Jesus, Your Name is the Name above every name. Oh, how I love all you’ve revealed; I reverently ponder it all day long (Ps. 119:97 MSG). I have never come on anything quite like Your extravagant generosity—Your deep, deep wisdom. Oh, the depth of the riches both of Your wisdom and Your knowledge! How unsearchable Your judgments and untraceable Your ways! (Ps. 141:3). Strengthen me, O God, according to Your Word. Please bless me with understanding. You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living (Ps. 142:5). May my lips praise only Your Name (Ps. 142:7). In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Tag Archives: cross
What Good is it?
What good is it if a person claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? (James 3:14).
The foundation of our faith is the cross, the power behind our action is the resurrection. Without the cross we would have no faith and without the resurrection we would have no power. Faith without power is dead and power without faith is dead. The cross and the resurrection is our ultimate example of faith being made complete by works. “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). The cross would not have the power to save had God not raised Jesus Christ from the dead and without salvation there would be no power to act. Without the cross no faith, without the resurrection no action. Christ’s faith and His actions were working together so that we are made complete by what He did–we put our faith in His faith and our actions are empowered by His action. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). “As the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” (James 2:26). Such faith cannot save but saving faith believes and therefore acts. “Religion operates on the principle of “I obey–therefore I am accepted by God.” The basic operating principle of the Gospel is “I am accepted by God through the work of Jesus Christ–therefore I obey” (Tim Keller).
LORD, help me to understand that I am accepted by You through the work of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
God Provides in Tender Love
For it was the king’s commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day (Neh. 11:23 KJV).
“The Grace that placed the singers within the House of God provided in tender love for their daily bread, and, accordingly, the Persian monarch was moved to apportion them a fitting maintenance; how admirable is the love of God in making a mighty king supply bread to an obscure Psalm-singer!” (KJV Expositor’s Neh. 11:23). The apostle Paul writes, “And my God will meet all you needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. “We can trust that God will always meet our needs. Whatever we need on earth He will always supply, even if it is the courage to face death as Paul did. Whatever we need in heaven He will supply. We must remember, however, the difference between our wants and our needs. Most people want to feel good and avoid discomfort or pain. We may not get all that we want. By trusting in Christ, our attitudes and appetites can change from wanting everything to accepting His provision and power to live for Him” (NIV LASB Php. 4:19). Are you trusting God to every day meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus?
LORD Jesus, You provide my every need. Help me to trust You. In You, Amen.
He is Before All Things
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Col. 1:17).
Do we trust God in the areas of our life that do not feel fitting? If we do not, then doubt is reigning and God’s sovereignty is not our rule. When we commit our plans to God, whatever we do, He promises that our plans will succeed (Pr. 16:3). Every effort we make must be in His Name and for His glory, with much thanksgiving, and we are to trust Him to bring what remains into harmony. When our life here on earth is all said and done, and the glory of the LORD is revealed, every “unfitting” thing will fit perfectly (Ro. 8:18; Ps.118:22). In Christ, we are “being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit” (Eph. 2:22). We may not think that every stone fits and we may be tempted to reject some, but let us remember, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone…” (Ps. 118:22). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was rejected because He didn’t seem to fit but in Him everything fits together perfectly.
Father God, teach me to let go of earthly reason. Your ways are much higher than mine (Is. 55:9). In the Name of my LORD Jesus Christ, Amen.
Free from the Fear of Death
Each morning, I have been getting up and first thing repeating back to God who I am in Christ in light of who He is (Savior, Redeemer, Creator, etc.) according to His Word and not according to my own works but according to His finished work on the cross of Calvary. Truths such as I am accepted in Christ, I am His child, I am His friend, I have been justified, I am united with Him and one with Him in Spirit, I am free forever from condemnation, I am the salt and light of the earth. It is a significant help to me through my day to be reminded in the morning of who I am in Christ.
Yesterday, I took a friend to the doctor and when I went to pick her up and was waiting my turn in the reception line, a woman came out of the elevator. She looked ill and could barely walk. She was thin and weary. In spite of all of this, she had the biggest smile on her face and her words backed up her smile with power. She came off of that elevator with this on her tongue as she spoke to those who surrounded her and to those who would listen (me and my children). “No matter what happens to me, I will not worry. My life is in the hand of God and He is my LORD. Even death cannot snatch me from His hand.”
In my morning devotion time, I quoted that very morning, these words, “I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me” (1 John 5:18 NIV). That woman was a life example of someone who is literally living that truth out on the pages of her life. How awesome is God to give me such a reminder and not only of her life but ultimately the life of Jesus Christ. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ…not even death (Romans 8:34-39).
Jesus, I declare Your Name to my brothers and my sisters, in the presence of the congregation I sing Your praises. I put my trust in You this day I am Your child whom God has given You. I have flesh and blood. Thank You, O God, Jesus, for sharing in my humanity so that by Your death You might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil–and free those who all their live were held in slavery by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:12-15 NIV). Through Your mercy and by Your grace, I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me. I am free from the fear of death and free to praise You through all eternity. How awesome is Your Name, Jesus, in all the earth. In Your Name alone, Amen.
Radically Unashamed, June 6
God, You are able to make all grace abound, so that in all things at all times, having all I need, I will abound in every good work (2 Co. 9:8 NIV). Help me to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow You. If I want to save my life, I will lose it. But if I lose my life for You and the gospel, I will save it. For what would it benefit me to gain the world yet lose my life? If I am ashamed of You and of Your words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man, will also be ashamed of me when He comes in glory. By grace, make me radically unashamed and always ready to share Your Good News (Mk. 8:34-38 HCSB). In Christ, Amen.
Know My Concerns, January 16
Holy, holy, holy are You the LORD of Hosts; Your glory fills the whole earth (Is. 6:3 HSCBS). As You are Holy, O God, You call me to be holy (1 Pe. 1:16). Without it, I will not see You (Heb. 12:14). It is true LORD that my heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick—only You can understand it. You examine my mind and test my heart to give to me according to my way, according to the fruit of my doings (Jer. 17:9 & 10 HCSB; KJV). “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way” (Ps. 139:23-24 HCSB). In Jesus, Amen.
Solid in the Faith 