Daily Devotions

Tuesday, June 24

Fallible Logic

2 Corinthians 5:7 - "We live by faith, not by sight."

Consider the second approach of human wisdom - common sense.  It is higher and more noble than the selfish life of those who are subject to their emotions and desires.  It is based on the best logic we can muster.  We make lists of pros and cons; we evaluate the risks involved in each course of action; and we determine the clearest, safest, most profitable direction.  It is the best, most reliable path that human reasoning can offer.  But it is still profoundly human.  And it is still sight, not faith.

In essence, the commonsense approach is an intellectual way of "playing the odds" in life.  It is not much different than a gambler at the track who has thoroughly studied the horses and calculated the best candidates to win, place, and show.  We can approach life with the same mind.  We aim for the best education, locate in the safest, most comfortable area, plan for the most satisfying career, and save for the future.  Nothing is wrong with any of those activities if they are built on a foundation of eternal wisdom and under the guidance of God.  But we often skip the foundation and miss the guidance.  We trust in our own devices and place our bets on the best life we can.  In short, we exalt our limited logic over the voice of the Eternal.  Even if we succeed in the eyes of men, we fail in the eyes of heaven.

As we have learned, God's prescription for our wisdom is to find His.  His is thoroughly sensible, but it only appears so with the eyes of faith.  Eyes that see beyond the ambitions of this world to the true values of the eternal Kingdom will have different criteria for making decisions.  Faith often forsakes the things of this world for the lasting treasures for the Kingdom.  Faith looks not for the longest physical life possible but for the most fruitful life possible.  Faith understands that God's wisdom often appears absolutely senseless to those with worldly sense.  His Word is full of examples: Conservative sight does no miracles; "risky" faith does nothing else.

Wednesday, June 25

Fallen Faith

2 Corinthians 5:7 - "We live by faith, not by sight."

Of the three approaches to decision making we usually take, the third - supernatural guidance - can be the most rewarding.  It can also be the most disastrous.  It all depends on where we place our faith.  Just as it is possible to walk by faulty sight, it is possible to walk by faith and still be wrong.  Living by faith rather than sight is no guarantee; faith can be misplaced.

Consider all of the supernatural offerings our world lays before us: seances, mediums, horoscopes, channelers, spirit guides, psychics, and more.  The more overt of these are laughable to the ordinary believer.  But they can also take highly subtle forms.  Don't believe it?  Go to the bookstore and read excerpts form the self-help section.  Some of it is human or even biblical wisdom dressed up as something new.  But much of it has cultic connotations.  Our age is not lacking in mystics proclaiming the way to happiness, the way to fulfillment, the way to self-actualizaiton.  The problem is that unless it comes from God's revelation of what's really real, it's always the wrong way.

All supernatural sources of guidance apart from God are forbidden in Scripture - even when dressed up as "advice" and marketed to a general audience.  The Christian who seeks them is an idolater.  It is a slap in God's face to seek advice from horoscopes, unbiblical gurus, and anyone else falsely claiming wisdom from above.  It suggests that there might be a higher - or at least more accessible - source than God.  But He is the ultimate authority and He is available.  Why go anywhere else?

Seeking supernatural guidance is a biblical mandate. But we must take this mandate with care and discernment.  It cannot be just any supernatural guidance; it must be God's revelation.  Do not trust your emotions, your common sense, or the spiritual seductions of this age.  Depend on God alone.  Dare to live by genuine, exclusive faith. 

Thursday, June 26

Fearful First Steps

2 Corinthians 5:7 - "We live by faith, not by sight."

The problem most of us encounter in this life of faith is that we must base our decisions, our futures, our families, our jobs - our everything, in fact - on realities we cannot see.  Not only can we not see them clearly - though God will open our eyes to them more clearly if we ask - those around us cannot see them either.  That's where the misunderstandings, the rejection, and even the ridicule come in.  When we live by faith, we are at first uncertain of where we're going.  We can't see very far in front of us.  And our family members and friends are watching.  While we're barely understanding our next steps, they can't understand them at all.

The principles of this world are all based on sight.  Our human culture like tangible evidence.  It has learned to thrive on the limitations we've been given.  But start bucking those limitations and see how quickly your peers back off.  When you refuse to live by sight, you refuse to play the games of this world.  You reject its most foundational beliefs.  Religion is only speculative, we've been told.  Our world doesn't mind us believing whatever we want, as long as we don't base our lives on the unseen.  But when the eyes of faith are opened to the greater reality of God's Kingdom, the label of "unstable" or even "crazy" comes quickly.

Just ask Abraham, whose mission it was to move to a place he would be told of later, and who was promised a most improbable son.  Or Moses, who was called to demand from a hostile ruler the release of a million profitable slaves. Or Elisha, who was surrounded by vicious army, but more greatly encompassed by heavenly hosts.  Or Mary, who bore the Son of God by quite unconventional - and socially unacceptable - means.

Are you afraid to live by faith?  Welcome to the club.  But the Faith Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11 was made of such a club.  Be bold and forsake nearsightedness.  Faith sees more than sight ever can.

Friday, June 27

Fertile Lives

2 Corinthians 5:7 - "We live by faith, not by sight.

Most of us try to get through life on human wisdom.  Some of us succeed.  Others of us make so many mistakes that we die with innumerable regrets.  If only we could get guidance from above, we would get this "life" stuff right.  If only we could hear the voice of the One who knows. If only.

The truth is that we can.  The Voice has spoken.  His words are available to us.  But there's a catch.  We have to be willing to obey it.  Otherwise, we won't have what Jesus calls "ears to hear."  Those who obey what they already know of God have their ears opened to more; and those who have their ears open are readily obedient.  It's a precious cycle, conceived in the mind of God: Obedience begets hearing, which begets obedience, which begets hearing, which . . . you get the picture.

The life of faith is a life of obedience, and a life of obedience is a life of faith.  The root of the problem is the most of us have trouble, however minor it may be, with obedience.  We lose our "ears to hear," and as a result, we fall back on human wisdom.  Our lives never match those of the biblical heros.  Why?  Human wisdom would not have pushed Abraham up a hill to sacrifice his son; it would not have led God's people to the edge of the Red Sea with an army in pursuit; it would not have marched around Jericho seven times and blasted a trumpet for the wall to fall; it would not have matched David with Goliath in the valley; and, most strikingly, human wisdom would not have vilified the Son of God on a cross in order to save a wretched race.

Really, when it comes down to it, would you prefer to live by the human logic that results from losing your ears to hear? Or would you prefer the cutting-edge, risky-but-real life of a true, radical believer?  The answer isn't clear for everyone.  But we've seen who lasts.  Your Bible is full of their stories.  They lived by faith, not by sight.

Saturday, June 28

Abiding Love

1 Corinthians 13:13 - "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Human love sometimes grows lukewarm, even cold.  Yet, of all human emotions, love is apt to last the longest.  Stanza 2 of the song "How Can I Leave You?" reads,

Blue is the flowr'let

Called the Forget-me-not,

Wear it upon thy heart,

And think of me!

Flow'rlet and hope may die,

Yet love with us shall stay,

That cannot pass away,

Dear one, believe.

Even more lasting than romantic love - called eros in Greek - is love flowing from the Christian's faith in the love of God.  The Greek New Testament calls it agape.  The apostle Paul extols it in 1 Corinthians 13.  He speaks of love as giving validity to phenomena that would otherwise be passing - speech in superhuman and angelic tongues, prophecy, the understanding of mysteries, knowledge, heroic faith, works of charity, and self-sacrifice.  He boils everything to these three abiding virtues: faithfulness, hope and love, addeing, "But the greatest of these is love."

Much of what we hold in the Christian faith must await eternal life in heaven before it comes to fruition and completeness. Our knowledge is imperfect; some of the truths we hold in faith don't make sense because they surpass human understanding.  With love it's different.  It always makes sense; it doesn't have to be put away on a shelf as we await further enlightenment.  It is always in place, always applicable, always understandable in life's here and now.  How thankful we are that love abides!

Such love inheres in the love of God and in that great gift He gave:  His Son Jesus Christ.  Belieiving in Him, we have eternal life.  What is more, form that love springs our love to Him and to one another - abiding love.

Prayer Suggestion:  Pray for a greater measure of Christian love in your heart, and pray that it may abide.

Sunday, June 29

Pardon and Peace

Through Christ's sacrifice, our past is pardoned and our future secure. And, "Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God" Romans 5:1.  Peace with God.  What a happy consequence of faith!  Not just peace between countries, peace between neighbors, or peace at home; salvation brings peace with God.

Once a monk and his apprentice traveled from the abbey to a nearby village.  The two parted at the city gates, agreeing to meet the next morning after completing their tasks.  According to plan, they met and began the long walk back to the abbey.  The monk noticed that the younger man was unusually quiet.  He asked him if anything was wrong, "What business it it of yours?" came the terse response.  

Now the monk was sure that his brother was troubled, but he said nothing.  The distance between the two began to increase.  The apprentice walked slowly, as if to separate himself from his teacher.  When the abbey came in sight, the monk stopped at the gate and waited for the student.  "Tell me, my son.  What troubles your soul?"

The boy started to react again, but when he saw the warmth in his master's eyes, his heart began to melt.  "I have sinned greatly," he sobbed.  "Last night I slept with a woman and abandoned my vows.  I am not worthy to enter the abbey at your side."

The teacher put his arm around the student and said, "We will enter the abbey together.  And we will enter the cathedral together.  And together we will confess your sin.  No one but God will know which of the two of us fell."

Doesn't that describe what God has done for us?  When we kept our sin silent, we withdrew from him.  We saw him as an enemy.  We took steps to avoid his presence.  But our confession of fault alters our perception.  God is no longer a foe, but a friend.  We are at peace with him.  He did more than the monk did, much more.  More than share in our sin, Jesus was "crushed for the evil we did.  The punishment which made us well was given to him" (Isaiah 53:5).  "He accepted the shame" (Hebrews 12:2).  He leads us into the presence of God.

Monday, June 30

What happens to our sins?

Micah 7:19 - "[You] hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

On the way home from church. Timmy was unusually quiet.  "What are you thinking about?" his dad asked.  "I was just wondering," Tim answered, "when God forgives us, where do our sins go?"

Good question.  Haven't you ever asked it?  At times we wonder about the sins of the past, especially those that like some tornado swooped down on us and left us with wreckage.  Every so often memories of them com back to haunt us.  Does God forgive - can God forgive that "special" sin? Or what about those run-of-the-mill sins, those pet sins that are so ingrained into the fabric of my life that I don't always recognize what they are?  Does God forgive - can God forgive when I come back again and again with the same old stuff?

"They're all gone," the psalmist tells me. "God has hurled them into the depths of the sea."  Jesus came to wrap all those sins into one gigantic ball, load it on the barge of his love, and dump it into the deepest part of the ocean.  What a picture!  God has paid for my sins with the blood of his Son.  He's put them totally out of his sight as if they never happened.

Where do my sins go?  Into the depths of the sea, where God no longer sees them and where he places the sign "No fishing allowed," so that I leave them alone too.

Lord, please remind me daily how you have

totally removed my sins through Jesus' blood.  Amen.

Saturday, November 30

The Unchanging Christ: The Same Yesterday

The Unchanging Christ: The Same Yesterday

All of my life I have heard the plea for a relevant “new Christ for a new age.”

The truth is Jesus Christ is God’s final word to men in all ages. He is relevant for every age. He is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

The same Jesus sits today “on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). He is the same person as He was when here on the earth.

When we read the words, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday” we are carried back to the long ages before He became flesh. I can point to a date, time, and place when I was born. However, Jesus did not begin to live when He was born in the flesh of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem. He simply changed His robes.

The apostle Paul tells us Jesus was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, divested Himself of His garments of glory that had been His from all eternity and clothed Himself in the garments of a common household slave in the flesh and was obedient unto death. He was God-man. He was fully God and fully human (Phil. 2:5-8).

The absolutely essential fact is He was the same in past eternity; He changes not.

I search for an absolute in an age of change; He changes not, and I therefore have security.

He came from the Father and He returned to the Father. He dwelt in the ageless past in the bosom of His eternal Father. The apostle John tells us, “in the beginning was the Word.” When everything else had a beginning He already existed and He had no beginning. His beginning had no beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men” (John 1:1-4).

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday . . .” His eternal existence is declared in these words, “in the beginning was the Word.” He is no vacillating whim of the age. “The Word was with God,” a distinct personality of the true and perfect deity because “the Word was God.” His personal relationship with the Father is unchangeable. He “was in the beginning with God,” and because of His resurrection and ascension, He still is in the presence of the Father in a perfect relationship.

Moreover, His understanding of man never needs to change. No one knows me like the one who made me. “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” “In Him is life.”

Where would you turn for a relevant Christ that is not found in the historic Christ? Would you, like the modern self-made cults, turn to your own making, or to some new age “enlightenment”?

God in Christ has already become one of us in order to demonstrate His love for us, and to show us what God is really like. God came and revealed Himself to sinful and disobedient rebellious men.

I don’t need a greater “light.” I only need to respond to the One true and all supreme Lord of all creation. Why should I turn to some lesser “light”? All other spiritual lights are only creepy shadows of the one who masquerades as “the angel of light,” Satan himself.

We don’t have to look afar to discover what evil lurks within the heart of man. God has fully revealed Himself (Heb. 1:1-3), and man in his stubborn rebellion cries for something greater and better like selfish, pampered, narcissistic children whining for something new.

God has spoken. He has not changed and He will not. He is the same as He was yesterday, and I find stability for my soul and eternal peace with God. Because He is the same I have eternal security of a right relationship with Him, not of my self-making, or choosing, but in His all-sufficient wisdom and grace.

Because He is the same yesterday, I know that what He has said will still remain true for you and me today. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

That great truth will not change, because our Savior changes not. His word and eternal promises remain the same throughout all eternity. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Thank God.