24 FEB 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 24 FEB 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you.  He will love and bless you..You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth.” Deut. 7:12a, 13a, 14a

God is the same in the Old Testament and the New.  He is always internally consistent, in that he operates the same.  He is truth, love, and holy.  None of his attributes are in conflict with the other.  That is hard for us to understand because we don’t have that clarity or perfection.  We also don’t completely do what we say we will do.  It hard to comprehend that someone can.

God is love and his love is much different than friendship love and romantic love.  He loves us prior to faith with a love that is unmerited and unconditional in a sense.  His love is not dependent on us.  He loves us even though we are unworthy of it.  When we enter into a relationship with him, it is a covenant love.  There are conditions to receiving more love, but we are not separated from it.

In this passage, God tells the Jewish people that if they listen and obey, they will experience more love from God and will make their lives fruitful in children and sustainment.  Jesus says the same thing for us when we are in this new covenant relationship.  If you obey His commands, it demonstrates our love for him.  The Father will love us and he will love us and reveal himself to us. (John 14:21) He will make us fruitful in the Spirit, in disciples, and life.

As you reflect today, do you want more of God’s love? Are you obeying Jesus’ commands?

Reading Plan: Psalm 31, 95; Deut. 7:12-16; Titus 2:1-15; John 1:35-42

Daily Office Year 1

23 FEV 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 23 FEB 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“Of all the people on the earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.  The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping an oath he had sworn to your ancestors.” Deut. 7:6b-8a

As we examine ourselves during lent, we can sometimes have too high an estimation.  We think that we are better than we are and some think they bring something to the table that God could use.  The truth is, we are all a hot mess when compared to his standards.  There is nothing that makes you stand out from anyone else.  God has to remind us of this.

God explains to the Jewish people after the exodus from Egypt, why he chose them to be his people.  There are some great things here and some challenging ones too.  The great thing is, God desires to have a people for himself.  His people will be a special treasure that will be holy.   If you belong to him, you are valuable, loved, and secure in him.  That is awesome!

The challenging thing, not everyone is God’s people and it's his ultimate choice.  This always gets people bent out of shape even when they look at the Jews of the Hebrew Bible.  Only the Jews were chosen by God to be his people prior to Jesus.  Everyone else was left condemned and far from God.  When Jesus came, he expanded the family choosing both Jews and Gentiles from the world.  That is wonderful news! Because it is likely that you are a Gentile.  There is hope for people from every nation, tribe, and tongue now.

How fantastic is it that God chose you out of everyone? Pretty humbling, no?

Reading Plan: Psalm 37:1-18; Deut. 7:6-11; Titus 1:1-16; John 1:29-34

Daily Office Year 1

22 FEB 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 22 FEB 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.  Finally, I confessed my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt.  I said to myself, I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.  And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” Psalm 32:3, 5

Today is the start of Lent, which is the 40 days prior to Easter, when the church takes time for self-examination and repentance.  Setting new rhythms such as prayer, self-denial, fasting and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word gives us the opportunity to seek Him like no other time.  It exposes our mortality, our human nature, and our standing with God.

The psalm shows how we naturally handle being in sin.  Like Adam and Eve we hide at first and try to avoid dealing with it.  Sin deals emotional and spiritual damage and we begin to feel it physically.  Guilt actually serves a purpose.  God put his law on all of our hearts and when we sin it triggers an internal response that doesn’t feel good.  We know we have done wrong and guilt is supposed to move us to repentance in order to be set free.

The psalmist can’t stand the guilt anymore and wants relief and to be right with God.  When you confess your sins and rebellion against God, then he will forgive you because Jesus has taken the penalty of your sins on the cross.  He is faithful to restore that relationship and take your guilt away.  This is something to rejoice about! You can be free from the guilt and the penalty of your sins.   Lent is a great time to get right with God.

Is the guilt of your sins weighing you down? Why not settle your accounts with God now?

Reading Plan: Psalm 32, 95, 143; Jonah 3:1-4:11; Hebrews 12:1-14; Luke 18:9-14

Daily Office Year 1

21 FEB 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 21 FEB 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory.  And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.” Hebrews 2:10

For the last few months, I have just been in awe of God as I read the Scriptures and other books that describe his attributes and magnitude.  Many of the questions that I wrestle with or have wrestled with are either answered or have been given peace about.  The things I once fretted about, were often selfish desires that didn’t get met.

The world and everything in it was made by God for his own pleasure and enjoyment.  He is the center of the universe and all things.  That little nugget of wisdom can clear the fog of  our troubles and bring alignment with the reality of God’s authority in the world.  We are not the center.  The world doesn’t revolved around us. (repeat that) God is also looking for people to become part of his family.

The text says, that he “chose to bring many children into glory”.  Many.  Many is not all.  That too is a nugget of wisdom that should bring fear and joy at the same time.  Fear that God hold the keys to salvation, death, and hell.  The objects of his love are not worthy of it, but he gives it because he wants to and to whomever he wants.  That should bring us joy if you are his.  

Lastly, the way of life is the way of suffering.  Jesus suffered to bring us salvation and we will suffer because we belong to him. Even in that there is joy and blessing because we grow in the knowledge and love of God. Our lives have meaning and purpose in him.  He promises to be with us and walk with us through it all until the end of the age.

Do you know that God can bring perspective to all of life’s challenges?

Reading Plan: Psalm 26, 28; Deut. 6:16-25; Hebrews 2:1-10; John 1:19-28

Daily Office Year 1

11 FEB 23 Saturday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 11 FEB 23 Saturday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 “Preach the word of God.  Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching.  They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.  They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” 2 Tim. 4 2-4

I find Paul’s letters to Timothy very encouraging and relatable to our current day.  Sometimes we think that maybe these guys didn’t have such issues that we face and how nice it would be to live back then.  How wrong are we? They faced the same types of problems within the church and outside of it.  Both brought mental and physical suffering.  How did they handle such problems?

First, they were real about it and didn’t hide the fact that there is always opposition to the truth and the gospel.  The pain from inside the church is much worse than from outside.  Every denomination in the world has faced challenges of false teachers, thieves, sexual predators, and homosexual marriage to name a few.  These evil things will come against the church and get worse until Christ returns.

Second, sin and hostility doesn’t change the mission and purpose of the individual christian or the church as a whole.  We fight the good fight and share the gospel with anyone and everyone.  We can’t wait for the right time because there isn’t one.  Just share it.  We correct those that are in error and let God sift them from our midst if need be.   Always remain faithful to God even if you are alone.

Do you understand the times and the reality?

Reading Plan: Psalm 87, 90; Isa. 61:10-62:5; 2 Tim. 4:1-8; Mark 10:46-52

Daily Office Year 1