26 MAY 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 26 MAY 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“They will perish, but you remain forever, they will wear out like old clothing.  You will change them like a garment and discard them.  But you are always the same; you will live forever.” Psalm 102: 26-27

Some days I feel like I have aged dramatically and passed that point where I have lived more life than my future holds.  Most of the time, I look at that with joy because death is not the end.  The psalmist is in a similar spot when he acknowledges his mortality. “For my days disappear like smoke, I am withering away like grass.” (v.3, 8)  For some knowing this initiates a heavy and depressing feeling.  The reality of death is real even though we try to suppress it.

In truth, everyone will die.  The death statistic has not changed since the first person died, 10 out of 10 people die.  There is an exception for a couple of people in the Bible, Enoch, and Elijah. Those that were raised from the dead by Jesus died a second time.  This passage speaks about one person that does not change but lives forever.  He is God.  Well, what about Jesus?

In Hebrews 1, the writer states something interesting.  He says that God identifies his Son Jesus with the very verses of Psalm 102. God credits Jesus with the creation of the universe, earth, and all that is in it.  He states that Jesus will live forever and He is always the same.  Chapter 13 of Hebrews says he is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Christ did die, but He rose again to life.

Knowing Jesus beat death and lives forever is the truth that sets the believer’s mind free from aging, death, and fear of it.  It frees us from fearing death and desperately doing all we can to fight it.  Death becomes merely a door to the full presence of the holy, majestic, awesome, and glorious Triune God.  I have nervous anticipation of walking through that door, but He who is on the other side of it is far more wonderful than anything on this side of the door.

If you are afraid of growing old and dying, put your trust in Jesus for what he did for you on the cross and he will give you eternal life that starts the day you surrender to him.  He will give you peace to live a purposeful life now until you walk through the door and see him face to face.

Are you struggling with getting old and the reality of death?

Reading Plan: Psalm 102; Ezek. 34:17-31; Heb. 8:1-13;  Luke. 10:38-42

24 MAY 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 24 MAY 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“I will be careful to live a blameless life-when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home.  I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar.  I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them.  I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.” Psalm 101: 2-4

Psalm 101 is a short chapter but swings a heavy punch.  While I eat breakfast in the morning, I scan the news to see what is happening in the world from entertainment to politics and everything in between.  Then I pray and open the word of God to truly feed my soul with real nourishment.  The Lord speaks truth into my daily life of what is good and evil.  He sheds light on the dark places of my heart and on the path He expects me to walk.

As I read this today, I recall the images and headlines on the news feed.  It is clear when I look at the word of God, wickedness stands out in the world and in my own life.  God’s wisdom and direction are there in the Word if you read it.  A course of action is to ask, ‘Am I living a blameless life? Am I godly and righteous in name only? Then intentionally look to make changes to the things you currently know.

Thankfully God doesn’t normally reveal all of our issues to us at once.  God did that with Isaiah and he felt undone, ruined.  That’s probably an understatement.  We can work to live the life God wants for us, but we have to deal with our problems head-on with God’s help and our fellow believers.  These three verses above are enough to keep us busy for most of our life.  It starts with you and what you feed on.  You are what you eat.

News, politics (worldviews), Instagram, FB, other social media, music, and movies are good place to start.  You are affected by what you take in and can cause spiritual and moral drift.  We have to be intentional in fighting these things and embracing Jesus.

What are you doing to live a blameless and righteous life?

Reading Plan: Psalm 101, 109:1-4, 20-30; Ezek. 11:14-25, 23; Heb. 7:1-17;  Luke. 10:17-24

23 MAY 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 23 MAY 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit.  These were his instructions to them: ‘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 the fields.’” Luke 10:1-2

This is one of my favorite passages for disciple-making.  Up to this point, Jesus has modeled what ministry will and does look like.  They have heard Jesus teach and preach.  They have seen how he interacts with people from all kinds of backgrounds whether poor, rich, healthy, sick, lost and found.  The disciples needed to see how Jesus really lived among them.  

They saw really nice and good encounters with people who wanted to know how to be made right with God or desired to be healed.  They also saw difficult encounters with those that rejected the Master’s teaching and were offended to the point of hatred.  Many wanted to kill him like the prophets of old.  Jesus told them in Luke 10 that there will be people in the places they would go who would reject them.  Jesus gave them instructions to deal with that.

The men learned that Jesus was already planning to go to the locations he was sending them.  They got a chance to earn their PHDs, preaching, healing, and delivery.  These patterns for ministry would serve them well in the years to come.  Before they started this short mission, he told them to pray.  The scope of ministry for them and us for that matter is huge.  If you are not working in the harvest field you won’t understand this passage or care. 

 In the first outing back in chapter 9 there were twelve and now seventy=two.  They have multiplied, but seventy-two disciple-makers are not enough, there needs to be more.  Where do you get them?  Jesus says that you ask for them from the Father.  He will give them more, out of the harvest that they are entering.  Their harvest was the villages and towns around 146 of them, but ours is every nation and tongue of the world.  

Are you praying for more disciple-makers? Are you one?

Reading Plan: Psalm 97, 99, 100; Ezek. 7:10-15, 23b-27; Heb. 6:13-20;  Luke. 10:1-17

22 MAY 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 22 MAY 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“Another said, ‘Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say goodbye to my family.’ But Jesus told him, ‘Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.’” Luke 10:61-62

Some people get exasperated with the political leaders or don’t like the one that just won office and threaten to renounce their citizenship and move to Canada.  That is a pretty bold move to do something like that! What you find is that for the majority of these people, it is a stunt or they actually think about what would happen if they did renounce and leave.

When you renounce something there is always something that replaces it.  If you renounce citizenship in the United States, you lose your voice in elections, rights, and privileges as citizens, and lose the right to move freely in the country or stay in the place you currently live.  If you become a citizen of Canada, you take on all the rights and responsibilities of that nation.  You take the good and the bad of that.  Is it worth it?  You have to weigh the cost and the benefit of that decision.

Jesus lets his potential followers know that there are costs to following him and we should not take them lightly.  These Lordship teachings filter out people when the gospel is shared.  We must understand that once you surrender, you are bound to the terms the King has laid out.  There is no turning back, as the old hymn states.  (I Surrender All)

It is a renouncing of your old life and embracing the new one that is in Christ.  There are new rights and privileges along with new challenges in being a citizen of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus wants us to understand that before we embrace Him, for the road is narrow that leads to life and it has many trials and temptations along the way.  Jesus always says that it is worth, every struggle, pain, and suffering because it is nothing compared to the glory of heaven.

Are you willing to renounce your earthly citizenship for a heavenly one?

Reading Plan: Psalm 89:1-18; Ezek. 4:1-17; Heb. 6:1-12;  Luke. 9:51-62

21 MAY 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 21 MAY 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel.  Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.  If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins.  But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.” Ezekiel 3:17, 19

If you drive down main streets in major cities, you might see a person holding a sign with a warning.  Hollywood makes fun of these people in television programs and movies.  Their signs say, ‘The end is near’ or ‘Jesus is returning, repent!’.  I just saw the last one yesterday as we headed to the train station.  On one hand, I look at it and say, ‘Amen, good job’.  On the other hand, it says, ‘There is a more efficient and effective way’. 

Either way, the Lord is calling us to be Watchmen to some level.  We don’t have to wait for some extra-biblical message that God will speak in our ears.  He has given us the complete and perfect message from the Bible, called the gospel message.  It is powerful to convert the soul.  Someone holding a sign of woe to the city, speaking to a friend or stranger about Jesus, and urging repentance is good work.  The Holy Spirit can and does use that to convict sinners and bring them to faith.

Take a look around you today when you head out to the store, go to school, or work.  If you saw a person walking in front of a car, what would you do? Take a video? Honk your horn? Yell at the top of your lungs? Grab them? Do nothing? For Christians, it has been mandated and commanded that we rescue the perishing and dying.  We do that by warning, exposing sin, speaking the truth, and sharing the gospel.  If they don’t respond, it is on them.  We must be faithful Watchmen until the end.

Are you on a search and rescue mission? If not, what are you doing?

Reading Plan: Psalm 66, 67; Ezek. 3:16-27; Eph. 2:1-10;  Matt. 10:24-33, 40-42