A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
 
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear." (Psalm 46:1-2)
 
Martin Luther's journal entries inform us of his continual battle against evil forces, and that Psalm 46 was a great comfort to him. As he meditated on the words of our text, the thrust of a mighty song was born, which openly declared victory in the great battle: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."

         
        A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing;
        Our helper He, amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing:
        For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe;
        His craft and power are great,
        And, armed with cruel hate,
        On earth is not his equal.

 
The battle to be fought is "not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). Satan, along with his henchmen, is an ancient foe, "a roaring lion," as it were, "seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). But there is no need for alarm, "the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge" (Psalm 46:11). He "is our refuge and strength" (today's text), a bulwark never failing. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
 
Only God could accomplish this victory, for Satan is "the prince of this world" (John 14:30), "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). No man on earth is his equal.
 
But how did the Son of God gain the victory? By taking on Himself "flesh and blood," and dying a substitutionary death, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Right Man on Our Side
 
"Behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." (Luke 22:31-32)
 
Satan wanted Peter to fall, and fall he would (v. 34), but Christ had prayed for him that victory would come. The second verse of "A Might Fortress Is Our God" reflects our vulnerability on our own and our invincibility on His side.

         
        Did we in our own strength confide,
        Our striving would be losing;
        Were not the right man on our side,
        The man of God's own choosing:
        Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is He,
        Lord Sabaoth, His name, From age to age the same,
        And He must win the battle.

 
After revealing many thrilling blessings, Paul asks: "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). Furthermore, neither "principalities, nor powers" nor any thing else in all creation is "able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). With Him, Satan cannot win the battle for our minds or destinies. But on our own, we cannot win.
 
The term Sabaoth is the Hebrew word for "hosts," in particular the "host of heaven." The term Yahweh Sabaoth or "Lord Sabaoth" occurs some 300 times in the Old Testament and constitutes a most majestic name for God. "For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called" (Isaiah 54:5). This is none other than "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8). Creator (Colossians 1:16), Sustainer (v. 17), Redeemer (v. 20)--He must win the battle. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

His Doom Is Sure
 
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John 8:44)
 
The third verse of "A Might Fortress Is Our God" focuses on Satan's end. God has willed triumph through His truth.

         
        And though this world, with devils filled,
        Should threaten to undo us,
        We will not fear; for God hath willed
        His truth to triumph through us:
        The Prince of Darkness grim--We tremble not for him;
        His rage we can endure, For lo, his doom is sure,
        One little word shall fell him.

 
When Satan was cast from heaven, fully a third of the angels fell with him (Revelation 12:4), such that a "legion" of them could inhabit one individual (Mark 5:9). But God has other plans for His children. He desires "to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins (Acts 26:18). He desires us to "resist the devil" (James 4:7), and not "give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:27).
 
He also has plans for Satan, including "everlasting chains under darkness" (Jude 6), and "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Just one word and Satan will be "cast into the lake of fire and . . . tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10). Jesus, anticipating His execution, spoke of it triumphantly. This had been His Father's will all along. "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:31-32), and now the battle is His. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

His Kingdom Is Forever
 
"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)
 
The final verse of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" describes our tools and comportment while in the battle, and the final victory.

         
        That word above all earthly powers,
        No thanks to them, abideth;
        The Spirit and the gifts are ours
        Thro' Him who with us sideth:
        Let goods and kindred go, This mortal life also;
        The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,
        His kingdom is forever.

 
As the King's soldiers, we have God-given abilities and possessions, most notably the indwelling God's Spirit and empowering gifts. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9). "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:4).  We should "fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul" (Matthew 10:28) and focus on Him, "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts" (even goods and kindred [Luke 9:60-62] if need be). "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:12-13).
 
As of yet the battle continues. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:21), "and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Almighty God

 
"And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." (Genesis 17:1)
 
This is the first of 48 occurrences of the designation of God by the term "Almighty," in the Old Testament. There are also nine times in the New Testament where God is called "Almighty" plus once where He is called "omnipotent." The last time it occurs is very near the end of the Bible, telling us that there is no special temple in the holy city, "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (Revelation 21:22).
 
Thus, in the first and last books of the Bible, and often in between, we are reminded that our God is an omnipotent God. As Jeremiah prayed; "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee" (Jeremiah 32:17).
 
Sarah "laughed" when God said that she would bear a son in her old age, but God responded: "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?" (Genesis 18:14). Many years later, the angel told the Virgin Mary that she would have a son, and she said: "How shall this be?" (Luke 1:34.) The angel replied: "With God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37).
 
Some things God cannot do, of course, for "God cannot be tempted with evil" (James 1:13) and He "cannot lie" (Titus 1:2), so whatever He does is right and whatever He says is true. We may not always understand just why He does or says something, but in eternity we shall learn that He was indeed able to do what He says. He is omnipotent!
 
God did create the cosmos in all its macroscopic complexity and all the living kinds with their microscopic complexity. "I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Leviathan
 
"In that day the lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." (Isaiah 27:1)
 
There is a remarkable animal called a "leviathan" described in the direct words of God in chapter 41 of Job. It is surprising that most modern expositors call this animal merely a crocodile. Our text plainly calls it a "piercing serpent . . . the dragon that is in the sea." He is also said to "play" in the "great and wide sea" (Psalm 104:25-26). God's description in Job 41 says "a flame goeth out of his mouth" (v. 21), and "he maketh the deep to boil like a pot" (v. 31). The entire description is awesome! Whatever a leviathan might have been, it was not a crocodile!
 
In fact, there is no animal living today which fits the description. Therefore, it is an extinct animal, almost certainly a great marine reptile with "terrible teeth" and "scales" (vv. 14-15) still surviving in the oceans of Job's day, evidently one of the fearsome reptiles that gave rise to the worldwide tales of great sea dragons, before they became extinct.
 
But that is not all. In ending His discourse, God called leviathan "a king over all the children of pride" (Job 41:34), so the animal is also symbolic of Satan, whose challenge to God instigated Job's strange trials. He is "the great dragon . . . that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). Perhaps, therefore, the mysterious and notorious extinction of the dinosaurs is a secular prophecy of the coming Day of Judgment, when God "shall punish leviathan" (Isaiah 27:1), and the "devil that deceived them" will be "cast into the lake of fire . . . and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Partakers of the Promise
 
"That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." (Ephesians 3:6)
 
There are many Christians who regard themselves as almost exclusively New Testament believers, arguing that the Old Testament was for the Jews under the dispensation of law and thus not applicable to Christians today.
 
Nothing could be further from the truth. While the old animal sacrifices, temple rituals, and Levitical priesthoods have indeed been superseded by Christ's "one sacrifice for sins for ever" (Hebrews 10:12), there are many "exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Peter 1:4) of the Old Testament that can be properly and joyfully appropriated by Christians. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable," wrote Paul (2 Timothy 3:16), speaking particularly of the Old Testament Scriptures.
 
In the context of our verse for the day, Paul is stressing that his own new revelations, given in connection with the Christian gospel, actually involved bringing Jew and Gentile together as one body in Christ. The "dispensation of the grace of God . . . by revelation he made known unto me," he wrote, but in previous ages, it had not been "made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Ephesians 3:2-5).
 
And what was it that had not been made known? The hidden mystery was simply "that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs" with the Jews, and therefore "partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6).
 
Thus Gentile believers can now share in all the gracious promises of God in the Old Testament (e.g., Psalm 23; Isaiah 26:3; etc.), except those directly dealing with the future of Israel as a nation, "that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:14). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Weight of the Wind
 
"For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure." (Job 28:24-25)
 
It was only discovered by scientists in modern times that the air actually has weight. This passage in Job, however, written thirty-five or more centuries ago, indicated that the two great terrestrial fluids of air and water forming earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere are both "weighed" by God's careful "measure" to provide the right worldwide balance of forces for life on earth.
 
Another remarkable "weighing" act of God is noted in Job 37:16. "Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?" Clouds are composed of liquid drops of water, not water vapor, and water is heavier than air, so how are they "balanced" in the sky? "For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: Which the clouds do drop and distill upon man abundantly" (Job 36:27-28).
 
Meteorologists know that the weight of the small water droplets in the clouds is "balanced" by the "weight of the winds"--air rushing upward in response to temperature changes. Eventually, however, the droplets coalesce to form larger drops which overcome these updrafts and fall as rain. "By watering he wearieth the thick cloud" (Job 37:11). The coalescence is probably triggered electrically in the clouds themselves, "when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder" (Job 28:26).
 
Although these verses are not couched in the jargon of modern science, they are thoroughly scientific and up to date. "Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?" (Job 26:14). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

When the Foundations Are Destroyed
 
"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)
 
The word here for "foundations" is not the usual word for, say, a building foundation. Used rarely, a better translation of this word would be "purpose," or "basis." The fear expressed is not that the foundations of our faith might be undermined, but that we might lose our sense of purpose.
 
In the context of the psalm, David was in danger of becoming demoralized by the pressures of wicked desires and evil ambitions all around him, and Christians surely have the same problem today. Why should we try to maintain high standards of doctrinal integrity and moral purity when the people around us--even most Christians--seem to be occupied mostly with materialistic ambition and pursuit of pleasure? If we allow the devil to undermine the very purposes God has for our lives, wandering away from His will in favor of some temporal interest, then why even continue with a pretense of Christian living?
 
David's solution was simply to remind himself that "the LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men" (v. 4). He may allow the righteous to be tried for a season, but we must not forget that "the righteous LORD loveth righteousness" (v. 7), and that "the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth" (v. 5).
 
When we are tempted to wonder whether it is really worth all the effort, and when our very foundation and purpose for living seems to be crumbling, we should remember that our God is Creator, Sustainer, and Judge of all--that He still is on His throne, and that we who belong to Him have been "predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Ephesians 1:11). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Delightful Law
 
"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man." (Romans 7:22)
 
To many people, the law of God is harsh and cruel, consisting of an unreasonable list of "thou shalt nots. . . ." But Scripture teaches that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12). The "old man" --that is, the natural man, "is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts" (Ephesians 4:22), and therefore it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Galatians 3:10).
 
No natural man could ever truthfully say, "I delight in the law of God," and in our modern world, it is even probable that most people have broken at least most of God's Ten Commandments, and often delight in doing so. But the "old man" becomes a "new man" when he accepts Christ as his Savior, for "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made |the| curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). Thus the "inward man" can thenceforth "delight in the law of God," as our text says. Not to earn salvation (which we could never do), but because we love to live for Him who died for us.
 
God's law (and we can understand this now to include even the entire Word of God) indeed becomes our delight. We can say with the psalmist, "Thy law is my delight" (Psalm 119:77). Every one redeemed of the Lord should now find that "his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night" (Psalm 1:2).
 
The old covenant said, in effect, that we must keep the law to live. But now, "this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them" (Hebrews 10:16). No longer are the commandments first written "in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3), and we delight in them. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Our Natural and Spiritual Bodies
 
"It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (1 Corinthians 15:43-44)
 
In this portion of this great chapter on the resurrection--first that of Christ, then the future resurrection of the redeemed--death and resurrection are compared to seed-sowing and harvest. When a seed is planted in the ground, it is as though it had died and is buried. For a long time after its "death," the seed cannot be seen, but finally it rises again as a beautiful flowering plant, or sheaf of grain, or even a lovely tree.
 
Jesus made this same analogy. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24; note also Mark 4:26-29). Our human bodies, because of sin and the curse, eventually die and are buried; but one day (like the planted seed) they will appear again, but now immortal and glorified, far greater than they were before--that is, of course, if their real inhabitants (their eternal created spirits) have been born again through faith in their already-resurrected Savior.
 
Our new spiritual bodies rising from the grave will be real physical bodies (like that of Jesus after He was raised), but will no longer be under bondage to gravitational and electromagnetic forces as at present, but only to spiritual forces of which we have as yet very little knowledge.
 
We do know, however, that our spiritual bodies will be "fashioned like unto his glorious body" (Philippians 3:21). Although "it doth not yet appear what we shall be. . . . when he shall appear, we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). Then in our glorious, powerful, spiritual bodies, we as "his servants shall serve him" in love and joy forever (Revelation 22:3). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus
 
"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Philippians 3:20)
 
The doctrine of verbal inspiration implies that not only are the words of Scripture inspired, but the very order in which they appear is also inspired. Study by commentators and translators have rightly noted that a change in the order of the words would at times change the meaning or emphasis of a passage. This phenomenon is often seen in the order in which the various names of Christ appear. By noting this order, one may sometimes gain new insight into a passage.
 
While the name Jesus, alone, normally appears in the gospels and the book of Acts, the compound name, Jesus Christ, appears on occasion. Interestingly, the same compound name is used exclusively by the disciples John and Peter in their letters, and by James and Jude, the brothers of our Lord. Of course, these men knew Him first by His human name, Jesus, and only fully comprehended the fact that He was the Christ (meaning "the Anointed," or "the Messiah") after His resurrection
and ascension.
 
Paul, on the other hand, first encountered Christ in all His glory on the road to Damascus. Perhaps, as a consequence, he frequently reversed the order, speaking of Christ Jesus, although he used both orders many times.
 
The reason for this choice of order perhaps can best be illustrated in Philippians 2:5-11. In verse 5, Paul described the anointed One, who first emptied Himself of certain aspects of His deity to take on human form. Therefore, Paul used the name Christ Jesus. In verse 11, however, the order is reversed. In this case, as in our text, the movement is from humanity to glory. In one, the glory of the risen Savior is emphasized; in the other, the glory that we shall share with Him. This glory is assured us through His victory. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Our Advocate in Heaven
 
"Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high." (Job 16:19)
 
It is significant that here, in what is probably the oldest book in the Bible, two vitally important New Testament truths are anticipated. Job somehow knew that he (and, by implication, every other person as well) has a "record" in heaven. This is the only occurrence of this word (sahed) in the Bible, but it basically means that our works, good or bad, have been recorded by God in heaven concerning how we have used or abused our stewardship here on earth.
 
And the record, inevitably, testifies against us, "for there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). At God's future throne of judgment, when "the dead |are| judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works," then "whosoever |is| not found written in the book of life |is| cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:12, 15).
 
But how can we know that our names will be in God's book of life in that day? Thankfully, even Job knew, in his long-ago time, that "my witness is in heaven." Here the word (Hebrew ed) speaks of a formal personal witness who can testify on our behalf, one who "might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbor!" (Job 16:21).
 
Job somehow knew that such a witness was there, for he could also say, "I know that my redeemer liveth" (Job 19:25). In the light of the New Testament record, we know that this Redeemer and Witness is none other than the Lord Jesus. "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1-2). That is, He is the "sacrifice" for our sins, and thus can redeem us from sin's penalty, and thereby serve as our defense witness in heaven. Our record of sin and guilt has been washed clean with the precious blood of Christ. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

When the Rivers Run Dry
 
"The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness." (Joel 1:20)
 
After the Flood of Noah, God set a boundary for the waters, "that they turn not again to cover the earth" (Psalm 104:9). There is a time coming, however, when even such a mighty river as "the great river Euphrates" will run dry, and "the water thereof |will be| dried up" (Revelation 16:12). Instead of covering the earth, the life-giving waters will be withheld as one of God's coming judgments on the rebellious world of the last days. His prophetic witnesses will be given power to "shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy" (11:6). Furthermore, the atmosphere will be so restrained that "the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree" (7:1), yet the sun will burn so intensely that "men |will be| scorched with great heat" (16:9).
 
All of this will generate great fires and famine around the world. The prophet Joel places all this in the context of the coming "day of the LORD . . . as a destruction from the Almighty" (Joel 1:15). The pastures will burn up, and the rivers will dry up, "for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" (2:11). "Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left" (Isaiah 24:6).
 
Yet there is also a time coming when the judgments are past and "the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: . . . And the ransomed of the Lord shall return . . . they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (35:7, 10). In that day--as in this--it is all-important to be among the ones ransomed by the Lord. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Obedient Christ
 
"And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8)
 
The only begotten Son of God substituted Himself for all humanity to save them from the righteous judgment of a thrice-holy Creator.
 
Jesus found Himself "in fashion as a man," which therefore made it possible for Him to humble Himself and to become obedient to the death that had been ordained for Him prior to the very foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20).
 
Perhaps it is too much to suggest that Jesus "woke up" when He "found" Himself in Mary's womb, but it is certain that He "increased in wisdom" (Luke 2:52) as He grew in "stature." Basically, because He "became" human, He experienced the normal increase in awareness and experience that all of us do.
 
The difference was, obviously, that He "humbled" Himself, even though He "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Christ's sinless behavior could have easily "exalted" Him as His wisdom and miracles became known throughout Israel. Indeed, many tried to make Him King.
 
Isaiah prophetically records the mindset of the Lord many years before He actually entered Jerusalem: "I set my face like a flint" (Isaiah 50:7). Later, Jesus told His disciples, "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" (Luke 12:50).
 
Finally, the obedience of our Lord Jesus, understood fully and deeply at Gethsemane, was fully accomplished, "even the death of the cross." May our hearts never forget or tire of these great truths. HMM III