23 APR 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 23 APR 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“King Nebuchadnezzar sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world: Peace and prosperity to you! I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me.  How great are his signs, how powerful his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, his rule through all generations.” Daniel 4:1-3

The Book of Daniel is a great and exciting book with an overarching theme of God’s Sovereignty.  It gives a glimpse into the human heart and how we think.  It specifically gives us insight into the mind of a king and how pride and power blind him.  God reveals himself to the king in dreams and unbelievable actions.  

The king’s memory is short and quickly goes back to self-worship, pressuring the kingdom to worship him too.  After God delivers three of His children from the fiery furnace, the king is in awe of God and rightly proclaims the glory due to God’s name.  What he says is true about God and that is good, but it is only lip service.  The king’s heart wanes toward God’s mercy and grace and God shocks him with another dream of judgment on this kingdom.  

While he is full of pride, he is reminded that God is the one who establishes kingdoms and can remove them as he desires.  We can be fooled by our own minds that our success is by our own hands, but the true source is God.  Whether you are smart or not, rich or poor, your position in life is determined by God. (1 Sam. 2:7)  Learning to submit to God no matter the circumstance and honor God not just by our lips in the proclamation, but by obedience showing our possession of Him.

You may proclaim who God is, but do you possess Him?

Reading Plan: Psalm 148, 149, 150; Dan. 4:1-18; 1 Pet. 4:7-11;  John 21:15-25

18 APR 23 Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

18 APR Tuesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father.  He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.” 1 John 2:1

As believers, we are called to live a life that is different from the world.  The plumb lines that are set by Jesus are to live holy and righteous lives.  The world doesn’t recognize these standards and often makes fun of them on one end and will hate you on the other.  God’s ways are light and that helps us to see where we are going so we do not stumble.

The world is blinded by darkness.  When we bring light, it reveals the truth and sins.  Have you ever had someone turn the lights on when you were dead asleep? You probably hissed and moaned then pulled the sheets over your head, right? As Christians, this shouldn’t be so.  We are learning to walk in that light and need one another to help us stay the course.

You never know where there might be deadly traps or subtle detours.  John knows that we are still tempted to do things and can get out of alignment with God’s standards for us.  When we sin, we are not left in the dark and alone.  We have someone that is praying for us and advocating for us with the Father.  He can restore us when we repent. (1Jn. 1:9)  The Holy Spirit is also there to guide us in making the right choices.  When we obey his word and follow his lead then our path will remain illuminated for us.  When we don’t, we walk in darkness and subject to falls. 

We also need one another to love us and tell us if we are walking in darkness.  The church is there to build each other up and to fortify our hands for battle.  The world, our flesh, and the devil are always fighting to harm us so we must be mentally and spiritually awake to fight. 

Are you walking in the light and leaning on your Advocate?

Reading Plan: Psalm 5, 6; Dan. 2:1-16; 1 John 2:1-11;  John 17:12-19

16 APR 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 16 APR 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“But you are my witnesses, O Israel says the Lord.  You are my servant.  You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God.  There is no other God-there never has been, and there never will be.” Isa. 43:10

If I didn’t reference the book that this quote came from, you might have thought that it came from the book of Acts, chapter one.  God’s ways have not changed and do not change.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Our struggles with our study of salvation in the New Testament can be satisfied by our study of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible).

You might ask yourself, why Israel? What is so great about them? Why did they receive such favor? The Jews were not special, bright, mighty, or large in number nor did they do anything to get noticed. If you are Christian, stick your name into those last three questions.  Jesus says the same thing to his disciples in John 14:16. We are not his because we are smart, fit, attractive, race, ethnicity, or any other reason.  

You were selected, elected, or chosen by grace, unmerited favor, and for no other reason than by His good pleasure and glory.  Anyone that belongs to Him, is His for a purpose.  We are to glorify Him in all of life, be His witnesses, and serve Him.  The 1 Peter passage below, says that we are a chosen people, royal priests, and a holy nation for God’s possession.  This is fantastic and humbling news.

Why am I a Christian?

Reading Plan: Psalm 146, 147; Isa. 43:8-13; 1 Pet 2:2-10;  John 14:1-7

14 APR Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 14 APR Friday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” John 16: 7-8

There is an interesting discipleship pattern that is subtle in the gospels.  Jesus initially calls the disciples and tells them up front the vision he has for their lives.  He tells them to follow him and he will make them into fishers of men, disciple-makers.  Throughout the gospel account which covers their three years together,  we see Jesus model for them everything they will be expected to do.  Jesus gives them the opportunity to serve with Him but also gives them time to do ministry on their own while being observed.

They will begin to understand people from Jesus’ viewpoint.  They will also be tested throughout many challenging situations so that their faith and dependence on Jesus would grow.  By the time Jesus is ready to ascend to heaven, the disciples have reached the level of training needed to start a movement.  Jesus charged them (and everyone who follows him) to go and make disciples, the very thing they were trained to do.

The next phase could only come if Jesus left.  They had to be on their own and learn how to walk by the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit would be their teacher, and comforter, and give them the power to do ministry and overcome sin.  As disciple-makers, we too will have to train others to the point of doing the same thing.  If we stay with them, it will hinder their development and reliance on the Holy Spirit.  It will also hinder our walk because God has more for us to do outside of them.

Are you training disciple makers and then leaving them to it? Maybe you should.

Reading Plan: Psalm 136; Dan. 12:1-4, 13; Acts 4:1-12;  John 16:1-15

13 APR 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 13 APR Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.  The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world.  I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” John 15:18-19

When I first read this passage many years ago, I was frankly surprised that if you live for Jesus people would hate you.  Then, I started sharing my faith with my friends in Middle School.  I got a lot of kickbacks and rude responses.  In my mind, I thought I was sharing the greatest news ever, which it is, but my audience didn’t think so and wasn’t afraid to tell me.

The reality is people will reject you if you are sharing your faith and living for Jesus.  Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes so we are not surprised.  He tells his disciples again in John 15 that people in their nature hate Jesus and we are hated by association.  Today, Christians are persecuted and killed more than at any other time in history.  

We don’t have to fear suffering for Jesus.  He actually gives us the grace to receive it as joy and knows we have been counted worthy to suffer for his name. Paul, the chief sinner and sufferer, commands us to rejoice! If you are spoken against, dismissed, treated with indifference, verbally or physically harmed, know that it happened to Jesus first.  These are the marks we carry as faithful follower of Jesus.  Never think we are victims.  We are victorious…more than conquerors even!

Are you hated for living out your faith in Jesus?

Reading Plan: Psalm 146, 147; Ezek. 37:1-14; Acts 3:11-26;  John 15:12-27