Daily Devotional 8-29-2021
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Basic to an understanding of this verse is the meaning of union with Christ. This doctrine explains that believers have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ and into the church, the body of all true believers. Having been thus united to Christ, believers share in His death, burial, and resurrection. Paul could therefore write, I have been “crucified with Christ”. This brought death to the Law. It also brought a change in regard to one’s self: and I no longer live. The self-righteous, self-centered Saul died. Further, death with Christ ended Paul’s enthronement of self; he yielded the throne of his life to Another,…
Daily Devotional 8-18-2021
2Ti 2:8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead and descended from David, according to my gospel, Jesus is an example of suffering followed by glory. Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to Paul’s gospel. The thought is not that Timothy is to remember certain things about the Lord Jesus, but rather that he is to remember the Person Himself, alive from the dead. In one sense, this verse is a brief summary of the gospel which Paul preached. The crucial point in that gospel is the resurrection of the Savior. Hiebert writes: “Not the vision of a crucified Jesus but the vision of a risen Lord is held up before Timothy.” The expression of the seed of David is a simple statement that Jesus is the Christ, the descendant of David, in whom the Messianic promises of God are fulfilled.…
Daily Devotional 8-3-2021
1Pe 3:21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also–not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Baptism represents a complete break with one’s past life. As the Flood wiped away the old sinful world, so baptism pictures one’s break from his old sinful life and his entrance into new life in Christ. Baptism does not save from sin, but from a bad conscience. Peter clearly taught that baptism was not merely a ceremonial act of physical purification, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. Baptism is the symbol of what has already occurred in the heart and life of one who has trusted Christ as Savior. To make the source of salvation perfectly clear Peter added, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Daily Devotional June 20, 2021
Hos 14:8b I am [God is] like a green cypress tree; Your fruit is found in Me. Returning to God and remaining in fellowship with Him is to claim His promises for future grace. Repentance must be followed by restoration. We need to know that God has accepted our broken hearts and now wants to give us a new life. Jesus is our Tree (Vine), we are His branches, apart from Him we can do nothing. It is our purpose to bear His fruits for Him. He is the source of all good works.