A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

The Prosperity of the Ungodly
 
"Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" (Jeremiah 12:1)
 
One of the perennial theological problems is the apparent prosperity of the ungodly along with the suffering of the righteous. Why would God seem to endorse such a system?
 
It has been this way for ages. Some 2,000 or more years before Christ, Job asked essentially the same question as did the prophet Jeremiah in our text above. "Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? . . . They spend their days in wealth, and . . . say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways" (Job 21:7, 13-14). Likewise the psalmist Asaph complained, "I was envious . . . when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Psalm 73:3).
 
The real solution to this paradox is not in this present world, but in the world to come, where hell awaits the ungodly, and heaven awaits those whom God has redeemed through faith in Christ. The fact that a man may prosper materially is not necessarily a measure of God’s approval. The previous economic boom in this country made many men very wealthy, and most of them seem either indifferent or hostile to God, but their wealth is very ephemeral. As David said in another psalm, "I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not" (Psalm 37:35-36).
 
If God does give a few believers material wealth, it is so that they may use it for the Lord and for others, not to pamper themselves. "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but . . . that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to |share|" (1 Timothy 6:17-18). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Fullness Of Blessing
 
"And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ." (Romans 15:29)
 
One beautiful characteristic of life in Christ is its fullness. Jesus Christ is Himself "the fullness of him that filleth all in all" (Ephesians 1:23), and He does everything to the full! When He fed the multitude, there were twelve baskets left over (John 6:13); when He brought in the miraculous catch of fishes, the nets were so full that they broke, and the boats so full they began to sink (Luke 5:6-7).
 
First of all, He gives fullness of grace. "And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16). Then comes fullness of joy and peace: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing" (Romans 15:13).
 
It is then possible--in fact, we are commanded--to be "filled with the Spirit . . . making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:18-19). Not only does the Holy Spirit indwell us, but so do the Father and the Son, by the Spirit. Jesus said: "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23). In this way, the triune God indwells us, and thereby we "know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that |we| might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).
 
All the fullness of God! In Jesus Christ "dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him" (Colossians 2:9-10), "for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell" (Colossians 1:19). With the resources of such fullness of blessing available to us, we should be constantly growing "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Very Good Wine
 
"When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, . . . |he| called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now." (John 2:9-10)
 
The Lord Jesus performed many miracles during His brief ministry on earth, and it seems rather surprising that the beginning of miracles (John 2:11) in His earthly ministry was to transform water into wine at a wedding feast in Galilee. It was quite a large amount of wine--six large waterpots full, "containing two or three firkins apiece" (John 2:6). Since a firkin is about ten gallons, Jesus created approximately 150 gallons of wine to give to a group of celebrants who already had "well drunk" (John 2:10)--that is, literally, were drunk.
 
But would Jesus really do something to increase the intoxication of a crowd of people who were already drunk? Would He really disregard such Scriptures as Habakkuk 2:15: "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, . . . and makest him drunken also" (among many others). He Himself had rebuked drunkenness (e.g., Luke 21:34), so this would be completely out of character.
 
But wine never becomes intoxicating until the decay process of fermentation has done its work. The wine He created was probably the same as "the fruit of the vine" that we shall drink "new" with Him in His "Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:29). The Greek word oinos can apply either to the decayed, fermented liquid that intoxicates or to the healthful juice fresh off the grape vine, depending on context. And this wine He made was good wine, just as everything He had created was "very good" (Genesis 1:31) in that ultimate beginning of miracles when first He "created all things" (Revelation 4:11). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

I Am Christ's Friend
 
"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." (John 15:15)
 
Some things in Scripture are harder to understand and believe than others. Christ, the Sovereign Creator of all things, the offended Judge who declared the penalty for sin to be death, the One who willingly died to pay that penalty and redeem us from bondage to sin, now calls us His friends. Certainly we would like to consider Him our friend; but are we really His friends? If He were telling someone about His friends, would He include us? Somehow this seems too much--too good to be true; but He insists it is.
 
Actually, Christ said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). We are His friends by conscious choice on His part, even though He knows more about our inward nature than we will admit to ourselves. He has demonstrated His friendship by the greatest act of love imaginable, when He voluntarily died to save us from our sins. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (v. 13). Furthermore, for His friends He promises, "Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (v. 16).
 
His love for us surpasses human love. "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love" (v. 9) "that your joy might be full" (v. 11). He has "ordained" us as friends so that we "should go and bring forth fruit, and that |our| fruit should remain" (v. 16). What joy!
 
There should be a response on our part to His friendship. Almost as a self-evident fact, He states, "Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you" (v. 14), among other things, "that ye love one another" (v. 17). How can we do less? JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Devil Never Rests
 
"And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 1:7)
 
This remarkable scene in heaven provides us a striking picture of Satanic activity. The devil, in his opposition to God and His program of salvation, evidently never rests. He is not omnipresent, like God, because he is a finite (though very powerful and brilliant) created being. To accomplish his goal, therefore, he is never at rest, but keeps going from place to place and working deception after deception, bringing everyone he can under his influence.
 
Therefore, God urgently warns us: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
 
The same is true of the demonic spirits who have followed the devil in his rebellion against God. They never rest until they can take possession of some person's body and mind and then control that person's behavior. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out" (Matthew 12:43-44).
 
This restlessness that characterizes the devil and his demons often also manifests itself in the unsaved, and this will be the ultimate state of those who yield to the pressures of these evil spirits. "They have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:11).
 
True rest of soul is found only in Christ, with His forgiveness and cleansing and guidance. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," Jesus says, "and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Intercessor
 
"I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
 
When we pray for others, we not only are helping to assure a good life for ourselves--as our text indicates--but, more importantly, we are thereby becoming more like Christ. On the cross itself, "he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12). Since His return to heaven, He has been continually occupied with His ministry of intercession. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us" (Romans 8:34).
 
Not only is our resurrected, glorified Savior perpetually interceding for us in heaven, but also, the indwelling Holy Spirit is praying for us here. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit |Himself| maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26-27).
 
Now if both God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are always interceding for us before God the Father, we surely ought to be willing to spend time in prayer for others down here--not only for our loved ones, but even for those who have hurt us. Jesus said, "Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44).
 
May God help us to be faithful in this vital ministry of intercession. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Works of Darkness
 
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." (Ephesians 5:11)
 
What are these "works of darkness" which we must avoid? Some of these works are enumerated in Romans 13:12-13: "Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, . . . not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying." A Christian is thus to "cast off" all such works of darkness from his or her own life, to "have no fellowship" with those who practice them, and even to openly "reprove them."
 
"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness" (Ephesians 4:17-19). Such works of darkness stem directly from a denial of God as sovereign: "When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, . . . and their foolish heart was darkened" (Romans 1:21). This darkening of the heart is soon followed by a darkening of the life: "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness. . . . Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" (Romans 1:24, 28).
 
In these days of moral confusion, with attitudes and actions once outlawed by society now being defended and favored (e.g., sexual promiscuity and perversion), and with once-honored attributes now ridiculed (e.g., chastity, spirituality), there are great pressures on Christians to compromise with these works of darkness. God and His standards do not change, however, and He still expects us to shun and reprove them. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The People Said, 'Amen'
 
"Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD." (Psalm 106:48)
 
Many is the speaker who, after he has made some point which he considers especially good, will then say: "And all the people said, 'Amen'" (meaning "that's right!").
 
It is interesting to note the biblical examples of such a demonstration. There are sixteen times in which this or a similar statement occurs in the Bible--all in the Old Testament. Twelve of these are found in Deuteronomy 27:14-26 with the people so responding after the pronouncement of a "curse" on those who commit various sins. The last curse is as follows: "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen" (v. 26) in agreement with the judgment.
 
King David described his thanksgiving for the return of the Ark of the Covenant with, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for ever and ever.  And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD" (1 Chronicles 16:36).  When Jerusalem's wall restoration was being delayed and Nehemiah had to rebuke some of his people for their covetousness, threatening God's judgment on them if they did not repent, then "all the congregation said, Amen, and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise" (Nehemiah 5:13). After the wall was finished, as Ezra read the Scriptures to the people, "Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen" (Nehemiah 8:6).  The final such reference is in our text.
 
If we follow biblical precedent, therefore, whenever God's Word is read to a congregation, either in denunciation of sin or thanksgiving for blessing and revival, or simply in praising the Lord for His eternal goodness, it is appropriate for the people to respond with a heartfelt "Amen!" HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Love from the Beginning
 
"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." (1 John 3:11)
 
The pungent phrase "from the beginning" occurs no less than nine times in the first three chapters of the little epistle of 1 John. Thus, while in one sense, Christ's command to love one another was a new commandment, in another sense it has been with us from the very beginning of the world. "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning" (1 John 2:7).
 
The first verses of John's epistle show that this beginning is the same beginning in Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning, . . . of the Word of life; . . . that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us" (1 John 1:1-2). Note also 1 John 2:13: "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning" (see also 1 John 2:14).
 
"Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father" (1 John 2:24). This is an eternal commandment, for "God is love" (1 John 4:16) and "love is of God" (1 John 4:7). In the upper room, Jesus prayed to the Father: "Father . . . thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. . . . And I have declared unto them thy name, . . . that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them" (John 17:24, 26).
 
Love, therefore, has been at the center of God's plan from the beginning, but a new pattern and measure of that love was given us by Christ. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Help Me, O Lord
 
"Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it." (Psalm 109:26-27)
 
There is disagreement as to the proper interpretation of this psalm of David. Its center section (vv. 6-20) consists of a strong denunciation and curse, while the beginning and ending sections petition God for judgment and deliverance (vv. 1-5, 21-31).
 
Most hold that David is speaking in both sections. If so, it is a bitter and vindictive spirit finding vent. "Let Satan stand at his right hand. . . . let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few. . . . Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: . . . Let the extortioner catch all that he hath. . . . Let there be none to extend mercy unto him" (vv. 6-12).
 
Others would claim that David is quoting the curse of his enemy directed toward him and point to the use of the singular personal pronouns "he," "his," and "him" used 30 times in 15 verses. Indeed, if this is the proper interpretation, the psalm becomes the plea of a persecuted man of God who entrusts his enemies’ judgment entirely to the Lord. "But do thou for me, Oh God the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. . . . I became also a reproach unto them. . . . Let them curse. . . . I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul" (Psalm 109:21-22, 25, 28, 30-31).
 
Like his master who had come after him "when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously" (1 Peter 2:23). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

God's Shining Face
 
"The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee." (Numbers 6:25)
 
This request is part of the well-known Mosaic benediction for the children of Israel (Numbers 6:24-27). The first occurrence in verb form of the word "shine" is in this verse, although in the noun form, translated as "light," it appears in the third verse of the Bible when God said, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3).
 
True light comes only from God, since "God is light" (1 John 1:5). As the world depends on the sunshine for its physical life, so we continually must receive the Son's shining in our hearts to sustain our spiritual life.
 
It is noteworthy that the prayer of our text occurs seven other times in the Scriptures. These are as follows:
 
"Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake" (Psalm 31:16);  "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah" (Psalm 67:1);  "Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved" (Psalm 80:19; also vv. 3, 7);  "Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes" (Psalm 119:135);  "O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake" (Daniel 9:17).
 
Since God, in His omnipotence, dwells "in the light which no man can approach unto" (1 Timothy 6:16), He shines on us for salvation, spiritual illumination, and daily guidance only through His Son, the Word made flesh, for "in him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Salvation vs. Assurance of Salvation
 
"But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him." (1 John 2:5)
 
The New Testament is emphatically clear that we are saved entirely by the grace of God through faith in Christ. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; . . . it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).
 
But how can we know for sure that our professed faith in Christ is genuine and we are really saved? Many who claim to be Christians are not truly saved, for Christ said: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
 
Now, note that John’s main purpose in writing his gospel was to win people to saving faith in Christ. "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). Then the ultimate purpose of his first epistle was to assure them they were saved. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).
 
His epistle, in fact, gives us several tests to prove our faith. One is in our text--we keep (literally "guard against loss") His Word. Also: "Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments" (1 John 2:3). Then: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14).
 
Thus, we can not only have salvation, but also assurance of salvation if we love and guard His Word, seek to keep His commandments, and love all others of like precious faith. Finally we have the indwelling witness of the Spirit. "Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us" (1 John 3:24). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Sin Unto Death
 
"If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." (1 John 5:16)
 
The "sin unto death" is, in context, a sin committed by a Christian "brother," not an unbeliever, and so is not the socalled "unforgivable sin," the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Christ said the latter sin cannot be forgiven, "neither in this world, neither in the world to come" (Matthew 12:32).  It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to convict unbelievers "of sin, because they believe not on me" (John 16:9). If a person irrevocably rejects Christ, even after he fully understands the evidences of His deity, His substitutionary death with its offer of salvation, and the awful consequences of eternity without Him, then he "hath done despite to the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29). In effect, he has put his faith in Satan rather than Christ, and there is nothing more that God's Holy Spirit can--or will--do. This is the truly unforgivable sin.
 
The Christian can persist in some known sin, though not the sin of total unbelief or willful apostasy (a true Christian will not commit that kind of sin). If he deliberately continues to practice ungodliness in life or doctrine, however, refusing to repent, not even responding to God's chastening discipline (note Hebrews 12:5-11), then the only recourse of the Lord may be to send physical death, although not eternal spiritual death, for such a person is delivered "unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5).
 
This is a fearful prospect even for the believer and should be a sober warning against persistence in any known sin. "He shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Corinthians 3:15). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Little Children
 
"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2-3)
 
Many adult Christians have the mistaken notion that little children are too young to understand the gospel and so should not be allowed to decide for Christ until they are much older. The problem, however, is not the children; it is the adults who find it hard to understand! They must become like little children before they can really comprehend the way of salvation and be converted. Jesus said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. . . . Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein" (Luke 18:16-17).
 
After all, what is there to understand? A very young child, instructed in the Scriptures from infancy as God has commanded his parents (note 2 Timothy 3:15, which uses the Greek word for "baby" as the state in which young Timothy began to know the Bible), can surely comprehend that the God to whom his parents pray made him, that he has sinned against God when he does wrong, that God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for his sins, and that Jesus can save him and take him to heaven. An adult may require much explanation and may imagine many difficulties, but a child will simply believe--and that's enough!
 
The word for "little child" or "little children" actually means children who are not much more than toddlers. It is the same word rendered "young child" when the wise men came to find Jesus in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:8, etc.). Little children should, by all means, be taught the gospel, and should be encouraged to come to Christ before they grow too old to understand with their hearts! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Morning Prayer
 
"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee." (Psalm 143:8)
 
This is a beautiful and meaningful prayer with which to start the day, and one which God must delight to answer. It is very simple, with two requests and two declarations, yet it can reach the very heart of God.
 
Because we trust implicitly in His Word, we hear Him speak through it, as we read it at the beginning of the day. And as we hear Him speak, we rejoice again in His lovingkindness, especially in saving our souls and guiding our ways.
 
Then we are emboldened once again to lift up our very souls to Him (not just our voices!) and ask Him for clear guidance in the way in which we should walk today.
 
The psalmist also prays, and so should we: "Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness" (Psalm 143:10). God will "cause |us| to know the way wherein |we| should walk" by the Holy Spirit, if we sincerely desire to know and to follow His will, and to be led in the paths of righteousness. He will never lead us, of course, in any path contrary to His revealed Word. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105).
 
But when He is given all priority in our lives, when we love and study and obey His Word, and when we sincerely call on Him for daily guidance in His will, He will surely answer. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:6). "This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" (1 John 5:14-15). HMM