Category: Daily Devotionals

WHO THE TRUTH SERVES

“It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God’, though you do not know him.  But I know him.  If I would say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you.  But I know him and keep his word.  John 8:54-55

 

When the truth serves my interests, do I tell it because I belong to God, or do I tell it because it serves me?

Jesus identity was questioned.  He claimed that God was his Father.  The religious leaders were indignant, calling him a liar.  If Jesus had not been perfect, He could have easily risen up to answer, “How dare you question my word!  I told you that God was my Father and I am His Son.  You apparently have no idea who you’re talking to!” Anyone other than Jesus would have been tempted to stand in the pride of his celebrity status.  This temptation would have bitten most children of men. Continue reading “WHO THE TRUTH SERVES” →

WHAT ONE SAYS WHEN THREATENED

 

The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon ?”  John 8:48

 

Human nature, inherited from Adam, causes any of us to run from the truth.  When we are convicted, we run.  We will obfuscate the issue and do whatever we need to do to self-protect.  We resist being stripped of our pride and being reduced to a place of humiliation. This is the default way of our flesh and this is not of God.  Only when we face the truth about ourselves can we ever find Jesus and the freedom He offers. Continue reading “WHAT ONE SAYS WHEN THREATENED” →

Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God; Thy judgments are like a great deep.  Psalm 36:6

The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Thy house; And Thou dost give them to drink of the river of Thy delights. For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light we see light. Psalms 36:7-9

How interesting that righteousness is compared to mountains and God’s judgements are compared to the deep.  If mountains DO rise out of the deep, then righteousness rises out of judgements (or God’s truth). The message here is, an impressive looking building may or may not be built on a good foundation.

We are often presented with illusions, though.  People appear righteous.  From the outside they look impressive, yet if we could see with God’s eyes, we would see a badly flawed foundation.  What may appear to be unselfish is self-serving.  What may appear to be humble is self-seeking.  What may appear to be the fruit of the Spirit is really a grand exercise in behavior modification.  What counts with God is the foundation, the heart, and the degree of truth that resides there.

How do we know if our lives are built on God’s truth?  Let me ask you some questions.  Does the Holy Spirit energize you as you work?  Do you hear His voice prompting you and cheering you on?  Do you sense that He leads you by the hand?  Do you feel the warmth of His smile on your shoulder as He sees each new task completed?

You see, passionless labor warns us.  Joyless service waves a red flag.  Spiritual depletion brings a Father’s tears.  He calls us home…. to re-group, dismantle diseased appendages, and then rest so that we may see ourselves in His eyes. Only time with Him can re-build our heart.

Take a moment to pray and ask God to guide you through these few exercises.

“Father, my mind and heart know no wisdom apart from You.  And You have written that my heart deceives me.   I’m relying on You to show me the truth about myself.  I am asking you to reveal anything in my heart that is not rooted in truth.  I need You to speak to me, in the silence, with clarity.  I want my life to be built on my knowledge and experience of You.   Amen.”

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Can you relate to the girl in the story?  What might you believe about yourself that needs to be brought into the Light?  (Ex. The girl in the story believed that God expected abusive labor so that she would be acceptable to Him.  She really thought she was doing what God wanted her to do.)

What is the contrasting truth to the distortion?  State it out loud as you write.  (For the girl in the story, it would be ~ “God loves me, not for what I do, but for just being His creation.”

Your Father wants you to believe Him, even when it doesn’t feel like truth.  It takes a while for feelings to match our beliefs.  We must take the time to ‘rest’ with Him daily so that He may re-affirm His love and truth to us, and then we must live out the truth – by faith!

1.  What adjustments do you need to make in your life to insure that you and God have your time together?

2.  What truth can you ‘live out’ today, by faith, even though it may feel foreign to you?

According to Psalm 35:7-9, what are the benefits of spending time with your Father?

What does it say about God, His love, and His character that the overflow from His embrace includes ‘refuge, delights, fountains, and light’?

Describe what it would look like to see God’s light in another’s eyes.

Write a prayer to God and tell Him what you would like for Him to birth in you.  Tell Him where you still have a hard time believing that He loves you.

May you, like the girl who proudly wears her Father’s signet ring, slowly emerge confident in your new identity.  What you build with your hands will be a monument of righteousness.

“Is this not what I choose?  To loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke?”  Isaiah 58: 6

Areas of your life, even as a daughter of promise, can be yoked to the one who created black puzzle pieces for you.  Or it can, by your choice, be bonded to Jesus, who gives us yellow pieces.  Consider briefly how Isaiah 58:6 describes the plot of the story you just read.  Identify the ‘yoke’ in your answer.

God does not make one simple statement about breaking yokes.  He elaborates.  He wants to “loosen, undo, set the oppressed free,” and finally…. “break every yoke.” What does this process say to you about God, His intentions, His passion for you, His royal daughter? Continue reading “Reflections/The Impossible Puzzle Allegory” →

SPIRITUAL VERSUS PHYSICAL

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.”  Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.  This is not what Abraham did.”  John 8:39-40

Jesus’ words were often misunderstood because the person who heard them thought He was speaking about the physical world, not the spiritual one.  The woman at the well thought the water Jesus referred to was the water at the bottom of the well.  Nicodemus thought that the new birth Jesus spoke of was about a physical re-birth through a woman’s womb.  Now, the Pharisees are suffering from lack of insight because they make the same mistake.  They refer to themselves as physical descendants of Abraham when Jesus is talking about spiritual relations.  Are they Abraham’s spiritual children, children of belief, faith, and obedience. Continue reading “Spiritual Versus Physical” →

WHAT IS AT STAKE

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”  John 7:37-38

Part of the ceremony for the feasts of Tabernacles was for the Jews to bring water from the pool of Siloam and pour it in a silver basin near the altar where sacrifices were made.  On this last day of the festival, it was evident to Jesus that His people had poured out water, observed a ceremonial ritual that was loaded with meaning, yet they were unchanged on the inside.  In this context, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty, come.  I will be living water to you.” Continue reading “What Is At Stake” →

A LITMUS TEST FOR TRUTH

“If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.”  John 7:17

Jesus’ words grated against the Pharisees for many reasons.  One was their unwillingness to obey what He said.  They set themselves up to be judges of His words, not understanding that only doing God’s will brings understanding to the commandments.  The British preacher F.W.Robertson said that “obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge.” If any man or woman is willing to obey, they shall understand the truth behind the action.  There is no substitute for application. Continue reading “A Litmus Test For Truth” →

A WALKING CONTRADICTION

Did not Moses give you the law?  Yet none of you keeps the law.  Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?  John 7:19

The Pharisees had been criticizing Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and other issues as well.  They did not recognize Him as the Son of God and in their blindness, rose up to pass judgment.  They thought way too highly of themselves.  Jesus points out here that they are a contradiction.  He tells them that they love to quote Moses and the prophets and yet they don’t keep the law that Moses passed down to them. Continue reading “A Walking Contradiction” →

THE DELIVERY MAN

“My teaching is not mine but His who sent Me.  The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory but the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true.  In him there is no falsehood.”  John 7:16,18

Our son, Ryan, lives four hours away in another city.  If some friends of ours were going to travel through his home town and made the offer to stop and see him, Ron and I would be asking them to take him a bag of homemade goodies as well as deliver a message or two from home.  We would tell them what to say and trust that their delivery would be identical to the way they heard it from us.  They would not be visiting Ryan on their own authority, with their own message, but would come to him on behalf of us, his parents.  The message on their lips is our message even though they are the ones delivering it.   Continue reading “The Delivery Man” →

JESUS FEELS REJECTION

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”  Simon Peter answered him, “To whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”  John 6:67-68

This passage highlights Peter’s amazing confession of faith in the midst of vast unbelief.  This morning though, I wondered about what was going on inside of Jesus, not Peter.  Did he feel the rejection of the crowd?  Was he hurt that most everyone turned away?  Did He have to go to His Father in prayer for comfort?  Did he cry?  If this seems like a stretch, what kind of a person could enjoy the warm enthusiasm of a group, a group made up of acquaintances and friends, and then feel nothing when they decided to turn their backs on him?  No one I know.   Continue reading “Jesus Feels Rejection” →