23 JAN 23 Monday -A Closer Walk Devotional

 23 JAN 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all.  You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.  Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different  kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.” Galatians 1:6b-7

A few years ago I spent a good deal of time working in neighborhoods that were pretty hardcore.  Even in the midst of a high crime apartment complex, more issues were afoot in the realm of spiritual warfare.  It is manifest in various false religions and cults that have made deep inroads such as Jehovah Witness, Mormon (LDS), and Black Hebrew Israelites.

Those are the straight up wrong, but the ones that are just as problematic are the subtle peddlers of false gospel on television.  If it is on TBN or bookshelves at Walmart, it is probably a health, wealth, and prosperity messaging which is “not” found in the Bible.  Paul stresses that even in his day, false teachers were having a terrible effect on the church and the surrounding communities.  They needed to sure-up their understanding of Scripture.

The challenge for the church is regular training and equipping in the truth of the gospel and orthodox doctrine in order to recognize and defend the faith against these false gospels and teachings.  The more that you interact with people in the church and the world, the more you will realize your own gaps of knowledge and experience.  This is how you grow deeper as these gaps are filled with God’s truth.  The next time you encounter people from false religions you might be able to impart truth that will set them free.

Do you recognize the false religions and teachings today? Are you prepared to give an answer?

Reading Plan: Psalm 41, 52; Isa. 48:1-11; Gal. 1:1-17; Mark  5:21-43

Daily Office Year 1

22 JAN 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 22 JAN 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches.  Crowds of sick people-blind, lame, or paralyzed-lay on the porches.  One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”” John 5:2-6

Growing up in the 70s, we had all kinds of memorable commercials and jingles to promote everything.  One of those was McDonald’s, “you deserve a break today”.  The idea that we “deserve” something has become an American value or virtue.  In the minds of many people, they are not just looking for a break, it is demanded.

We carry that mindset over to God.  We deserve to receive, fill in the blank because he is a loving God.  We presume on God’s grace and mercy, but don’t understand that he has mercy where he wills. The story in John shows Jesus pass by the masses that needed help and he only healed one.  What about the others? Didn’t they deserve healing? Well, no.

Mercy is not getting what you deserve and grace is getting what you don’t deserve in the positive.  Mercy and grace are dispensed not by our desire, but solely on God’s sovereign choice and his good pleasure.  We have done nothing to warrant God’s blessing, only his wrath.  So, erase the “deserve” from your vocabulary.

Do you desire to receive God’s mercy and grace?

Then confess your sins, repent of them, and put your trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross.  Then and only then, will grace fall like rain on your life as you become a child of God.

Reading Plan: Psalm 63:1-11; Isa. 47:1-15; Heb. 10:19-31; John 5:2-18

Daily Office Year 1

20 JAN 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 20 JAN 23 Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“Slaves obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear.  Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all of your heart.  Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people.  Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.” Ephesians 6:5-8

In the last three years, our nation and much of the world have looked back on history with today’s shifting virtues and values in disgust.  They condemn the current generation for the way their forefathers held or traded slaves.  The history of every nation on earth has had slavery and is not unique to the USA.  God knew from before creation how sin would affect our treatment of one another.  

God also created the plan to solve the issue of our brokenness and sin.  At the same time, God has placed people into the nation we live in, the body we have, and our position in the socio-economic strata.  What we do with that depends on our relationship to God.  His children are instructed how to live no matter where we are or our situation.  Whether rich or poor, slave or free, we can live to glorify God and have a joyful life.

Suffering, persecution, and even death is to be expected if you are God’s child because the world hates God and therefore by extension hates you. There is joy now in the midst of this struggle and hope for the future for God’s children.  God gives a future in his presence and a new heaven and earth to live in.  God will deal with the children of wrath, their future is secure in the lake of fire.  

Are you complaining about life and others or rejoicing into eternity?

Reading Plan: Psalm 31; Isa. 45:18-25; Eph. 6:1-9; Mark 4:35-41

Daily Office Year 1

19 JAN 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 19 JAN 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.  Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, “Stop, you’re doing it wrong!” Psalm 45:9

From time to time, we get so focused on ourselves: me, myself, and I.  We are focused on our personal goals, desires, and future.  We get upset when things do go our way or see the inequalities around us.  We get bent out of shape about it and complain.  We forget that we are the creature and not the creator.

We are made in the image of God and have great value.  We have been gifted specifically by God and given a purpose for life.  We are created to do God’s will and to bring him glory.  The rub is that we are not here for selfish and sinful reasons, but for God.  Even those that are not chosen by God to be his children have been made for a purpose.

The potter makes from the same lump of clay one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use. (Rm 9:21)  As children of God, we have been shown mercy and grace to be vessels of honor to the Lord.  Learning to embrace and understand our role within God’s will is a lifelong adventure in the faith that builds contentment and happiness.

Are you wrestling with God over your position in life?

Reading Plan: Psalm 37:1-18; Isa. 45:5-17; Eph. 5:15-33; Mark 4:21-34

Daily Office Year 1

18 JAN 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 18 JAN 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.  So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.” Ephesians 5:8-9

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because thou art with me.” Believers know well that we are in a war and there will be days that will be dark.  Our struggles become real as they say.  Pain, suffering, and being overwhelmed emotionally is the lot for the children of God too.  We are not exempt, but it is different for us.

It is a temporary event that God can use to shape and develop us like precious metals.  The heat and pressure purifies the believer and brings glory to God in the process.  At the end of our lives in this mortal body, we move on to be in the fullness of God himself in an eternal body that experiences no pain, suffering, or death.  Whereas the lost face eternal suffering.

Paul gives plain instruction in chapter five to stay in alignment with God and to live a life that burns through the darkest places of our lives.  Imitate God, embrace a life of love, and to live in the light which produces the good, right, and true things that make you strong and is a pleasing aroma to God.  We were once evil and darkness, now we are light.  We can expose self-inflicted darkness which is our sins or external foes that wish to kill and destroy us.

Are you fully living in the light or still dabbling in darkness?

Reading Plan: Psalm 38; Isa. 44:24-45:7; Eph. 5:1-14; Mark 4:1-20

Daily Office Year 1