A Daily Devotional

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Why The Righteous Suffer


“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5,6).

God had said that Job was “a perfect and an upright man” and that there was “none like him in the earth” (Job 1:. Yet Job suffered as few men have ever suffered. After a fruitful life of great prosperity and highest esteem in the community, he suddenly lost all his possessions, all his children, his health, the love of his wife, and the respect of his closest friends. His friends, presuming to defend God’s character, insisted Job must have been guilty of some terrible secret sin. But Job, in all good conscience, while still trusting God, felt he had to defend his own integrity against these false charges.

Nevertheless, despite Job’s spotless record of moral righteousness, when he encountered God Himself, he could only despise his own proud self-righteousness and prostrate himself in dust and ashes. Similarly, the beloved disciple, John, after a long life of faithful service, fell like a dead man at the feet of Christ when he saw Him in His glory (Revelation 1:17). Daniel also saw Him in this fashion, and even after his long, exemplary life, all of his apparent goodness and work suddenly appeared like corruption (Daniel 10:5–9).

In the presence of God, even the most holy among men appear vile, and the sins of pride and self-righteousness and self-sufficiency—which almost inevitably are still present in their hearts—must somehow be purged before they are fully like Jesus.

This is why Job and Daniel and Paul and all other godly men and women must suffer in some degree as training for heavenly service. “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).

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Waiting For Jesus


“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).

It is fascinating to note all the occurrences of the word “salvation” in the Old Testament. Most are translations of the Hebrew yeshua, which corresponds to the name “Jesus” in English. For example, the verse above could just as well read “Behold, God is my Jesus; . . . the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and song; He also is become my Jesus.”

Hebrew parents usually gave their children names which had significance. Thus, when Gabriel instructed Joseph to name Mary’s son “Jesus,” they would recognize immediately that they were, in effect, to name Him “Salvation,” because, “He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). We can easily imagine that Mary and Joseph spent many hours together pouring over their Bibles and reading again all the great prophecies of the coming Savior—especially those in which His very Name, yeshua, had been anticipated.

The first of these was in the dying words of their ancestor, Jacob, after whom Joseph’s own father had been named (Matthew 1:16). In almost his last words, the dying patriarch had exclaimed: “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD” (Genesis 49:18). We can at least wonder whether they wondered if Jacob, in his prophetic vision, had actually seen Jesus, and cried out, enraptured, “I have waited for thy Jesus, O LORD!” Then, in Habakkuk 3:13, they could even have found both His name and His title (“anointed”=Messiah= Christ). Thus: “Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed (i.e. Jesus thy Christ); thou woundest the head out of the house of the wicked” (i.e., Satan—note Genesis 3:15). In any case, we can be sure that Joseph and Mary “marvelled at those things which were spoken of Him” (Luke 2:33).

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Enduring Forever


“O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for His mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 136:26).

This is the final verse in the unique 136th psalm, in which all 26 verses end with the thrilling testimony: “His mercy endureth for ever!” This same affirmation occurs 15 more times in the Old Testament. How important it must be for us to remember forever that God’s “lovingkindness” (same word as “mercy”) endures forever!

But it is not only His mercy which is everlasting. He is eternally kind and loving, but He is also eternally just and righteous. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments (endureth) for ever” (Psalm 119:160).

His word of truth existed in the beginning, and will also exist through all the ages to come. “For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD (endureth) for ever” (Psalm 117:2). In this verse, the word “great” actually means “victorious.” Nothing can ever defeat God’s loving mercy and His truthful Word, for they endure from eternity to eternity. Likewise, His “kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and (His) dominion endureth throughout all generations” (Psalm 145:13), “and the goodness of God endureth continually” (Psalm 52:1).

Finally, there is this all-encompassing testimony: “Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever” (Psalm 135:13). All the divine attributes and all the divine purposes are embraced in His holy Name, and thus none can ever fail.

Now, note that in all the verses cited, the verb “endureth” was not in the original. The divinely inspired writers thus recognized that no verb was really necessary. The very concepts of the Name, the truth, the righteousness, and the mercy of God must be everlasting, for He is the God of heaven!

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Unoffensively Offensive


“Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!” (Matthew 18:7).

The word here translated “offend” is the Greek skandalizo and “offense” is skandalar, from which we derive our English words “scandal” and “scandalize.” The basic meaning of these words is “to cause to sin” or “to ensnare.” It is bad enough to commit an act of sin, but even more scandalous in God’s sight is the act of causing someone to sin. It is especially dangerous to lead children into sin. “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea” (Mark 9:42). What a solemn judgment awaits those teachers and counselors who lead their pupils to doubt or disobey the Word of God!

Yet, despite these and many similar warnings against “offenses,” we are also told that Christ, Himself, is “a stumblingstone and rock of offense” (Romans 9:33). There is a very real “offense of the cross” (Galatians 5:11), and the Apostle Paul says: “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock (same word as ‘offense’)” (I Corinthians 1:23).

There is no contradiction, of course. The preaching of Christ and the cross is profoundly offensive to sinners and they will often react angrily, and sometimes violently, against it, thus compounding their sin. When we bear witness of Christ, our message is necessarily offensive, for it must condemn and convict before it can save. Nevertheless, it is profoundly important that, in any other respect than this, we never cause others to sin by bringing an offense. Our message may offend, but the context of life and word in which it is given should be without offense, if we would be faithful and effective in our service for Christ.

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Truth And Love


“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

There are many Christians who are sticklers for what they consider sound doctrine, but who are abrasive and unloving in their attitude toward those who hold other doctrines. There are far more Christians, on the other hand, who talk much about Christian love but who consider doctrinal integrity of secondary—or even negative—significance.

Both groups of professing Christians, however, are only babes in Christ, at best. As our text makes clear, the mature Christian (one who has “grown up into Christ in all things”) speaks the truth in love. That is, he is not a babe, “tossed to and fro . . . with every wind of doctrine” (v.14), but he understands, believes, and teaches the truth of God as revealed in His Word. At the same time, he does so in love, making “increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (v.16).

One cannot really do the truth or teach the truth without manifesting true love, nor can one manifest true love except in a context of genuine truth. “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22), but that Spirit who produces such fruit is “the Spirit of truth” (John 15:26). Truth and love are not in conflict, as many Christians seem to think (or at least practice), for they represent two different—not competing—categories. “Truth” is not even included in the nine-fold “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22,23), because Truth is, itself, the tree on which the fruit must grow.

It is especially important not to be led away from sound Biblical truth by popular preachers and teachers who downgrade doctrine in favor of what they may call “love.” “My little children,” says the Apostle John, “let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (I John 3:18).

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Seeing And Believing



“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Jesus was willing to give doubting Thomas the visible evidence he wanted before he would believe. However, He did give His disciple a mild rebuke.

There is an important principle here. Thomas was willing to believe, but only when the visible evidence was too strong to question. Neither the promise of Christ that He would rise from the dead nor the testimony of His chosen apostles that the promise had been fulfilled was sufficient to convince him, and the Lord was disappointed.

When God has spoken plainly in His Word, that ought to be sufficient for those who really believe Him. Yet, again and again, Christians allow their faith to be shaken by some new cosmic theory, or age estimate, or something else. No matter how strong the Biblical case for the worldwide Flood may be, for example, many Christians will not believe it until all the geological questions can be resolved. Even though the Bible unequivocally teaches that all things were created in six literal days (see Exodus 20:11), many Christians won’t accept this until they can see overwhelming scientific evidence of a young earth. In fact, some will never believe in either recent creation or a worldwide flood until all the secular scientists accept them first.

God has allowed many visible evidences of the truth of His Word to be revealed. There is a strong scientific case for Biblical creation, and we are justified in believing God’s Word, even where we don’t yet see any visible evidence. As Peter said, concerning those who believe implicitly in Christ and His Word: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (I Peter 1:.

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How To Take Criticism


“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning” (Proverbs 9:9).

One of the most difficult lessons for Christians to learn is how to take criticism. The natural reaction is one either of resentment and desire to lash back, or else of discouragement and quitting. Neither is honoring to the Lord.

Remembering that “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28) to the sincere Christian believer, we should first of all consider the criticism as potential “instruction” from God as well as from the critic. We should seek to test the criticism as objectively as possible, in light of our actions and the Scriptures, the most probing critic of all. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword . . . and is a discerner (literally ‘criticizer’) of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

If it turns out that the criticism is even partly valid, then the obvious course is to take the appropriate remedial action, and to do it as prayerfully and graciously as possible.

On the other hand, if an honest evaluation of the criticism reveals it to be unwarranted, or perhaps even deliberately false and hurtful, then our example becomes Christ, Himself. He never did or said anything to merit criticism (as we do, far too often), but He received it in great abundance.

What was His response? “When He was reviled, (He) reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committeth Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (I Peter 2:23). Remember that “a soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).

By all means, we must not become discouraged into retreating or quitting, “For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Hebrews 12:3).

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Flee


“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (I Corinthians 6:18).

Four times in the New Testament we are warned to “flee” sinful actions and temptations. The Greek word pheugo, from which we get our word “fugitive,” means simply “to run away.” Evidently there are certain things which must be avoided at all costs. Our text mentions fornication, and brings to mind godly Joseph’s reaction to Potiphar’s wife’s advances (Genesis 39:12). Even though his decision cost him dearly in the short run, it was the right thing to do, and God honored him.

Likewise, if we are to do the right thing, we must “flee from idolatry” (I Corinthians 10:14), such as participation in the pagan feasts of Paul’s day, as well as the modern-day counterparts which might bring us under demonic influence or in contact with worship of the devil.

“But thou, O man of God, flee these things” (I Timothy 6:11), says Paul, after listing “envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings” (vs.4,5) and “love of money” (v.10). Paul knew, however, that merely fleeing these evils was not enough. He wisely instructed Timothy to substitute positive actions in the place of the negative ones he was to avoid, and to “follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness” (v.11). Elsewhere, he admonished Timothy to “flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace” (II Timothy 2:22) with the aid and mutual encouragement of “them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” God does not expect us to live the Christian life entirely on our own.

We who have “fled for refuge” (Hebrews 6:18) to God have another bit of encouragement. This time, it is not the believer who must flee, but we are told that as we “resist the devil . . . he will flee” from us (James 4:7).

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The Tender Plant


“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2).

The New Testament writers say nothing at all concerning the physical appearance of the Lord when He became a man. Human tradition would picture Him as a strong athlete or handsome star, but the Scriptures indicate otherwise.

Our text is from the greatest of the Messianic prophecies. It tells us that, as a child, He would “grow up as a tender plant,” like a “root out of a dry ground.” Humanly speaking, He was unimpressive. He had “no form nor comeliness” and “no beauty.” He was a very ordinary appearing man. In fact, when Christ became man, He “took upon Him the form of a servant (literally ‘slave’)” (Philippians 2:7). Matthew, referring to Isaiah 53:4, says that He even “took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17).

What all this means may not be clear, but it does seem to tell us that Jesus was a very ordinary sort of man, physically. Furthermore, humanly speaking, he was quite poor, having been raised in the despised town of Nazareth, in the impoverished province of Galilee. “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor,” we are told (II Corinthians 8:9).

Yet, this ordinary person was none other than the incarnate Creator, the Son of God! He had come, as the “Son of man”—representing all people, most of whom are also just average men and women—“to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Then, even His tender body was beaten beyond recognition and His meager possessions taken away, when He was “made . . . sin for us, who knew no sin” (II Corinthians 5:21), and died in our place, to save us ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny in the world to come!

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My


“The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Psalm 18:2).

David, in writing this psalm, used the word my eight times in verse two to show what God was to him personally, and how God had given him great deliverance from his enemies. He knew that God was personally interested in him, and that He was not a God who was so far away He was untouchable and non-communicative. David called God:

   1. My rock: Paul said that the Rock that followed Moses in the wilderness was Christ (I Corinthians 10:4). Christ is the Rock of our salvation. We are eternally secure in Him.
   2. My fortress: We are kept secure in God’s garrison by His mighty power (I Peter 1:5). He is our impregnable fortress.
   3. My deliverer: He has delivered us from sin, from the wrath to come, and one day even from death (I Thessalonians 1:10).
   4. My God: All that God is, in His person and power, is available to every Christian. We can say with authority: I am His and He is mine! (Isaiah 43:1).
   5. My strength: God gives strength to those who recognize and admit that they are weak. “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9).
   6. My buckler: God is our shield of protection. “His truth shall be thy shield and buckler” (Psalm 91:4). “Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16).
   7. My horn of salvation: As a horned beast drives into his enemy, even so Christ powerfully confronts our enemies and brings us salvation (II Samuel 22:3).
   8. My high tower: In our high tower, we are out of the reach of our enemies and completely safe. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

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Formed To Be Inhabited



“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:18).

This verse is the key proof-text for the “gap theory,” which attempts to accommodate the evolutionary “ages” of geology by placing them in a hypothetical gap between the first two verses of Genesis. Genesis 1:2 states: “The earth was without form” (Hebrew tohu), but Isaiah says, “He created it not in vain” (same word, tohu). Thus it is argued that the earth became “tohu” long after the primeval creation, as a result of Satan’s rebellion in heaven supposedly allowing the geological ages to be inserted between these two events.

Actually, the meaning of tohu is very flexible; it occurs 20 times and is translated 10 different ways, depending on context. In our text above, Isaiah was not writing about the initial state of the creation, but the purpose of the creation, that purpose being to provide a beautiful and appropriate home for mankind.

The translation “in vain” was required by Isaiah’s context, just as “without form” best fits the context in Genesis 1:2. There is no conflict, since the two passages are dealing with two different subjects, and Isaiah’s message simply extols God’s ultimate and certain goal for His creation.

When God first created the space/time universe, only the basic elements of the earth (Genesis 1:1) were created, with neither structure nor inhabitant, but that was not its full purpose. God had merely “created” the heavens according to this verse. But then, with great care, He formed the earth, made the earth and established the earth, and all this was done to make it ready to be inhabited by men and women who would share His image and know His love.

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Another Jesus


“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him” (II Corinthians 11:4).

The 11th chapter of II Corinthians contains an enlightening warning about false teachers. One should not carelessly follow a personable religious leader merely because he “preaches Jesus” or urges audiences to “receive the Spirit.”

“Jesus” is quite popular among worldly people today, but not the true Jesus. The popular Jesus may be the baby Jesus in the manger at Christmastime, or the buddy Jesus of Nashville “gospel” music, or the success-counseling Jesus of the positive thinkers. He may be the romantic Jesus of the Christian crooners, the rhythmic Jesus of Christian rock, or the reforming Jesus of the liberals, but none of these are the Jesus preached by the Apostle Paul, and therefore not the real Jesus who saves men and women from their sins.

Jesus, in reality, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the offended Creator of the universe (Colossians 1:16), who had to die as man on the cross to redeem us through His shed blood (Colossians 1:14,20), and who then rose from the dead to be set “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named” (Ephesians 1:21). Finally, it is this Jesus “who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom” (II Timothy 4:1).

The Lord Jesus, as He really is, is not the popular Jesus of T-shirts and bumper stickers, politicians and entertainers. He was “despised and rejected of men” (Isaiah 53:3), so they “crucified the Lord of glory” (I Corinthians 2:.

He is the mighty God, the perfect Man, the only Savior, the eternal King, and Lord of Lords. God-called teachers will not preach an imaginary Jesus who appeals to the flesh, but rather, the true Christ of creation and salvation.

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Apostasy And Prosperity


“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (II Corinthians 9:.

One of the most tragic movements in Christendom today teaches that God promises to make each Christian prosper in material wealth. Suffice it to say, the Bible teaches no such thing, as seen in our text and elsewhere, but this false teaching is not new, and is associated with apostasy.

Consider Chapters 17 and 18 of the Book of Judges, which describes a period of rampant apostasy and confusion. The chapters provide character sketches of an itinerant Levite, the tribe of Dan, and a man named Micah. First we see that Micah steals 1100 shekels of silver from his mother, who then places a curse on the unknown thief. Micah, fearing the curse, confesses the crime. His mother tries to lessen the curse by dedicating all the money to the Lord, and converts 200 shekels into an idol. Micah places the idol with his others, and consecrates his son as priest, even though they are of the tribe of Ephraim. Later, he hires the Levite to be his priest and exclaims, “Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest” (Judges 17:13).

In the next chapter, spies of the Danites go to the priest for God’s blessing on their efforts to find land that they can conquer. When the marauders return, they recruit the Levite to a more prosperous position. He joins them, having stolen Micah’s idols, and establishes the tribal priesthood.

Each one in this story was confident that God would bless them materially because they had the trappings of religion. The common denominator was greed. Their desire for personal prosperity led them to a prostitution of the true worship of God. But whenever religion is “used” to justify the “love of money,” it suffers degradation. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

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God My Personal Savior


“And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47).

One of the most wonderful titles of the Lord Jesus Christ is that of Savior. This word (Greek, soter, from which is derived our theological term “soteriology,” the study of salvation) occurs 24 times in the New Testament, and is applied only to Christ, “for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

It occurs first of all on the lips of the Virgin Mary, in our text above, when she realized that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Savior. It is significant that this first use of soter recognizes that our Savior can be none other than God Himself—“God my Savior”—and also that this fact should cause our spirits to rejoice, as Mary’s did. He becomes our personal Savior when we believe on Him, as did Mary.

He is also “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42; I John 4:14), and the “Savior of all men” in the sense that His work on the cross is sufficient to save all who will receive Him.

There are eight other verses in the New Testament in which “Savior” is taken as synonymous with “God.” The final occurrence of “Savior” is one of these, and it is in one of the greatest doxologies of the Bible. “To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 25).

There are many today who see the man Jesus as a great teacher and example, but who reject His deity. There are many others who believe in a cosmic deity of some kind, but are unwilling to believe that He could become uniquely incarnate in a perfect Man. How urgent it is that we believe and teach that our Creator must also become our Savior if we are ever to be saved. We must “trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe” (I Timothy 4:10). Then we can rejoice, with Mary, in “God my Savior.”

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Aceldama



“And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood” (Acts 1:19).

Never was a tract of land more fittingly named than Aceldama, an Aramaic word meaning “field of blood,” for it had been purchased with blood money, “the price of blood” (Matthew 27:6). The purchaser had been Judas (through the “executors” of his estate, as it were, following his suicide), but the blood he sold, to acquire the price of the field, he had deemed “innocent blood.”

The miserable thirty shekels of silver which consummated this transaction was the price of a slave in ancient Israel (Exodus 21:32), but this slave was none other than God incarnate, so the thirty pieces of silver—the price set by the religious leaders of Israel—was the price for the sale of God.

The prophet Zechariah, more than 500 years before, had acted out a prohecy of these strange events: “So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. . . . A goodly price that I was prised at of them” (Zechariah 11:12,13). Next, according to both prophecy and fulfillment, this blood money was cast down in the temple and then used to buy the potter’s field (Zechariah 11:13; Matthew 27:5,7,8).

These and many other such details in these accounts constitute a remarkable type and fulfillment of prophecy, and thus a testimony of both divine inspiration and divine foreordination. But, more than that, it is a striking picture of the price of our salvation, for the “field of blood” typifies that great field of the world (Matthew 13:38) and Christ is the Man who, searching for “treasure hid in a field . . . selleth all that He hath, and buyeth that field” (Matthew 13:44). All that He had—the very blood of His life—was willingly shed that we, dead in sins and hidden in the world, might be “purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).