A Daily Devotional

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The 'Light' Equation

“God is light.” (1 John 1:5)

The biblical text is rich with metaphors and similes, one of which often appears in John’s writings. God is said to be “light”—the most constant, clearly observable, and all-pervasive experience in our universe.

God’s life is the light of men (John 1:4).
God’s light is not conquered by darkness (John 1:5).
God’s light attracts men who love truth (John 3:21).
Jesus is the “light of the world” (John 8:12).

John’s emphasis in his epistle is focused on the application of the “light” in our lives. Since God is light (our text; see also 1 Timothy 6:16), we can never be a participant in the life of God apart from the light of God (1 John 1:6). If we claim fellowship with God, we must “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). Since God is the “true light” (1 John 2:8), we are not part of His family if we despise those He loves (1 John 2:9).

It is equally obvious that since God is holy (Psalm 99:9) and righteous (Daniel 9:14), the light that we are to “shine” (Matthew 5:16) must be a “radiant” righteousness visible to all who come in contact with us (Proverbs 4:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:5).

Our breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14) should “blind” the ungodly with the brilliance of our lifestyle of holiness—so much so that even if we are spoken against by those who hate God, they will be forced to glorify God (“adorn with luster”) because of our good works (1 Peter 2:12).

Because the God of our salvation is “the light of the world” (John 9:5) and we have been made “the children of light” (Ephesians 5:8), “ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). HMM III

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Prepared Hearts

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” (Ezra 7:10)

It does not come naturally into our hearts to seek, obey, and then teach others the words of God as found in the Scriptures. Therefore, like Ezra, we must prepare our hearts.

The Hebrew word for “prepare” means to “stand erect,” and thus takes special effort. One’s natural “heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), not at all inclined to “stand up” for the Word of God.

But Ezra did, even in the court of a pagan king and in the midst of the enemies of God’s people in a far country, and even among the backslidden people of his own nation. He prepared his heart, fixing it in firm faith on the laws and promises of God. And because he did, he could testify: “I was strengthened as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me” (Ezra 7:28).

On the other hand, we read, for example, of King Rehoboam, whose rebellion and sin led to the dividing of Israel into two kingdoms and eventually into the captivity. These judgments came because, unlike Ezra, Rehoboam “did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD” (2 Chronicles 12:14).

Thus, our hearts need to be prepared to seek God and His Word, but how do we get them prepared? First, we must come to Him in true humility. “LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear” (Psalm 10:17).

God is then the One who actually prepares our hearts! “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:1). We can only prepare our hearts to seek and serve God if we humbly call on Him to do the preparing. HMM

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Young Men

“I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” (1 John 2:14)

There are two commendations about the “young men” (typically applied to those under 40) that John notes. They are “strong” (vigorous, healthy, both physically and mentally) and the word of God “abides” (remains, endures) in them. These are those who have come through their believing childhood, no doubt guided and counseled by the “fathers” in their lives, who are now active in the “good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12).

Like Abraham, they are “strong in faith” (Romans 4:20), not staggering under the burden of unbelief. Like the leaders in the church at Rome, they are willing to “bear the infirmities of the weak” (Romans 15:1) and to be alert, standing “fast in the faith” (1 Corinthians 16:13). Even though they would have faced opposition from among professing Christians, they were “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:1).

These are the ones who refused to handle the “word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:2) but gladly received it as “it is in truth, the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). They know that “the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Hebrews 4:12), and have taken time to store the Word in their heart (Psalm 119:11). These “young men” know that if God’s “words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

Those attributes make possible the result: “Ye have overcome the wicked one.” Safe in the secure saving faith of God, guided by the great truths of the Word of God, these young men have not been “overcome of evil” but have “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). HMM III

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Made in Christ

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Many men would boast of being “self-made” men, but no Christian can do this. Everything we are that’s truly worthy and eternal was made in us by God through Jesus Christ. Our text is clear on this. We have been made righteous in Christ, but this was only because God made Him to be sin for us.

When He made us righteous in Christ, He also “made us accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). Furthermore, we were “made nigh by the blood of Christ” (2:13). The contexts of these passages make it abundantly clear that our being made righteous, accepted in Christ, and nigh to God, is all of grace; we did nothing to merit such privileges.

This is not all. At the same moment, He also has “made us meet [‘fit’] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12). That we in our poverty should be made joint-heirs with Christ once again is only by His unmerited grace. “Being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

In promise now and in full reality later, He has “made us kings and priests unto God and his Father” (Revelation 1:6). Positionally, we even share His throne, for He “hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

Without Him we are nothing; but in Him we have all things. He is “made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Truly, in salvation as well as in creation, “it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3). HMM

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Thou Shalt Not

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:4)

Many secularists criticize Christianity as being a religion of negativism filled with prohibitions. In response, Christians often try to blunt this criticism by stressing Christian love and freedom from the law.

The fact is, however, that the New Testament also contains many prohibitions, including a restatement of all those in God’s laws as expressed in the Ten Commandments. The first of these in our text prohibits idolatry. Six others also begin with “thou shalt not.” “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain”; “Thou shalt not kill”; “Thou shalt not commit adultery”; “Thou shalt not steal”; “Thou shalt not bear false witness”; “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:7, 13-17).

It is inappropriate for any Christian to ignore these commandments. Godly behavior is more important now than ever before. Not only are these prohibitions all repeated in the New Testament, but there are numerous other “shalt nots” as well, all directed to Christians saved by grace, apart from the works of the law.

For example: “Be not drunk with wine” (Ephesians 5:18); “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26); “Mind not high things....Be not wise in your own conceits” (Romans 12:16); “avenge not yourselves” (Romans 12:19); and many, many others.

There are numerous positive aspects to the Christian life, of course, but there are also things a Christian should not do. We do not work for our salvation, but we must work out our salvation, putting off the works of the flesh and putting on the works of a regenerate life. HMM

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To the Fourth Generation

“Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.” (Deuteronomy 5:9)

This seemingly unwarranted penalty imposed on the innocent grandchildren of the idolater cannot possibly negate the later promise of God through the prophet Ezekiel: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 18:20).

And certainly it cannot obviate the clear promise of Christ Himself in the last chapter of the Bible: “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). Anyone who desires to do so may accept the Lord’s gracious offer of salvation, regardless of the possible wickedness or anti-Christian religion of any of his ancestors.

At the same time, a man should realize that his decision to follow a false religion and then bring up his children in that false religion will almost certainly affect his grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. Many of the latter will actually be children while their great-grandfather is still alive. It’s a simple fact that most children (though not all) will continue in their parents’ “religion.” They can, if they wish, choose to leave their parents’ religion and become Christians, but most will not.

What a great responsibility, therefore, each father has! He should quickly accept Christ (whose credentials as our Creator and Redeemer are impeccable!) as his Savior and Lord, and then diligently train his own children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). HMM

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If I Perish

“Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

This is the courageous testimony of Queen Esther as she prepared to risk her own life in order to save the lives of her people. It was a capital crime for anyone to intrude into the king’s throne room unbidden, but she was willing to do so in order to do the will of God, knowing that “we ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

In the same spirit, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to enter the fiery furnace rather than to worship the humanistic gods of Babylon, testifying to Nebuchadnezzar that “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods” (Daniel 3:17-18).

God did deliver Esther and the three Jewish youths, but there have been many through the ages who have died for their faith rather than deny their faith. All the apostles (save John) died as martyrs, for example, and so have countless others throughout the centuries. “They loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11) if it meant denying their Savior.

Believers in many nations are suffering such persecutions today, and the time is coming when the last great God-rejecting king of the earth (called the “beast” in Scripture) will “cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:15). If a similar choice confronts us, may God give us the grace to say with Paul, “Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20), and with Esther: “If I perish, I perish.” HMM

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Working Out Our Salvation

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12)

We are not told here to work for our salvation, but to work it out—that is, to demonstrate its reality in our daily lives. Our salvation must be received entirely by grace through faith, not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9), or else it is not true salvation. Works can no more keep our salvation than they can earn it for us in the first place. It is not faith plus works, but grace through faith.

Nevertheless, a Christian believer, if his salvation has been real, can testify that “I will show thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Good works—consisting of a righteous and gracious lifestyle, considerate of others and obedient to Christ’s commands—are the visible evidences of salvation. We have been “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

The context of our text, in fact, assures us, on the basis of Christ’s sacrificial death, glorious resurrection, and exaltation (Philippians 2:8-11), that “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (v. 13). God is thereby enabling us to “work out” our salvation in visible practice, through the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.

Thus, it is beautifully appropriate that the life of a genuinely born-again Christian, possessing true salvation, should be “blameless and harmless, the sons of God,...as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life” (vv. 15-16). We do need to “examine [ourselves], whether [we] be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5), and we are admonished that “we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). HMM

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In No Wise

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37)

This Scripture gives two remarkable truths about our salvation. The first truth is that no one can come to Christ without the election and work of the Father God. A few verses later, Christ says, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44).

Another assuring aspect of this verse is that it begins with the word “all,” or pan in the Greek. In other words, everyone whom the Father chooses and draws will indeed come to Christ. There’s nothing in ourselves that makes us worthy or earns our salvation. It is God’s pure love, grace, and power that draw us and bring us into the fold of Christ, our good Shepherd. The great Puritan writer John Bunyan said, “Once the Father sets his loving gaze on a wandering sinner, that sinner’s rescue is certain.”

The second part is also key in that we are told Jesus will in no wise cast us out. While we no longer use the expression “no wise,” it’s a phrase that employs a very clever and powerful means of capturing the emphatic negative of the Greek grammar. The text literally reads, “the one coming to me I will NO NOT cast out.” This grammatical construction of two negatives piled on top of each other is done for literary forcefulness. In modern English, we would say, “I will most certainly never, ever cast out.”

Jesus never gets tired of His sheep or loses His patience with them. Christ’s assurance is that He will continue to guide, discipline, and love us on the journey to our eternal heavenly home. JPT

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The Moments of God

“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.” (Isaiah 54:7-8)

This gracious promise to Israel gives a beautiful insight into both God’s character and the relation of time to eternity. God can be a God of wrath, for He must punish unforsaken sin in His people, but He is much more the God of mercy. His prolonged judgment on His chosen people of Israel is only “for a small moment” compared to His “everlasting kindness” toward redeemed Israel in the ages to come.

This theme occurs a number of times in Scripture. “For his anger endureth but a moment,” said David, “in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). To the people faithful to God during a time of judgment against their nation or against the world, God says: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers...hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast” (Isaiah 26:20).

Thus, a time of testing or judgment may extend over many days, or years, or even centuries, but this is only a moment in relation to the endless ages of blessing yet to come.

As applied to Christians, this concept is stated explicitly in the only occurrence of the Greek parakutika (“moment”) in the New Testament. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind....They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 65:17, 25). May God give us eyes of faith to see these “moments” of God in their eternal setting. HMM

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Look Back

 “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” (Isaiah 51:1)

While it’s not good to dwell too much on the past—whether in pride of past accomplishments or despondency over past failures or grieving over past losses—it’s well never to forget what God has done for us. In this passage, Israel is reminded of Abraham and Sarah, who had been lifted out of the pit of paganism and cut out of the rock of idolatry, and whom God had greatly blessed.

David, looking back, had written that God “brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay” (Psalm 40:2). Paul looked back and said: “In time past...beyond measure I persecuted the church of God....But when it pleased God, who...called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me...they glorified God in me” (Galatians 1:13, 15-16, 24).

Whatever our own background may be—bigoted skeptics, or flagrant sinners, or self-righteous hypocrites—God has indeed, if we are now saved by His grace, lifted us out of a pit and set us on a solid rock. We were “strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). But God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

“Such were some of you,” wrote Paul of such gross sins as fornication, idolatry, homosexuality, adultery, and thievery, as well as covetousness and drunkenness. “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 6:11). An occasional look back will help us to remember more often to look up in humble thankfulness for the grace of God. HMM

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True Freedom

“As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:16)

We who live in what the song writer called the “sweet land of liberty” have a great responsibility to preserve that freedom which our forefathers obtained for us at great cost over two centuries ago. At the same time, we must not turn liberty into license. It would surely hurt those brave and godly men if they could see how we now use “freedom of choice” to justify murdering innocent children before they are born, and how we use “freedom of speech” to warrant fouling the eyes and ears of our children with widespread pornography and to promote all kinds of immoral behavior in our society in general. No nation can remain free very long after such practices become widely accepted by its citizens. We need to pray for revival!

The same warning applies to the abuse of our spiritual freedom in Christ. As the apostle Paul said and repeated: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient” (1 Corinthians 6:12; also 1 Corinthians 10:23, where he added that “all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not”).

As Peter says in our text, even though we are “free” and have real “liberty,” we are nevertheless “servants of God,” where the Greek word doulos actually connotes “bond servants,” or even “slaves.” Our liberty in Christ is not freedom to sin whenever we so choose, but rather freedom from our former bondage to sin. “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:18).

Although our nation is rapidly becoming anti-Christian in belief and practice, we Christians can still best serve our nation and our Savior by practicing and proclaiming Christ’s wonderful saving gospel of free salvation from sin and regeneration unto righteousness. HMM

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God Knows What We Don't Know

“I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.” (Psalm 119:75)

One of the most perplexing aspects of the Christian life is trying to understand God’s purpose when defeat or affliction comes into our lives, thereby hindering or even halting our ministry and testimony for Him. Many have been the servants of God who were sincerely working for Christ, seeking to obey His will and His Word as best they understood them, but then suddenly were laid aside by sickness, or had their ministries stopped by the enemies of God (sometimes even by fellow Christians), or for some other reason, and could not discern why God allowed it.

What then? When affliction comes, we must simply trust God, knowing that whatever He does is right and that our affliction is invested with His faithfulness. He is our Creator and, through Christ, has also become our heavenly Father: “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:9). He knows what we don’t know, therefore we can “know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

This verse (Romans 8:28) is one of the most familiar and most wonderful promises in the Bible, but it’s one of the most difficult to believe in time of affliction or loss. Nevertheless, it’s God’s promise, and “all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

God knows the end from the beginning, and in that wonderful day when Christ returns, “then shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Until then, we must simply trust Him. HMM

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Faith, Hope, and Love in Step

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Love, rendered as “charity” in this verse, happens when we decide to serve others without regard to our feelings. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). What motivated God so profoundly, and what motivates us to follow His example of service? “We love him because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Here’s where faith enters the picture. We have faith that He fulfilled the many Scriptures that foretold (e.g., Isaiah 53) or anticipated (e.g., Job 19:25) Him; that the apostles told the truth about His life, words, and deeds, including creating all things in the beginning (John 1:3); and, in particular, that He loved us when He sacrificed Himself in our place. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). Faith that these unseen (by us) events actually happened just the way Scripture reveals them anchors our love in the present.

Hope refers to a happy expectation that God’s good promises will come true one day. “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Romans 8:25). For example, knowing Jesus’ promises that “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2) and “I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (v. 3) secures our future enough to erase our desire to struggle for worldly security. And that frees us to love others.

With one foot of faith in what God said about our past and the other foot in hope of God’s great and precious promises, we have a foundation for loving God and man. BT

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God's Glory and Sovereignty

“Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.” (Ezekiel 1:1)

Centuries before the birth of Christ, the Babylonians took Ezekiel captive along with Judah’s leader, King Jehoiachin. Resettled in Babylon, Ezekiel was called to be Yahweh’s man and received many visions. Two of Yahweh’s attributes stand out in this letter—His glory and sovereignty.

Yahweh reveals His glory in the two opening chapters. This profoundly influenced both the messenger and his message, since he mentions this theme 15 times (Ezekiel 1:28; 3:12, 23; 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23; 39:21; 43:2-5; 44:4).

God’s sovereignty was emphasized even though Judah was under Babylonian enslavement. Ezekiel reminded everyone there is only one sovereign, ruler, king, and monolithic power. Is it Nebuchadnezzar? No, only one—Yahweh. Ezekiel mentions God’s sovereign title over 220 times—occurring elsewhere in the Bible only 103 times. The designation “sovereign” notes a reigning person with authority that manifests itself in unilateral control. In fact, God is quoted over 60 times saying that He acted so that the people would “know that I am the LORD” (e.g., Ezekiel 6:7, 10, 13-14).

So, when you confess Jesus as Lord, you are acknowledging His full control. Ezekiel teaches that we need to submit to God’s sovereignty. Even the apostle Paul agrees and states we must submit to Jesus as the Lord of our entire life, if we are truly saved. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). Have you confessed Jesus as Lord? CM