Daily Devotional

“By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear; prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
Hebrews 11:7, NKJV

We  live in an extremely work-conscious, work-oriented society. It seems as though the inevitable question that follows a name introduction is, “What do you do?” We derive our identity from our work. Our work says something about our gifts, interests, and our contribution to society. At the same time, we have seen that God is not nearly as concerned about our work as He is about our faith.

Real faith is evidenced in work. Although faith allows us to see the invisible, when faith is present, it is very visible. Genuine faith grips the heart, enlightens the mind, and motivates the feet into action. James said, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Noah’s faith moved him to build an ark as an expression of his belief in God’s Word.

The faith of Noah was not a dead faith but a living, motivating, and working faith. So great was the power of faith in the life of Noah that he invested his time, he influenced his family, and he constructed an ark with his own resources, yet by God’s design, in order that by faith he might please God.

Noah knew that all of the works of this life would fade and fail, but the work of faith bears the fruit of righteousness and enjoys the blessings of God. Noah risked his reputation and his resources so that, by faith, his work should please God.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
- Jim Elliot

QUESTION: What are examples of works you have seen substituted for a living faith? What is the “fruit” reflective of true faith in your relationship with Christ? Examine James 2 in light of the “works” of Noah and consider how faith “works” in your life.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. . . Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise….”
1 Peter 5:5 and Psalm 100:4a, NIV

Muhammad Ali was in his prime and on a cross-country flight. As they got underway, the flight attendant asked him to buckle-up. Ali curtly replied, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” Not missing a beat, the flight attendant responded, “Sir, Superman don’t need no plane!” Perhaps he got a lesson in humility.

Humility and gratitude are partner virtues. They are exercised in tandem. Our gratitude to God is heightened by our understanding of His majesty and greatness. That awareness is designed to humble us. When Isaiah had his famous encounter with God, his immediate reaction was humility. (Isaiah 6:5) That humility came from Isaiah’s
awareness of his own sin. There is the key. Our sin makes us humble; God’s mercy makes us grateful. We are humbled by His holiness and grateful for his forgiveness.

Psalm 100 gives a perfect example of the harmony of these two characteristics of the spiritual person. “Know that the Lord is God. It is He that has made us and we are His.” This part of the psalm teaches us that God is Creator and Sovereign and has revealed himself to us. We belong to Him. He is in control, not us. “We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Because we are His, He cares for us. We are humbled by His care and reminded that we are utterly dependent on Him. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise… for the Lord is good.” All that God is and we are not, elicits thanksgiving and praise from His grateful children.

How humbled we are as we ponder this awesome Father! How grateful we are that His mercy never ends in the face of our sinfulness!

QUESTION: What changes should your attitude take to conform to this biblical call to humility? How can you daily express your gratitude to God?

“In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV

Do you know how to be thankful? Could you immediately experience a state of thanksgiving whenever you want or need to? Could you obey today’s verse? If
you said, “no,” then you perhaps do not know what the cause of thanksgiving
is. You may not even realize thanksgiving is an effect not a cause.

The cause of personal thanksgiving is awareness of good done toward us. If we are
truly aware of good being done toward us, then thanksgiving comes naturally. He created
this thanksgiving ability just as surely as He created our reaction to temperature
changes through the sensation of heat or cold on our skin. We were created to automatically
react with thanksgiving to goodness.

Have you noticed how some Americans are thankful for America while some are
not? The unthankful American has lost awareness of the great good they have being an
American. Recent immigrants have no trouble being thankful. They know great good
when they see it and experience it-they feel freedom on the skin of their souls.

Unthankful Americans have become so calloused they have lost the awareness of
the heart of freedom. The skin of their souls as citizens is dead. Unthankful Christians are
even more to be wondered at when they cannot feel the freedom of Christ on the skin
of their forever liberated souls. How tragic!

Can you see now why God’s will is for us to be thankful in everything? It is because
in everything that happens God is still wonderfully good toward us. The cause (God’s
constant goodness) is continuous but the effect (our thanksgiving) depends on our
awareness.

QUESTION: Is there a circumstance in your life where awareness of God and His
goodness is very low? What is keeping you from feeling the goodness of God? Can you
ask Him to make you aware again?

“When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon… she came to test him with hard questions… When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon…. She said to the king, ‘The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true…not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard…How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and has placed you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.’ “
1 Kings 10:1, 6-9, NIV

Sheba, about 1,200 miles from Jerusalem, is modern Yemen. The Queen of Sheba
was a strong and intelligent female leader. She heard about Solomon’s wisdom
and unparalleled wealth. In that day, monarchs would test each other with riddles
and difficult questions. The Queen tested Solomon and he passed with flying colors. In
short, the Queen of Sheba was “wowed!” by Solomon.

What does that have to do with us?” The answer: “mucho.” Let us draw some parallels.
Just as the Queen of Sheba was no dummy, neither are the pre-Christian people
of our communities who we are trying to reach. Just as the Queen of Sheba did, the
un-churched people of our neighborhoods want answers to the tough questions. Just
as Solomon “wowed” the Queen, we can “wow” our lost friends, family members, coworkers,
and neighbors with our love. We can “wow” them with wisdom from God’s
Word. We can “wow” them with the peace we have, even in the midst of life’s storms.

In the end, the pagan Queen of Sheba exclaimed, “The Lord your God is great,
indeed!” How awesome would it be to hear that from the mouth of a lost loved one?

QUESTION: Who can you “wow” today? How will you do that? What wisdom from
God’s Word can you give to some searching soul this week?

“Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one
who is sent greater than the one who sent him.”
John 13:16, NAS

Following Jesus was anything but predictable. The disciples never knew what
He was going to do next. On the last night before He was arrested, Jesus
surprised them by taking a basin of water and a towel and began to wash the
disciples’ feet. No one had figured Jesus out yet, but they did know that He was too
important a person to stoop to such a lowly task, a job usually reserved for household
servants.

It was shocking for Him to wash their feet. The initial protests of the disciples grew silent and one by one, He took the low place before each man, humbled Himself and
washed their feet.

When He finished, Jesus drove home the lesson, “Look, if you want to follow Me,
you have to take the low place, to take on any task I give you, to take into account that
your Master has chosen the role of humble servanthood. How can you choose to do
anything less?”

Servanthood has a three-fold character. First of all, it is anchored in humility. Until
we have humbled ourselves, as Christ did, yielding all that we claim as our own to
the greater interests and designs of God, we are not ready to serve the way Jesus did.
Secondly, servanthood must be rooted in love. Just before the washing of their feet,
John reminds us in 13:1 that “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved
them to the end (‘to the uttermost’).” Loving ourselves more than others obstructs the
way of serving them. Finally, servanthood is never just a frame of mind, but is always
demonstrated in action. Servants always serve. That is how you recognize them!

QUESTION: If you want to know if you have a servant’s heart, ask yourself how you
feel when someone treats you like a servant? Do you ever consider yourself to be too
important to take on an undesirable task? What difference would it make to your call
to servanthood if you understood and practiced Philippians 2:3-8?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV

We equate new beginnings with January each year. We tend to always make New Year’s resolutions, turn over a new leaf, etc. But we can make a new start anytime. I am not talking about in the physical sense, as in a new commitment to exercise, although that is not a bad idea.

Have you ever noticed everyone that wants to change our bodies for us? They have all these exercise gadgets from “Body By Jake” to Suzanne Sommers’ exercise all-inone machines. I admit I even bought into the Ab-Slide! If you could see it, you would know it is gathering dust! No six-pack abs for me. It is too painful! What is the point? We cannot start fresh with the externals; it will not last and we cannot let someone do it for us.

For some of us, it is time we had a change of mind and let the power of God give us a fresh start. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:19-20: “I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power for us who believe Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” We have the power to change. It is the power of the resurrection. The same power that broke the chains of death. What is it that needs to change in your life? Are you willing to let God’s power do the changing? Changing the externals will not give us that fresh start! We need to work on the inside.

QUESTION: In what area of your life do you need to make a fresh start? What will it take? Are you willing to let God work from the inside out? Where can He begin?

“‘You are My witnesses,’ says the LORD….”
Isaiah 43:10, NKJV

We can be a witness of God’s healing power or staying power; of God’s ability to bring victory in battle, or endurance in battle; of God’s answers to prayer, or of His presence in the midst of silence.

God calls us to walk by faith, yet we seem to always drag Him into our physical world. When we are healed, we testify of God’s goodness. When we have victory, we share our joy with everyone. When the prodigal returns home, we proclaim God’s faithfulness to answer prayer. But where are the accolades when we are not, when we do not and when it does not?

Hebrews 11:1 says “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” If we are always healed, always find victory, and always get answers to prayer, then where is our faith? God describes the real heroes of faith as those: “…faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God…That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God…” (Hebrews 11:13-16)

In the absence of health, in the trenches of battle and in the loneliness of a quiet prayer closet a faith emerges with the audacity to declare the goodness of God, when circumstances do not. And the faithful witness knows the reward of feeling God’s pleasure.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

QUESTION: List at least three things you have learned about God that have comforted you during the trials of your life.

“…that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:5, NAS

During my first year of college, the Lord unmistakably called me into full-time vocational ministry. The above verse was what the Lord used to get my attention. During a two-week period I kept coming across it in different places and from different people. I knew that I was no longer destined to be an accountant (for which the accounting world is forever grateful) but rather that the call of God was on my life.

What about you? Who are you trying to impress? This verse helped me to understand the only one I need to live for is Jesus. The “power of God” is the driving force in my life. He is primarily concerned with how I respond to Him. I became consumed with what the Lord thought of me. Of course, He loved me and wanted my best but He was also calling me to follow Him… wherever He led me.

Who is it that you have been living for? Do you live for Jesus? If yes, then keep up the good work, if no then ask Him to open your eyes to see Him only. It is a natural thing for us to rest our decisions on the wisdom of others but it is a supernatural thing for us to base our decision making on the power of God.

We are coming to the end of the year. What a great time to gear up for next year. Make it your aim to live your life for Jesus. It will not always make sense to others but it will always make sense to you and to Jesus. The bottom line is that nothing else really matters, only how you live for Jesus. So go ahead and live for Him!

QUESTION: What daily practices help you place your faith in Christ alone? What people are a distraction in your walk with Jesus? Encouragement? Set appropriate boundaries in your life so that opinions fall behind the counsel of God?

“…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1b, NIV

We all want peace in our minds and our hearts. The old song says: “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” God certainly wants us to experience peace and to share it with others.

Jesus proclaims in John 14:27, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. A relationship with Jesus brings peace!

When I think of peace, I often think of holding my children when they were small in my arms and they were soundly asleep. One of my parishioners, who never had children, once asked to babysit for us so he could know that feeling of having a child peacefully fall asleep in his arms. Jesus brings that kind of peace when we place our faith in Him.

Often though, I have not placed my faith in Him. I have tried to do it myself. This past Spring, we were encouraging witnessing in a series of sermons ending with “Bring a Friend Sunday.” As we were preparing for the series, I came up with an idea I had seen many years before of placing a big red bow on the front of our church with the theme, “Give the Gift.” However, I was having trouble finding a crane to inexpensively place this bow on the front of the church. The time was quickly approaching to create the bow and lift it in place. One night, at our “Belonging Class for Newcomers,” my assistant encouraged me to ask if anyone in the class had access to a thirty-five foot crane. Believe it or not, one of our newcomers had just such a truck for his business. He donated the use of his truck and two workers to place the bow. This encouraged our emphasis on witnessing.

The following week, I shared the peace I received from having “cast your bread upon the waters.” (Ecclesiastes 11:1) and finding God’s blessing.

QUESTION: Has God provided blessings for you lately? Thank Him for those blessings.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV

No fear is more than a slogan – it is a glorious truth. I laughed but smiled when our two-year old son, Evan, said, “Hallelulu.” Our child-like faith turns hurts into hallelujahs as we live, not by explanations of trials, but promises from God. When I preached my second sermon from 2 Timothy 1:7 at age sixteen, a woman who apparently had the gift of discouragement said, “When you are older, you will understand more about worry and fear.” I have certainly learned more but not found a better God!

God has given us power. Christ, who lives in you, is adequate for every issue you encounter. Another translation of Philippians 4:13 reads, “I can do all things through Him who continually pours His strength into me.”

God has given love. Perfect love casts out fear, (1 John 4:18) or as one version renders it: We have no fear of Someone who loves us perfectly. Are you “hanging it up” because you are hung up on whether God accepts you?

He also gives a sound mind or discipline. You need not be enslaved to emotions. “Just say no” to your fears. Truly, “fear has torment.” (1 John 4:18) Just as God honors faith, so does Satan respond to fear. He is at home in it! Many forget that we are to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” (1 John 4:1) You must say to that intruder, “I refuse that in Jesus’ name!”

While pastoring in Oklahoma, my wife, Janet and I ministered to a teenager, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease. As Janet spent the night with her before surgery, they sang songs of praise in the room. It was particularly moving when she sang, with a beautiful voice, “Because He Lives, I Can Face Tomorrow.”

QUESTION: What are you fearing? Can you face tomorrow?