A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

The Name of the Lord
 
"And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6-7)
 
The children of Israel had seemingly become an excessive burden to Moses, and he felt he needed a further, more specific revelation of God's essence. "I beseech thee, shew me thy glory" (Exodus 33:18). Although God was not compelled to do so, He graciously consented to "make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee" (v. 19), recorded in full in our text.
 
But what a name! "The LORD," Jehovah, the self-existent revealer; "The Lord God," Jehovah Elohim, names bursting with meaning and significance to the Old Testament Israelite, reflecting aspects of His nature and character. Five adjectives or descriptive phrases follow--all part of His name--characteristics of the loving God who later would give His beloved Son so that we might fully experience Him. Next we see that He is a forgiving God as well--that even our "iniquity and transgression and sin" can be forgiven. But His forgiveness can only be extended to those who repent, for He "will by no means clear the guilty."
 
Many Christians today are quick to point out that "God is love" (1 John 4:8) as well as merciful, gracious, etc. But we must never forget that, just as His name implies, there is more to God than just love. God abhors sin, and an unrepentant sinner will experience His wrath in justice. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Even Our Faith
 
"One Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Ephesians 4:5)
 
Everyone has faith in something--faith in some religion, faith in one's self, faith in fate, faith in evolution, faith in mankind. Even the atheist has faith in his own reason. But there is only one real faith that works for time and eternity. True faith is faith in the one true God--the God who made us, who will judge us, and who has paid the price to save us.
 
This faith is an understanding faith, for it is "through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God" (Hebrews 11:3). It is a saving faith, "for by grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). Since "the just shall live by faith" (Galatians 3:11), it is therefore a living faith, and a growing faith, "because that your faith groweth exceedingly" (2 Thessalonians 1:3), and a working faith because "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20).
 
There is more. The true faith is a justifying faith (it makes us righteous in the sight of God) because "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). It is a protecting faith because with "the shield of faith . . . ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked" (Ephesians 6:16). It is a stable faith, "for by faith ye stand" (2 Corinthians 1:24). This faith is also a purifying faith, "purifying their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). Furthermore, asking faith receives answers to its prayers, "in faith, nothing wavering" (James 1:6), and a strong faith recoiling "not at the promise of God through unbelief; but . . . strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20).
 
Finally, the Christian faith is a triumphant faith. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). This faith--even our faith!--is an understanding, saving, living, growing, justifying, purifying, working, protecting, stable, asking, strong, triumphant faith! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Sieve of Satan
 
"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." (Luke 22:31)
 
Most of us do not warrant the personal attention of Satan as Peter did, for we do not constitute as great a threat to his kingdom as Peter did. Nevertheless the devil, "as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Whether he attacks us himself--as he did Peter, and David, and Job--or assigns this task to one or more of his demons, the fact is that Satan is real and his legions of evil spirits are real, and they will, indeed, seek to force every believer into Satan's sieve.
 
John calls Satan "the accuser of our brethren . . . which accused them before our God day and night" (Revelation 12:10). He uses every device to keep us from Christ, or to persuade us to sin against Him, or even to deny Him as Peter did. Jesus called Satan "a murderer from the beginning . . . a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). He seeks to sow discord among the brethren, to sow tares among the wheat, to sow false doctrine with the truth, to sow evil thoughts in the pure, to do all he can to hinder our work for God and our faith in Him. And, as Martin Luther sang: "On earth is not his equal."
 
Yes, but "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1-2). Furthermore, "he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
 
The Lord assured Peter that, even though Satan would sift him as wheat, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:32). And when Jesus prays, God answers!
 
When we, like Peter, have been sifted through the sieve of Satan, and when we also know that our great advocate and intercessor has prayed for us and our faith has not failed, then we can, as the Lord exhorted Peter, "strengthen thy brethren" (Luke 22:32). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Saints
 
"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 1:1)
 
In the opening salutations to the churches at Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colosse, the apostle Paul addresses the "saints" in those churches—a term essentially synonymous (as in our text above) with "the faithful in Christ Jesus." The Greek word (hagios) is also translated even more frequently as "holy." Evidently "saints" are "those who are holy." For example, just three verses later Paul speaks thus of believers: "He hath chosen us in him |Christ| before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy |same word| and without blame before him in love" (v. 4).
 
This immediately raises an obvious question. Paul's rebukes to the "saints" in these churches (especially Corinth) certainly would indicate that the lives of many in them were anything but holy! How can sinners be called holy?
 
The answer to this problem must be, of course, in the fact that Christians are "saints in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:1), not necessarily saintly in behavior. It is a wonderful truth that God deals with us, not in our sins, but in Christ. In His sight, we are even seated "together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6).
 
We have surely been "blessed . . . with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), and it would surely please Him if we would seek to become as holy in our practice as in our position. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:1-2). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Blessing of Abraham
 
"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis 12:3)
 
The apostle Paul referred to this event as "the blessing of Abraham" (Galatians 3:14) that has been conferred on the nations through the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ. When that promise was given to Abraham, two major thoughts were clear. First, multitudes of people and many nations would come from Abraham. And second, a special "seed" would come through Abraham (Galatians 3:16) who would make possible the blessing of all men.
 
Later, when God revealed to Abraham that his "seed" would be as innumberable as the sand of the seashore and the stars of heaven (Genesis 13:1; 15:1), he "believed God" (Romans 4:3), even though there was no evidence that these promises would come to pass. Today, with the multiple millions of descendants of Ishmael and the growth of the nation of Israel, the "many nations" are easy to see.
 
What is still somewhat difficult to grasp are the uncounted millions of "they which are of faith" who are "Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:7, 29). That is the main fulfillment of God’s "blessing of Abraham." We who believe God as Abraham did "have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Romans 5:2) and will "receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15).
 
That promised inheritance is "incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:4-5). May these "great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4) be a constant encouragement in our lives. HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

Insatiable Eyes
 
"Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." (Proverbs 27:20)
 
There are many warnings in Scripture about "the lust of the eyes" (1 John 2:16) that can turn our hearts away from that which is godly and eternal. Solomon's sober caution in our text is certainly significant, especially since he had admonished his son, "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee" (Proverbs 4:25). Similarly, Job had "made a covenant with |his| eyes"(Job 31:1) lest his "heart walked after" what he looked at (Job 31:7).
 
Abraham's nephew, Lot, eventually lost everything after he "lifted up his eyes" and chose to "|pitch| his tent toward Sodom" (Genesis 13:12), developing an initial tolerance for that ungodly environment and unwilling to separate from the people who were "wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly" (Genesis 13:13).
 
Later, Lot actually dwelt in Sodom, with his goods (Genesis 14:12). Soon the association became a lifestyle, a conscious choice in spite of obvious wickedness that caused him great distress, "for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds" (2 Peter 2:7-8). Chedorlaomer sacked the cities and took Lot captive. Even then, he was so tied to his association with the Sodomites that he went back!
 
Finally, Lot "sat in the gate of Sodom" (Genesis 19:1) when the angels came to destroy the city. That's equivalent to being one of the "movers and shakers" of the city--perhaps even comparable to being on the city council. This tragic life had every opportunity to share in the joy of Abraham's calling, but Lot threw it all away for the sake of his "eyes." May God grant us eyes that "see" truth. HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

The Rainbow and the Cloud
 
"And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire." (Revelation 10:1)
 
This is the last reference in Scripture to the beautiful rainbow and a most majestic picture it is. A mighty cloud descends from heaven enveloping the great Creator/Savior Himself, here called (as is often true in Scripture) an "angel," but with a description applicable only to the glorified Son of man (note Revelation 1:7, 13-16). The rainbow is above the cloud, crowning the head of the mighty one as He stands astride both land and sea, thus claiming possession of all the earth (Revelation 10:2).
 
There seems here to be a clear correlation with the first reference in Scripture to the rainbow and the cloud, neither of which had existed prior to the great Flood, "for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth" (Genesis 2:5) until that awful day of judgment. At the conclusion of the Flood when the vast "waters . . . above the firmament" (Genesis 1:7) had all condensed and poured down on the ground, then God had said: "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth" (Genesis 9:13), a sign of God's promise never again to destroy the earth with water as He had just done. It has ever since been a beautiful reminder that God cares for His creation and that eve n in the midst of judgment He is the God of all grace. It also reminds us that He still rules the world He made.
 
The time is soon coming when once again there shall be no rain and no cloud and "no more sea" (Revelation 21:1), so there shall be no more need for the reminder of the rainbow. All of God's judgments will be over and gone, and there shall "be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Ephesians 3:21). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

As a Thief in the Night
 
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3)
 
Whenever there is a war, or a great calamity, or a great time of suffering, there almost inevitably follows an upsurge of interest in biblical prophecy with many predictions of the immediate return of Christ.
 
According to our text however (which immediately follows the glorious description of the "rapture" of all believers into the air to meet the returning Savior), His coming may not be in a time of war and danger, but in one of "peace and safety!" It may well be in a period when "they"--that is, the ungodly world and all its cohorts--will be proudly boasting of their new world order where they have established worldwide security from further strife and peril. But this system will be built, not on a biblical foundation acknowledging God as Creator and Redeemer, but on a false foundation of evolutionary humanism and an attempted amalgamation of all world religions.
 
The euphoria accompanying such false security will even lull many Christians into a sense of complacency. In speaking of His return, therefore, Jesus warned: "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not" (Luke 12:40). His coming will be as a thief comes in the night, when even those who should be alert and watchful may have fallen asleep. "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is" (Mark 13:33).
 
Watchfulness, however, does not mean idleness. "Occupy till I come," He said (Luke 19:13). "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing" (Luke 12:43). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Six Questions
 
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Romans 8:37)
 
The eighth chapter of Romans is replete with unthinkable blessings graciously bestowed on the believer. Then, Paul asks in the first of six questions, "What shall we then say to these things?" (v. 31). The answer is that God is on our side. Next, he asks, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" The answer: No one with ability to harm us. Paul continues: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (v. 32). Since God has given us the most important gift, it stands to reason that He will give us ("with him") all the marvelous (although lesser) things mentioned earlier in the chapter and elsewhere in Scripture. Christ and the attendant blessings are ours, if we are not disqualified somehow.
 
Paul asks: "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?" (v. 33). No one! For we have been justified, declared to be free of sin, and "not guilty" of all charges. The only one capable of leveling a successful charge is Christ Himself, but He is the one who sacrificed to justify us. He will not charge us with anything. Likewise, "Who is he that condemneth?" (v. 34). The only one capable of condemning us is Christ, but He is the one who died as He took on Himself our condemnation. Even now, our risen Lord is championing our innocence before His Father. Certainly Christ will not condemn us.
 
The only remaining scenario in which it would be possible for us to lose our standing is for someone to "separate us from the love of Christ" (v. 35). "Who can do this?" Paul asks. There follows a list of seventeen possibilities, but Paul is persuaded that none of these, "nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (v. 39). Instead, "we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (v. 37). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Eternal Responsibilities
 
"And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him." (Revelation 22:3)
 
Frequently, Christians and non-Christians alike have a misconception about the nature of the coming life in heaven. We will not merely "go to heaven" and sit around in some semblance of holy laziness; we will be given jobs to do! Just what those jobs may be, or what they may require, is not specifically revealed to us, but it is abundantly clear that the kind of job, or the degree of responsibility, will be a privilege based on what we do here on earth now.
 
In the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:11-27), the Lord Jesus illustrates judgment based on productivity. The same amount of money was given to each of the servants, and only one general instruction was issued: "Occupy till I come" (v. 13). The reward that each servant received was in direct proportion to how much profit he had earned on the nobleman's money.
 
In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the nobleman gave differing amounts to each of his servants "to every man according to his several ability" (v. 15). The reward was based on efficient use of abilities, not on amount of profit produced.
 
Both of these parables have a common thread: The rewards (analogous to our rewards when the Lord returns), whether based on their productivity or their effectiveness, were rewards of responsibility. To those servants who had proven themselves capable of leadership, the Lord delegated "authority over cities" and rulership "over many things," assuring us that there will be some sort of social order in the age to come. Likewise we, in our present service for the Lord, are now given the opportunity to earn both God's commendation and His future greater stewardship. HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

Will There Be Faith on the Earth?
 
"I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)
 
This sad query by Jesus seems to suggest that true Christian faith could almost disappear from the earth before He returns. Neither Christ nor His disciples answered the question, leaving it for us to consider on our own.
 
Since all people--even atheists--have faith in something, it is clear that Jesus used the word "faith" to refer specifically to genuine trust in the true God and His Word. That faith would evidently be in short supply in the last days.
 
There are many such warnings in Scripture: "In the last days," said Paul, men shall be "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Timothy 3:1, 4-5).
 
"In the last days" said Peter, men will be "saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4).
 
"In the last time," said Jude, men would be "mockers . . . who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit" (Jude 18-19).
 
Nevertheless, the apostles did not say that all men would be lovers of pleasure more than God, or questioners of His promised coming, or mocking sensualists. Paul's warning, in fact, was given specifically to urge believers living in the last days to "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). Peter's exhortation was given to encourage us to "grow in grace" (2 Peter 3:18), and Jude's was given to exhort us to be "building up yourselves on your most holy faith" (Jude 20).
 
Finally, John insists that we "abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming" (1 John 2:28). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Grace
 
"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." (1 John 3:1)
 
Grace, as we see it developed in the New Testament, was unknown in the Old Testament. Certainly God's grace was showered on objects of His favor, but His loving kindness, mercy, and mighty hand could hardly be compared to His unmerited salvation, justification, faith, and spiritual gifts.
 
The New Testament word for grace, charis, had a classical meaning. Aristotle defined it as "conferring freely with no expectation of return, and finding its only motive in the bounty and free heartedness of the giver." The recipient of this act was always a friend, but New Testament usage gave fuller, richer, extended meaning to the word. Note the following "gracious" response of even Christian servants to their unkind masters: "For this is thankworthy |i.e., charis|, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. . . . if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable |charis| with God" (1 Peter 2:19-20).
 
But Christ went even further. When He extended His grace, it was not just to friends, nor even to unjust slave owners, but to bitter enemies. He left heaven with a cruel cross in sight for such filthy worms as us, saturated with sin, ungrateful, rebellious, with nothing of worth. The sins of the objects of His grace would nail Him to the tree, and yet He came. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us," our text states. Literally, the phrase reads, "What foreign kind of love." This kind of love and grace is not human; it could only come from the heart of a gracious God. Man could never imagine a scheme of salvation such as substitutionary atonement, where God Himself would die for sinners, where no worth or works on the part of man were involved. This is true grace, a foreign kind of love. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Justice, Mercy, and Grace
 
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)." (Ephesians 2:4-5)
 
The first word of our text sets up a great contrast between what we were and deserved as dead sinners, and what we are, due to God’s mercy and grace. In the preceding verses, the picture of man’s state is very dark; we "were dead in trespasses and sins" (v. 1). We were cut off from the things of light and "walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air" (v. 2), controlled by Satan. Our lives were characterized by the "lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind" (v. 3). Everything about us was abhorrent to God, not only our sinful, fleshly actions, but the perversion of our minds, and we deserved His "wrath" (v. 3).
 
It is not likely that mere man could have conceived the concepts expressed in the following verses. Scarcely would a human mind have proposed that the very God, whose justice demanded punishment, would take that punishment upon Himself in order to lavish upon us His incomparable grace. "But God . . . is rich in mercy" (v. 4). He had compassion on us, which with "his great love" compelled Him to act strongly on our behalf. He devised a masterful plan to "quicken," or make alive, those who were dead "together with Christ," for "by grace ye are |literally completely| saved." Just as certainly as Christ is alive, we are "made alive" through His grace.
 
This plan of grace defies understanding and description. Through it, we have been "saved" (vv. 5, 8), we have a present home "in heavenly places" (v. 6), and we will experience its "exceeding riches" throughout the ages (v. 7). Even the faith to accept it is "the gift of God" (v. 8). God’s gracious plan fully overwhelms our wickedness and worthlessness; it exceeds all our desperate need. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

The End of the Lord
 
"Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." (James 5:11)
 
The Lord often allows godly men and women to go through severe difficulties, but the apostle says we should "count them happy which endure." "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: . . . Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:10-12).
 
The patriarch Job is the classic example. He was a godly and righteous man in the highest degree, according to the testimony of God Himself, who said that "there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil" (Job 1:8). Yet God allowed Satan to take away all his possessions, and his health, and even his children. Nevertheless, Job remained faithful and testified: "For I know that my redeemer liveth . . . yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25-26).
 
The chastenings of the Lord may seem grievous, especially when they are not sent as punishment for known sin but rather for development of character in likeness to Christ, but "the end of the Lord" (that is, "the final goal and purpose of the Lord") always manifests His love and tender mercy.
 
In Job's case, once the testing was finished, "the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10), giving him precisely twice as many head of livestock as those he had lost (compare Job 1:3; 42:12). In addition, "he had also seven sons and three daughters," precisely the number who had died in a great storm at the beginning of his troubles (Job 1:2,18-19; 42:13). He knew he would also see his first set of children again, because they, like he, would live again, giving him twice as many children as he had before. The "end of the Lord" is tender mercy, always, to those wh o love Him. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Since the World Began
 
"As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began." (Luke 1:70)
 
According to the theory of evolution as taught in most schools and colleges today, the world began about eighteen billion years ago in a "Big Bang" when the cosmos evolved into existence out of nothing. The sun and planets evolved out of cosmic dust about five billion years ago, life evolved from chemicals about four billion years ago, and human life perhaps a million years ago.
 
But this is not what God's Word says! According to the priest Zacharias, as in our text, God has been speaking through His prophets ever since the world began--not beginning eighteen billion years after it began.
 
Similarly Peter, in his temple sermon, preached that God had promised someday to restore all things, "which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21). The restoration of all things obviously was meant to refer to conditions in Eden, not to the primeval cosmic dust cloud of the evolutionists.
 
The Lord Jesus Christ also taught that man has been here since the world began. Referring to the creation of Adam and Eve, and quoting Genesis 1:27, He said: "But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female" (Mark 10:6). Adam and Eve were not created eighteen billion years after the beginning of the creation, but just six days after the beginning in a "very good" world.
 
It is dangerously close to mocking God for modern Christian teachers to urge people to accept the Big Bang theory of cosmic evolution and the geologic ages' framework of organic evolution. Men and women were given dominion over the earth when the world first began, and God has been promising His coming Redeemer through His prophets ever since, just as the Bible says. HMM