A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

Fruitless Trees and Fruitless Lives
 
"He was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it." (Mark 11:12-14)
 
Many detractors of our Lord have pointed with glee to what on the surface seems like a fit of petty anger on Christ's part, spawned by His selfish appetite. In reality, it was probably unrealistic to expect figs at that time of year, a fact which He must have known quite well.
 
Perhaps the key to the whole passage is in the fact that "His disciples heard it." When we look at the surrounding passages, we see that Christ was using the barren fig tree to teach His disciples something they desperately needed to know. This might be called a living parable.
 
Our Lord had just come from His triumphal entry into the city, having been proclaimed as King by the multitude (vv. 7-11), knowing their shallow adoration would soon turn into cries for His death. Leaving the fig tree, he drove the money changers from the temple grounds, having recognized that they were not only exploiting all the Jews who entered, but had taken over the court of the Gentiles, using it as a shortcut through town (v. 16) and a place of business (v. 15), thus denying the possibility of true worship to all, both Jews and Gentiles.
 
The fig tree was an object lesson on barrenness, typifying the Jewish nation's condition in spite of their privileged heritage. This type of hypocritical fruitlessness receives condemnation (vv. 20-21), exhibits a lack of faith (vv. 22-23), and hinders our prayers (vv. 24-26).
 
Our desire must be to bear much fruit in our worship, in our faith, in our prayers, and in our lives. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

That Which Endures Forever
 
"But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment." (Psalm 9:7)
 
This world will eventually pass away. The law of entropy assures us, in fact, that everything decays and dies. Atheistic scientists have even calculated that the very protons of which matter is composed will eventually disintegrate. And the Bible itself also tells us that the present earth and heaven "shall wax old as doth a garment" and "shall perish" (Hebrews 1:11).
 
But God Himself is eternal! As our text confirms (and many other texts agree), "the LORD shall endure for ever." And that is not all! His glory will remain! "The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works" (Psalm 104:31).
 
And His great name will never change. "His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him" (Psalm 72:17). That also means that His righteousness will never change. "His righteousness endureth for ever" (Psalm 112:3).
 
Then also "His mercy endureth for ever." All 26 verses of Psalm 136 end with this wonderful assurance, and the same promise occurs 16 other times as well. If God’s perfect righteousness will last forever, then His great mercy must also endure forever, and we shall continue to thank Him for His everlasting mercy in all the ages to come.
 
Next, God’s Word will endure. "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89). "But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:25).
 
Finally, because God is forever, we also shall live forever. "His seed shall endure for ever" (Psalm 89:36). "The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" (1 John 2:17). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Never Like This
 
"And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel." (Matthew 9:33)
 
In His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus was fully human (except that He did no sin). He probably looked and acted very "average," yet He continually performed works of healing and other miracles which were utterly different from those magical deeds attributed to the many conjurers of the day. When the man "sick of the palsy" was instantaneously and completely cured, he "went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion" (Mark 2:12). It was no wonder that Nicodemus, Israel's greatest teacher at the time, acknowledged to Jesus that "no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him" (John 3:2).
 
It was the same with His teachings. When officers were sent to arrest Him because of these teachings, they came back empty-handed, reporting simply that "Never man spake like this man" (John 7:46).
 
His words and deeds were uniquely from God, and those who saw and heard Him should have known this. It was appropriate that, when the time came for Him to fulfill Zechariah's prophecy concerning the coming of Israel's King, entering Jerusalem on a donkey, He had to "find a colt tied, whereon never man sat" (Mark 11:2) to serve as His kingly chariot. Others before Him had come into the city on donkeys, but never like this, on an unbroken colt.
 
And when He died, He had to be buried in "a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid" (John 19:41). His birth was different, as were His life and death and burial, from those of other men, and "there is none other name . . . whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Blind Hearts
 
"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." (Ephesians 4:18)
 
It is a tragedy for a person to have blinded eyes, but infinitely worse to have a blinded heart. No one ever willfully chooses to be sightless, but spiritual blindness is a product of the human will.
 
After Christ had given sight to the man born blind, the Pharisees still refused to believe, so Jesus said to them, "For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. . . . If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9:39, 41).
 
Like these ancient intellectuals, it often seems that modern intellectuals are incurably blind. They profess to teach science and philosophy of the highest complexity, but their understanding is darkened and their hearts are blinded when it comes to the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. As Paul says: "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
 
Even very religious people, people who believe in God as Creator, may blind themselves when confronted with the truth that the Creator must also become their Savior. "But their minds were blinded . . . even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart" (2 Corinthians 3:14-15).
 
Nevertheless, Christ came as "the light," and when anyone will simply in faith "turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:16), and the gospel will "shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:4). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The House of the Lord
 
"One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple." (Psalm 27:4)
 
The theme of the house of God is prominent in the book of Psalms. The phrase "the house of the LORD" occurs seven times, plus once each for "the LORD's house" and "the house of the LORD our God." There are three references to "the house of God," one to "the house of my God," and one to "the house of our God." Then, "thy house" is mentioned eleven times, making a total of at least 25 explicit references to the house of the Lord in the book of Psalms alone.
 
Many of these passages refer, of course, to the actual temple in Jerusalem. On the other hand, since it was in the temple's holy place that the Shekinah glory dwelled and where the high priest met once each year with God on behalf of the people, there naturally follows a personal metaphorical application with the house of the Lord referring to the spiritual presence of the Lord in the life of each believer.
 
In our text, the psalmist expresses as his highest desire that of continually dwelling in God's presence all the days of his life. A number of the other references express the same holy desire, and the New Testament response is that, indeed, "ye are the temple of God, and . . . the Spirit of God dwelleth in you" (1 Corinthians 3:16).
 
It is wonderful to "dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life," but that is not all we can look forward to. The glorious concluding assurance of the 23rd Psalm is even greater. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever" (Psalm 23:6). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Promised in Writing
 
"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?" (Romans 8:32)
 
For those of us who have trusted God for salvation, based on the finished work of Christ on the cross, God has already done for us the most difficult and costly thing He could ever do. He graciously sent His only Son to earth and then to the cross and the grave, in order to make forgiveness and eternal fellowship with us possible. We are now adopted children in His family, joint-heirs with His beloved Son, Jesus Christ (vv.16-17, 29, etc.) from whom we will never be separated (vv. 35-39), "whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (v. 15).
 
Consider our state when all this was being done for us. It is easy to love a beautiful baby that needs someone to care for it; but we were not at all attractive. We were filthy sinners, born in sin and habitually choosing to offend God's holy nature by succumbing to "the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3). Furthermore, we were even "enemies" of the cross at the time "we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Romans 5:10). Outside of His eyes of love and grace we would have appeared more like a repulsive maggot than a beautiful baby.
 
It stands to reason that He who has already done the most difficult, yea, infinitely difficult thing for us out of His great love, will continue to manifest that love to us, especially now that we are of His family. As our text tells us, He will "freely give us all things." With our best interests at heart, He will see that "all things work together for |our| good" (Romans 8:28).
 
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Things to Be Aware
 
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (Matthew 7:15)
 
There are three Greek words translated "beware," all of which stress watchfulness and potential danger. In a world under the control of Satan, there are many of his devices which can deceive and undermine the faith and life of the unwary Christian.
 
Our text cautions against false prophets who appear to be true prophets (or teachers, or pastors), but whose apparent spiritual teachings are subversive of biblical truth. John warns that "many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1), and Jesus said they "shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:11). Jesus also warned that His followers should "beware of . . . the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees" (Matthew 16:12). These sects have their respective modern counterparts in the hypocrisy of legalists and the skepticism of liberals, both of which are destructive of true biblical faith and life.
 
Very relevant to today's humanistic intellectualism is the warning of Colossians 2:8: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." This is the Bible's only reference to philosophy, here evidently equated with "vain deceit."
 
Finally, the apostle Peter says, "Beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness" (2 Peter 3:17). In context, Peter is referring to those Christian brethren who have distorted the Scriptures in order to seek an accommodation with the naturalistic worldview of establishment intellectuals (2 Peter 3:3-6, 16). Thus, Peter, John, and Christ Himself would urge constant wariness on our part. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Creation of Plants
 
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so." (Genesis 1:11)
 
One of the favorite biblical arguments used these days by Christian advocates of an old earth comes from a forced interpretation of this verse. While the verse seems to teach "sudden" creation, old-earth advocates interpret the verse to necessitate an indefinite time period, at least long enough for seeds to grow up into mature, seed-bearing plants. Plants differ widely and are thought to have evolved all throughout earth history. The third day, then, must be understood as long enough to witness the appearance of all "kinds" of plants and is equated with a vast stretch of geologic time. However, there are many biblical problems with this view--a few of which follow.
 
Scripture teaches that "in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is" (Exodus 20:11; see also Genesis 2:1-4; etc.), and no meaning other than a solar day is biblically defensible. The "herbs" and "trees" mentioned can only mean small or woody plants which supposedly arrived late on the evolutionary scale, for the same words are used to identify food plants on Day Six.
 
Furthermore, the verb "bring forth" (Genesis 1:11) is also used when God made animals, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature" (v. 24), on the sixth day. It cannot be referring to the growth of a seed out of the ground, but rather must imply the sudden creation of both plants and animals in abundance.
 
Such compromises are impossible biblically and are quite unnecessary. There are no true facts of science which are incompatible with the young-earth teaching of Scripture. We can be sure of its teachings. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Singing Garments of Life
 
"The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing." (Psalm 65:13)
 
This is the concluding verse of the beautiful 65th Psalm, climaxing a remarkable series of testimonies about God's providential care of His creation. In this final figure, the lands are pictured as clothed in beautiful, living garments--garments that shout and sing in joyful praise to their Maker.
 
The figure would be better appreciated in biblical times, or in certain lands (e.g., New Zealand) today where flocks of sheep are so abundant that they literally seem to cover the pasture lands in wool. The flocks first provide a metaphorical garment for the pastures, then literal clothing for men and women. Similarly, the fertile valleys are everywhere arrayed in golden grain, which later provides food for both the animals and human beings.
 
And "the sounds of the earth are like music," as the song so eloquently expresses it. For those with ears to hear and eyes to see, praise is everywhere being offered up to our great Creator and faithful Sustainer, by the very creation itself.
 
Jesus also spoke of the beautiful garments of creation: "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" (Matthew 6:28-30).
 
The verse following our text, therefore, appropriately exhorts, "Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands . . . All the earth shall worship thee" (Psalm 66:1, 4). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Earnest of the Spirit
 
"Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 5:5)
 
This is a fascinating concept and a wonderful reality. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is said to be an "earnest"--that is, a pledge or deposit--on an ultimate fulfillment of a magnificent promise from God Himself. The word translated "earnest" (Greek arrhabon) is essentially a transliteration of its Hebrew equivalent (arabown), translated "pledge" in the Old Testament (see Genesis 38:17-20).
 
Now if the guiding presence of God, through the Holy Spirit, is merely an earnest payment, the fulfillment must be glorious beyond comprehension. This "selfsame thing," as our text calls it, is a wonderful "house which is from heaven," the spiritual body we shall receive when we go to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-2).
 
The phrase also occurs in 2 Corinthians 1:22: "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." In context, the earnest payment here is associated with the "sealing" of God and the assurance that "all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen" (v. 20).
 
The third and last use of this word in the New Testament is in Ephesians 1:13-14: "In whom also trusted . . . after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." We are "joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17), and He is to inherit all things.
 
Thus, the Holy Spirit, a present possession of all who have received Christ as Savior, is also God's pledge of a glorious future--a perfect body, a great inheritance, and the certain fulfillment of all of God's gracious promises. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Blessings in a Fallen World, Part 1
 
"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply. . . . And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply . . . have dominion." (Genesis 1:22, 28)
 
God reveals Himself to us through the words of Scripture. Hence, knowing the definitions of words is critical to knowing God Himself. Fortunately for us, the Bible often defines terms the first time it uses them.
 
What does "blessing" or "blessed" mean? The first use of this term is in Genesis 1:22 and 1:28, when God blessed the animals and man. "Be fruitful, and multiply" immediately follows both uses of the phrase "God blessed them." Hence, bearing offspring is one way God blesses us, implying that children are a blessing. For mankind, God added "have dominion" to the blessing. He entrusted this dominion only to man, not to the animals. Thus, for humans, blessing includes both childbearing and rule over the earth.
 
Why did God choose procreation and dominion as the vehicles for blessing? So that we could participate in His nature! From Genesis 1, we see clearly that God is the only Creator of and Ruler over His entire creation. By delegating childbearing to humans and by delegating rule over the animals to mankind, God granted us a measure of participation in His creativity and in His reign over creation.
 
In Genesis 3:16-19, God frustrated our enjoyment of His blessings by adding pain to childbearing and hard labor to having dominion. Why? The Bible left no room for protest: Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 3:1-7) earned them (and us) judgment, not blessing. Furthermore, Genesis 1 made it clear that blessings are grace. Adam and Eve did nothing to earn God's blessings; He freely chose to give them. Conversely, He can choose just as freely not to bless. Hence, any blessing we enjoy is a privilege, not a right. NTJ

[Soldier4Christ]

Blessings in a Fallen World, Part 2
 
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)
 
This famous verse--often cited as the first proclamation of the gospel--gave a silver lining of mercy to the curse that followed it. In Genesis 1:28, God made childbearing a blessing. But in Genesis 3:16, He frustrated our enjoyment of it. Did God's blessings end here? No.
 
First, consider the context for the promise of Genesis 3:15. Prior to Chapter 3, God placed Adam and Eve in a location (Eden) literally meaning "delight" (2:8)--He put them in a paradise! At the end of Chapter 3, God banished them from the paradise (3:23). In between these two events, Satan (in the form of a serpent) deceived Adam and Eve and ruled over them (Genesis 3:1-7). What is the significance of God's promise of a future crushing blow to the serpent (today's verse)? In this context, God's promise foretold of a return to the pre-serpent, pre-Chapter 3 state, implying a return to paradise and the full blessing of God.
 
Second, consider the specific fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3:15--Christ Himself. His life, death, and resurrection defeated the serpent's rule and paved a way for us to enjoy blessings that will take an eternity to exhaust.
 
The irony in all this? God promised a return to paradise by means of childbearing ("her seed")--the vehicle of the curse.
 
Though Adam likely did not know the specific fulfillment of Genesis 3:15, he seems to have believed the promise of restoration through childbearing ("seed"). He named his wife Eve ("life") "because she was the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20). For those who believe through Christ, a return to Paradise (Luke 23:43) awaits. NTJ

[Soldier4Christ]

Blessings in a Fallen World, Part 3
 
"Unto the woman he said, . . . in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. . . . And unto Adam he said . . . cursed is the ground for thy sake. . . . Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. . . . In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." (Genesis 3:16-19)
 
Today's verses detail how God frustrated the blessings (Genesis 1:28) of childbearing and rule, yet they contain a silver lining of mercy, which the rest of Scripture reveals.
 
The curse applied to all of Adam's descendants: It was felt by Lamech long after Adam has died--"Lamech . . . begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed" (Genesis 5:28-29).
 
But another one of Adam's descendants, King David, praised God as though the Curse had been lifted: "thou hast put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:6). How can a descendent of Adam speak this way? David must have been prophesying.
 
The writer of Hebrews agreed and pointed towards a partial fulfillment in Christ: "we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour" (Hebrews 2:9). Yet Psalm 8 anticipated more: "All things under his feet". This aspect of the prophecy will soon come to pass (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).
 
For those who are born again (organic language harkening back to Genesis 1:28), the freedom from the Curse (Revelation 22:3)--and a restoration of the blessings of "family" (Mark 10:29-30) and rule (Revelation 22:5)--await.
 
Why would God add pain to childbearing and rule? He did so to keep us from getting comfortable on earth and to induce us to seek the eternal restoration of the blessings of family and rule through Christ--an act of mercy in light of the pleasures to come. NTJ

[Soldier4Christ]

The Blood of Abel
 
"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 12:24)
 
There are three references to the blood of Abel in the Bible, with each instance indicating that the shedding of Abel's blood by his brother Cain was a type of the shed blood of Christ. In fact, the very first reference to blood in the Bible (thus, by the "law of first mention," a reference of foundational significance) is God's accusation to Abel's murderer: "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground" (Genesis 4:10).
 
Abel was the first of multitudes through the centuries whose blood has been shed because of their witness for divine righteousness (note 1 John 3:12). This indictment of human wickedness reached its zenith in the spilling of the blood of the one who was perfectly righteous. "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias" (Matthew 23:35; also Luke 11:50-51).
 
But if the blood of Abel cries out for vengeance along with "the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Revelation 17:6), the blood of Christ Himself, as our text assures us, speaks of better things than those called forth by Abel's blood. There was an old covenant, demanding blood for blood, with the atoning blood of animals substituting for that of sinners. "And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant" (Exodus 24:8). But Jesus "is the mediator of the new testament . . . for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament" (Hebrews 9:15), and with His blood, we have "our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience . . . to serve the living God" (Hebrews 10:22; 9:14). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Walk as He Walked
 
"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." (1 John 2:6)
 
The idea of walking as Christ walked can be intimidating to a Christian. After all, the sinless Son of God, Himself fully God, who gave up everything to serve and save rebellious mankind, set an exceedingly high standard. Nothing short of perfection and total sacrifice will do. Nevertheless, while we recognize that we will never fully achieve Christlikeness on this side of glory, we have "received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him" (Colossians 2:6). Let us note several specific commands in the New Testament that describe such a walk.
 
First and foremost, we are to "Walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16, 25; Romans 8:1-4). The empowering of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to "walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory" (1 Thessalonians 2:12; Ephesians 4:1). Furthermore, our walk is a walk of faith: "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).
 
We must "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us" (Ephesians 5:2), and since "now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light" (v. 8; see also 1 John 1:7). We will make good use of our opportunities as we "walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16; Colossians 4:5).
 
We must "walk in truth" (3 John 4) and in honesty (1 Thessalonians 4:12; Romans 13:13). This walk will be evident to all by our "good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
 
Such a victorious walk might be its own reward; but there is more. Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, has said of those who overcome that "they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy" (Revelation 3:4). JDM