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…and the government will be upon his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:6

When was the last time you said, “I wouldn’t want to carry that responsibility on my shoulders!”  Whatever it was that you were referring to, it was deemed too heavy to carry.

Our Prince of Peace doesn’t run from positions of power and authority.  This prophetic word (Isaiah 9:6) assures us that Jesus will shoulder the responsibility of ruling over a literal, earthly kingdom that encompasses all the governments and kingdoms of the world.  As His children, each of us will see it with our own eyes.  

Solomon was given divine wisdom, and we admire his discernment in ruling over complicated civil cases. We recall how he delivered a righteous judgment in the dispute between two women who claimed the same baby as their own. Only God could have inspired the idea Solomon employed to reveal the real mother.  

This embodies the essence of divine leadership. Jesus will govern justly, and the implications and examples are so extensive that we can regard them as countless. No sin will remain concealed. Every motive will be revealed. Every false accusation will prove ineffective. Every con artist will be unseated.  

Furthermore, every unfairness will be righted.  Every victim will have advocacy.  The poor will be fed.  The weak will be strengthened and promoted.  The ambitious and charismatic leader will be asked to serve as the humble are exalted.  

None of this will tire our King of Kings. He rules with ease. Righteousness is inherent to His nature. Those of us who live under His reign will embrace the peace that flows from His throne. We will breathe easily, never fearing the worst. All previous sources of anxiety will fade away in the joy of God’s kingdom. 

I’ll be safe then—and I’m safe now because You are already above all powers and authorities that dominate the front pages of the news. Hallelujah. Amen.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34

Devotion to Jesus can create chasms in relationships.  These words from Jesus are shocking if I cling exclusively to verses that speak of Jesus being the Prince of Peace.  Are these principles contradictory?  Not at all.  Jesus is Peace.  And He will bring peace to those in disharmony when they seek His face and embrace His truth in unity.  But there are just as many times when He will offend those closest to me.  When that happens, I must suffer for righteousness sake and Jesus’ words are an incentive for me to remain faithful.

Oppressors don’t have to be soldiers, beating down the doors of Christian households to take them away to be killed or tortured.  The ones who persecute can be family members, fellow employees, and even children who strain against a parent’s obedience to Jesus.

This devotional reaches out to you today if you are one who suffers in any way because you love Jesus.  When the fire of love and devotion cause you to walk upstream against around you, know that Jesus sees you and will reward you.  As a wife, you may suffer the scorn and ridicule of an unbelieving husband.  As a husband, you may experience the cold shoulder of a wife who wishes your values were more temporal.  As a child, you may feel disowned because your passion for Jesus alters the future your parents desire for you.  As an employee, you feel excluded by everyone around you who are all too willing to play corporate politics.  As a pastor, you feel that your job is in jeopardy because the majority of your congregations wants feel-good-messages rather than solid Bible teaching.

The Prince of Peace is in you and around you. Peace is promised and it can be yours even though His presence has disrupted the harmony of your relationships. Breathe deeply as the Spirit breathes over you today.  Do it, not once, but as a way of life.  

You had the peace of Your Father in the midst of disharmony with your family and religious leaders. Your Father promised peace but peace in Your troubled world. I follow Your example.  Amen

He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.  Genesis 3:24  ESV

God drove them out of the garden and placed two cherubim angels at the garden gate.  Without an intervention of mercy, mankind would never again be in the presence of God.  We would never be stunned by His beauty and by His glory.  How heartbreaking this had to have been as they walked outside the garden, the streams of light and glory behind them.  As they looked over their shoulder, they saw an angel guarding the entrance to, what had once been, home.

We were born with the sting of this banishment written on our souls.  Sin held us in bondage.  God seemed far away.  We feared He was angry with us.  The pain of separation felt extreme and permanent.  The news was dire without the good news of the Gospel story.  As Adam and Eve walked away from the garden, God felt their plight and love overruled.  In fact, He had made a way for their restoration before He even created them.

 A merciful God, in the face of Jesus Christ, would come to end the separation between man and his Creator.  Until then, even in the temple, people would only worship God at a distance.  They could never go behind the curtain that separated sinful man from the holy of holies.  The curtain, made of blue, purple and scarlet threads, actually had cherubim embroidered into it, so significant were these angels who guarded God’s throne room.

When Jesus died, an earthshattering event occurred.  The curtain in the Jerusalem temple, 60 feet high, 30 feet wide, and 4 feet thick, was torn in two from top to bottom.  No man could have done this.  The moment Jesus died and the process of reconciliation was finished, the sound of ripping could be heard.

The way into the Garden of Eden is now open to any who have fallen into the arms of the One who bore their sins.  The pain of separation is over.  God’s wrath is non-existent toward those who embrace His Son.  The Father is love-driven and waits at the gate for a reunion. His blood has washed away the sins of Adam, we have been redeemed, and singing can be heard in the garden once again.

Help me start at the beginning when I share this story with others.  If I start with the cross, it’s incomplete.  How beautiful a story you’ve written – and each of your children are in the center of it!  Amen

What do you do after you’ve sinned against someone important to you?  The thought of facing them is unnerving.  You’ve decided to avoid them instead.

Uncertainty plagues anyone before they’re about to give an apology.  After all, history proves that not all people are forgiving.  The propensity to hide is well-founded, especially if a past apology didn’t go well.  They refused to let you make things right and enjoyed holding your sins over your head. They were quick to remind you of who you were and what you did, even if it was twenty-five years ago.  This is emotional cruelty.

It’s difficult to separate God from this mix of fallen humanity.  We fear God will also hold our sin over our heads and withhold forgiveness. But God forgives every time, even after repeated failures.  God never gets weary of sincere apologies.  He is as excited to see me return to Bethel and call upon His name as He was the first time I built an altar.  No matter how many times I have failed, His loving-kindness is other-worldly.

And Abram journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.  Genesis 13:3-4 

After Abram was disgraced in Egypt with the Pharaoh, he didn’t decide to throw in the towel.  He traveled back to Bethel, the place where he met God the first time and built an altar.  This was the site of his spiritual homecoming, and he was quick, upon arriving there, to call upon the name of the LORD.  There is no record of shyness.

People’s love is imperfect.  I have many scars to prove it and still have a scared heart where certain people are concerned.  They are dependably judgmental and immovable but God is not like that.  No matter where I’ve gone, no matter what I’ve done, no matter how long I’ve been gone, I can always go back to Bethel.

On the other side of repentance, You will never keep reminding me of my sins.  No one loves like You. Amen

They [our ancestors] refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.   Nehemiah 9:17

This week’s name for God is rarely included as one of the top ten favorites. It was first mentioned in Nehemiah.  In this chapter, the Israelites gathered together for a day to review the sins of their ancestors.  They repented of their forefather’s sins for six hours.  For the next six hours, they read the scriptures out loud. They repented of personal sins for the remaining twelve hours and then worshipped the Lord. 

Knowing the backstory makes me wonder how much we embrace the power of God’s forgiveness. Corporately, it’s rare for us to assemble for hours on end to examine our spiritual history, enumerate our past iniquities, and then repent specifically of each one. Yet, it is against this backdrop that God is revealed as forgiving.

It’s hard to believe these are the same Israelites that will be mentioned later in the book of Hosea. God will say that they lacked strength, even though they viewed themselves as powerful. He will call them weak, though they believed themselves to be strong. 

Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this. Hosea 7

Oh, to be like the children of God in Nehemiah.  Our gracious and compassionate God, Eloah Selichot, offers radical forgiveness but I must be willing to turn away from what is unrighteous to pursue holiness. I must chase the things of the kingdom.  There is no need to live with the grievous sins passed down from my earthly family.  There is no need to suffer the ongoing consequences of their mistakes.  There is also no need for me to wring my hands in guilt over my own sin, wondering if God loves me enough to really forgive me.  He does ~ and He will ~ if I believe Him for who He says He is. 

Gracious and compassionate Father, thank you. Amen

May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: The Lord fulfill all your petitions.  Psalm 20:5

When Julius Caesar, a great military leader, raised a banner for all to see, it was a call to arms.  Men stopped what they were doing and ran home to gather their weapons.  They knew they were going to war.  What set Caesar apart from other Caesars was that he went with his men into battle.  His men learned they would never be asked to do something that Caesar was unwilling to do.  Because of that, their love and loyalty to him were legendary, as were Caesar’s conquests and expansion. 

When my father left home to board a ship for France in the early 1940s, he did so after saying goodbye to his family. They didn’t go with him; there was only a send-off. They embraced him, eyes full of tears, and placed a few mementos into his army duffel bag: a small New Testament, some food for the journey, a letter, and the promise of love and prayers. (His father would die during my dad’s deployment.)

There is no send-off when God raises a banner and sends me out to live in His name.  He goes with me. No amount of danger will cause Him to shrink back.  Jehovah Nissi does not become a casualty, unlike the standard bearers in Earth’s wars.  He is Lord of the angel armies.  He has unlimited resources.  No matter how much courage I need, there is a promise.  No matter what provision I lack, He makes it available.  No matter what healing I require, He is the Physician on call. 

I can never say to Jehovah Nissi, ‘You don’t understand what it’s like.’ He does understand. Jesus came and lived as a mortal man, facing the same dangers, limitations, and vulnerabilities. He shared the same dependence on a God He could not see and the same need to live prayerfully, relying on the promises of Scripture. 

Living in alien territory with God as our banner has never been more vital, yet challenging. We live in a world that is hostile to God. Fifty years ago, identifying as a Christian often received positive reactions. That is rarely the case today. I may feel tempted to conceal my faith by leading a moral life and demonstrating kindness and grace to others. However, the world isn’t redeemed with niceties. Oh, that we would be eager and humbly grateful to call Jehovah Nissi our banner!   

Forgive me for all the times I’ve taken shortcuts in my testimony. I will wear the colors of Christ. Amen.