To have something as the apple of your eye is to cherish and call it precious. But do we place that much importance on the Word of God as it tells us to in this Scripture? Proverbs 4:4 says, “He taught me and said, ‘Lay hold of My Words with all your heart; Keep My commands and you will live.’ ” Both verses you notice use the phrase, “Keep My commands and you will live.” It’s only for our good, God is telling us, that we should give careful attention to His Word and obey what it says…for His Word leads to life.
Tag: daily devotions
Galatians 2:20 ” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
What does it really mean to be crucified with Christ? Again, we have this picture of putting off the old and putting on the new self. It starts at the moment of redemption when as Romans 8:10 tells us, “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.” But it also becomes a lifetime journey of deliberate and intentional decisions on our part to subdue our worldly and fleshly lusts and desires. And in doing so, our old self is crucified together with Christ so that sin cannot have preeminence in our life. (Romans 6:6)…as we purposefully live for the Will of God. (I Peter 4:2)
Matthew 9:17 ” Neither do men pour new wine into old wine-skins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wine-skins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wine-skins, and both are preserved.”
Old wine-skins were hard, rigid, stiff, and unyielding. Does that sound like you or someone you know? On the other hand, new wine-skins are flexible and malleable…able to receive the newly pressed wine. They change as the fermentation process happens…they expand as the wine ferments…finally stopping when the wine is perfect inside. As Believers we must never stop growing until the God-given purpose inside us is perfected. At the wedding feast in Cana what did the Master of the Banquet tell the Bridegroom after tasting the water Jesus had turned into wine? “You have saved the best for last!” I originally wrote this back in 2008…but it still remains pertinent today. Just as you don’t pour new wine into old wine-skins, you don’t sew a new patch on an old garment, (Mark 2:21)…or both will be destroyed. The journey of a Christian is a pathway of newness…new covenant, new hearts, new minds, new selves…of the process of constantly putting off the old and putting on the new. For when we stop growing in the Lord, we become stagnant and unusable. The Lord is looking for new vessels to contain His new works. The question is, are you willing to be that new wine-skin?
Psalm 56:3 ” When I am afraid, I will trust in You.”
As I studied this verse I discovered that the Hebrew word for afraid, Yare, has two separate meanings. The first is the negative emotion of fearful…while the second is the positive emotion of reverence and awe for God. So what David is explaining here is that in the time of fear he consciously shifted his mind from one meaning to the other… from dwelling on a negative emotion to focusing on a positive one. So instead of standing on the shifting sands of fear and anxiety David planted his feet firmly and confidently on the solid rock of Christ.
II Corinthians 1:10-11 ” He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in an answer to the prayers of many.”
You may know them as Prayer Chains, or a Prayer Wall where requests and concerns are brought so that many can lift them to God…or maybe you’re part of a Prayer Warrior Group that regularly unite in focused prayer on behalf of others. Here Paul is thanking Believers for their continued prayers, telling them that he knows their prayers have rescued him from many dangers. He looks at these answered prayers of God’s grace in his life with hope and gratefulness…knowing those praying for him are praising God also. For the beauty of answered prayers is that they touch everyone….those who pray and those who were prayed for.
I Samuel 17:32 ” David said to Saul, ‘Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.’ “
Even at a young age, David knew where his true strength came from. For when he confronted Goliath on the battle field he proclaimed to him, “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.” (I Samuel 17:45) David knew that in his own strength he was no match to the giant in front of him…but with God’s power, nothing was impossible. Many other great and mighty men in the Bible echoed this declaration in the face of their “giants”… that the Lord was the source of their strength…and we should also.
Job 33: 29-30 ” God does all these things to a man – twice, even three times – to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on him.”
After Job’s three friends had been unable to win their argument that he, (Job), was being punished by God… a young man by the name of Elihu stood to speak. (Now you can read his entire speech in Chapters 32-37 of Job.) Elihu’s assertion was that God was instructing or teaching Job…that even in all the trials and suffering he was going through, Job was to trust God. (Interestingly enough, when God started to speak, He never condemned Elihu’s words like He did Job’s and his three friends!) Now the Lord allows righteous people to suffer and go through trials everyday…but it’s not out of punishment, but to strengthen their faith and trust in Him. And when we should wander from the truth, God faithfully keeps bringing us back, that we may see the error of our way and turn. (James 5:19)
Matthew 9:10 ” While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with Him and His disciples.”
You may know Matthew by his original name…Levi, a turncoat tax collector who Jesus called in Capernaum. He was chosen by Jesus as one of the Twelve disciples…and given a new life along with a new name. But in this Scripture we find Jesus at Matthew’s house having a meal with all these “sinners” much to the disgust of the religious leaders who incredulously asked His disciples how Jesus could do this. Knowing their thoughts and their hearts, Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6 when He replied to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” In other words, our mission as Christians is to share the Gospel Message with sinners…people who may look and act very differently from us, but still need to hear that they can be healed and forgiven of their sins.
II Chronicles 29:15 ” When they had assembled their brothers and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the Temple of the Lord, as the King had ordered, following the Word of the Lord.”
“Following the Word of the Lord…” Though sometimes, that still small voice of the Holy Spirit is almost drowned out by the incessant noise of the world. Romans 8:14 tells us that, “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” But following the Word of the Lord takes practice… it takes listening carefully, and obeying immediately when prompted, without hesitation…for when we stop to debate if it’s of God or not, we’ll usually not move on it…and His work stops there. By attuning our ears to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit, we are being led down the correct path of life and accomplishing God’s work for His glory.
Galatians 6:2 ” Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the Law of Christ.”
To carry out the Law of Christ here, we must first know what it is. James 2:8 tells us, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” When we bear other’s burdens in a way we would want to be treated, we are fulfilling the royal law of King Jesus. But what does this look like? It’s done with compassion and love in a nonjudgmental way…listening attentively and always speaking the truth of God’s word. It’s inspiring hope in places of sadness and always it’s done with integrity, and trustworthiness.
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