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All Devotionals
| 07/28/2010 WED |
The Many (Gracious) Dimensions of the New Life God Gives Us
It is hard for us to fathom fully the many dimensions of the power of God that claims us. These dimensions not only reveal the greatness of God’s power, but also make clear our helplessness apart from his working as the Lord of life, the Lord of eternity, and the Lord of love. |
| 07/27/2010 TUE |
Loved Unconditionally by God--Even While We Were Still Sinners
On the basis of justice alone, a holy God should not love the sinful. Yet, having dispensed his justice in the judgment of his Son, our God not only delights to extend his mercy, but by his power, he enables us to respond to his love. |
| 07/26/2010 MON |
Dead in Our Sins--Until God's Grace Brings Us Back to Life
I entered adulthood with huge questions about how to reconcile the tension between God’s sovereignty and my responsibility. In some ways, I’m still working that out, but years of reflection on scriptural passages like this one have helped me to see more clearly how God’s sovereign gift of his love and his call upon our lives coalesce to bring him glory and give us purpose. |
| 07/23/2010 FRI |
Called to Be the Church--For the Sake of the World
Hardship and oppression come and go, but the church of Jesus Christ endures. The gates of hell have not prevailed against it, and they shall not. Christ will have dominion, and he will use his church—us!—to bring his rule to the hearts of his people throughout the world. |
| 07/22/2010 THU |
Christ Fulfills His Purposes In, For--and Through--the Church
Paul says that God gave Jesus “as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (vv. 22c–23). This means that that for which the universe is being filled—Christ’s church—is itself the instrument of that filling. Jesus is changing the universe for the good of the church by means of the church. God gives no other institution on earth the promise or the power to be salt and light in the world. The world will ultimately and eternally yield to the influence of the church, because it is the body of him who is head over all and, thus, it contains and exerts his power in behalf of his own glory! |
| 07/21/2010 WED |
Rejoicing in the Hope and Inheritance We Have--and Are--in Christ
As a teacher of preaching, I try to alert my students to what seems to be the common denominator in great preaching throughout the ages. It is not a style of delivery, or organization, or even exposition. These vary greatly by era. What seems to be the thread uniting all great Christian preaching is hope. As members of the Christ’s church, we are in God’s family, and that means that we all—whether formally preachers or not—are in the “family business” of showing the world that there is hope for our fallen condition, our sin-sick world, and our sin-bound souls because of the power of Christ that is for us. We are meant to be dispensers of that hope, offering God’s promise that his riches and power can make tomorrow brighter than today. |
| 07/20/2010 TUE |
Seeing the Source--and the Purpose--of Our Power
When the mother of the deaf child I described earlier (see Monday, July 19) saw that people in another town had the power to help her daughter, she made the four-hour roundtrip to therapy each weekday for four years. Why would she do such a thing? Because she had seen with her own eyes the resources that were offered and knew their power to grant new hope of hearing, health, and wholeness for her daughter, and that hope endured through many years and many miles. Hope is that strong. The church of Jesus Christ is called to offer such hope. |
| 07/19/2010 MON |
Seeing God's Provision Through the Eyes of Faith--and Prayer
I once heard some caring parents describe the desperation they felt when they first learned that their young daughter was deaf. They had a great need they could not fix and no idea what to do or who could help. Then the Lord arranged for them to meet another family with a similar child that directed them to various helpful state services. My friends said the experience was like being asked to enter a room that you did not even know existed, and when you got inside, you found an entire world unseen by most in society. In that world were dedicated and expert people giving their lives to the care of such children. This world exists always, but you do not see it until you have such a need. |
| 07/16/2010 FRI |
Encouraging Others in What Will Be Rather Than Focusing on What Is
Similarly, church leaders must realize that God’s children come to the church—the family of God—for spiritual support. Saying to them, “I am thankful for you,” is powerful spiritual work, and never ceasing to do it, as Paul says (Eph. 1:16a), deepens our bonds with one another and with Christ in powerfully transformative ways. |
| 07/15/2010 THU |
Seeing Good in Others--Despite Their Flaws--for the Sake of Christ
Despite the secularism and materialism of our culture, people have a deep longing for spiritual support, especially during times of tragedy. How Christians express this support—among themselves and to others—is crucial. What does meaningful spiritual support include? The apostle Paul offers us some clues in his words to the Ephesians. |
| 07/14/2010 WED |
Strengthened by God for the Challenges of Life
Why would Christians who live in a land where they are persecuted gather to read the Bible or worship together when they could easily do it individually with less chance of discovery? What compels such believers to risk everything in Christ’s name? |
| 07/13/2010 TUE |
God Has the Power--and He Will Do What He Promises
How can those who suffer believe in the goodness and greatness of God when little they experience in this world seems to confirm the truth of those beliefs? Only faith can affirm that such hope in God is not in vain, for faith rises above the earth to see things from God’s perspective. |
| 07/12/2010 MON |
Signed, Sealed, and Guaranteed by the Spirit of God
In this passage of Scripture, Paul tells the Ephesians that they “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (v. 13b–14). Those who are part of God’s redemptive plan are marked with a seal that guarantees their receiving the full rights of God’s heirs in a Kingdom redeemed and made right. |
| 07/09/2010 FRI |
Seeing the Whole Rainbow Through Eyes of Faith
I am always chasing rainbows. When one appears in the sky, I run for a camera and any family member or pet I can get to pose in the picture. The beautiful colors, the wonder of light in nature’s prism, the reminder of God’s mercy and covenant (see Gen. 9)—all call me to relish the glory of God’s design. But my ability to appreciate this glory is always incomplete. |
| 07/08/2010 THU |
The Ever-Expanding Mercy of the God of Love
God’s involvement of “all things” in his divine plan is more than a continuing expansion of his covenant with his people. It is an expansion of his mercy itself. What did the Jews do to be the chosen people? Nothing. God’s blessing was based in his mercy, not on their merit. And what do Gentiles now have to do to qualify for this mercy and be granted the same privileged status as the covenant people? Again, the answer is: nothing! |
| 07/07/2010 WED |
God Has a Plan for the Universe--and We Are Part of It!
As Paul argues implicitly here in Ephesians (see vv. 11–12) and explicitly elsewhere (see Rom. 1 and 2), the promises of God were made first to the Jews, then to the first Jewish Christians, then to the Greeks or Gentiles (non-Jewish believers)—creating an ever-widening arc that now includes all who place their trust in Jesus Christ. From the beginning, God purposed to work all things together to unite creation under the headship of Christ. |
| 07/06/2010 TUE |
Loved Not Because of What We Do, But Because of Who God Is
We can do everything right as best we understand it, but we are still unable to do all that God requires. Our weaknesses of understanding and will, the complications of life, and forces beyond our control keep perfect performance of God’s will far distant. So, what confidence do we have that God will continue loving and securing us if we cannot do everything he requires? |
| 07/05/2010 MON |
Christ for All, and All for Christ!
As you enter the ruins of ancient Ephesus today, you can see the remnants of a statue that once depicted the Roman emperor Trajan with his foot on the globe of the world. All that remains now is the foot. Trajan’s rule, never complete even in his own day, has long since ended. Scripture tells us that, unlike with such fleeting human rulers, one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and he will rule over all (Phil. 2:10–11). There will be no corner of the world or of heaven where his rule does not extend. |
| 07/02/2010 FRI |
Amazed By the Revelation of God's Redeeming Grace
Some years ago, my daughter found a tent worm in our backyard. Tent worms destroy trees; they are brown and not very attractive. Still, she put it in a collection jar and added leaves and sticks to make the worm feel comfortable. There was nothing special in that worm, but my daughter took pleasure in caring for it. Similarly, our God delights in caring for each of us, though we did and can do nothing to deserve such care. If we do not like being compared to a worm, then we are not fully prepared to take in the truth of this passage. |
| 07/01/2010 THU |
Forgiven of Every Sin by the Powerful Blood of Our Savior
Some friends of mine adopted a child with fetal alcohol syndrome, knowing that the background of this child will result in many problems. Enslaved to her birth nature, this child will tax them considerably—they will pay as with blood for her future good. Nonetheless, they offer themselves to one to whom they owe no obligation or debt. |
| 06/30/2010 WED |
Freed From the Prison of Sin by the Precious Blood of Christ
Along a highway near St. Louis, a row of blossoming pear trees lines the border of a state prison. In the springtime, all that drivers on that highway can see is the appearance of beauty, but behind the blossoms are razor wire and imprisonment and broken lives. This image serves as a perfect metaphor for the Bible’s perspective on the condition of humankind. |
| 06/29/2010 TUE |
Chosen!--Not for Pride But for God's Purposes
During a radio interview, an author described his experience in a New York subway as a reasonably dressed but apparently disturbed man walked through the crowd pointing to individuals and saying, “You’re in,” or, “You’re out.” There was no apparent rhyme or reason to his choosing. Silly as it sounds, the author found himself waiting expectantly to see if he would be “chosen.” |
| 06/28/2010 MON |
Plucked From the Fire By God's Gracious Choice
The fact that God chooses us because we cannot save ourselves does not answer our questions about why some are plucked from spiritual danger and others are not. But Paul does not address those questions here. He is saying simply that God makes us his own and loves us, even though we know that we are not good enough and do not merit his affection. Indeed, knowing these things is one of the marks of God putting his Spirit in us. |
| 06/25/2010 FRI |
Loved and Chosen By God--From and For Eternity
Wouldn’t it make a difference to your heart, to your zeal, to know that God has loved and will love you forever? It makes a difference to me, and Paul knew it would make a difference to those in the church at Ephesus. Over and over in this passage, he makes the point that everything we have and are is due to divine cause alone. |
| 06/24/2010 THU |
Welcome to God's Family--and to All the Benefits Thereof!
It was God’s will and pleasure to adopt us as members of his own family through the work of Jesus. He makes us his own sons and daughters—and thus brothers and sisters of Christ. As such, we have all the rights, privileges, and affection that the Son of God himself receives from the Father. |