16 JUL 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 16 JUL 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.  As a result, all who believe in this are made right with God.” Romans 10: 4

There are so many in this world who labor to gain the attention and favor of God.  They religiously attend meetings, worship, and prayer times, and try to do good works.  They are under the impression that there is a scale that determines the fate of their life if they can only “do” enough to outweigh the bad deeds they have done.  When Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, and Muslims connect with me in conversation they are quick to say what they “do”.

They must feel worn out checking the boxes on their self-righteousness menu, always hoping, yet never securing eternal life for themselves.  At the end of the day, they hope in the mercy of God to save them.  Have they “done” enough to get them over the bar? The answer is, no! No one is made right with God through good works, no one.  The scale is crushed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ work on the cross accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.

Any good works we do are considered dirty rags. (Isaiah 64:6).  No one is good or does good, not one. (Lk 18:19, Rm 3:12) All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Rm. 3:23) If we say that we are good when God says that we are not, then we are self-righteous and call God a liar.  This should strike us with fear and humility which points us to our need for Jesus.

Jesus is good, holy, and righteous.  He lived a life among his creation and did not sin, thus fulfilling the law.  Only he was able to do this.  The wonderful news is, we can be made right with God by believing in Jesus for what he did on the cross for us.  He exchanges our sins and gives us his righteousness so that we can be presented to the Father holy and blameless.  Our task is to hear, believe, and obey his word, plus pass it on to everyone we know. (HBO-Plus)

Do you have HBO-Plus?

Reading Plan: Psalm 148, 149, 150; 1 Sam. 17:50-18:4; Rom. 10:4-17;  Matt. 23:29-39

14 JUL 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 14 JUL 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.  You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” Psalm 16

When people are asked if they believe in an afterlife, many say yes.  But what do they think it will be like? Some of the responses are that there is a heaven and that place is a paradise of beauty and lots of good food.  Muslim men will often state the sensual gratification of numerous wives they can take pleasure in.  Others have ideas that I think they come up with on the fly.  While heaven itself is a beautiful place, much of what we hear is not there.

We miss the biggest reason to be in heaven! That is to be in the full presence of God, face to face.  If you are hoping to see anything else more than Him, then you probably are not going at all.  We are in a bad habit of creating a god to suit ourselves and a heaven to our liking.  That is what God calls idolatry.  We are very good at that.  Look at all the people on social media, video games, and virtual reality simulations.  They are trying to escape the reality of this life and live in one that affirms their sin and evil desires.

The psalmist (David) in chapter 16, understands that there is nothing in this life that will satisfy us apart from God.  The Lord alone is his inheritance and cup of blessing. (v.5) God’s continued presence in our daily life is a blessing to us in that he guides, instructs, and fills us with contentment and satisfaction “in” Him.  That produces joy and causes us to rejoice in God.  Some people say that heaven would be boring because people are worshiping God for eternity.  

Why do you think they say that? Because even the best stuff they do now doesn’t bring satisfaction or joy.  Everything fades, rusts, and becomes old.  They project that on what the bible says about heaven.  God tells us that the saved will have unending joy and that everything done in heaven will be satisfying.  

Do you look forward to meeting your maker (Jesus)?

Reading Plan: Psalm 18:1-20; 1 Sam. 16:14-17:11; Acts 10:17-33;  Luke. 24:36-53

13 JUL 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 13 JUL 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. Some of Saul’s servants said to him a tormenting spirit from God is troubling you.” 1 Samuel 16:14-15

Self-reflection and self-assessment are needed in the daily life of a Christian.  There is so much that we face in life that we can become confused about why things are happening to us.  The Old and New Testaments give us insight into the various roots of our problems and how to fix or at least understand our problems.  The disciples ran across a man who was blind since birth and analyzed the situation like a doctor.  Maybe the root of his blindness is attached to the sin of his parents.

Was God punishing the Son because of some sin of his mother or father? Jesus said, no.  This case was to show the manifestation of God’s glory.  What? God made that person blind for a purpose.  Jesus would ultimately heal that person demonstrating his power to heal where there was no human cure.  That should be challenging and encouraging to those with disabilities or limitations.  You can glorify God with your life and have a purpose even in brokenness or suffering.

Sometimes people are damaged and broken due to other people’s sins.  I think we see this a lot and it affects us in such a bad way.  Every day on the news there are reports of drunk drivers, murder, theft, arson, etc. These evil things that people do bring trauma that damages people physically, emotionally, and even morally.  This can shake the foundation of the faithful and further blind the lost.  This is why God has consistently commanded us to love others and turn from evil.

As we see in our passage today, there are also times when God deals the blow of judgment on a person.  The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was given to certain people to empower them in their roles.  Saul had him, but the Spirit was removed when God rejected Saul.  God gave him a tormenting spirit that ate him up mentally and caused depression and fear.  God chooses who he extends mercy to and who he does not.  Saul lost the privilege of being a leader and with it, God punished him for it.

Do you reflect on the life you are living?

Reading Plan: Psalm 18:1-20; 1 Sam. 16:14-17:11; Acts 10:17-33;  Luke. 24:36-53

12 JUL 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 12 JUL 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“But the Lord said to Samuel, Don’t judge by appearance or height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them.  People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

I remember as a child playing pick-up games at school or in the neighborhood.  There would be that awkward moment when all the kids are gathered together to be selected for each team.  The captains would scan the crowd and size up each kid to see if they were worthy to be on their team.  You would think they were the general manager for the NFL or something.

In their mind, they had a standard or metric that they desired to have in a player.  Tall or big or fast or friend, that would fit the bill as a player.  All of us judge a book by its cover whether in business, politics, or personal life.  We look at surface metrics to determine the leader or soulmate we would like.  There is more to a person than that.

Samuel, a Prophet of God, was tasked to find a new king for Israel since Saul had become an offense to God.  Samuel was directed to the family of Jesse.  There he would find the new king and anoint him for this role.  Samuel scanned the crowd of sons and began to size them up based on his own standards.  He saw one right away that met his required metrics and said “Surely this is the one!” God said, nope!

Samuel then ran through all seven sons and none of those were acceptable to God.  There was one more son, David, who was out caring for the sheep.  When he arrived, Samuel saw a young man who was handsome, but not what he expected.  He would be the last one chosen for kickball.  God told Samuel that he looks at people differently than man does.  God looks at the heart, not the physical metrics.  The truth is God forms leaders and places them in power.  Some are placed for our benefit and others for our judgment.  

What standard do you use to size up people?

Reading Plan: Psalm 119:1-24; 1 Sam. 16:1-13; Acts 10:1-16;  Luke. 24:12-35

11 JUL 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 11 JUL 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!” 1 Samuel 15: 29

There is an interesting thing that happens when someone begins to share their faith.  You find that people will have all kinds of interesting ideas about God.  Some are rooted in religions that are false, but some are rooted in the person’s mind.  People create thoughts about what God is like and how he might treat people.  They are fashioning a god to suit themselves.

This is a violation of the second commandment given to Israel by God.  When a person doesn’t know God or doesn’t like what they have heard about Him, people tweak their idea or massage Scripture to make themselves feel better.  When you are faced with the reality that God is good, holy, and perfect, it can spark a bit of fear in you.  That is because we are not.

Fear is good, for it is the beginning of wisdom.  Isaiah experienced God in a way that shook him to the core and in the 55th chapter of his book he made the statement that “God’s thoughts and ways are not like ours”.  God does not lie, he is the truth.  There is no error, sin, or evil in God.  That is why he defines sin the way he does.  It is those sins that are counter to his nature and will.

He expects his creatures to do his will and to be like him, a reflection of him.  Saul sinned against God and it cost him his leadership over Israel.  He probably thought that God might overlook his sins by banking on the traits of mercy, love, or grace.  How many people when confronted with their sin think God will let them off the hook because he is loving? A ton! God has made a way to deal with our sins from before the world was created.  He doesn’t change his mind but does only what pleases him.

Do you know God’s nature and how he deals with your sin?

Reading Plan: Psalm 5, 6; 1 Sam. 15:24-35; Acts 9:32-43;  Luke. 23:56-24:11