A Daily Devotional

[Soldier4Christ]

God My Personal Savior

“And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” (Luke 1:47)
 
One of the most wonderful titles of the Lord Jesus Christ is that of Savior. This word (Greek soter, from which is derived our theological term “soteriology,” the study of salvation) occurs 24 times in the New Testament and is applied only to Christ, “for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
 
It occurs first of all on the lips of the virgin Mary in our text above, when she realized that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Savior. It is significant that this first use of soter recognizes that our Savior can be none other than God Himself—“God my Savior”—and also that this fact should cause our spirits to rejoice, as Mary’s did. He becomes our personal Savior when we believe on Him, as did Mary.
 
He is also “the Saviour of the world” (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14) and the “Saviour of all men” in the sense that His work on the cross is sufficient to save all who will receive Him.
 
There are eight other verses in the New Testament in which “Savior” is taken as synonymous with “God.” The final occurrence of “Savior” is one of these, and it is in one of the greatest doxologies of the Bible. “To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 25).
 
There are many today who see the man Jesus as a great teacher and example, but who reject His deity. There are many others who believe in a cosmic deity of some kind, but are unwilling to believe that He could become uniquely incarnate in a perfect man. How urgent it is that we believe and teach that our Creator must also become our Savior if we are ever to be saved. We must “trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10). Then we can rejoice with Mary in “God my Saviour.” HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Another Jesus

“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:4)
 
The verses following our text contain an enlightening warning about false teachers. One should not carelessly follow a personable religious leader merely because he “preaches Jesus” or urges audiences to “receive the Spirit.”
 
“Jesus” is quite popular among worldly people today, but not the true Jesus. The popular Jesus may be the baby Jesus in the manger at Christmastime, or the buddy Jesus of Nashville “gospel” music, or the success-counseling Jesus of the positive thinkers. He may be the romantic Jesus of the Christian crooners, the rhythmic Jesus of Christian rock, or the reforming Jesus of the liberals, but none of these are the Jesus preached by the apostle Paul, and therefore not the real Jesus who saves men and women from their sins.
 
Jesus in reality is the Lord Jesus Christ, the offended Creator of the universe (Colossians 1:16), who had to die as man on the cross to redeem us through His shed blood (Colossians 1:14, 20), and who then rose from the dead to be set “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named” (Ephesians 1:21). Finally, it is this Jesus “who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1).
 
The Lord Jesus, as He really is, is not the popular Jesus of T-shirts and bumper stickers, politicians and entertainers. He was “despised and rejected of men” (Isaiah 53:3) so they “crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8).
 
He is the mighty God, the perfect man, the only Savior, the eternal King, and Lord of lords. God-called teachers will not preach an imaginary Jesus who appeals to the flesh, but rather the true Christ of creation and salvation. HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Holidays

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” (Colossians 2:16)
 
This is the only verse in the New Testament that has any reference to holidays (at one time considered “holy days”). However, the Greek word so translated does occur there quite often, being rendered elsewhere always by its correct meaning of “feasts.”
 
Such “holy days” in the Old Testament economy normally required “no servile work” to be done on those days and were usually associated with a special “feast” of some deep spiritual significance. They certainly were not holidays in the modern sense, devoted mostly to pleasure.
 
In fact, it is perhaps significant that neither holidays nor vacations are mentioned in the Bible at all. The weekly Sabbath “rest” day is, of course, frequently emphasized. One day in seven has always been observed as a day to rest from labor and to remember our Creator. However, the other six days were to be spent working. Many can still remember when the norm was a six-day work week.
 
Not so now. Many complain about even a five-day week, and “T.G.I.F.” is a common feeling as the “weekend” approaches. “Labor” Day is now a day mainly for fun, but it might be a good day for Christians to thank God for the privilege of work and doing that work “heartily, as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). Our work, whatever it may be, can become a real testimony for (or, sadly, against) the Lord whom we profess to serve.
 
In the ages to come, there will still be work to do for the Lord. In that day, it is promised that “his servants shall serve him” (Revelation 22:3). Therefore, we should be “abounding in the work of the Lord” right now. It will not be “in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Duty of Rejoicing

“But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.” (Psalm 5:11)
 
It may seem strange to think of rejoicing as a Christian duty, but the Scriptures do contain many commands to rejoice, and many of these are given in circumstances of grief or danger, as is the case of our beautiful text verse.
 
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4), Paul wrote from a Roman dungeon. In the upper room the night before He was to die on a cross, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples: “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (John 15:11). And then He said: “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2). But then He said again: “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24).
 
If David could rejoice while fleeing from murderous enemies, if Paul could rejoice while chained unjustly in a Roman prison, if the disciples could experience fullness of joy while facing martyrdom, and if the Lord Himself “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2), then our Christian duty of rejoicing in all circumstances may not be such an unseemly command after all.
 
We can rejoice, as our text reminds us, “because thou defendest them.” Furthermore, He Himself provides the joy, for “the fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy” (Galatians 5:22). It is not that the Christian will never know sorrow, for Christ Himself was “a man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3). But He also was a man of joy and, in Him, we can be like Him—“as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Apostasy and Prosperity

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
 
One of the most tragic movements in Christendom today teaches that God promises to make each Christian prosper in material wealth. Suffice it to say, the Bible teaches no such thing, as seen in our text and elsewhere, but this false teaching is not new and is associated with apostasy.
 
Consider chapters 17 and 18 of the book of Judges, which describe a period of rampant apostasy and confusion. The chapters provide character sketches of an itinerant Levite, the tribe of Dan, and a man named Micah. First we see that Micah steals 1,100 shekels of silver from his mother, who then places a curse on the unknown thief. Micah, fearing the curse, confesses the crime. His mother tries to lessen the curse by dedicating all the money to the Lord and converts 200 shekels into an idol. Micah places the idol with his others and consecrates his son as priest, even though they are of the tribe of Ephraim. Later, he hires the Levite to be his priest and exclaims, “Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest” (Judges 17:13).
 
In the next chapter, spies of the Danites go to the priest for God’s blessing on their efforts to find land that they can conquer. When the marauders return, they recruit the Levite to a more prosperous position. He joins them, having stolen Micah’s idols, and etablishes the tribal priesthood.
 
Each one in this story was confident that God would bless them materially because they had the trappings of religion. The common denominator was greed. Their desire for personal prosperity led them to a prostitution of the true worship of God. But whenever religion is “used” to justify the “love of money,” it suffers degradation. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Everlasting Love

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31:3)
 
Perhaps no doctrine in Scripture is as clearly stated as that expressed in our text and in many other passages. God loves us! His love is an “everlasting love” and compels Him to act strongly and lovingly on our behalf. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). This theme finds glorious expression in the grand hymn of the last century entitled “I Am His, and He Is Mine.”
 
Loved with everlasting love, Led by grace that love to know;
Spirit, breathing from above, Thou hast taught me it is so!
O this full and perfect peace, O this transport all divine—
In a love which cannot cease, I am His and He is mine.
 
Jesus prayed, “I in them, and thou in me, . . . that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am” (John 17:23-24). The Father will never allow us to part from Him or our Savior.
 
These precious facts are taught to us by the “inspired” (literally “God-breathed”) Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16), and “the Comforter . . . , the Spirit of truth [who] will guide [us] into all truth” (John 16:7, 13). He drew us to Himself “in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” (Ephesians 1:4-5). “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). In His grace, we come to Him, experiencing sweet forgiveness and everlasting love. Cradled in the security of His undying love, we have peace. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isaiah 26:3). JDM
 
Click here for the sheet music for this hymn.

[Soldier4Christ]

Appreciating God's Creation

“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food.” (Genesis 2:8-9)
 
Everything in the garden of Eden was prepared for man’s enjoyment. In the time between creation and the curse, Adam and Eve no doubt fully enjoyed the vegetation (Genesis 2:5, 9, 15-16), the animals (vv. 19-20), the atmosphere and the weather (vv. 5-6), the rivers and the raw materials (vv. 10-14), each other (vv. 18, 21-25), and fellowship with God (3:8). But soon they rebelled and were driven from the beautiful garden (3:24), and ever since, mankind’s ability to enjoy creation has been shackled somewhat, for creation was distorted by sin, and the eyes of each one of us have become dull. The second verse of the well-loved hymn “I Am His, and He Is Mine” describes a partial reopening of the eyes of a believer upon salvation, as a love gift from our Lord.
 
Heav’n above is softer blue, Earth around is sweeter green;
Something lives in ev’ry hue Christless eyes have never seen!
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow, Flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know, I am His and He is mine.
 
In His abundant love for His children, our Lord promises to supply all our needs once again. “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” (Matthew 6:28-29). Creation’s beauty waits to thrill us and instruct us. Our loving Father wills it so. But creation will be fully restored soon, and “the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing” (Isaiah 35:1-2). He beckons us to join Him in His kingdom. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

His Everlasting Arms

“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
 
The third verse of “I Am His, and He Is Mine” recalls former times of alarm, fear, and doubt, but testifies of the rest and peace in His love, cradled in the “everlasting arms” of the Savior.
 
Things that once were wild alarms Cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms, Pillowed on the loving breast!
O to lie forever here, Doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear—I am His and He is mine.
 
This verse reminds us of the evening when Jesus and His disciples were in a boat and a violent storm arose. They awoke Jesus from His sleep and cried, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38). Of course Jesus cared, for He loved them. So “he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still” (v. 39). To His disciples, He said, “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” (v. 40). The time would come when they would need that faith and peace. They would learn to rest in His loving care.
 
The song also reminds us of the special loving relationship between Jesus and the disciple John. “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). A deep intimacy with Him was John’s, and can be ours, if we will only pillow our head on Him. No passage expresses that intimacy as well as the Song of Solomon, using the analogy of husband and wife to reflect the self-sacrificing love between our Lord and His children. “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine” (Song of Solomon 6:3). The affairs of this life interrupt our times of intimacy with Him, but there will be a day when we will “ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

While God and I Shall Be

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
 
The final verse of the majestic hymn “I Am His, and He Is Mine” focuses on the unending love between the believer and God. As we read in our text, nothing can “separate us from the love of God.”
 
His forever, only His—Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heav’n and earth may fade and flee, First-born light in gloom decline,
But while God and I shall be, I am His, and He is mine.
 
Resting in such supernatural love, which lasts forever, begets peace and rest even now. Our Savior beckons, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Aspects of our present life may be temporary, but His love lasts forever. “The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, . . . but my salvation shall be forever” (Isaiah 51:6). “And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar [gray] hairs will I carry you” (Isaiah 46:4).
 
Consider the last line in the hymn. “But while God and I shall be, I am His and He is mine.” As long as either God or the individual remains, their love will last. “But the LORD shall endure forever” (Psalm 9:7). “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). Thus, the Christian “will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever” (Psalm 23:6). “I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

The Beginning of the Creation

“But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.” (Mark 10:6)
 
These words of the Lord Jesus Christ ought to settle once and for all, for those who take His words seriously, the controversial question of the age of the earth. The earth was created essentially at the same time, He said, as the creation of Adam and Eve. Christ was quoting from Genesis 1:27: “male and female created He them.” This greatest of God’s creative works was “from the beginning of the creation,” not 13 billion years after the beginning of the creation, as modern old-earth advocates allege.
 
One can understand why atheists believe in evolution and an almost infinitely old universe, for they really have no other alternative. One who believes in a personal God, on the other hand, only dishonors God if he believes such humanistic speculations rather than God’s Word. God is omniscient and omnipotent, as well as loving and merciful, and He would never do anything like this. The great ages assumed by evolutionary geologists supposedly involved billions of years of suffering and dying by billions of animals before man ever evolved. Surely this would have been the most inefficient, wasteful, and cruel method that ever could have been devised for “creating” human beings. Since man’s creation was God’s main purpose, there is no conceivable reason why He would waste billions of years in such a meaningless charade as this before getting to the point.
 
In fact, the only reason He took six days instead of an instant of time was to serve as a pattern for man’s work week (Exodus 20:8-11). In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ was not only a creationist, but was Himself the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; etc.). Therefore, He is the best possible witness as to when He created man and woman, and He said it was “from the beginning of the creation!” HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

Settled in Heaven

“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)
 
There are yet quite a number of unsettled controversies among Bible scholars as to the original text of certain passages in both Old and New Testaments. In fact, a frequent objection raised to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is that, since all the original “autographs” have been lost, we can never really be sure of any passage.
 
It is interesting to speculate on what happened to those manuscripts directly inspired by God and penned by Moses, John, Paul, and the others. It is strange that they all simply disappeared, with not a hint as to their history. If they had been preserved in a church or monastery somewhere, they would soon have become idolatrous objects of worship, so it is probably best they are gone.
 
But where did they go? The famous “ark of the covenant” similarly vanished at the time of the Babylonian invasion, and many fruitless searches have been conducted for it even in modern times. In this case, however, we do have a remarkable revelation. “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament” (Revelation 11:19). Evidently, the ark has been translated into heaven! We must realize that heaven is a real place in this eternal physical cosmos. Enoch and Elijah were translated there in their earthly bodies, and Christ is there in His physical resurrection body.
 
If, perhaps, angels somehow carried the original manuscripts of God’s Word to heaven after enough copies had been made to assure its faithful transmission on Earth, placing them there in the ark, like the tablets of the law when it was still on the earth, this would surely give added meaning to our wonderful text verse: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven!” HMM

[Soldier4Christ]

In Time of Trouble

“For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:5)
 
In this psalm of praise, David expresses his confidence in the Lord, even though “the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh” (v. 2). In spite of the danger, he looks to God for safety. “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (v. 1). Why did God preserve David? The answer is at least twofold.
 
First, David had a heart for God. “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 inquire in his temple” (v. 4). “Thy face, Lord, will I seek” (v. 8). “Teach me thy way, O LORD” (v. 11).
 
The second reason is the nature of God Himself. God, by His very nature, hates evil and extends grace toward His own. He is pictured here as a warrior conquering the evil enemies of David. His laws forbid their actions; His gospel robbed these evildoers of their grip; His final kingdom will be rid of them. Until God’s justice, His gospel, and His purpose all fail, we can be sure that He will act.
 
In our text, David is hidden in the Lord’s “pavilion.” The word, which literally means a protective covering, was used for the tent of the commander-in-chief. Here, with the commander-in-chief, is the most fortified, guarded, and safe area of the battleground. If the pavilion falls, the battle is lost and God has failed. Hidden in His pavilion, we are as safe as He. He sees to it that we are not frightened (v. 13) amid the din of battle, and we shall share in the ultimate victory.
 
In this world, we have tumultuous war; in the next, unbroken peace. Assured of the outcome, we can “wait on the Lord: [and] be of good courage” (v. 14). JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

Glorious Holiness

“Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)
 
Our finite minds would never grasp the idea of holiness if not for the revelation granted to us in the Scriptures. God’s “separateness” requires even the awesome four-faced, sixwinged Seraphim to “rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8).
 
Samuel’s gentle mother, praying before the tabernacle, was no doubt moved by the Spirit of God to proclaim, “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee" (1 Samuel 2:2). Her short statement of faith is the core of holiness—the separate unique character that only the Creator of the universe can possess.
 
Those who have been “born again” (John 3:3) are called “saints” (Romans 1:7, etc.) when they were “created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Our “holiness” is part of the “gift of God” from the One who is holy, “without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
 
Because our Creator, Lord, and King is “righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works” (Psalm 145:17), it should come as no surprise that “as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
 
The “great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4) given to us by our gracious Lord are the spiritual means by which we can “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).
 
Our destiny is sure. Our duty is clear. “Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength” (Isaiah 49:5). HMM III

[Soldier4Christ]

The Unjust

“And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8)
 
This parable of the unjust steward has perplexed many Christians, for it seems to indicate that the Lord approved of dishonesty. “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness” (v. 9) also seems to contradict verse 13, when He said, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
 
The apparent contradiction vanishes, however, when we realize Christ was not commending the dishonesty of the steward, but his acute business sense and concern for the future. Neither does the Lord approve of greed or covetousness, but He does exhort believers to be as prudent in investing their money for the eternal future as shrewd worldlings are in feathering their earthly nests. Sad to say, it is common experience that, by this measure, “the children of this world” do conduct their affairs “in this generation” far more shrewdly than “the children of light.” Even more sadly, the latter often even try to follow the example of the ungodly in “laying up for themselves treasures upon earth,” rather than “treasures in heaven” (see Matthew 6:19-20).
 
The Lord would exhort us, on the other hand, to use our money (“the mammon of unrighteousness”) to make true friends, “that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). The “unjust steward” was trying to insure his own earthly future, hoping to make temporal friends by bribing them with money that was not even his own.
 
How much wiser it is for us to use whatever money the Lord has entrusted to us to make true friends, helping to bring them to Christ and building them up in the faith. Then, when we “fail” from this life, we shall enjoy their fellowship and gratitude in the “everlasting habitations” of eternity. HMM

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The Poetry of God

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
 
The word “poem” is derived from the Greek poiema. Used only twice in the New Testament, it refers to two great works of God Himself. Thus, God is the divine poet who has created two great masterpieces—artistic creations of marvelous intricacy and surpassing beauty.
 
The first is the entire physical universe: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). In this key verse, poiema is translated “things that are made.” Everything in the universe, animate and inanimate, constitutes a marvelous product of God’s creative forethought and inventive skill. If a beautiful poem requires a poet to create it, so much the more does the complex cosmic poem of the universe demand a great poet of consummate wisdom and infinite power. The rejection of the poet and the message of the poem not only leaves one “without excuse” (v. 20), but facing “the wrath of God” (v. 18).
 
Yet an even more amazing poem is the work of transforming redemption accomplished in a lost soul saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). For then it is we, ourselves, who become His poem! This also is a great creative masterpiece, for “we are his workmanship [same word, Greek poiema], created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” A life once dead in sin, now born again and walking in good works—this is God’s greatest poetic masterpiece of all!
 
Both the mighty universe and the soul made new in Christ are special creations of God, and both manifest His greatness and His love. “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15) of grace. HMM