A Daily Devotional

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Just Five Words


“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:13).

Let’s take a closer look at this oft-repeated verse.

“The” is our word to point out something specific. David did not write, “A LORD is my Shepherd,” but “The LORD is my Shepherd.” In a day when the rest of the world believed in many gods, the Hebrews proclaimed, “Hear O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

“LORD” (all in capital letters) is used in place of the most sacred and most personal name of God—the one revealed by God Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). The name itself, Yahweh (also rendered Jehovah), was considered so sacred it was pronounced only once a year, and then only by the high priest. It is an ancient Hebrew form of the most basic verb in any language, “to be.” Therefore, the LORD is the One “who is.” All being—all existence comes from Him.

“Is” is a present form of the verb “to be.” Since we live in the present, this verse is always and continuously true in our lives.

“My” personalizes this great reality. It applies to me at all times—or rather, it can. I am a free being, responsible for my own fate. The Creator God has offered to be my shepherd. If I agree, I am in His fold, and He then is my shepherd. There is an infinite difference between saying, “The LORD is a shepherd,” and “The LORD is my shepherd.”

“Shepherd”—In the New Testament we learn that the Lord took on human form and came to earth as Jesus. He is “the good shepherd (who) giveth His life for the sheep. . . . my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life” (John 10:11,27,28). Since the great Jehovah has graciously offered to be my continual provider, “I shall not want” any good thing.

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Fellowship

“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).

Much goes on in Christian churches today under the name of “fellowship.” Usually this consists of coffee and donuts, or church socials, or sports. As delightful as these functions may be, they should not be confused with Biblical fellowship.

Nowhere in the New Testament do any of the Greek words (translated “fellowship”) imply fun times. Rather, they talk of, for example, “The fellowship of the ministering to the saints” (II Corinthians 8:4) as sacrificial service and financial aid. (See, for example, I Timothy 6:18.)

Elsewhere, Paul was thankful for the Philippian believers’ “fellowship in the gospel” (Philippians 1:5), for he knew that “inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers [same word as fellowship] of my grace” (Philippians 1:7). This sort of fellowship may even bring persecution.

We are to emulate Christ’s humility and self-sacrificial love (Philippians 2:5–8) through the “fellowship of the Spirit” (Philippians 2:1). In some way known only partially to us, we have the privilege of knowing “the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death” (Philippians 3:10), and even “the communion [i.e., fellowship] of the blood” and “body of Christ” (I Corinthians 10:16).

As we can see, this “fellowship” is serious business. As in our text and subsequent verses, fellowship should be accompanied by teaching, prayer, and ministry to the poor (Acts 2:45). This kind of fellowship will be in “favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).

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The Indwelling Trinity

“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:16–19).

This prayer of the apostle Paul applies to us as well as “to the saints which are at Ephesus” (Ephesians 1:1). Paul directs his prayer “unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (3:14), and he requests both that “Christ may dwell in your hearts” and also that the Holy Spirit would strengthen our “inner man.” We know elsewhere that Christ is at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Ephesians 1:20), so that the Holy Spirit is the person who actually indwells our bodies as believers. And yet, because God is a tri-une God, if the Holy Spirit indwells us, so also must “the Spirit of Christ,” or else “he is none of His” (Romans 8:9).

But the prayer doesn’t end with Christ dwelling in our hearts. He further prays that “ye might be filled with all the fulness of God,” and thus the Father is there too! When we accept Christ, we accept also the Father and the Holy Spirit, for the three are one, and God in all His triune fullness thenceforth lives in our bodies.

The Lord Jesus Himself had prayed essentially the same prayer. “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; . . . and my Father will love (you), and we will . . . make our abode with (you)” (John 14:16,17,23). What a priceless privilege and responsibility is ours as believers, that our tri-une God of creation and redemption and direction is with us always!

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Meditation In The Morning

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up” (Psalm 5:3).

Bible study, meditation on the word, and prayer are necessities for a healthy Christian life and are good to practice at any time of the day or night, according to the constraints of time and responsibilities of each individual. Other things being equal, however, the best time of all is in the early morning. A believer who awakens each morning to the voice of the Lord in His word will, in turn, be ready to speak words of blessing to others through the day (Isaiah 50:4). And as we, in turn, look up to Him each morning in prayer, He will hear and direct our steps through the day.

This was the example set by the Lord Jesus Himself: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35). If even Jesus Christ needed such a quiet time early in the morning set aside to fellowship with His Father, we also would do well to follow.

Note the prayer of David: “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee” (Psalm 143:. We urgently need to know the way we should walk each day, for it is so easy to get turned aside into our own ways, and the obvious time to pray for guidance is at the very beginning of every day.

One should not make a legalistic ritual of prayer and Bible meditation, of course, for it should come from a heart of love whenever and wherever it can be done, whether morning or evening; whether in a solitary place or a crowded street. However it may work for each person, may God help us to say with the psalmist: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

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Seven Results Of Repentance


“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:.

True repentance is necessary for salvation. Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). It is the “goodness of God” that “leadeth (us) to repentance” (Romans 2:4) from our “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1).

Paul delineated seven specific results of repentance: “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of [different word, meaning ‘regretted’]: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness [same word as ‘study’ in ‘Study to shew thyself approved’ (II Timothy 2:15)] it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves [same word as ‘answer’ in ‘Be ready always to give an answer’ (I Peter 3:15)], yea what indignation [towards], yea, what fear [‘Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God’ (II Corinthians 7:1)], yea, what vehement desire [‘As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby’ (I Peter 2:2)], yea, what zeal [burning or ardor, ‘. . . your zeal hath provoked very many. . .’ (II Corinthians 9:2)], yea, what revenge! [or punishment of sin, keeping in mind the attitude of Galatians 6:1]. In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (II Corinthians 7:9–11).

The results of true repentance are summed up in Psalm 30:11,12. “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee.”

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Not Convenient


"Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks" (Ephesians 5:4).

It seems surprising that "foolish talking" and "jesting" would be condemned as things that should "not be once named among you" (v.3). Yet here it is, and commentators usually assume that the foolish talking and jesting so condemned really only apply to filthy talking and filthy jesting. After all, the popularity of many Christian speakers today seems to be measured by the amount of jokes and witticisms they inject into their messages.

This is a sensitive subject, and each Christian should conscientiously decide for himself what God is saying here, through Paul. In any case, it seems significant that the only reference in the Bible to "jesting" is a warning against it. It is also significant that one can never find this element in the sermons of Christ or the letters of Paul or anywhere in the Bible. The Bible writers seem to have believed that sin and salvation were such sober, serious issues that there was nothing there to joke about. We read several times of Jesus weeping, but never of Him laughing. The Scriptures often refer to "rejoicing," but never to "having fun."

Furthermore, Jesus warned that "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matthew 12:36), and Paul exhorted us to "let your speech be alway with grace" (Colossians 4:6). Our text says that foolish talking and jesting are "not convenient" for a Christian. Other things "not convenient" include the list of 23 sins in Romans 1:28-31, beginning with "unrighteousness" and ending with "unmerciful."

Whether or not we can justify certain "convenient" times for jesting, there is one thing we can know is always convenient--that is, "giving of thanks."

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To The Animals

“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest” (Proverbs 6:6–8).

Adam and Eve originally were given dominion over all the animal creation (Genesis 1:26), but sin came in and then, after the Flood, God placed the fear and dread of man “upon all that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 9:2), and the primeval fellowship between man and his animal friends was broken.

More seriously, their fellowship with God was broken, and soon, in their autonomy, the source of true wisdom was largely forgotten. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:22,23).

Ironically, God now directs such foolish people to the animals they worship to find the wisdom they should have learned from God. “Go to the ant,” says the Lord, to learn industry and prudence. “There be four things which are little upon the earth,” the word says, “but they are exceeding wise: The ants . . . ; The conies . . . ; The locusts . . . ; The spider . . .” (Proverbs 30:2–28). “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider” (Isaiah 1:3).

“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee” (Job 12:7,8).

If nothing else, the intricate design of even the lowest animal is eloquent testimony to the wisdom of its Creator and the madness of those who deny Him.

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Greetings

“Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness” (Titus 1:1).

In New Testament times it was common to begin one’s letter to a friend with a salutation such as this, which usually identified the writer and the reader and then gave the greetings. Contrary to his normal practice, Paul spends the first three verses of this four-verse greeting speaking about himself, but he places the emphasis not on his own authority, but on the nature of the message which he has been given.

First, in designating his position as writer, Paul refers to himself as a “servant” (literally “slave”) of God. His will had been voluntarily surrendered to do his Master’s will. Next, he identifies himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ,” commissioned by Him to represent Him and His revelation. He then defines his apostleship as being in agreement with the message to which the elect have responded, and the “acknowledging (literally ‘advanced knowledge’) of the truth which is after godliness.”

Next, Paul claims that his message is not a new doctrine, but has its past, present, and future aspects. It was “promised before the world began” (v.2) by God, who has in the present been proclaiming “His word through preaching” (v.3). Furthermore, his apostolic calling is “in (literally ‘resting on’) hope of eternal life” (v.2).

Paul then claims the message as his own, “committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior” (v.3)

In a very real sense, this same message is now committed to us. Our knowledge of the truth and need for faith are at least as great; our call to submission and godliness equally serious. May God grant us the same level of commitment to the gospel and its propagation as that of Paul.

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Moved To Speak


“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (II Peter 1:20,21).

Creation was God’s first message to man, testifying of “His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). For a while, God revealed His mind and will directly to men. Later, He used intermediaries, beginning with Aaron, who “spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses” (Exodus 4:30). Moses was the first in a long succession of men who “wrote all the words of the LORD” (Exodus 24:4), although he also may well have incorporated previous eye-witness documents (e.g., Genesis 5:1) in his accounts.

This counters a common fallacy voiced by those who hold a low view of inspiration. They claim that because men wrote the Bible, it contains errors and cannot be relied upon. Were the Scriptures of man’s devising, we could expect inconsistencies. But God has given assurance that this is not so.

Because “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” as our text reveals, today we have a Bible “given by inspiration of God” (II Timothy 3:16). “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14).

Revelation flowed from men borne along by the Holy Spirit; only when and as He led did they speak or write. They were not robots, but individuals yielded to God; each writer’s style of expression remained intact as the various books of the Bible attest. God worked through them, preserving and using as He saw fit, each unique voice.

As we read, study, and meditate on the riches of the Scriptures, let us offer up thanks for those ordinary men so used of God.

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Unceasing Prayer

“Pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17).

This is, no doubt, the shortest commandment in the Bible, and seemingly the most difficult to obey. How could anyone possibly pray without ceasing? What about sleeping, or working, or other necessary pursuits?

Paul himself claimed to pray without ceasing. For example, he wrote to the Roman church: “For God is my witness, . . . that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” (Romans 1:9). To the Thessalonians he wrote: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, . . .” (I Thessalonians 1:2,3). In his very last epistle he wrote: “I thank God, . . . that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day” (II Timothy 1:3).

It is obvious from such references that Paul did not mean we should be uttering prayers continually, but rather to be continually in a prayerful attitude and never to stop the regular practice of prayer. In like fashion, the Lord Jesus said: “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). In the parable following this command, He spoke of God’s “own elect, which cry day and night unto Him” (Luke 18:7). This would further imply that our prayerful attitude and regular practice of specific prayer should be taking place every day and every night. We should never “faint”—that is, “lose heart”—if the answer isn’t what or when we hope, but keep on praying anyway. When it’s the right time, He will, indeed, answer “speedily,” and in the right way (Luke 18:.

To pray without ceasing means simply to be free to communicate quickly with Him, night and day. “If ye abide in me,” He said, “and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”(John 15:7).

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The Pleasure Of The Lord

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10).

The very concept of God having pleasure in things that take place on Earth staggers the imagination. Most amazing of all is the revelation that it pleased Him to put His own Son through a terrible, bruising death, as the tremendous Messianic prophecy of our text reveals. Nevertheless, this was the only possible way whereby “the pleasure of the LORD” could be accomplished in the redeemed lives of lost men and women, whom He had created for eternal fellowship with the triune God. “For the LORD taketh pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).

Five times we read in the New Testament that God the Father spoke from heaven assuring us that He was “well pleased” with His “beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; II Peter 1:17). “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him!” Had it not been so, none of us ever could have been saved, but the Lord Jesus Himself has confirmed to His own “little flock” that “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

Thus, not only have we been created “for thy pleasure” (Revelation 4:11), but also we have been predestinated “unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5). This is far beyond our comprehension, so we merely rest in the great truth that “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). We know that “the LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear Him” (Psalm 147:11), and we rejoice with thanksgiving!

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The New Covenant

“Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).

The Greek word diatheke, translated as both testament and covenant, occurs thirty-three times in the New Testament, seventeen of which are in the book of Hebrews. It comes from a word meaning to “cut, or divide,” referring to the fact that blood had to be shed to bind the parties involved to abide by the terms of the covenant. (See Genesis 15:10; Jeremiah 34:18,19.) God had made covenants with Abraham and Moses on the part of the people of Israel. He had kept His part of the agreement; but in each case the others involved “continued not in my covenant” (Hebrews 8:9). But God, in His grace, has issued a new covenant.

This covenant or testament is not unlike a human “last will and testament,” but there are some differences. He did not merely die, thereby enabling His children to inherit His fortune, but He is now “the mediator of a better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6). He is the sacrifice whose death was necessary to make the covenant binding, and yet He is the “surety of a better testament” (Hebrews 7:22).

He cannot fail, and hence the new covenant cannot be done away with. Through His death, He not only has removed the penalty for our previous failures, but qualified us to receive the inheritance. “For this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator” (Hebrews 9:15,16). “wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

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One Day As A Thousand Years


“Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Peter 3:.

It is sad that many Christians today are so eager to appear intellectual, they are willing to compromise God’s clear revelation to do so. God has made it as clear as plain words could make it, that “in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exodus 20:11). Yet because evolutionary “science” has alleged that the earth is billions of years old, multitudes of evangelicals have fallen in line, rejecting God’s plain statement of fact and then trying to find some interpretive loophole to hide behind.

Our text verse is perhaps the key verse of the so-called “progressive creationists” who try to correlate the days of creation in Genesis with the supposed 4.6-billion-year system of evolutionary geological ages, by citing Peter as agreeing that “one day is a thousand years.”

No, Peter is saying that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years!” That is, God can do in one day what might, by natural processes, take a thousand years. In context, the apostle is condemning the last-day uniformitarians (those who teach that “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation”) as “willingly ignorant” of the tremendous significance of the historical facts of Creation and the Flood (II Peter 3:3–6). Real written records only go back a few thousand years, and to attempt to calculate any date before that requires use of a premise which, in context, the Scriptures have just condemned! God says the uniformitarians are willingly ignorant and then urges those who believe His word to “be not ignorant.” The only way we can know the date and duration of creation is for God to tell us, and He says He did it all in six days, and not so long ago!

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I Am Christ's Friend

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:15).

Some things in Scripture are harder to understand and believe than others. Christ, the Sovereign Creator of all things, the offended Judge who declared the penalty for sin to be death, the One who willingly died to pay that penalty and redeem us from bondage to sin, now calls us His friends. Certainly we would like to consider Him our friend; but are we really His friends? If He were telling someone about His friends, would He include us? Somehow this seems too much—too good to be true; but He insists it is.

Actually, Christ said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:16). We are His friends by conscious choice on His part, even though He knows more about our inward nature than we will admit to ourselves. He has demonstrated His friendship by the greatest act of love imaginable, when He voluntarily died to save us from our sins. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (v.13). Furthermore, for His friends He promises “Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you” (John 15:16).

His love for us surpasses human love. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (v.9), “that your joy might be full” (v.11). He has “ordained” us as friends so that we “should go and bring forth fruit, and that (our) fruit should remain” (v.16). What joy!

There should be a response on our part to His friendship. Almost as a self-evident fact, He states, “Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you” (v.14), among other things, “that ye love one another” (v.17). How can we do less?

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Come For Rest



“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

In these verses the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, extends a personal invitation for all who are overburdened by sin or distress to come to Him for rest. Whatever the weight may be that is heavy upon your heart, the Lord promises rest, if you will come to Him.

In Psalm 55 David faced seemingly insurmountable problems: “My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me” (vv.4,5). At this point, he reasoned that rest could only come by changing locations. “Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest” (v.6). But can we really find true rest and peace by running away from our problems? Of course not! David finally realized what the answer was when he said, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved” (v.22). He concluded that “flying away” would solve nothing, but rolling the burden on the Lord would solve everything.

The promise, “He shall sustain thee” (v.22), is the same as in Matthew 11:29, “Ye shall find rest unto your souls” and “I will give you rest.” When the Lord says, “I will,” He means, “I will!”

Faith is taking God at His word. The Lord will always do exactly what He has promised. To the seeker, He has promised rest for his coming. Since Christ has already “borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4), it seems senseless to try to carry them ourselves.