A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

Resisting the Devil

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." (1 Peter 5:8-9)
 
The devil is far more powerful and intelligent (as well as subtle and seductive in his malignant purposes) than any combination of human enemies we could ever face, and we would be utterly unable to defeat him with our own human resources. Yet God's Word makes it plain that we are neither to yield to him nor flee from him. Instead, the admonition is: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
 
But how can we resist such a mighty foe? As in our text, we must constantly maintain sobriety and vigilance against his enticements, and be careful to remain "steadfast in the faith." Otherwise, the pseudo-intellectualism and social peer pressure to which we are subjected daily could quickly persuade us to compromise the faith, or even to depart from the faith.
 
We are commanded not to yield and not to compromise. Instead we must "put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." We have "the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the |wicked one|," and also "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:11, 16-17).
 
This mighty sword with which we can make Satan flee from us is literally "the saying of God"—that is, an appropriate individual word from the complete Word of God. This was the instrument with which the Lord Jesus Himself resisted the devil, parrying each temptation with an incisive thrust of Scripture. The result then—as it will be now with us also—was that the devil "departed from him for a season" (Luke 4:13). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

He Became Poor

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)
 
The doctrine of Christ's kenosis, or self-emptying, is one of the most amazing of all biblical truths. The extent to which He who was not only "in the form of God" but also "equal with God" condescended to "make himself of no reputation" (the translation of kenoo in Philippians 2:6-7), is utterly beyond human comprehension.
 
He who once sat on the throne of the universe came to Earth "lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12). Throughout His public ministry, He had "not where to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). Because He had no money to pay the tax, He had to catch a fish with the necessary coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:27). In His agony at Gethsemane, none of His friends would pray with Him, and when He was arrested they all "forsook him and fled" (Matthew 26:40, 56). No one defended Him at His trial.
 
On the cross, the soldiers stripped away His only personal possessions—the clothes on His back—and then "parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take" (Mark 15:24). When He died, His body had to be buried in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:59-60). No home, no money, no possessions, no defenders, not even a tomb of His own in which to lie.
 
But He had a cross on which to die, and because He was obedient to the death of the cross, "God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name" (Philippians 2:9). Through His poverty we become rich, through His homelessness we have a mansion in heaven, and through His terrible death on Calvary we have everlasting life. Yes, we do know the grace of Christ! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Son of Man

"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." (Revelation 14:14)
 
This is the last of some 87 New Testament references (84 in the four gospels, one in Acts, none in the epistles, two in Revelation) to Christ as the Son of man. Here we see the Son of man coming on a white cloud from heaven (just as He had ascended into heaven after His resurrection) as the conquering King of all the earth.
 
What a contrast is this to the first New Testament reference to the Son of man. "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). From humility and poverty on Earth to power and riches in heaven, and for all eternity—this was His journey when Christ left His heavenly glory to join the human family.
 
In between the poverty and the power lay the whole human experience, for He "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Finally, as Son of man He must die for man's sin, for "the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again" (Luke 24:7). Even in heaven He is still the Son of man, for Stephen saw Him thus: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56).
 
There is, indeed, a great man in the glory! Christ called Himself "the Son of man" much more often than "the Son of God," though He will eternally be both, the God/man. He delights to identify with those whom He has redeemed, for He "is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:11). "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" asked Jesus. Then we say, with Peter, "Thou art . . . the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:13, 16). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

No Darkness at All

". . .in him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)
 
Some have suggested that the gospel message is the most important truth in the Bible—and, perhaps, from a temporal human standpoint it may well be. However, there is another more frequent message throughout all of Scripture here summarized by John: "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).
 
In the Bible, God's "light" is clearly focused on intellectual and moral holiness. That unique holy nature both drives and limits the revelation of Himself to His creation.
 
In the intellectual sense, God is the source of all truth (Psalm 119:130; Psalm 36:9). The holiness of God requires truth and because of His holiness, God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). Whenever God reveals anything, He must reveal the truth about Himself and His nature.
 
The opposite of truth, even though it may contain some truth, is the active agent that opposes God's truth as it is revealed to His creation.
 
Lies (darkness) oppose the revelation of that truth:

    In the created "things" (universe)
    In the written Word (Scripture)
    In the "new" creation (salvation)

The incarnate Creator God must reveal truth and cannot "be" untruth. When God speaks, He must speak truth. When God acts, He must "do" truth. God's holiness demands that the creation not "distort" anything about God—or about the creation itself.
 
God could not create a lie—He could not make anything that would inexorably lead us to a wrong conclusion. God could not create processes that would counter His own nature—or that would lead us to conclude something untrue about Him. HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

Strive Not About Words

"Of these things put them in rememberance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers." (2 Timothy 2:14)
 
This command emphasizes the necessity to avoid "word fights." The apostle Paul has much to say about this in other passages. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29). Our words should be "wholesome words" (1 Timothy 6:3), "that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment" (1 Corinthians 1:10).
 
We are not to "give heed to fables and endless genealogies" (1 Timothy 1:4), but are to "refuse profane and old wives' fables" (1 Timothy 4:7). We are not to listen to "commandments of men, that turn from the truth" (Titus 1:14), and we must "avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law" (Titus 3:9), "knowing that they do gender strifes" (2 Timothy 2:23).
 
According to 1 Timothy 6:4-5, those who love "word fights" are "proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words." Such a person is a "questionaholic." Here is a short list of the biblical warnings about such fights.
 
It brings ill will toward others; wrangling; bickering.
It produces "railing" defamation or dishonor of others.
It encourages private plots to hurt.
It produces an incessant meddlesomeness.
It ends up rotting the intellect and robbing truth.
It equates personal gain with godliness.
 
May God protect us from those who are driven to strive "about words to no profit." May God increase our love for "acceptable words; and that which is written, upright, even words of truth" (Ecclesiastes 12:10). HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

The First Love

"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:24)
 
This is the very heart of the moving prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ in the upper room before His arrest and crucifixion. As we hear Him pray, we are translated back in time, before time began, and there we encounter the indescribable love within the counsels of the triune Godhead—Father, and Son, and Spirit—three persons, yet one God.
 
Then, after speaking of this love, Jesus prayed—in the final words of His sure-to-be-answered prayer—"that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (v. 26).
 
This love—the love within the Trinity—was the primeval love and, therefore, is the spring from which flows every other form of true love—marital love, mother love, brotherly love, love of country, love of friends, love for the lost, or any other genuine love.
 
It is appropriate that the first mention of love in the Old Testament refers to the love of a father (Abraham) for his son Isaac (Genesis 22:2), and then that the first reference to love in the New Testament (Matthew 3:17) speaks of the heavenly love of God the Father for God the Son. In both cases, the son is called "beloved," yet in both cases the father and son are prepared to go to the altar of sacrifice, that the will of God might be done and a way of salvation be provided for lost sinners.
 
"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). One day—as He prayed—we shall be with Him, see His glory, and even experience His own eternal love in our hearts. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Turning of the Day

"Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light." (Judges 19:26)
 
This tragic story took place in Israel in a time when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25). The woman was of the tribe of Judah, concubine to a Levite dwelling among the tribe of Ephraim. Although she had been unfaithful, he had taken her back and they were traveling to Ephraim, staying overnight in a city of Benjamin. The "sons of Belial" among the Benjamites, however, had abused the woman throughout the night, leaving her dead at "the dawning of the day."
 
The whole sordid story illustrates the depths of depravity to which even men among God's chosen people can descend under cover of darkness. We are commanded to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret" (Ephesians 5:11-12).
 
In the midst of this dismal record, however, there is an interesting scientific insight which should be noted. The evil events of the night terminated at what the writer calls "the dawning of the day." But the Hebrew word used for "dawning" (panah) is not the normal word for the dawn. Instead it is the word for "turning." Thus, it is not referring to the rising of the sun, but to the rotation of the earth which, after a dark night of evil, once again turns its face to the "light of the world."
 
Note also Job 38:14: "It |i.e., the earth's surface| is turned as clay to the seal," again suggesting the earth's axial rotation each day/night cycle. There is coming a glorious dawning, however, when we shall dwell in the presence of the One who is the true light of the world, and "there shall be no night there" (Revelation 21:25). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

They That Wait upon the Lord

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
 
This is one of the best-loved promises of the Bible, for it is easy to grow weary and faint in our mortal bodies, even when doing the work of the Lord. The answer, we are told, is to "wait upon the LORD."
 
But what does this mean? The Hebrew word (gavah) does not mean "serve," but rather to "wait for" or "look for." It is translated "waited for" the second time it is used in the Bible, when the dying patriarch Jacob cried out: "I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD" (Genesis 49:18).
 
The first time it is used, surprisingly, is in connection with the third day of creation, when God said: "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place" (Genesis 1:9). That is, the all-pervasive waters of the original creation, divided on the second day of creation, now are told to wait patiently, as it were, while God formed the geosphere, the biosphere, and the astrosphere, before dealing again with the waters.
 
Perhaps the clearest insight into its meaning is its use in the picture of Christ foreshadowed in the 40th Psalm. "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry" (Psalm 40:1).
 
"The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary" (Isaiah 40:28), and His gracious promise is that we can "renew our strength" (literally, "exchange our strength," our weakness for His strength!) by "waiting upon |Him|." We wait patiently for Him, we gather together unto Him, we look for Him, we cry unto Him, we trust Him, and He renews our strength! HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Walking in the Midst of the Sea

"But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." (Exodus 14:29)
 
Liberal theologians, always seeking naturalistic explanations for biblical miracles, have attempted to explain this Red Sea crossing as a shallow fording of what they call the "Reed Sea" at the extreme northern end of the Red Sea. The biblical description, however, is clearly of a mighty miracle—not merely of a wind driving the shallow waters seaward. Instead, it describes a great path opened up through deep waters, supernaturally restrained as a wall on both sides of the wide freeway, deep enough to drown all the hosts of Pharaoh when the waters later collapsed.
 
The crossing was, of course, over a narrow northern arm of the Red Sea, enabling the Israelites to cross into the wilderness of Shur (Exodus 15:22), but it was nevertheless a great miracle. Such a miracle required nothing less than the creative power of God, creating some unknown force or energy powerful enough to hold the deep waters as stationary walls against the force of gravity which was straining mightily to bring them down.
 
Later generations always looked back on this event as the great proof of God's divine call of Israel. The "song of Moses," composed after the deliverance, noted that "the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea" (Exodus 15:8).
 
Fifteen centuries later, the apostle Paul recalled the mighty miracle in these words: "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; . . . Now all these things . . . are written for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:1, 11). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Why Did Christ Die?

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
 
This passage is often considered the defining passage of the gospel, stating the great truth that Christ died for our sins, then was buried (thus stressing that His resurrection was a physical resurrection, not just spiritual), and then rose again. As such, it is interesting that verse 1 which introduces it ("I declare unto you the gospel") contains the central mention of the more than 100 times the Greek word for "gospel" occurs in the New Testament.
 
However, it does not say why Christ died for our sins. It was not just to pay for our salvation and make us happy. There are, in fact, numerous references to His substitutionary death which do give us further insight into just why Christ died for us and our salvation.
 
For example, "he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15). And consider Galatians 1:4, in which Paul tells us that Christ "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world."
 
Peter's testimony and explanation was that the Lord Jesus "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24). John said: "|God| loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:10-11).
 
There are many other verses to the same affect. Christ did not die merely to save our souls, but to empower us to live in a way that would glorify God right here on Earth. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Sin of the Devil

"Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them." (Exodus 18:11)
 
This is the first mention in the Bible of the sin of pride, and it appropriately refers to the primeval sin of the "gods"—that is, the supposed deities of the heathen.
 
Led by Lucifer, a great host of the created angels had rebelled against their Creator, seeking also to be "gods" like Him. Lucifer, later to be called Satan (i.e., "adversary"), thought he could become the highest of all. "O Lucifer . . . thou hast said in thine heart, I will . . . exalt my throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell" (Isaiah 14:12-15).
 
Satan's sin—and that of the other self-proclaimed "gods"—was that of "being lifted up with pride . . . the condemnation of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:6). But they shall all, with him, eventually "be brought down to hell" and the "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
 
This was also the sin of Adam and Eve, for Satan had seduced them with the promise "ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5).
 
It is also the sin of all humanists and evolutionary pantheists, from Adam's day to our day, for they seek to do away with God and make "gods" out of "corruptible man." They have "worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator" (Romans 1:23, 25).
 
But "pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Our Lord of creation is "above all gods," even in that "thing wherein they dealt proudly." The sin of pride was the very first sin and is still the most difficult sin to overcome, but "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Sin of the Devil

"Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them." (Exodus 18:11)
 
This is the first mention in the Bible of the sin of pride, and it appropriately refers to the primeval sin of the "gods"—that is, the supposed deities of the heathen.
 
Led by Lucifer, a great host of the created angels had rebelled against their Creator, seeking also to be "gods" like Him. Lucifer, later to be called Satan (i.e., "adversary"), thought he could become the highest of all. "O Lucifer . . . thou hast said in thine heart, I will . . . exalt my throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell" (Isaiah 14:12-15).
 
Satan's sin—and that of the other self-proclaimed "gods"—was that of "being lifted up with pride . . . the condemnation of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:6). But they shall all, with him, eventually "be brought down to hell" and the "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
 
This was also the sin of Adam and Eve, for Satan had seduced them with the promise "ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5).
 
It is also the sin of all humanists and evolutionary pantheists, from Adam's day to our day, for they seek to do away with God and make "gods" out of "corruptible man." They have "worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator" (Romans 1:23, 25).
 
But "pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Our Lord of creation is "above all gods," even in that "thing wherein they dealt proudly." The sin of pride was the very first sin and is still the most difficult sin to overcome, but "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Christ in Suffering and Triumph

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8)
 
In the final book of the Bible occur seven great "I am" assertions by the glorified Christ, all speaking of His ultimate victory. However, in the book of Psalms occur seven vastly different "I am" statements by Christ, all speaking prophetically of His sufferings. These are in four of the wonderfully fulfilled Messianic psalms, all written 1,000 years before Christ, yet each psalm cited in the New Testament is fulfilled by Christ.
 
"But I am a worm, and no man" (Psalm 22:6, comparing Christ to a mother "scarlet worm" who dies so that her young may live, and in so doing gives off a scarlet fluid which protects and nourishes her young).
"I am poor and needy" (Psalm 40:17).
"I am . . . a stranger unto my brethren" (Psalm 69:8).
"I am full of heaviness" (Psalm 69:20).
"I am poor and sorrowful" (Psalm 69:29).
"I . . . am as a sparrow alone upon the house top" (Psalm 102:7).
"I am withered like grass" (Psalm 102:11).
 
In contrast to these lonely sufferings of Christ, there are the glories that shall follow. The first of the seven "I am's" of Revelation is our text above, and four of the others proclaim the same great truth (Revelation 1:11, 17; 21:6; 22:13).
 
The self-existing One, the "I am," Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ, who created all things (Alpha), will one day triumph and make all things new forever (Omega). Listen to the other two wonderful testimonies: "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18). "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

A Still, Small Voice

"And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." (1 Kings 19:12)
 
Elijah was in hiding for his life, even though God had spectacularly answered his prayer with fire from heaven. Jezebel, however, had not been intimidated by Elijah's victory and swore she would kill him. He fell into such depression that he wanted to die. If Jezebel could not be impressed with fire from heaven, how could Elijah ever hope to defeat her and her armies? Not even an angel could remove his doubts.
 
But then was sent "a great and strong wind," and "after the wind an earthquake" (1 Kings 19:11). But the Lord was not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. God finally reached Elijah with "a still small voice," and that voice assured him that God was well in control of all circumstances. Similarly, Moses told the children of Israel, as they faced the Red Sea: "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD" (Exodus 14:13).
 
It was prophesied of the Lord Jesus that "he shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street." Nevertheless, it was also promised, "he shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth" (Isaiah 42:2, 4; see also Matthew 12:19-20).
 
In our human impatience, we think God should always move immediately in great strength. Unless there are large numbers of converts and displays of power, we grow discouraged, like Elijah. But God more often speaks in a still, small voice and works in a quiet way. "And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, . . . And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isaiah 30:18, 21). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

When God Repents

"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent." (1 Samuel 15:29)
 
There are a number of Scriptures that speak of God repenting. For example, in the days before the great Flood, "it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth" (Genesis 6:6). In the same chapter containing our text, God said: "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments" (1 Samuel 15:11). Yet the Scriptures plainly teach that God changes not. "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent" (Numbers 23:19). Bible critics have made much of this apparent "contradiction" in the Bible.
 
There is no contradiction, of course. The words translated "repent" in both Old and New Testaments are used of actions which indicate outwardly that a "change of mind" has occurred inwardly. It is precisely because God does not repent concerning evil that His actions will change toward man when man truly repents (this human "repentance" can go either way, changing from good to evil, or vice versa), and God will respond accordingly, since He cannot change His own mind toward evil.
 
Thus, He said concerning national repentance: "If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them" (Jeremiah 18:8). That is, if the nation truly repents, then God will change His own projected course of action. He seems outwardly to "repent," specifically because He cannot repent in His inward attitude toward good and evil.
 
God has greatly blessed America in the past, but America's people have drastically changed in recent years. Can the time be long coming when God must say: "It repenteth me that I have so favored this apostate nation?" HMM