A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

Rejection at Home
 
"But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house." (Mark 6:4)
 
A town will give great honor to a "hometown boy" if he makes good in athletics or the entertainment world. But if he becomes known as an influential Christian, the hometown folks usually are embarrassed about it.
 
Jesus Himself experienced this. He grew up in Nazareth, and it was there that He had "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52). When He returned to Nazareth, however, after the early days of His ministry, "as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read" (Luke 4:16). He was already recognized there as proficient in the Scriptures, and they had heard tales about His miracles, so the invitation to speak was natural, but there were certain mumbles. "Is not this the carpenter's son?" they asked. "Whence then hath this man all these things?" (Matthew 13:55-56).
 
At first, "all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth" (Luke 4:22). But then, as He applied a key prophecy to Himself, and rebuked them for their unbelief, they "were filled with wrath" and tried unsuccessfully to slay Him (Luke 4:28-29). "Neither did his brethren believe in him" (John 7:5), and only His mother was with Him when He was crucified (John 19:25). As David had written prophetically, "I am become a stranger unto my brethren. . . . For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" (Psalm 69:8-9).
 
Perhaps those Christians who have been rejected by their family and former friends can identify with Jesus when He said: "For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother" (Mark 3:35). We still have a family--an eternal one! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Daily Cross
 
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
 
This same conversation and challenge is also recorded in Matthew 16:24 and Mark 8:34, except that only Luke included the term "daily." Except for one brief reference in Matthew 10:38, this conversation marks the first explicit reference in the Bible to the practice of crucifixion, and it apparently assumes that the disciples were already well aware of this typically Roman method of execution.
 
"Taking up the cross" referred to the usual requirement that each condemned man haul his own cross to the place of execution. Jesus knew that He would soon have to be doing this Himself (John 19:16-17).
 
Christians sometimes use this phrase without appreciation of its true meaning, thinking of some burden (such as sickness or poverty) as "the cross" they must bear. Such things can be serious problems, of course, but they are not instruments of execution, such as a cross. In effect, the Lord was telling His disciples that following Him must mean nothing less than a daily willingness to die for Him, if need be. As Paul would say: "I am crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20); "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).
 
Many disciples have, indeed, suffered martyrdom for Christ's sake, but all should at least be willing to deny themselves each day. "Taking up the cross" does not necessarily mean dying as Christ did, but it does mean consciously dying each day to the world and living unto Him. For "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Galatians 5:24), and they gladly affirm this testimony: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Unperfect Substance
 
"Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16)
 
This is an amazing verse, testifying as it does to the omniscient fore-planning of our Creator for each human being. Each person has been separately planned by God before he or she was ever conceived; His eyes oversaw our "unperfect [not imperfect, but unfinished] substance"--that is, literally, our embryo--throughout its entire development. Not only all its "members," but also all its "days" (the literal implication of "in continuance") had been "written" in God's book long ago.
 
While modern evolutionists argue that a "fetus" is not yet a real person, and so may be casually aborted if the mother so chooses, both the Bible and science show that a growing child in the womb is a true human being. Instruments called fetoscopes have been able to trace every stage of embryonic development, showing that each is distinctively human, never passing through any non-human evolutionary stages, such as the evolutionists' theory of "recapitulation" would imply.
 
Not much is known about how a baby receives its soul, but the baby is surely an eternal human being from the moment of conception, with all its future days already well known in the mind of God, "when as yet there was none of them," as our text points out.
 
But that is not all. All those who are saved (or, like the innocents who die before birth, "safe" in Christ) and whose names, therefore, are "written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8), are also predestined "to be conformed to the image of his Son" in the ages to come (Romans 8:29). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Living in the Real World
 
"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isaiah 65:17)
 
People often think they are being practical when they place material values ahead of spiritual, emphasizing that we have to "live in the real world." The fact is, however, that we are not living in the real world at all, but in a world that is dying and will soon be gone. "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:17). This is not even the world that God created, for that world was "very good" (Genesis 1:31). Because "sin entered into the world, and death by sin" (Romans 5:12), therefore, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Romans 8:22 ). In fact, this world is not even as it was soon after God's curse, for "the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished" (2 Peter 3:6).
 
The present, post-Flood world is now under the dominion of Satan, who is "the prince of this world" (John 12:31) and of "all the kingdoms of the world" (Matthew 4:8). The Lord Jesus Christ came to "deliver us from this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4). As our text says, this world shall not even "be remembered, nor come into mind." It "shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Romans 8:21).
 
Therefore, we must "be not conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2). We must "live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:12-13). In the meantime, our true citizenship, if we have been born again in Christ, is in the real world to come, and we are His ambassadors to an alien land (2 Corinthians 5:20). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Uttermost Parts of the Earth
 
"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." (Psalm 2:8)
 
This colorful and comprehensive phrase, usually translated "ends of the earth," occurs no less than thirty times in the Old Testament and five in the New. The verse in our text is God's promise to His Son (v. 7), and it appears again and again. For example: "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth" (72:8). "Now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth" (Micah 5:4); "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord" (Psalm 22:27).
 
This divine Son, whose future dominion will extend to the uttermost parts of the earth, is also the Creator of the ends of the earth. "Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?" (Proverbs 30:4).
 
He who both created and will ultimately regain all the ends of the earth will also be their judge. "The LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed" (literally, Messiah; 1 Samuel 2:10).
 
For the present, however, He is still "despised and rejected of men" (Isaiah 53:3), both as Creator and as coming King by all the nations of the world. Nevertheless He has provided "salvation unto the ends of the earth" for all who will receive Him (Acts 13:47), and He has both commanded and prophesied that His followers must be "witnesses unto me . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The great message we carry from Him is: "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 45:22). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

One God
 
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD." (Deuteronomy 6:4)
 
This great verse has been recited countless times by Israelites down through the centuries, setting forth their distinctive belief in one great Creator God. The Jews had retained their original belief in creation, handed down from Noah, while the other nations had all allowed their original monotheistic creationism to degenerate into a wide variety of religions, all basically equivalent to the polytheistic evolutionism of the early Sumerians at Babel.
 
But along with its strong assertion of monotheism, there is also a very real suggestion that this declaration, with its thrice-named subject, is also setting forth the Triune God. The name, "Lord," of course, is Yahweh, or Jehovah, the self-existing One who reveals Himself, while "God" is Elohim, the powerful Creator/Ruler. "Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah" is the proclamation. A number of respected Jewish commentators have acknowledged that the verse spoke of a "unified oneness," rather than an "absolute oneness." The revered book called the Zohar, for example, even said that the first mention was of the Father; the second one the Messiah; and the third, the Holy Spirit.
 
The key word "one" (Hebrew, achad) is often used to denote unity in diversity. For example, when Eve was united to Adam in marriage, they were said to be "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). Similarly, on the third day of creation, the waters were "gathered together unto one place," yet this gathering together was called "Seas" (i.e., more than one sea; Genesis 1:9-10).
 
Thus, Israel's great declaration should really be understood as saying in effect: "The eternally omnipresent Father, also Creator and Sustainer of all things, is our unified self-revealing Lord." HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Breaking Bread
 
"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body." (Matthew 26:26)
 
This is the first of twelve specific references to the "breaking of bread" in the New Testament, each reminding the participants of Christ's sacrificial death. Although Paul had not been present at the Last Supper, he had evidently received a special revelation concerning it. "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed |literally, 'while he was being betrayed'| took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). Similarly, drinking of the cup recalled to them His shed blood. All of this helped them remember and appreciate the great reality of eternal life imparted to them through His death, for He had said, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and d rinketh my blood, hath eternal life" (John 6:54).
 
For a while after His resurrection and their empowering by the Holy Spirit, "they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house" (Acts 2:46), seem to have combined each day this remembrance of the Lord's supper with their own evening meals. Sometime later, it seems to have been "upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread" (Acts 20:7).
 
There is no specific instruction in Scripture as to how often this breaking of bread should be observed, but when it is observed, the implied actions of "discerning the Lord's body," giving thanks to Him for His sacrifice for us, and "|judging| ourselves" (1 Corinthians 11:29, 31) are far more vital than the physical act of eating the broken bread. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Deeper and Deeper
 
"That ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)
 
Sincere Christians long for a deeper relationship with Christ, driving them to more effective prayer, Bible study, and service. The rich hymn "Deeper and Deeper" reflects this heart cry.

             
            Into the heart of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go,
            Seeking to know the reason why He should love me so,
            Why He stooped to lift me up from the miry clay,
            Saving my soul, making me whole,
            Though I had wandered away.

 
"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). God's infinite grace is "a mystery" to us, "but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:7, 10). The Spirit revealed these mysteries primarily to the writers of the New Testament for our instruction, through the empowerment of the Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21). Only in His revelation can we understand something of His love, mercy, and grace, but only through a close "heart walk" with Him in the Spirit can we know His heart. "The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee" (1 Chronicles 28:9).
 
We who had wandered away from Him were saved and made whole, for "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay" (Psalm 40:2). He did this all out of a heart of love. God grant us an ever deeper knowledge of His heart. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Surrender to His Will
 
"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)
 
A true follower of Christ knows His will and submits to it. His will has ever deeper stages, but once we surrender our own body, mind, and will to His will, we will "prove" it to be "perfect." The second verse of the hymn "Deeper and Deeper" echoes this.

             
            Into the will of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go,
            Praying for grace to follow, seeking His way to know;
            Bowing in full surrender low at His blessed feet,
            Bidding Him take, break me and make
            Till I am molded and meet.

 
God may give us a burden to accomplish a task or a life's work, and then open and shut doors to make it possible. Discerning His will has never been easy, but we must seek earnestly to know it and follow it. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord?" (Romans 11:33-34) are the verses just prior to our text.
 
The key, then, to knowing God's will is full surrender to it, whatever it may be, starting with obedience. "If a man love me, he will keep my words" (John 14:23). To be useful to Him, we must be broken of our own pride and self will, then remolded as He desires. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21). God grant us an ever deeper submission to His will. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Fellowship of the Cross
 
"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." (Philippians 3:10)
 
The third verse of "Deeper and Deeper" speaks of the suffering we will encounter if we are mature in Christ and effective in His service.

             
            Into the cross of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go,
            Following through the garden, facing the dreaded foe,
            Drinking the cup of sorrow, sobbing with broken heart;
            "Oh, Savior, help! Dear Savior, help!
            Grace for my weakness impart."

 
But this suffering is not to be avoided or refused. We are privileged to experience "the fellowship of his sufferings." He did so willingly, but not without asking God to "remove this cup |of sorrow| from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42). His suffering included betrayal, arrest, crucifixion, and dying with a broken heart, but purchasing our eternal life with His death. By "fellowshipping" in His sufferings, we identify with His death, share His reproach, and follow His example. We, through Him, pass through death into a new life of victory over sin and death (1 Peter 4:13).
 
Therefore, we welcome sufferings as a gift from God. "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). Paul said, "We ourselves glory in . . . all your persecutions and tribulations . . . that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God" (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5). Of course, suffering isn't easy, and we need our Savior's help to "endure" (James 5:10-11). But "if we suffer, we shall also reign with him" forever (2 Timothy 2:12). May God grant us a deeper fellowship in the cross. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Joy of Jesus
 
"Jesus Christ: 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." (1 Peter 1:7-8)
 
Because of Christ, we "rejoice with joy unspeakable," and the deeper we know Him, the more our joy. The fourth verse of our study hymn, "Deeper and Deeper," speaks of this joy.

             
            Into the joy of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go,
            Rising with soul enraptured far from the world below;
            Joy in the place of sorrow, peace in the midst of pain,
            Jesus will give, Jesus will give,
            He will uphold and sustain.

 
Joy is, of course, part of "the fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22) of Christ, who had prayed to His Father, "now I come to thee . . . that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:13). Most specifically, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . . and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1-2). In joy we rise over the lure of sin and the world. "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered" (Romans 4:7).
 
The joy of the Lord is not predicated on external circumstances. "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things" (2 Corinthians 6:10). And "I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation" (2 Corinthians 7:4).
 
The last line is well supported in the writings of David, where the Lord provides this joy. "Though |a good man| fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand" (Psalm 37:24). "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved" (Psalm 55:22). May God grant us an even deeper joy in Jesus. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Oh, How He Loved
 
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)
 
The final verse of "Deeper and Deeper" enjoins us to enter into God's love and sing of it throughout eternity.

            Into the love of Jesus, deeper and deeper I go,
            Praising the One who brought me out of my sin and woe;
            And through eternal ages gratefully I shall sing;
            "Oh, how He loved! Oh, how He loved!
            Jesus, my Lord and my King."

 
The word "deep" or "depth" in Scripture comes from the Greek word bathos, from which is derived several English nautical terms. Thus, probing "deeper and deeper" into the heart, the will, the cross, the joy, and now the love of Jesus is like searching the deep oceans: they are immense and beyond our conception.
 
We should continually acknowledge that His love brought us out of our sinful condition, which had totally separated us from Him. "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 |i.e., made us alive| together with Christ, (|for| by grace ye are saved)" (Ephesians 2:4-5). "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. . . . We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:9, 19).
 
We can sing of that love throughout eternity, because "in the ages to come he |will| shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7). May God grant us an ever deepening love of Jesus. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Limited Knowledge of Jesus
 
"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." (Mark 13:32)
 
This verse has always been difficult to understand. If Jesus was God, how could He be ignorant of the time of His second coming? Indeed He was, and is, God, but He also was, and is, man. This is a part of the mystery of the divine/human nature of Christ. In the gospel record, we see frequent evidences of His humanity (He grew weary, for example, and suffered pain), but also many evidences of deity (His virgin birth, His resurrection and ascension, as well as His perfect words and deeds).
 
He had been in glory with the Father from eternity (John 17:24), but when He became man, "in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren" (Hebrews 2:17), except for sin. As a child, He "increased in wisdom and stature" like any other human (Luke 2:52). Through diligent study (as a man), He acquired great wisdom in the Scriptures and the plan of God. After His baptism and the acknowledgment from heaven of His divine Sonship (e.g., Matthew 3:16-17), He increasingly manifested various aspects of His deity, but He still remained fully human.
 
With respect to the time of the end, this depends in some degree on human activity. For example, He said that "the gospel must first be published among all nations" (Mark 13:10), and only God the Father could foresee just when men will have accomplished this. Although the glorified Son presumably now shares this knowledge, in His self-imposed human limitations, He did not.
 
In no way does this compromise His deity. In our own finite humanity, we cannot comprehend fully the mystery of the divine/human nature of Christ, but He has given us more than sufficient reason to believe His Word! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Seven Mountains
 
"His foundation is in the holy mountains." (Psalm 87:1)
 
It is fascinating to study God's selection of several key mountains to mark key events in human history. Mount Ararat was the first great mountain of Scripture where God's Ark of safety would rest (Genesis 8:4). Then, when the first nations failed and God had to form a new nation, it was on Mount Moriah that Abraham passed the great test with his son, Isaac, and became "the father of all them that believe," testifying that "in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen" (Romans 4:11; Genesis 22:14).  When the time came for God's law to be revealed, "the Lord came down upon mount Sinai," and gave Moses "upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (Exodus 19:20; 31:18).
 
"Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion," where the holy city was built and where Christ will reign in the great age to come. For God has promised concerning Christ: "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion" (Psalm 48:2; 2:6).
 
Insignificant in size, but preeminent in importance, is the small hill outside Jerusalem that has come to be called Mount Calvary. There a "stone was cut out of the mountain" which "became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth" (Daniel 2:45, 35) when Christ died there and conquered death. He arose from the grave and then ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, to which one day He shall "so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
 
Finally, in the new earth, "every mountain and hill shall be made low" (Isaiah 40:4), and the only mountain will be "a great and high mountain," the beautiful city of God, towering "twelve thousand furlongs" (Revelation 21:10, 16) over the fruitful plains of the eternally new earth below. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Origin and Destiny of Nations
 
"And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it." (Revelation 21:24)
 
This somewhat enigmatic verse assures us that, even in the eternal ages, God still has a place and purpose for distinct nations. Presumably, they will all speak the same "pure language" (Zephaniah 3:9), but they will continue to be recognized as nations.
 
The nations were originally established after the confusion of tongues and dispersion of the families at Babel (Genesis 11:9). There seems to have been 70 families there, and these became the 70 original nations, as listed in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. There were three basic streams of nations (Semitic, Japhetic, and Hamitic) and although there has been much mixing and proliferation, these three basic streams of nations (not "races"!) are still roughly distinct.
 
In his day, as God was about to establish Israel as His chosen nation, Moses said: "Remember the days of old. . . . When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel" (Deuteronomy 32:7-8). This may be a reference to the 70 souls in the original family of Israel (Genesis 46:27) and probably also to Israel's home at the hub of the world's nations.
 
God has a purpose for each nation, as is evident from Paul's sermon: "God . . . hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord" (Acts 17:24, 26-27).
 
Old nations have disappeared because they refused to seek the Lord, and new nations have risen, proliferating now into over 150 nations and 3,000 languages, but each has had a time, and place, and purpose in the sovereign plan of God. HMM