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Romans 8:35, Various

Through It All!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 2, 2024

We don’t have a choice, do we?  We all have to face this life with all of its storms.  The problems we face in life are many and varied.  Some we bring on ourselves because of the choices we make. Some happen simply because of where we are in this fallen world.  Some happen because you are a believer in Jesus, and Satan is attacking with his cruel power.  David argues in Psalm 22 that our problems begin at birth. “From birth, I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb, you have been my God.” In verse 11, he says, “Do not be far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help.” Moses tells us that our life span is normally about 70 or 80 years, yet, as verse 10 says, “Their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” When Job’s wife tells him to curse God and die, he replies, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” Peter talks to suffering people and tells them in 1 Peter 4:12, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange was happening to you.” A. E. Houseman wrote one of my favorite poems, “Terrence, this is stupid stuff.” One of the lines has been unforgettable to me for some reason. He tells us to face the reality of suffering by preparing for it. He says, “Luck’s a chance, but trouble’s sure; I’d face it as a wise man would and train for ill and not for good.”

Having been born into this world, there is no escaping it. We all will face trials, suffering, pain, and, of course, eventually death. Some philosophers and some world religions say that there is nothing we can do about it. We are like chips of wood floating on a tossing ocean carried hither and yon until we become too waterlogged and sink to the slimy bottom only to rot into nothingness. Hogwash! Both Houseman and these philosophers present us with a defeatist attitude toward life. The Bible does just the opposite. No matter what problems you face – whether things in your past, present, or future – there is good news.  Psalm 9:9 says, “The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” In Psalm 34:18-19, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all. Then, in Psalm 46:1-3, we read, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives away and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

When Christ came into the world, He demonstrated the depth of God’s love for us all by paying the penalty for our sins on the cross. He rose from the dead and offered us new life through faith that is received simply by faith. Paul, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, made it clear in Romans 8:35. He asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” The answer is nothing! We are loved regardless of the current situation of life in a fallen world. This will not eliminate the storms.  But Jesus will provide for us in the midst of the storm.  We need to understand this better.  We do have problems and troubles, and we will have more – that is the nature of life on this earth. But nothing can separate us from God’s love. Psalm 3:5 says in the New Living Translation, “I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the LORD was watching over me.”

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Exodus 1:8-11, Job

Heavy Burdens

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 1, 2024

In Exodus Chapter 1, we see that Jacob’s descendants had become slaves in Egypt. The Pharaoh who knew and honored Joseph was gone, and a new one was now in charge. He didn’t feel the same way about Joseph and his family as the previous Pharaoh did. The passage tells us, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens.” Things went from bad to worse for them. Pharaoh made them do slave labor. Then, he made the labor more severe. Then, he tried to cut their population by infanticide. Then, he tried to destroy the nation with genocide. No nation has suffered at the hands of others as much as the Jewish nation has. Pharaoh attempted genocide, Haman attempted genocide in the Book of Esther, and more recently, Hitler attempted genocide, but through it all, God’s people remain.

Things often go from bad to worse for God’s people before He delivers them. Consider the life of Job. The first Chapter takes us from one calamity to another. No one went from bad to worse as quickly and as severely as Job did. He lost his wealth. He lost his loved ones, and then he lost his health. Job remained strong in his faith in God through the whole ordeal. Even when his wife confronted him and told him to curse God and die, job wouldn’t give in to the temptation to turn against God through it all. He said, “Though He slays me, yet will I trust Him.” “Naked, I came into the world, and naked from it, I will go.” “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Yes, things may go from bad to worse, but God always comes through for His people. Yes, He allowed the suffering, but he didn’t forsake them. He delivered Israel from its slavery in Egypt, and in the end, he delivered Job from his suffering as well. He lets them suffer, and he lets us suffer because He wants us to learn that we can trust Him in every circumstance of our lives, even when things go from bad to worse. Maybe things have gone from bad to worse for you also. It happens. We wonder why things seem to pile up against us.  God had a purpose for Israel’s suffering in Egypt, and he has a purpose for your suffering as well. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: “Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 75 years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness.”

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Jeremiah 31:4, Various

The SELF!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 31, 2024

I often struggle with those verses in the Bible that teach us that God not only forgives, but he also forgets.  Jeremiah 31:4 says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Hebrews 10:17 says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Many other examples could be given, but although it’s clear that God forgives and forgets, it’s just as clear to me that I don’t! Max Lucado writes, “No, he doesn’t remember. But I do, you do. You still remember. You’re like me. You still remember what you did… In the cellar of your heart lurk the ghosts of yesterday’s sins. Sins you’ve confessed, errors of which you’ve repented, damage you’ve done your best to repair.  And … the ghosts still linger. Though you’ve locked the basement door, they still haunt you. They float to meet you, spooking your soul and robbing your joy.”

One theologian did a study of the Hebrew and Greek words for forgiveness in the Bible. He discovered that the concept of forgiveness is never, no, not once, referenced with respect to forgiving ourselves. In the Bible, forgiveness has only two directions, both of which extend from us, not TO us. We receive forgiveness from God vertically, and we receive forgiveness from others horizontally. This theologian writes, “Self-forgiveness is tied back to the self-love movement. Its proponents justify loving oneself from the often-quoted passage about loving a neighbor ‘as yourself’ (Lev 19:34). They contend that if a man does not love himself properly, then he cannot really love his neighbor. Self-love advocates interpret the ‘as’ in the second greatest commandment to mean ‘as you should.’ However, the context of Scripture interprets ‘as’ to mean ‘as you do.’ In other words, we should love our neighbors as we already do love ourselves. The Apostle Paul wrote, ‘So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it ….’ (Ephesians 5:28–29). This passage teaches that people naturally look after themselves.” I’ve always struggled with the “self-love” movement because of 2 Timothy 3:2. In the end times, there will be a strong movement away from God and His word and those that are part of this movement, according to Paul, will be “lovers of self…” along with other ungodly traits.

Some may argue that there are people who do not love themselves and do themselves harm. But truly, those with such tendencies are doing what they do because they become too “self-centered” rather than God-centered or other-centered.  My theologian continues his case: “In either case, the focus is on self. That is the problem with all this ‘self’ terminology. There are self-forgiveness, self-love, self-hate, self-esteem, self-image, self-worth, self-awareness, self-ad infinitum. This self-centered therapy may sound caring, but it is only a Band-Aid that will never cure a deeper spiritual problem.” Jesus teaches us to deny our “self” and focus our attention on God and on others. The only truly biblical focus is both upward and outward. It is in this context that we obey the Greatest Commandment – Love God and Love others above all else. I believe this will satisfy God, others, and ourselves. God said that He has forgiven us. Only the enemy of us all wants us to feel unforgiven. He is still whispering in our ears, “Yeah, hath God said….?”

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John 14:6, Various

Today’s Religion: Pluralism

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 30, 2024

Warren Buffet, commenting on his huge contribution to charity, said, “There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.” I commented before on the part of the quote that suggested he intended to purchase a place in heaven today; I’d like to look at the first half of the quote: “There is more than one way to get to heaven.”  You can check this quote out for yourself at the below link.

(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/27/business/main1753895.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;1)

I would argue that most people in our world today agree with Warren; pluralism is the acceptable religion of our day.  Pluralism removes the urgency to seek truth because it presents all systems as the truth. But this is a logical impossibility. One writer put it this way, “All paths but one lead away from God. It is critical to understand this so that we will be motivated to seek after the true God. Unless He is found, we will never discover religious truth, we will never discover the true path to salvation, and we will never discover how to live a more abundant life in the here and now. Everyone’s eternal destiny rests on the outcome of this quest.”

One of America’s most committed abolitionists before the Civil War was William Lloyd Garrison. He was uncompromising in his opposition to slavery. He often shocked slave owners and moderates alike in his attacks on the system that allowed such a practice. Just to stand by and allow such a thing was unthinkable to him. He attacked the Northern states, particularly for tolerating the system to continue in the South without intervention. Garrison was called an “extremist” in his position in an environment that was desperately attempting to avoid polarization on the subject.  Although mocked, ridiculed, and ostracized for his position, his cause won out, and he became a hero of the just cause against slavery. Everyone admits that he was absolutely right today.

His opponents viewed Jesus as an extremist as well. He argued that His truth was incontestable. He, and only HE, had the truth about eternal life and the procedure by which man might obtain it. He insisted that one had to totally disassociate himself from all others who have claimed to have found the true way to God. His teaching sounded radical then. It sounds just as radical now, for the modern mind thinks it is incredible that there is only one way to heaven. But it is simple, really. If Jesus is what he claimed to be, he is the only way to God—no other way exists. Once he is accepted as God, all his claims and demands are simply accepted.” There is still criticism, ostracism, and often persecution for those who continue to hold out the message that Jesus boldly proclaimed: He is “The way, the truth, and the life, and no one can enter into the presence of the Father in heaven except through Him.” (See John 14:6) But as it was with slavery, so will it be with Jesus. He will overcome and reign supreme. “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11).

 

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Titus 3:4-7

The Right Recipe!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 29, 2024

I read a brief article from a trusted biblical commentator who spoke about Omaha’s own Warren Buffet. In the commentary, he said, “The world’s second-richest man announced in June 2006 that he would donate 85 percent of his $44 billion fortune to five charitable foundations. Commenting on this extreme level of generosity, Buffet said: ‘There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way.’” Now, it seemed a bit far-fetched to me that Mr. Buffet would actually say he thought he would be buying his way to heaven. So I logged on to the CBS News website and did a search for “Warren Buffet and Heaven.” The article came up, and sure enough. He was quoted as saying just that. (Here’s the web address if you’d like to see it for yourself. I had to!)

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/27/business/main1753895.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;1

Most of the people I know, common people, people without the wealth, status or power that Warren Buffet has, know the Bible clearly teaches that the sole condition for receiving eternal salvation from hell is faith (trust) in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who died a substitutionary death on the cross for man’s sin and rose from the dead (John 3:16–18; John 6:47; Acts 16:31).  No act of obedience in resisting temptation or no act of philanthropy or good works preceding or following faith in the Lord Jesus Christ may be added to, or considered as a part of, faith as a condition for receiving eternal salvation (Rom. 4:5; Gal. 2:16). This saving transaction between God and the sinner is simply the giving and receiving of a free gift (Eph. 2:8, 9; John 4:10; Rev. 22:17).  Titus 3:4-7 explains it clearly. It says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

M.R. DeHann told about an instant cake mix that was a big flop. The instructions said all you had to do was add water and bake. The company couldn’t understand why it didn’t sell—until their research discovered that the buying public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. Apparently, people thought it was too easy. So, the company altered the formula and changed the directions to call for adding an egg to the mix in addition to the water. The idea worked, and sales jumped dramatically. DeHann went on to explain how this story reminded him of how some people react to God’s plan of salvation. To them, it sounds too easy and simple to be true. They feel that there is something more they must do, something they must add to God’s “recipe” for salvation. They think they must perform good works to gain God’s favor and earn eternal life. But the Bible is clear—we are saved by grace through faith. Paul wrote to Titus, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy.” Unlike the cake-mix manufacturer, God has not changed His “formula” to make salvation more marketable.

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Matthew 5:6, Psalm 42

A Thirst For Righteousness

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 28, 2024

There is a famous passage in the Psalms that I’m sure you’ve read or heard of. The first two verses of Psalm 42 say, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”  I’ve seen pictures of this deer along a flowing stream, and in those pictures, the deer is strong, healthy, well-fed, and usually looking up toward the viewer. The picture of a hungry and thirsty deer should really be one that shows a scrawny, weakened, and emaciated deer. To “pant” after water implies a long absence of water. A deer satiated with water would never pant for it. A deer well-fed would not “hunger” for anything.

When Jesus spoke to the crowds gathered around him on the hillside in Matthew 5, he was speaking to the thirsty crowds. It was those who yearned and hungered for a connection with God who came to listen. Those who felt they already had a connection with God were not interested and did not respond to Jesus’ teaching.  Those who know they are sinners are truly thirsty. Those who already believe they are righteous are not. I think Jesus was thinking about Psalm 42 when he said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).  The religious leaders already felt they had it all and didn’t need what Jesus had to offer. They believed their standing as Priests, Levites, Rabbis, and Lawyers (All Pharisees and Sadducees) had exempted them from God’s judgment under the law. They were already righteous in their own estimation. They were satisfied with what they had. There was no hungering and thirsting in them. Many people today are smug and satisfied with what they have. Jesus has nothing to offer them.

But the law, just like the desert, will dehydrate any soul who honestly faces up to its demands. Religious leaders and lawyers minimized the law and, by redefining it to suit their own purposes, believed they had met its standard. Jesus used the law to emaciate the proud and dehydrate the arrogant. He presented it to them in his teaching in a way that it would drain all the fat of self-confidence and bring a real hunger to the soul. Jesus assured His listeners that they would be ‘filled’ with righteousness. I don’t think he was solely referring to some future kingdom in the next world. He was speaking of the time after which he would die and pay the penalty for us all for our failure under the law. Those who believed in Christ and His payment for their sins would indeed be “filled.” But the filling would not be with our own righteousness, but with HIS! The hunger we have for righteousness will be satisfied with the bread of life. The thirst that often drives us to our knees will be completely satisfied as we drink the same water of life that Jesus offered to the woman at the well as well as to us. He satisfies our hunger! He quenches our thirst! Blessed are you who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you will be completely satisfied.” He will be our righteousness!

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Matthew 20:15-16

Justice Or Mercy?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 27, 2024

Jesus introduced many of His parables by saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”  Then he would tell a story. In the parable of the vineyard workers, he explains how admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven is according to His Grace and Mercy, not according to merit. The owner of the vineyard hires workers early in the morning at an acceptable wage. The same day, he hires other workers midmorning, early afternoon, and then late afternoon. When the day is over, he pays them all the same wage. When those who worked all day saw it, they became indignant and dissatisfied because others received the same wage as they did yet only worked a few hours. It wasn’t fair! It didn’t satisfy their sense of justice. Because they saw themselves as deserving, they wanted justice. They felt that what they did qualified them for a greater reward.  This is so true and completely accurate in the world in which we live. But Jesus was talking about another world. His reply was, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:15-16).

Tom Allen tells a cute story about taking his two young daughters into the store to find something to drink. One picked apple juice, and the other a Mango surprise. Despite his insistence on paying for all the drinks, his daughters had brought resources from their piggy banks, and they were prepared to be generous. As they were walking up to the counter, one said, “I want to pay for mine.” Tom simply said, “That’s OK, Abby, Daddy will get it.” But she insisted, “I’m paying for mine.” The clerk said that will be $2.06. Abby put all her change, about 80 cents, on the counter. “Umm, that’s not enough,” the clerk said. Tom felt a little tug on his sweater, “I think I’d like to use your money,” The other daughter said.

In many respects, we often would rather get what we deserve when we think we are deserving. Resting our confidence in our own resources and efforts builds our egos. It allows us to feel more deserving than others or at least of having earned our own way in the world. Although these feelings and desires are admirable in this life, they will not serve us as we enter into the Kingdom life. The truth is we all owe a debt that we do not have the resources to pay. Since we cannot pay the price for liberation from sin’s penalty and power, God, in the person of His Son, paid it for us. Jesus paid the ransom for all. It becomes effective for each person who, through faith in God’s Son, receives salvation as a gift of God’s grace. Like the second daughter in Tom’s story, I’d rather use Jesus’ resources than my own.

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Ephesians 3:16-17

Counting The Ways

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
January 26, 2024

The source of real-life change is a comprehension of the magnitude of God’s unconditional love for us. One of Paul’s most profound prayers for the Ephesians (and for us!) is that we all would be “…rooted and grounded in love…” and that we’d “comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth…” of “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.” (See Ephesians 3:16-17) I’ve often wondered how Paul expected anyone to comprehend God’s love if it “surpassed knowledge.” How could we know the unknowable? I like to think that “comprehend” is more like experience. There are many things we experience that we don’t fully understand. Simple things like a beautiful sunrise and sunset are things that don’t need to be fully understood to be fully appreciated and experienced. I don’t fully understand how electricity is made from a dam in a flowing river, but I’m not going to sit in the dark!

The idea of love has been corrupted in our world. We are inundated with love songs and love stories in which lovers gush with reasons for their love. Elizabeth Browning wrote in a very famous love sonnet, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” I remember many Valentine’s Day cards I’ve given to my wife over the years and how they express a rationale for my love: I love to hear your voice, your love has helped me rediscover myself, your love is the antidote for despair, you’re always on my side, I love the way I feel when I’m with you. My point is that all these expressions describe a “conditional” kind of love. Whenever you need to explain “why” you love someone, you are expressing conditions. Our love is often that way, but not God’s love.

A. T. Pierson observed that Paul “treats the love of God as a cube, having breadth and length, depth and height…a perfection of form. Every side of a cube is a perfect square, and from every angle, it presents the same appearance.” The Holy of Holies was cube-shaped, so is the New Jerusalem, and so is the love of God. The Width of His Love. His outstretched arms can encompass all humanity (John 3:16). His love removes our sins “as far as the east from the west” (Ps. 103:12). The Length of His Love: Eternal, providing His children with everlasting life. The Depth of His Love. Reaching down to the most horrid and hopeless sinner. The Height of His Love. “As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward us” (Ps. 103:11). Elisabeth Barrett Browning continues her love sonnet by writing, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach….” But only God loves us with infinite dimensions. He loves you to an endless degree.

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