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Matthew 20:15-16

Justice or Mercy?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 30, 2025

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 to have 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 our 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.

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Ephesians 3:16-17

Counting the Ways

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 29, 2025

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.

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, 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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1 John 1:9, Romans 3:21-24

God’s Wake Up Call

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 28, 2025

Through our connection with Christ, God the Father, the great judge finds us not guilty! In Romans 3:21-24 he writes, “Now God says he will accept and acquit us—declare us ‘not guilty’—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal; yet now God declares us ‘not guilty’ of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins.” Yet, the reality in our lives is that we still struggle with guilt often. Phantom guilt, guilt that comes when there really isn’t anything to be guilty about, is the product of too strenuous a self-standard or a failed attempt to live up to someone else’s standard. But there is still true guilt, even for a believer. True guilt is that sense of shame and sorrow when we do something we should feel guilty for. This guilt is truly God’s “wake-up call.” He uses His Spirit in various ways to open our consciences to the wrongs we do so that we get them right again. He has made a way, “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). True guilt can only be “cleansed” with a true confession.

Guilt is God’s alarm clock. Chuck Smith used that illustration to explain how God moves his people to repentance when they need it. He uses three alarm clocks. The first one plays gentle music. The second goes off a little later and has a more disrupting sound. If he sleeps through that one, the third one will wake the dead! It makes “a horrendous sound.” He compares this to God’s work of His Spirit that arouses us to our guilt. At first there’s a gentle tugging at our spirits to see our wrong. If we fail to “wake up,” the Holy Spirit will cause a less pleasant experience. Chuck Smith explains, “That’s what God did with David. The king wasn’t listening to the Holy Spirit’s prompting in his conscience, so God revealed David’s secret sin of adultery to the prophet Nathan and sent him to speak to David. David’s sin was exposed. It became public knowledge, and at that point, David turned to God in repentance. If that’s what it takes, that is what God will do.” But it even gets worse. If we ignore or resist the first two “wake-up calls,” God will move more drastically to get our attention. When Pharaoh hardened his heart against God’s confrontation, God took direct action against all of Egypt and its people.

Chuck Smith asks, “Which of these three ways would you like God to use to stop you from sinning?” I know I’d like to wake up to soft music. I don’t want to have to be stunned out of my lethargy to sin; I want to be sensitive and open to seeing my failures. I sometimes don’t want to wake up in the morning, and I usually struggle with waking up to my sin, but if we don’t respond to God’s gentle nudging in our consciences, He’ll wake us up in a more radical way. Guilt is God’s way of reaching out to us in the gentlest of ways. It’s always disturbing, of course, but when God speaks to us through the guilt he arouses in us, it’s another expression of God’s wonderful Grace.

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1 John 1:7, Hebrews 9:22

Cleansing Power

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 27, 2025

In 1 John 1:7, we read, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” It has true cleansing power. The Greek word for “cleanse” is “Katharidzo.” My wife’s name is “Kathy.” All forms of that name usually refer to the idea of “the pure one” or the “clean one.” It’s the word that’s used in the Gospels for “cleansing” lepers as well as external washing. The Pharisees, for example, “cleansed” the outside but left the inside rotting like a corpse in a tomb. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Under the law, everything was ‘cleansed’ with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.” It’s also the word from which we take the medical term for “catheter.” It’s the tube that is attached to our urinary system to help cleanse the poisons from our system. The blood of Jesus can cleanse us from our sins and guilt. When we cauterize something, we purify it. When we speak of a catharsis, we’re talking about a cleansing.

One of the key identifying characteristics of a Christian cult is the blurring of the divine nature of Jesus. Whereas the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus’ conception and birth were miraculous, resulting in a divine presence of God “with us” and a unique physical composition of all man and all God at the same time. It was this miraculous birth and the nature of His being that made the shedding of His unique blood capable of cleansing us all of all our sins. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science movement, said, “The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon ‘the accursed tree,’ than when it was flowing in his veins as he went daily about his Father’s business.” As with most cults, the true supernatural nature of Christ is denied or ignored, yet it’s that divine nature that provides the cleansing power for our sins. Just as Jesus calls the lepers, he calls all sinners to come to him for cleansing. He will wash away our sin and guilt! He will make us whole again. He can because of who He was and is!

The late James Boice wrote, “The gospel of the crucified Christ has been preached in palaces and halls of state, and the mighty of this world have come to him. It has been preached in the dirtiest and most dangerous of the back alleys of our cities, and the weak and outcasts of this world have come to him. It has been preached to Americans, and Americans have come. It has been preached in the nations of Africa and Asia and South America, and citizens of those nations have come. It has been preached to children, and children have come. It has been preached to the aged, and the aged have come. It has been preached to the intelligent and the not-so-intelligent, to the socially favored and to the socially disadvantaged, to blacks and whites, to Jews and Moslems and Buddhists and total pagans, and men and women from each of these groups have turned to Jesus as the One who is able to cleanse from sin and lead them in the way everlasting.”

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Job 5:2, Deuteronomy 32:35, Hebrews 10:30, Romans 12:19

Vengeance is Fine!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 26, 2025

I’ve watched many revenge movies. They all draw the watchers into the depth of the pain of the innocent victim and bring some interesting satisfaction when the victim becomes the victor over those who have harmed him or his loved ones. I would argue that in today’s society and in the mass media (Movies & TV especially) that it believes the Bible says, “Vengeance is fine, sayeth the Lord.” But the truth is, the bible instructs us not to take matters into our own hands but to entrust vengeance to the authorities who are in the hands of the Lord Himself. God promises He’ll take care of it, either now or in the future. The reminder that vengeance is the Lord’s appears three times in the Bible, twice in the New Testament, and once in the Old Testament. Hebrews 10:30 reads, “For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” Romans 12:19 says, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” These are both references to Deuteronomy 32:35, where God first said, “Vengeance is mine.”

Vengeance becomes a prison cell with its own personal torture chamber for those who sentence themselves to such a fate. It might taste good for the moment, but, as C. S. Lewis said, at the feast of vengeance, the carcass we end up devouring “is ourselves.” It’s like the old Amos and Andy routine. Amos asks Andy what that little bottle is he’s wearing around his neck. “Nitroglycerine,” he answers. Amos is stunned that Andy would be wearing a necklace of nitro, so he asks for an explanation. Andy tells him about a fellow who has a bad habit of poking people in the chest while he’s speaking. “It drives me crazy,” Andy says. “I’m wearing this nitro, so the next time he pokes me, I’ll blow his finger off.” Job teaches us that “Anger (or resentment or revenge?) will kill the fool” (See Job 5:2).

In his usual creative wisdom, Max Lucado explains it this way: “Anger has a way of increasing in volume until it’s the only sound we hear. The louder it gets, the more desperate we become. When we are mistreated, our animalistic response is to go on the hunt. Instinctively, we double up our fists. Getting even is only natural. Which, incidentally, is precisely the problem. Revenge is natural, not spiritual. Getting even is the rule of the jungle. Giving grace is the rule of the kingdom? X-ray the soul of the vengeful and behold the tumor of bitterness: black, menacing, malignant. Carcinoma of the spirit. Its fatal fibers creep around the edge of the heart and ravage it. Yesterday you can’t alter, but your reaction to yesterday you can. The past you cannot change, but your response to the past you can.”

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Matthew 6:14, Ephesian 4:32, Colossians 3:12-13

The Law of Forgiveness

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 25, 2025

In Matthew chapter six, there is a passage that has caused many believers great stress and serious difficulty in their Christian walk. Jesus said, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:14-15). I’ve heard sermons in which it was suggested that “forgiveness” is a necessity for salvation. To me, that sounds like forgiving others is a good work that brings God’s forgiveness and our salvation. If we forgive, then we will be forgiven. Some of you may disagree with me on this, but I’m convinced this is not true for the believer today. Forgiving others is not a good work that saves you any more than baptism or any other attitude, act, or deed. I know some deeply committed Christians who have needed to extend forgiveness but needed time and prayer to work through the depth of the offense before they could do so. This means there is a time when these believers could leave this world without being forgiven by God. What would happen to them if this happened?

Jesus often used the law to do what it was intended to do. It was intended to bring all mankind to their knees in recognition of their sinfulness. When He spoke to the lawyer and several others who wanted to know what they needed to do to earn eternal life, Jesus always pointed them to the law or to specific exhortations that should have brought them to the realization of their sinfulness and of their need for a savior. There are some things that we should do that we are just not capable of at the moment. But Jesus’ reply to the rich ruler and the lawyer ended with either an attempt to justify themselves or in great despair, knowing that He was asking something way beyond their ability to provide. It’s the same today. If you try to apply everything that Jesus said to your own life today, you will end in utter despair. Jesus’ exhortation to his followers to “be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect” wasn’t instruction on how to gain God’s approval and earn entrance into the Kingdom of God. It was the presentation of standards that sinners are totally incapable of attaining.

When we read the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospels, we must keep this in mind. When Jesus taught, “You must forgive in order to be forgiven,” He was magnifying the demands of the law in order to provoke people to understand their need for a Savior. Paul clarifies the truth about forgiveness in several of His letters. We don’t forgive so that we’ll be forgiven. Quite the opposite. We forgive because, and only after, we’ve been forgiven. Ephesians 4:32 instructs us on forgiveness. It says, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Further in Colossians 3:12-13 we read, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other…just as Christ has forgiven you.”

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Philippians 1:6, 1 Peter 5:11

He Sustains Me!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 24, 2025

Paul, as well as the author of Hebrews, uses the analogy of a race when talking about the Christian life. It’s not a 50-yard dash; It’s not the 100-meter sprint or any other short-term effort. The Christian life is more like a marathon. It takes perseverance and an understanding of how to pace ourselves and sometimes even pit stops for water. Along the way, there will be hills and valleys, long stretches, and sharp turns. But the thing is, we’re not running it alone. God sends his sustaining grace to keep us on course and hold us true until the end. Paul told the Philippians (1:6), “God, who began a good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished…” Peter says (1 Peter 5:11), “My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that the grace of God is with you no matter what happens…”

Paul tells us (Romans 8:28) that God is the great choreographer of all life and all our circumstances. He “works all things together for good for those who love Him.” Every valley, mountain, crevice, and pasture in our lives is specifically designed by God to bring the best out in us and for us. This is God’s marvelous sustaining grace. John Piper wrote this short poem about sustaining Grace:

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,
Nor flight from all distress, but this:
The grace that orders our trouble and pain,
And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

He goes on to explain, “I stress this because to celebrate a grace that bars what is not bliss, and gives flight from all distress and does not order our pain would be biblically false and experientially unrealistic.” Through the long, boring stretches of life, God’s there. Through the ups and downs, God’s there. Through the sharp turns and rocky roads, God’s there. Not only is he there, but he has laid out the path, set the course, designed the trials, and ordered the events. Piper goes on to say, “Our experience and the Bible teach us that grace does not prevent pain, but orders and arranges and measures out our pain, and then in the darkness is there to sustain.” Piper then illustrates this by telling the story of a close friend. “For example, yesterday, Bob Ricker, the president of the Baptist General Conference, spoke of precious reminders of God’s sustaining grace. Not quite ten years ago, Bob and Dee’s daughter was in a serious automobile accident. She is alive today for one reason. In the car behind her was a doctor who happened to have an air tube in his pocket. By the time he got to her, she was already turning blue. He forced the tube into her throat and saved her life. At her wedding a few years later, Bob told her: those facial scars you have to live with—they are memorials of sustaining grace.”

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2 Timothy 2:1, Revelation 22:21

Strengthened by Grace

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
April 23, 2025

God’s sustaining grace is always with us. When things are going well, it’s there, and when things are going bad, it’s there. God is good all the time! All the time, God is good. But sometimes, it’s hard to see God’s sustaining grace at work when bad things happen. When someone dies before their time, when terrible things happen to innocent people, and when evil people hurt others, it’s often hard to find God’s sustaining grace at work during those times.

Salvation is by grace through faith. I’d argue that salvation is a term that fits both our life’s circumstances in the present as well as our eternal destiny. We are saved by grace through faith. It’s our faith that God puts to the test in order to make us stronger. That’s why he “tested” Abraham’s faith in Genesis 22 when he told him to offer his only son as a sacrifice on the altar. Abraham passed the test, and his faith has been an example of what it means to trust God in all the trials of life. He had learned through his life that he could trust God’s word. God said he’d have a son in his old age, and he did. God blessed him in numerous ways along life’s path, and he learned through all the ups and downs of life that God had his best interest foremost in mind, regardless of his circumstances or what God called him to do. He walked by faith. It was God’s grace that sustained him through it all.  But it not only sustained him. It made him stronger! Paul understood this principle well. He said in Philippians 4:13 that he could rejoice in God in every situation of life because he understood God’s promises.  Each beating, each imprisonment, each stoning, and each persecution of every kind made Paul’s faith stronger.  But the important thing to notice is that Paul realized that this strengthening was a result of God’s grace. When Timothy was going through tough times in his ministry, Paul wrote to him and said, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1).

Let me call to your attention the fact that the command “be strengthened,” or in some translations it says “be strong,” is a passive verb in the Greek text. Timothy is not the subject of the action but the recipient of it. Our strength through trials and pains and sufferings comes not from our own effort but from the reality of God’s grace at work in our lives. Bill Haynes put it this way, “Relying on God’s strength alone is something each of us must learn. The grace of God does not merely save us (although it does do that). It also continues to sustain us. It empowers our lives and gives us the ability to stand firm.” As Paul learned, through every thorn in the flesh and hardship of life, “God’s grace will prove sufficient.” Paul and other New Testament writers love to include in their salutation or benediction “grace to you” in various forms. Notice also that the Bible itself ends with Revelation 22:21. It says, “The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen!”

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