harsh, and like here most difficult for the disciples to understand Jesus being the Bread of Life. But Jesus always spoke truth in love…like the time at the well to the Samaritan woman, or to the Canaanite woman concerning her demon-possessed daughter. But somehow today the Words of Jesus have become watered down as to not cause offense. We’d rather not show a hint of putting people down or insulting them morally…so instead we weaken and dilute the Word…emptying it of its power and robbing it of its strength. And what we have left is a highly homogenized Gospel Message that no one can take offense at, but also one that is totally devoid of the Holy Spirit. Jesus loved people enough to speak the truth…and we should too.
Category: Daily Inspirational Devotional
John 1:13-14 ” …but born of God. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Jesus of the Bible manifested the Father when He took on flesh and came to earth to save humanity from their sins. His title is Messiah, the Anointed One…a name above all names. But even back then the Pharisees and Sadducees could only spit out the title of Rabbi or Teacher when addressing Him, for they refused to believe in His Divinity. Sadly, many times today we’ve followed on that same path of diminishing and discounting just who Jesus Christ is…denying His power, denigrating His character, and delegating who He is down to just a good teacher and man. Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do the crowds say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.” “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” (Luke 9:18-20) The crowds saw Jesus as a man…the disciples saw Him for who He really was…the Messiah.
Isaiah 55:7 ” Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.”
Return to Me, the Lord says here, and I will have compassion on you. Turn back to Me, and I will readily forgive you of all your sins. “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32) I will have compassion on you for, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)
Isaiah 44:9 ” All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant to their own shame.”
If I asked you what you treasured…what would come to mind? A piece of precious heirloom jewelry that feeds your emotions? Or maybe a sporty new car in the garage that you coveted for years until you were able to buy one? Now I could go on forever with things you might treasure, but the point is…they’re all “things”, and covetousness for “things” is more about greed, conceit, and vanity than the “thing” itself. Our prideful ego has a way of hindering not only our true understanding but our rationalization as we attempt to justify our “things” to our self and others. For in the end, these “things” are deceptive, and we’ll only find ourselves shamed and disgraced when these “things” don’t turn out as we expected.
Ruth 2:8 “So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls.’ “
Naomi and Ruth had arrived in Bethlehem just as barley harvest was beginning. Now Ruth went out to glean and ended up in the fields of Boaz, a wealthy cousin of Naomi’s late husband. Boaz took pity on the young Moabite widow, and told her to stay with his servant girls and glean with them. For he knew all too well the dangers a young, unaccompanied woman could be confronted with. Many times God will tell us to stay…but what do we usually do? We bristle, argue, and make excuses why we can’t stay. But God knows far more than we do…He sees hidden dangers and things lurking we can’t imagine. So when God tells us to stay, we need to listen.
Revelation 19:7 ” Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.”
I was on a mission this morning to find something important…something my father had been searching for all week. It was my late mother’s wedding dress. I had a idea where it may be located, but it took a lot of looking until I was successful. To my amazement, it was incredibly well preserved for being almost 70 years old. As I gently touch the old satin and lace this Scripture came to mind…when we, the redeemed Church, the bride of Christ, will be presented to our bridegroom, Jesus Christ, at the wedding supper of the Lamb. It says the bride will wear fine linen, bright and clean… unsoiled and free of worldly pollution. And at that time we, the bride of Christ, will stand before our groom as a beautiful chaste bride…a radiant Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish…holy and blameless before Him. (Ephesians 5:27)
Isaiah 50:10 ” Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of His servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.”
What do you rely on? Is it the ever-changing hype of the National Media or the news feed you read? Especially this year, you’ve been bombarded with COVID 19 dire warnings, scary statistics, and discouragement all around. Throw in the videos of civil unrest, protests, and national discord…and I bet you’ve become numb to it all. This numbness (and what God can do about it) is described well in Psalm 107:14, “God brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.” Your reliance and dependence can only be on God alone. That’s because no political party, national organization, or world group can be trusted like you can trust God. And when you place your confidence in God and not man, He will raise you out of that pit of gloom and doom, and break off every chain of fear, anxiety, and depression.
James 4:4 ” You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
James was quite pointed in his warning, “Keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) Or as it tells us in I John 2:15, “Don’t love the world or anything in the world.” But it’s so easy to do. We all have a fondness for the newest things…and the Church isn’t any different. But at what expense? The present world-view is man-centered, materialism, focused on power, ambition, and self-glory…while God’s view for His Church is totally opposite. So we as the Body of Christ – the Church – need to be ever vigilant and constantly asking the question, “Is this new thing the Church is doing man-centered or God centered? For as Jesus told His disciples in John 15:19, “You don’t belong to the world, I have chosen you out of the world.”
I John 2:2 ” Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
“God didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn it but to save it through Him.” ( John 3:17) Jesus Christ, by His sacrificial death, satisfied the demand of judicial wrath by God against sin…our sin and the sins of the entire world and all of mankind. Jesus came to save His people from their sins…and we are all His people….there is not one among us who He has rejected or that His hand cannot reach.
Isaiah 1:18-20 ” Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
In this passage, God basically said to Judah, “Let’s debate what you’ve been doing in a Court of Law.” Now Judah had been practicing religious festivals of their own making in blatant defiance against God…and now God was calling them to repent of this Religious Spirit. He likened their sinfulness to the red blood-stained hands of a murderer…but offered forgiveness if they would only turn back to Him. The choice was simple – life and prosperity or death and destruction. Or as the choices are explained in the Scriptures, “If they obey and serve Him, they’ll spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.” (Job 36:11) OR “If you disobey and rebel against His commands, His hand will be against you.” (I Samuel 12:15) In the end, God demands righteousness…either through repentance on our behalf or through the purification of His judgment against all mankind.
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