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Satisfaction Without God?

July 20, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
Revelation 21:3

Ask yourself this question: if God was not in Heaven, would you still consider it paradise? In Revelation 21:3 we are told that God will make his dwelling place with man, but what if he didn’t? Would you be satisfied throughout eternity if you were able to have food, comfort, and peace, but not God?

How you answer that question reveals how you understand your life’s purpose. We were not created for food or for comfort or for peace or for any other thing. We might enjoy them, but they are not the purpose and goal of our lives. We were created for God – to enjoy him, to glorify him, and to be children of his love and grace.

I wonder how many people claim to follow God out of a desire to receive his benefits rather than a desire to receive him. But we were created for him, we need to live for him. We need to fix him at the center of our affections, the center of our desire, the center of our delight. We enjoy the blessings of life because we know they come from God. We will enjoy the peace and delights of Heaven because God will be with us. So delight in the Lord even now. Rest in him now. Glorify him now. He is your life’s purpose, both now and in eternity.

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Make a Joyful Noise

July 19, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
Psalm 100:1-2

Psalm 100 is one of the shorter Psalms but it contains marvelous reminders of the goodness of the Lord. It begins with a call to praise, to make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! We are to be people who enjoy the Lord, who have his praise always on our lips (Ps 34:1). We are to serve him not as reluctant servants but as joyful children, glad to do the will of our Father.

The Psalmist tells us why these things should be: Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. He is the creator of all. We worship and enjoy the one who made us and has called us to be his people. We are his sheep. His pasture is rich and nourishing, providing comfort and safety and the delightful presence of the good shepherd.

We are to enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! How often are we sour and dour when we gather to praise God? We must use even our emotions to the glory of God, approaching him with joy and gladness. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and praise! Thank the Lord and bless him!

Remember that the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. He will never leave you nor forsake you. His love is steadfast and unending. He will be faithful to all generations of those who are his children. You people of God, make a joyful noise to the Lord!

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Living for the King

July 5, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18

Which is more powerful, the message of the cross or the message of the good life? Which leads to a better end, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross or the pursuit of the American dream? The world thinks we are foolish for clinging to Christ. We know the world is futile for clinging to materialism. This world is not our home, and Jesus has gone to prepare for us an eternal dwelling.

If the power of God is given to us through the gospel, why do we often live as though this world held our hope? If our reward is with Christ in eternity, why do the lives of so many believers seem to show that even Christians live for this world? We hold our faith at a distance, claiming to believe the promises of God yet hedging our bets by pursuing those things the world says are our due. But we can’t have it both ways. Similar to what Jesus says, you cannot serve God and the things of the world, Matthew 6:24.

Let your life reveal your belief and trust in the promises of God. Live passionately for the glory of God, spreading his gospel wherever you go. Be committed to helping the least of these as Jesus commands in Matthew 25:31-46. If you have worldly goods, use them to the glory of God. He is your king. Your stuff will someday burn to ash but your life with God will last forever.

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Man of Sorrows

July 3, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 53:3

In 1875 Philip Paul Bliss wrote a hymn of praise and confession. Listed in many hymnbook as Hallelujah, What a Savior!, the hymn is based on Isaiah 53 and contains a reflection on the humble condition of the incarnate Son of God, the rebellious, fallen condition of man, the love of Christ to rescue sinners, the complete success of Jesus’ death to bring salvation, the promise of his return, and the hope of eternity spent worshiping our glorious King. Here are the words:

“Man of sorrows!” what a name For the Son of God, who came Ruined sinners to reclaim! Hallelujah, what a Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood Sealed my pardon with His blood, Hallelujah, what a Savior! Guilty vile and helpless we, Spotless Lamb of God was He; Full atonement can it be? Hallelujah, what a Savior! Lifted up was He to die, “It is finished,” was His cry; Now in heav’n exalted high Hallelujah, what a Savior! When He comes our glorious King, All His ransomed home to bring, Then a-new this song we’ll sing: Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Hallelujah! The song sends electric shocks up and down my spine as I am reminded of the infinite mercy of God and his endless goodness toward us. Every person on this planet deserves the eternal condemnation from the just and righteous God. No one deserves anything good. No one deserves mercy and grace. It is astounding that God would send his Son to die for rebels such as we, but that is exactly what he did. Does this move you to praise and pray and rejoice and spread his name wherever you go? I hope the motivation of your life is the love of Christ, his delight in us, and your delight in him.

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Be Killing Sin

June 27, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 8:13

Grass is persistent and relentless. Time and again grass must be cut to keep it under control, but time and again it grows right back. Rain + sun + grass inevitably leads to more grass. It can be frustrating to finish a satisfying job of straightening up a yard only to look a few days later and see the work needs to be done yet again.

So it is with sin in our lives. The fight against sin never ends. We fight and fight and feel we have made progress against this temptation or that struggle only to see sin and temptation rising up again.

But just as grass requires sun and rain, sin requires certain things in order to grow. What it requires is different from one temptation to another. What stirs anger or covetousness in you? What causes lustful thoughts? What leads you into lies or deception or divisiveness? Identify the root causes of sin in your life and seek to root them out. The old puritan John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” This draws from Romans 8:13 where Paul says, For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Never grow weary of this work of fighting sin. Never tire of striving for holiness. And hold fast to the promise of Philippians 1:6 that God will finish what he has started in your life.

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The Temptation of Plenty

June 25, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
2 Chronicles 12:1

There is a risk in power that it will lead a person away from God. Do you feel your life so well-established that you can give God a break? Are you so strong that you no longer feel a great need for God? Are you perhaps like Rehoboam, feeling confident in your life, your job, your money, your influence, and believing you can relax your devotion to God?

It is possible that for many of us, the troubles in our lives serve as God’s way of keeping us close to him. He knows that if we were secure, wealthy, and comfortable in our lives, we would turn aside to the comforts of this world. God may be using your trial to keep you from going the way of Rehoboam.

Learn from the lives of men and women recorded in Scripture. Learn from Rehoboam to stay steadfast, trusting in the Lord in times of want and in times of plenty. God is greater than any luxury this world offers; never allow power or possessions to turn your eye from your greatest treasure.

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Being Perfected

June 20, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Hebrews 10:10

Sanctification is the process of being made holy, of shedding sin, of becoming set apart from the world, of being made like Christ. Through sanctification we are being made perfect.

So in Hebrews 10:10 we are told that God has perfected those who are being perfected. It is as if God says, “I have done what I am doing.” Here God shows us two sides to our sanctification. When we were saved, we were covered with the righteousness of Christ. We were instantly made holy, made so that our sins no longer separate us from God.

But while this perfection dealt with the problem that separated us from God, it did not change our daily actions. Following salvation, we continue to struggle with sin. So in addition to perfecting us with the righteousness of Christ, God continues to make us holy by growing us each day to be more like Jesus.

This means our holiness does not happen overnight. Although we have been perfected, we are still being perfected and we will continue being perfected until the day God calls us home.

But Scripture offers a promise to the people of God. In Philippians 1:6 Paul tells us, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. He who began this good work in your life will complete this good work. He will not stop halfway through the process and give up. He will finish what he has started.

This means that you, if you are his child, will be made like Christ. You will become completely holy. This will take a lifetime and it will not be complete until the day we go home to be with him, but we rest in the confidence that our daily struggle to walk by the Spirit is not in vain. God will finish what he has started.

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Tremble

June 14, 2010
Filed In Daily Devotionals

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob…
Psalm 114:7

There is something comforting in knowing we worship a God who causes all the earth to tremble. The popular thinking of today tends to shy away from a God of power and might, choosing to emphasize lowliness and meekness. But the same God who emptied himself, took on flesh, and became a servant is also the God who causes the earth to tremble and shake, mountains to crash into the depths of the sea. The same Son of God who entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey will one day return leading a host of heavenly beings, the mighty army of God.

Tremble in the presence of the Lord. Never take for granted who it is that you worship. Never forget that he spoke billions of stars into existence. Always keep in mind that you will one day stand before his judgment seat.

Today, like yesterday and tomorrow, you live Coram Deo, before the face of God. He will see your every action, hear your every word, know your every thought. But even as you seek to be holy in the sight of your holy God, be comforted, child of God, in the knowledge that our God reigns over all creation. The earth will tremble at his presence. Every knee will bow before him. And the trials you now face will one day be over as Jesus welcomes you into your eternal home with him. The Lord, the righteous judge, will exact vengeance on all his enemies and he will reward all those he has made his children.

Tremble at the presence of the Lord. Tremble in awesome respect and fear at his power. Tremble in overwhelming joy at his mercy toward you.

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