17 OCT 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 17 OCT 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.  Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil.” Psalm 5:4-5

When you turn on the news today, there is all kinds of evil in our world.  I think people are slow to acknowledge it, especially when they do evil or the people they associate with or like do evil.  We water it down to the point that we try to make evil appear good.  One simple one is lying and we play that down regularly to the point we don’t think it that bad. We justify ourselves and say, ‘Everyone does it’.  Does it make it good to do?

God says that lying is evil and all liars will have their part in the lake of fire.  As we get used to sinning, something happens to our hearts and minds.  If you are not a follower of Jesus, your heart is already hard and sin is what you do.  Jesus states the condition of your heart is hard, wicked, evil, and darkness.  As for Christians, our hearts can become hard if we make sin a habit and dabble in evil. The Lord can bring troubles into our lives to bring about change and repentance.  

We are told to hate what is evil and to cling to that which is good.  God detests sin, wickedness, and evil, and cannot be in its presence.  The passage from Pslam 5 states that he hates the people who do evil.  We sometimes hear people say, God hates sin and not the sinner, but the Word of God says differently.  Sin is not cast into hell and the person spared, but the sinful person is.  

The only way God’s hatred and wrath are satisfied is if the evil person receives his wages which is death or through the cross of Christ. (Rm 6:23)  Thankfully, God provided his son Jesus to take your death and exchange it for life.  How do we destroy sin, wickedness, and evil? By lovingly sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He will destroy it in the person and make them a new person.

Do you know how God destroys evil people? 

Reading Plan: Psalm 5,6; Jer. 36:27-37:2; 1 Cor. 14:1-12; Matt. 10:16-23

16 OCT 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 16 OCT 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing.  If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.” Matt. 10:13-14

Salespeople expect rejection because it comes with the territory.  Have you ever spent time shopping for an item that you wanted to buy? You look at different stores, online, and check prices, availability, etc., before making a decision.  Those that are trying to get you to purchase that item know if you are serious or not.  They don’t waste their time on certain clients because they have the experience to know if you are ready or just kicking the tires.

In our gospel reading today, Jesus gives the newly dubbed Apostles a mission in order to help them become competent and confident in the role of messengers and ministers.  They were to work on their Ph.D., preaching, healing, and deliverance.  They were sent specially to the towns and villages that Jesus was planning to go to.  They would experience firsthand what Jesus was doing.  They saw Jesus model it, they have assisted in it, and now they are doing it.

Jesus told them they some would receive them and their message and others will not.  This is important in order to sure up their expectations and to give them an understanding of what to do when things don’t go their way.  I like to look at it like a street light in which there are red, yellow, and green lights.  Each light represents a response that you might get.  Red is a rejection or ‘talk to the hand’ type response.  They don’t want anything to do with you or the message.

Yellow and Green lights are those that receive you and want to know more.  The Scriptures show there are always some, few, or many that respond.  Jesus tells them basically, if you get a green or yellow light bless them and stay with that family.  If you get a red light, don’t waste your time with them, just move on.  Sounds harsh, doesn't it? No.  God prepares the hearts of mankind to be ready to receive the good news.  If they are not prepared, there is nothing you can do.

Are you wasting your time on certain people?

Reading Plan: Psalm 1, 2, 3; Jer. 36:11-26; 1 Cor. 13:1-13; Matt. 10:1-15

15 OCT 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 15 OCT 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“I tell you, her sins- and they are many- have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love.  But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.  Then Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your sins are forgiven’.”  Acts 7:47-48

People get bent out of shape when a very evil person is shown kindness or mercy.  We like to distance ourselves from the truly wicked and hope they receive the maximum justice.  We don’t want someone to get away with the evil they committed.  Internally, we recognize there is good, evil, and hope for justice.  In many cases what we are looking for is revenge.

In the story above, an extremely sinful woman crashes a house party of a very righteous person.  There was no way this woman would have ever been invited to this man’s house.  If anything, he would want her in jail.  When she entered the home, she cried in the presence of Jesus and began washing his feet with her tears and pouring very expensive perfume on them as well.  This was a picture of remorse for her sins, repentance, and worship.

You notice what happens, the religious man gets angry and even insults Jesus in his mind for allowing this nasty woman to touch him.  Jesus receives the repentance and the worship from the woman and then explains to the religious man that she has sinned very much, but has loved very much.  While the one who thought he was righteous sinned and did not love Jesus in response.  Jesus, who has the authority to forgive sins, forgave hers and not the religious man.

Jesus came seeking sinners who cannot save themselves, not those who think they are righteous.  We have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves a couple of questions.  Are we rejecting those who need Jesus? How much do we love Jesus?

Is our self-righteous attitude keeping others from receiving forgiveness? 

Reading Plan: Psalm 146, 147; Jer. 36:1-10; Acts 14:8-18; Luke 7:36-50

14 OCT 23 Saturday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 14 OCT 23 Saturday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  He said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.’” Matthew 9:36-37

Whenever we see someone do something good or for that matter bad, we ask ourselves, ‘What is his motivation for doing this?’ Then we begin to speculate those motivations and usually start with some negative ones.  Many times people do things out of kindness and mercy, and that really gets us because we assume for ill-gotten gain or glory.  Our inspection of another person’s heart will reflect ours too.

Jesus in the passage above sees a great crowd who are lost, ill, and broken spiritually.  They are also broken and ill physically.  He has not waited for the people to come to him, but he has gone out looking for them.  The doctor is making preemptive house calls.  As a matter of fact, Jesus spent a great deal of time traveling on foot to see people, visiting hundreds of towns and villages in three years.  

Why? We find out about Jesus’ heart for his people in the gospels.  He loved his own deeply and desired for the people to know him.  He described them as sheep, which are animals that need the care and protection of a shepherd.  They are defenseless creatures who need help against predators and parasites but also need help finding food and basic care.  Jesus called himself the good shepherd in comparison to the bad shepherds (leaders) in Israel.

Jesus forecasted the mission that the Apostles would assume when Jesus ascended to heaven.  The Apostles would be charged for reaching the lost sheep and caring for them.  Knowing this job was larger than the Apostles could handle, they would need additional shepherds or laborers.  Jesus told them to pray and ask God to raise up new ones from the harvest (world).  Today, we must do the same, reach the lost, train the saved, and send them to reach the rest of Jesus’ lost sheep.

Are you praying for more laborers to reach the lost?

Reading Plan: Psalm 140, 142; Jer. 35:1-9; 1 Cor. 12:27-13:3; Matt 9:35-10:4

12 OCT 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 12 OCT 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.  There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.  God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.  A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” 1 Cor. 12: 4-7

In the chapter leading up to twelve, Paul describes the church as the body of Christ.  In the book of Ephesians, he further states, that Christ fits the body together perfectly.  As each part does its special work, it helps the whole body grow, so that it is healthy and maturing and full of love.  The gifts of the Spirit are given to the church to build up and help each other.

Jesus wants his church to be healthy and functioning the way he wants.  There is an expectation that every member will operate in a  role within the body which results in people becoming healthy and functional.  The Holy Spirit sees what gifts are needed in the Church and distributes them by his will, choice, and pleasure.  We don’t have to decide which gift we want, he knows and gives us each one when we come to faith.  

If we don’t neglect it but use the gift we are given, then the body will benefit. We become a channel in which the Holy Spirit works to affect change within the church.  As the hymn says, “Have you urged upon those who are straying? If our lives are not free from all sin, we will be barriers and a hindrance.  Is the love of God flowing through you? Make me a channel of blessing today.” If you don’t know what that gift is, pray that God will reveal it to you.  Then put that gift to use.

Are you using your Spiritual Gift to strengthen the Church?

Reading Plan: Psalm 131, 132; 2 Kings 23:4-25; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Matt 9:18-26