Category: Devotionals

“We answer to a higher authority.” This was a slogan used by Hebrew National to promote its brand of certified kosher hot dogs. The slogan was first used in 1965, and the intent of the slogan was to point to the fact that Hebrew National, as a kosher meat producer, answered to a higher authority than federal regulations. Of course, the authority they spoke of is God. In 1997, this Hebrew National ad campaign was referred to by the New York Times as not just the longest-running, but also the most well-known ad campaign ever.
 
Today, on our second full day in the Holy Land, our church group visited several sites of importance in the life of Jesus. We started with the Mount of the Beatitudes, the mountain on which Jesus gave His most extensive teaching, which we now call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:27). We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus calmed a storm (Mark 4:35-41) and even walked on water (John 6:16-21). We visited the town of Capernaum, where Jesus healed a paralytic man who had been lowered by his friends through the roof of Peter’s house (Luke 5:17-26). And we saw the recently discovered ruins of a first-century synagogue where Jesus likely had taught. As I reflected on these things, a thought occurred to me. Jesus’ teachings and His miracles point to one thing – the authority of Jesus.

When the crowds of people heard Jesus speak, when they heard the things that He was teaching, they were amazed. Why? Because they realized that He spoke not like any of the Pharisees, not like a scribe, and not even like any other rabbi or teacher. Jesus spoke as someone who had authority (Matthew 7:29; Mark 1:22; Luke 4:32). When Jesus calmed the storm, His disciples were amazed and wondered who this man was who had such authority over the wind and water that He could just tell them to be still and they obeyed (Luke 8:24). And when Jesus healed the paralyzed man, the crowd that witnessed this healing were filled with awe that God had given Jesus such authority (Matthew 9:8).

The authority by which Jesus taught, by which he healed, and by which he performed other miraculous signs amazed many people. Yet there were some who questioned Jesus’ authority. When Jesus was in Jerusalem, teaching in the temple courts, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him and challenged His authority, asking Him by what authority He did these things and who gave Him that authority. Jesus responded that He would answer their questions if they answered His question. He then asked them if the baptism of John came from heaven or from man. They discussed Jesus’ question and reasoned that, if they said from heaven, Jesus would ask why they didn’t believe John. But if they said from man, they knew that the crowd would become angry as they believed John was a prophet. And so, realizing that either answer would cause trouble for them, they answered that they did not know. Jesus then refused to answer their questions about His authority (Matthew 21:23-27).

The authority by which Jesus taught, healed, and performed miracles was a “higher authority.” In Matthew 28:18, after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus was very clear about His authority. He told His disciples that all authority both in heaven and on earth had been given to Him. That authority comes from God. Jesus is the Son of God, one with the Father, and as such has been given the authority over all. Jesus gave His disciples authority to heal, to drive out impure spirits (Matthew 10:1), and to teach the things that He had taught (Matthew 28:19-20). And just as He gave the disciples that authority, Jesus also gives it to us, as His followers.

Peter was a follower of Christ, but he was also a good law-abiding Jew. Like any law-abiding Jew, Peter would never consider entering into the home of a Gentile and eating food that to a Jew was considered to be “unclean.” But, one day Peter learned that this was exactly what God wanted him to do. Peter was staying in the town of Joppa, at the home of Simon the tanner, when he received a vision from God. Peter was hungry and, as food was being prepared, he fell into a trance. While in this trance, he saw the heavens open and what looked to be a sheet descended to the earth. In this sheet, there were all kinds of animals, birds, and reptiles. As the sheet came to land on the ground, Peter heard a voice say, “Peter, rise, kill, and eat.” Peter declined, saying that he could not eat anything common or unclean. God replied by saying, “What God has made clean, don’t call common.” This same thing happened three times and then the sheet went back up into the heavens.

Meanwhile, in the town of Caesarea, another man had a vision. This man was devout, he feared God, gave alms generously, and prayed to God continually. In his vision, the man saw an angel of God who called him by name, then told the man that God had heard his prayers and wanted him to send someone to Joppa, to the home of Simon the tanner, and bring back to Caesarea a certain man named Peter. The man who received this vision was a Gentile, but not only a Gentile, but also a Roman centurion. His name was Cornelius. Cornelius did as the angel had told him and sent for Peter. Peter came to the house of Cornelius, entered the house and shared a meal with him. God had prepared Peter to do this by sending him the vision in Joppa. As a result, Peter brought Cornelius and his entire family to Christ and baptized them.

In that town of Caesarea, a town filled with Roman influence, the port by which Rome came into Judea, God was doing something new. He was showing the Jewish followers of Christ that salvation belongs to all men. He was showing them that practices such as eating only “clean” animals were no longer necessary. And, for the first time, a Gentile believer was accepted into the church on equal terms as the Jewish believers. And, even more amazing to Peter, the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentile believers.

I am currently on a trip to Israel with my church. Today, our first day, we visited the ruins of the town of Caesarea. As I took in the sights, I felt great emotion. It was here on this very site that the events of Acts 10:1-11:18 actually took place and a movement began, beginning through Peter’s obedience in reaching out to a Gentile and continuing with Paul’s many missionary trips to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the Gentile world. It is this movement of God that makes it possible for me to be a follower of Christ today.

I am a certified personal trainer, having received my certification is with the American Council on Exercise (ACE). In the years I worked as a personal trainer, one of my objectives was to help my clients to see their lives transformed through exercise, to see changes in their physical bodies, whether that meant weight loss, muscle gain, or both. I have a t-shirt that I received from ACE that bears the slogan “Change – One Rep at a Time.” Change in our bodies is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. It is the result of lots of small steps, steps taken one at a time.

This is also true in our spiritual lives. The transformation of our spiritual lives, of our souls, does not happen completely overnight. It begins when we confess that we are sinners and that we are in need of a Savior. That Savior is Jesus Christ, who died to free us from the penalty of our sins. When we confess our sins, accept Jesus as our Savior, and choose to follow Him, our sins are forgiven, we receive the gift of salvation, and our transformation begins. One step at a time, we become more like Him and less like the sinners that we were.

Once we take that first step of accepting Jesus, we need to continue to take steps towards becoming a changed person, a person more like Christ. How do we become more like Him? Change comes by having the mind of Christ. To know the mind of Christ, we need to learn more about Him. We can do that by studying Scripture. God’s Word is our guidebook for life and, through that Word, we learn who Jesus is and how we can be more like Him. Another step that we need to take is to ask for God’s help. We do that through prayer. God loves to hear from His children and that is what we are when we are followers of His Son, Jesus. Prayer changes us. When we pray, we are spending time in God’s presence. When we spend time in His presence, we are changed (2 Corinthians 3:18).

A third step that we can take in becoming more like Jesus is to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus was the perfect example of these things. Looking at the way in which He lived His life while here on earth can help us to understand what these things look like. But we cannot achieve them on our own. That is why God gave us His Holy Spirit. We need to seek the help of the Holy Spirit in order to develop the fruit in our lives.

We can change our physical bodies through exercise done one “rep” at a time. We can change our spiritual bodies, our souls, one “verse,” one “prayer,” and one “fruit” at a time. When we do, we shed the old us and replace it with a new creation, one that is more like Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). And, when that happens, we can help others to become more like Him as well. We can help to grow His kingdom, one “life” at a time.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Growing up, I attended Catholic school and learned that prayer by rote. I knew every word and could recite the prayer without even thinking about what I was saying. It became almost mechanical. It was just a prayer that we all prayed. But when Jesus taught His disciples the words that became what we know as “the Lord’s Prayer,” His intent was not to give us a specific prayer to pray. Rather, the words of Matthew 6:9-13 were meant to be a model for how we should pray.

“Our Father in heaven.” Jesus began this model for prayer by acknowledging God as Father. We are able to call God our Father because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. “Hallowed be Your name.” Our prayer time should begin with worship. As we worship God, we should acknowledge that He is holy, that His name is to be revered. Before we come to God with our prayer requests, before we acknowledge our sin, we must first give Him the praise and the worship of which He is worthy.

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus taught that we should seek God’s kingdom above all things (Matthew 6:33). When we come to God in prayer, our first request should be that His will be done. God’s will is perfect (Romans 12:2) and we should always seek His will in our lives and in the lives of those for whom we pray. When we pray in accordance with His will, we have the assurance that He will hear and answer our prayer (1 John 5:14-15).

“Give us this day our daily bread.” We can and should pray for God to meet our personal needs. The Greek word translated as daily here is epiousion, which means “sufficient for today.” We should pray for God to meet our needs for that day. When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness following their exodus from Egypt, they were hungry and cried out to God for food. God provided them with manna each day, bread from heaven, of which they were only to take enough for that day (Exodus 16:4-5). God will also provide for our daily needs.

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” When we come to God in prayer, we need to search our hearts and confess any sin that we may be guilty of. When we confess our sins, God will forgive them. But we also must forgive anyone who has hurt or offended us (Matthew 6:14-15). “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” When we pray, we must acknowledge our shortcomings and our weaknesses. We are all faced with temptation in our lives and need to pray for God’s help in avoiding it.

What a wonderful model for prayer our Lord has given us! Thank You, Jesus, for these words!

The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years when God sent Moses to lead them to freedom (Exodus 12:40). It had taken ten plagues to convince Pharaoh to set the Israelites free. Water was turned into blood. The land was infested by frogs, gnats, flies, and locusts. Disease struck the Egyptian livestock. The Egyptians were struck with boils. And both hail and darkness descended upon the land. When the final plague claimed the lives of the firstborn of every Egyptian family and their livestock, Pharaoh finally gave in and let God’s people go. The Israelites were now free and began their journey out of Egypt. God led them with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22).

But, after a few days, Pharaoh had a revelation. He realized that letting the Israelites go free doomed the economy of Egypt. So Pharaoh led his army in pursuit of the Israelites, who were encamped in front of the Red Sea. Basically, the Israelites were stuck between a rock and a hard place. In front of them was the Red Sea and behind them, rapidly approaching, were Pharaoh and his army. The Israelites were facing death, or at the very least, a return to captivity. But how did they get into this dead-end situation? The answer to that question is found in the words of Exodus 14:1-4 (ESV):

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am Lord.” And they did so.

God led His people into the seemingly dead-end situation they faced. There may be times in our lives when it seems that God is leading us into a dead end, into a no-win situation. We may find ourselves in a situation that is beyond our ability to deal with. When that happens, we may question God’s plan for us. But Scripture tells us that God’s plans for us are never to harm us but rather to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). When we find ourselves at a dead end, God may be testing our faith, but He is also looking to grow in our dependence on Him. He is teaching us that He is in control. By faith, we need to follow Him no matter where He leads and stand back and watch as He demonstrates His mighty power in our lives. God didn’t leave the Israelites at the Red Sea. He walked them right through their dead end. He’ll do the same for us.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Patience is a virtue that all of us should possess. So, what exactly is patience? Basically, patience is our ability to tolerate delays, to tolerate suffering, to tolerate trouble without getting upset or angry. But patience doesn’t come easily to us. In fact, many of us (myself included at times!) have a hard time being patient. We don’t like to wait for things that we want. We are impatient with our family and friends because they are not meeting our expectations. And when times are difficult, we are impatient to get past them.

Scripture tells us that we are to be patient in our suffering. We are to be like a farmer who waits patiently through the rainy days for the fruit of the earth to appear (James 5:7). We are to follow the example of the prophets who spoke in God’s name even as they endured suffering (James 5:10). We are to be steadfast through our suffering just as Job was. Job suffered greatly, but we know that he was restored by our compassionate and merciful God (James 5:11).

When it comes to dealing with our friends, with our families, with our brothers and sisters in Christ, God’s Word tells us that we must be patient. In the New Living Translation, Ephesians 4:2 tells us that we must be patient with one another. With love, we must make allowances for each other’s faults. After all, we all have faults. None of us is perfect. And yet, God is always patient with us! If God can be patient with us, we must be patient with each other.

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit and it is something we all, as believers, must strive for. But we cannot attain it in our own power. We must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. We must pray for patience. God will gladly help us to find it.

Back in 1988, singer Bobby McFerrin released a song titled, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” The song went on to be number one. One line of the lyrics of that song says that, “In every life we have some trouble.” This lyric reflects a Biblical truth taught by Jesus when He said that in this life we will have trouble but we should take peace in the fact that He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Worry is not the solution to trouble in our lives or even perceived trouble. The answer is Jesus.

Corrie ten Boom once said, “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength – carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” Jesus taught that each day has its own trouble. We should not be anxious about the troubles that may face us tomorrow. They may come or they may not. The time to worry about tomorrow is tomorrow. Our focus should be on today (Matthew 6:34).

Worry is anxiety about the future. But when we worry about the future, what we are really showing is a lack of trust in God, in His provision, and in His purpose. Jesus said that we are not to be anxious about our lives. We should not be anxious about what will happen tomorrow, worrying about life’s uncertainties (Matthew 9:25). Worrying does not add a single minute to our lives (Matthew 9:27). Instead, as Corrie ten Boom said, it saps us of the strength we have today.

We need to always keep in mind that God knows what we need and when we seek Him above all things, including worry, then He will provide (Matthew 9:32-33). In his second letter, the apostle Peter gave good advice on how to handle our worries. We are to cast them on God. We are to take all of our anxieties, all of our worries, and cast them on Him. Not just some of our anxieties. It shouldn’t be done piecemeal. We are to cast ALL of them. Why? Because we have a God who cares for us (2 Peter 5:7).

As I sat to begin my quiet time with God, four words entered my mind. I believe that these words were from His Holy Spirit and were given to me as instruction for where he is leading me, but I also believe they are words for all who would look to serve Him, especially in ministry or leadership. The four words that God gave me are listen, learn, love, and lead. When these words first came into my thoughts, the first thing I noticed was that they all begin with the letter ‘L.’ “Cool!” I thought. “God likes alliteration!” But as these words moved from my mind to my heart, I began to understand that God was telling me what I need to do if I am going to serve him in ministry.

Listen. The first thing that I need to do is to listen for God’s voice. I spend a lot of time talking to God, but do I take enough time to be silent and listen so that He can speak to me? In all honesty, my answer would have to be “not always.” In the gospel accounts, Jesus says several times, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8, 14:35) God gave me physical ears to hear with. He also gave me spiritual ears, and I need to use them in order to discern what He is trying to say to me. That means I need to be quiet and listen. As it says in His Word, I need to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).

Learn. The second thing I need to do is to learn. In order to serve Him well, I need to follow His ways. How can I do that? By studying His Word, by immersing myself in it. I can also learn by connecting with or reading the thoughts of others who follow His ways. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus tells me I should take His yoke upon me and learn from Him. When I am yoked with Him, I have no choice but to follow in His ways. His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9) and I need to learn from Him and trust in Him. When I do that, rather than leaning on my own understanding, He will show me the way in which I need to go (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Love. If I am to serve Him in ministry and in leading others, I need to love. God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 says that we should all love one another, for love is from God. If I am His, if I truly know God, then I must love others. If I don’t, I cannot truly say that I love God. When I truly love the people whom God places in my life to minister to, then God abides in me. And when He abides in me, then His love is perfected in me (1 John 4:12). If I am to serve Him, if I am to represent Him to others, then others need to see Him in me. They need to see that I am a follower of Christ (John 13:35).

Lead. When I listen, learn, and love, I will be equipped to serve God in the way He chooses for me. I will be able to lead like Jesus. Jesus was the greatest example of a leader ever known on earth. And not just a leader, but a servant leader. Jesus said that anyone who chooses to serve Him must follow Him (John 12:26). So, if I am to serve Him by leading His people, then I must follow His example as a servant leader. Jesus demonstrated that on the night before He died for us. As He shared the Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus began to wash their feet. When He had finished, He said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15, ESV). To lead as Jesus led means to be a servant leader.

Listen, learn, love, and lead. As I continue to serve God and lead others, I pray that these words will always be in my heart. And, if you are serving in ministry or feel a calling to it, I pray that they will inspire you, as well.

Moses was a wanted man. He had killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Rather than face the wrath of Pharaoh, Moses fled Egypt and headed for Midian, where he ended up working for a priest of Midian named Jethro and marrying one of Jethro’s daughters. Time passed. One day, as Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock, his attention was grabbed by an unusual sight. There on Horeb, the mountain of God, was a bush that was in flames. But the most unusual part was that the bush was not consumed by the flames. This really got Moses’ attention, so he approached the bush. As he got near to the bush, God spoke to Moses from within the bush, commissioning him to lead the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt. God needed to speak to Moses and used a burning bush to get his attention. (Exodus 3:1-12)

Fast forward some 1500 years. A young man named Saul was determined to extinguish the early church. Receiving permission from the high priest, Saul headed to Damascus to round up Christ followers there and bring them back to Jerusalem to face punishment. As he traveled on the road to Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly enveloped him and he was knocked from his horse. As he lay on the ground, Saul heard a voice, the voice of Jesus, who instructed Saul to rise and go to Damascus where he would be told what to do. Saul got up, unable to see, and headed for Damascus, as Jesus had instructed. And so, Saul became Paul, the apostle whom God used to reach the Gentiles for Christ. God needed to speak to Saul and used a light from heaven to get his attention. (Acts 9:1-22)

God sometimes uses unusual circumstances to get our attention. In 2015, I fell and tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder, which required surgery. At the time, I was working in two different gyms as a personal trainer and aquatic fitness instructor. My recovery was going to require months and so I had to give up all of my clients and exercise classes. While recovering from the surgery, having much more time on my hands, I began journaling, and God began to speak to me. He was preparing me to do more for His kingdom than ever before. I never returned to the gyms. As I continued to listen for the voice of God, He directed me on the path He chose for me, studying for ministry and taking on more leadership roles at my church. God needed to speak to me and used my accident and surgery to get my attention.

When unusual things happen in our lives, when life heads in a direction that we never expected, God may be looking to get our attention. It’s at those times that we need to quiet ourselves and listen. God has a plan for each of us. When we focus our attention on Him, He will reveal it.

What is a true worshiper? We know from Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman at the well that a true worshiper is one who worships the Lord in Spirit and in truth. But there is another mark of a true worshiper, and it can be found in Genesis, chapter 22.

Abraham was commanded by God to take his son, Isaac, to the land of Moriah and offer him as a burnt offering. Isaac was the son that God had promised Abraham. He was born to Abraham’s wife, Sarah, in her old age, despite the fact that Sarah had been barren all her life. So, to Abraham, Isaac was precious. And yet, Abraham took Isaac and headed off to sacrifice him to God. (Genesis 9:1-8) When they got to the place where God had told Abraham to offer his son, Abraham didn’t hesitate. He built an altar, bound Isaac and laid him on it, then reached out his hand with a knife to sacrifice his son.

Abraham is an example of a true worshiper. A true worshiper does not hold back anything from God but, in obedience to Him, is willing to give God all that He requires and all that He deserves (Romans 12:1). Like Abraham, we are called to be true worshipers. God may not require us to sacrifice our children, but He does require that we give our lives completely to Him. We should hold nothing back from God. More than anything, God wants our obedience (1 Samuel 15:22).

When we worship God through our obedience to His commands, when we hold nothing back from Him but give Him our all, God is pleased with our worship. Abraham was willing to give his son as his act of worship but, when he lifted the knife to perform the sacrifice, an angel of the Lord stopped him. God had seen Abraham’s willingness to walk in obedience to and reverence of Him and did not let him sacrifice Isaac. Instead, God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice and then promised to bless him and his descendants (Genesis 22:9-18).

True worship comes at a cost. That cost is our lives. We must be willing to give God our lives. In faith, we must obey His Word. In faith, we must surrender all to Him and hold nothing back. And, like Abraham, in faith we must wait on God to provide for all of our needs.