Daily Devotional 10_20_2023
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Ephesians 4:28) There are three levels of how to live with material things: (1) you can steal to get them; (2) or you can work to get them; (3) or you can work to get in order to give. Too many professing Christians live on level two. We glorify work over against stealing and mooching, and feel we have acted virtuously if we have spurned stealing and mooching, and given ourselves to an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. That’s not a bad thing. Work is better than stealing and mooching. But that’s not what the apostle calls us to. Almost all the forces of our culture urge us to live on level two: work to get. But…
Weekly Devotional 31_5_2023
Rom 8:38-39 CSB For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul ransacks the universe for something that might conceivably separate us from God’s love, then dismisses the possibilities one by one— The outcome of Paul’s search is that he can find nothing that can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Daily Devotional 3-14-2022
2Co 9:9 CSB As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. Charity reaps an eternal reward. A person who “fears the Lord” and gives gifts to the poor, (the Palm that Paul quoted) will be vindicated on the last day. Practical righteousness endures forever not only through the deeds but in the doer as he is progressively transformed into Christlikeness. Ultimately, a believer’s reward is the culmination of the process. The One who supplies what is needed is God alone. God (who supplies seed… and bread) enlarges the harvest (rewards or blessings) that results from righteous, generous living. The riches of righteousness are inestimable.
Daily Devotional 3-13-2022
2Co 9:8 CSB And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; Ultimately Christians can dispense only what they have received, whether material or spiritual. The good work is done through God’s enabling. Regardless of how desperate one’s circumstances, a person who wants to give can do so in dependence on God. Once again Paul sounded the note that man’s inability, by contrast, showcases God’s work. This verse is full of words indicating inclusiveness in God’s enabling: all grace… in all things at all times, having all that you need… in every good work.
Daily Devotional 3-12-2022
2Co 9:6 CSB The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. In verses 6 through 15 the Apostle Paul lists some of the wonderful rewards and benefits of Christian giving. First, he sets forth the law of the harvest. It is a well-known fact in agriculture that a generous sowing of seed is necessary if there is to be a generous harvest. Perhaps the farmer is ready to put the seed in the ground. Shall he sow liberally or shall he take some of the grain and use it as food during the months ahead? The thought here is that if he sows it liberally, he will also reap out of all proportion to what he sows. We should remember this with regard to agriculture—the farmer does not reap the exact amount of grain he…
Daily Devotional 3-9-2022
1Pe 5:10 CSB The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. True victory in persecution is to see God behind the scenes working out His wonderful purposes. No matter what our trials, we should remember first of all that He is the God of all grace. This lovely title of our God reminds us that His dealings with us are not based on what we deserve, but on His thoughts of love to us. No matter how fierce our testing, we can always be thankful we are not in hell where we ought to be. A second strong consolation is that He has called us to His eternal glory. This enables us to look beyond the sufferings of this life to the time when we shall be with the…
Daily Devotional 3-7-2022
2Co 8:2 During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. These Christians had been going through a great trial of affliction. Ordinarily, people thus tested would seek to save their money to provide for their future. And especially so if they were not very prosperous, as was the case with the Macedonians. They did not have very much money at all. Yet their Christian joy was so overflowing that when the need of the saints in Jerusalem was presented to them, they reversed all ordinary behavior and gave in a most liberal manner. They were able to combine affliction, joy, poverty, and liberality.
Daily Devotional 2-22-2022
Joh 1:16 CSB Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, All who believe on the Lord Jesus receive supplies of spiritual strength out of His fullness. His fullness is so great that He can provide for all Christians in all countries and in all ages. The expression grace for grace probably means “grace upon grace” or “abundant grace.” Here grace means God’s gracious favor which He showers on His beloved children.
Daily Devotional 12-12-2021
Psa 113:7-9 CSB He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash heap (8) in order to seat them with nobles—with the nobles of his people. (9) He gives the childless woman a household, making her the joyful mother of children. Hallelujah! God exalts – thus sharing His nature with man – the miserable and the poor to places of prominence and prosperity. The poor hover near the refuse heap outside the city for warmth from the perpetual burning and for food from the garbage. But God exalts them, the lowest of society, to an equal portion with the highest (with princes). God does not do this with every poor person, but when He does it for some His gracious dealings are evident. In the New Testament the truth takes on a spiritual significance, for those who trust in the Lord are given an inheritance…
Daily Devotional 12-9-2021
2Pe 3:9 CSB The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. The Lord’s return seems to be so long in coming is that God wants as many people to be saved as possible. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise. Again Peter gave a divine-human comparison. God’s so-called “tardiness” as viewed by some people (as some understand slowness) is only a delay with respect to their time schedules, not His. In fact God’s time schedule is modified by patience, a major attribute of the heavenly Father. The words not wanting anyone to perish do not express a decree, as if God has willed everyone to be saved. Universal salvation is not taught in the Bible. Instead those words describe God’s wishes or desires; He longs that all would be…