Daily Devotion for September 21, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read 2 Samuel 11:1-17.

We all know that certain sins are more detrimental than others, in that they do more harm to relationships with other people (they all harm our relationship with God). King David committed two of the most grievous sins we know - adultery and murder. Coveting could also be added to the list. He misused his position of power and took advantage of Bathsheba. On top of that, he tried to cover it all up. He involved other people in his cover-up attempt, again misusing his power. (Can you imagine all the coverage his actions would be receiving on television and the Internet in this day and time?) It was all very displeasing to God and David suffered consequences for his actions.

And yet, God continued to work through him to fulfill God’s purposes. David is one of the most explicit reminders to us that no matter what we have done to mess up our life or the life of anybody else, we can be forgiven, restored and serve God’s mission. Furthermore, it is often in the very ways that we have messed up that we can use those experiences to help others, either in helping prevent them from doing the same thing or helping them recover if they did. Be reminded of this truth today, whether for yourself or someone you know who needs to receive it.

Personal Worship Option:

Offer this prayer or put it in your own words: Lord, you know of the ways I have hurt myself and others in my life. Thank you for your forgiveness and restoration to me. Continue to show me how I can help those around me know of your forgiveness and your power to restore them and use them to serve your mission. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Daily Devotion for September 20, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Exodus 2:11-14.

Moses killed the Egyptian guard, thinking he had done so without anyone knowing. Still, God would use him to lead God’s people to freedom. Max Lucado says it best when writing about Moses.

“It’s been said that Moses’ life played out in three distinct acts. He spent forty years thinking he was somebody, forty years realizing he was a nobody, and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody. Moses’ life teaches us a myriad of lessons:

1. God’s never done with you, until God’s done with you.
2. At every moment of every day, God is working, orchestrating, laying the groundwork for new, not-yet-visible things; just because we can’t see these divine developments, doesn’t mean they're not in process.
3. When we least expect it, God will show up and spin our lives off in an amazing new direction.
4. Our final years can be our most significant years.

Are you trudging along? Are you feeling forgotten?  Perk up. You may be about to round a corner and see a burning bush!

Are you older, thinking your glory days are behind you? Consider this remarkable fact: the Bible devotes exactly 1 chapter to Moses’ first 80 years and 135 chapters to his final 40!

Take heart . . . the best is yet to come!”

Personal Worship Option:

What does God have in store for you? Are you open to hear from Him?

Daily Devotion for September 19, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Genesis 37:2-11.

This scripture is the beginning of Joseph’s life of getting dreams from God and his growing attitude of arrogance. He was the favored son of Jacob and was in his teenage years. This favoritism created much hate among his brothers to the point of them doing harmful things to him. Joseph never went for revenge toward his brothers. Through the bad times he came to grow in his faith and trust in God. This story is one that shows God uses sinful, broken people to bring about his purposes. When you think about it, all through the Bible God uses very unlikely people.

The Bible is not a story about spiritual superheroes who get to the pinnacle of their walk with God. God’s stories tell of working in people’s lives, loving, redeeming, restoring, and giving grace to them. Joseph understood that God can redeem even the worst of circumstances for good. All of Jacob and Joseph, and their descendants show that God never gives up on difficult people. This is good news for us today. We can be redeemed!

Personal Worship Option:

God, you changed Jacob into an obedient giant of faith. Change me also, so that I can serve you in the way that you desire. Amen.

Daily Devotion for September 18, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Genesis 27:15-24.

Today, we read the story of Jacob stealing the blessing that his father Isaac wanted to give to his brother Esau. To understand what is happening, we need to step back in time a few years. Esau was the firstborn of Isaac and Rebecca. Jacob was Esau’s fraternal twin. As parents will sometimes have favorites, we find that Isaac preferred Esau and Rebecca preferred Jacob. In an earlier story, we find that Esau had given up his birthright to Jacob in exchange for a tasty stew (Esau must have really been famished). The birthright was important because it gave preference to the firstborn son in matters of wealth and inheritance.

In today’s text, the elderly, blind, Isaac tells Esau that he will bless him if he goes hunting and prepares a meal of wild game for him. Esau leaves to do his father’s bidding, while Rebecca urges Jacob to deceive his father so that he may receive his father’s blessing instead. You read in today’s text how the deception was enacted. The bottom line is that Jacob receives Isaac’s blessing and Esau does not. Through this deception, Isaac eventually became the father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel through his wives and concubines. But he also suffers through deceptions perpetrated upon him throughout his own life.

While we don’t condone the methods that Jacob used to cheat his brother Esau of what was rightfully his, we see that God used Jacob to fulfill God’s purpose for his chosen people.

Personal Worship Option:

Meditate on how God continues to use persons who we might not consider worthy of blessing to do God’s work today.

Daily Devotion for September 17, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Genesis 12:10-20.

There is not a word here about asking God's permission to go down to Egypt. Abram took counsel, not from God, but from his fears alone. To use a contemporary expression, he pushed the panic button, and down to Egypt he went. It was fear that drove him.

If the land is a symbol for us of the life of fellowship with a living Christ, then a famine in the land is any circumstance that threatens our dependence upon Him. It is any circumstance that makes faith difficult to maintain. Have you ever experienced such a famine? Have you been living in the full joy of fellowship with Christ, and the strength of God is your portion, and suddenly some circumstance beyond your control makes it difficult to maintain that fellowship? It may be a new boss who turns out to be an ogre; it may be neighbors who throw their garbage over the back fence; or a tiger of a mother-in-law who comes to live with you. It is always some difficult circumstance of life that makes it hard to maintain fellowship with Christ. Perhaps it is hard and demanding labor that leaves you little time for cultivating the spirit. It may be a bitter disappointment that crushes you, and your heart aches so that you can hardly find strength for prayer and fellowship. It may be depressing surroundings that are hard to rise above. It may be misunderstood motives—you meant to do good, and someone took it wrong, and you have been cut to the quick. In short, it is any temptation that seems more than you can bear, which threatens to cut off your very strength, your fellowship with Christ.

When this occurs, the temptation is to flee rather than to stick it out. We do not enjoy trials like this, and we try to get away physically, if we can. We move to another neighborhood, change jobs, take a trip, or go home to mother. If we simply cannot flee physically, we try to run away mentally. We escape the unpleasant reality by a flight into fantasy. There is so much of this being done today—some retreat into a mental Egypt where life seems much more pleasant than it is in reality. Whenever we attempt to satisfy the spirit by the same resources that worldlings have at their command, we have gone down to Egypt.

Personal Worship Option:

As we walk through life we always come to tough or difficult situations. Do we try to physically retreat or mentally escape, or do we trust our Lord to carry us thru them?

Daily Devotion for September 16, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Luke 22:54-62.

As Peter sat with his fellow apostles around the table of their final Passover meal with Jesus, Peter felt nothing but confidence and loyalty to Jesus, declaring that he was prepared to go to prison or death for him. But just a few hours later, with Jesus arrested and taken inside the high priest’s house, Peter was not so brave or confident. The people who asked him if he was one of Jesus’ followers were doing so accusingly. To admit that he was a follower likely would have resulted in his own arrest and perhaps even death. So, just as Jesus had predicted, Peter denied even knowing Jesus.

I can recall times in my own life when I should have stood up for the things Jesus taught and did. Yet, out of timidity or the desire for popularity or whatever, I failed to step forward. We are supposed to see ourselves in Peter’s denials! We know the rest of the story, don’t we? After his death and resurrection, Jesus completely forgave and reinstated Peter…” Do you love me? ...Feed my sheep!” Peter went on to be a great leader in the early church. Despite our shortcomings, you and I are called to serve Christ faithfully and boldly, knowing that we too are forgiven.

Personal Worship Option:

Forgive me, Holy God, for the times I have failed to stand up and, in that way, have denied your Son. Give me the courage and faith to receive your forgiveness and to accept Christ’s call on me to go and feed his sheep. Amen.

Daily Devotion for September 15, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Matthew 9:1-8.

We are finishing up this follow-up series on the “Sermon on the Mount,” where we have been looking at some ways that Jesus began to put his lessons on the mountain into practice in everyday life. In this scene, he first witnesses his teaching being put into practice. Yesterday, we were reminded of the lesson of the “Golden Rule.” “Some men” brought this paralyzed man to Jesus, putting that lesson into action. We’re not told if they were friends of his or knew him at all. Maybe Matthew didn’t know that information and maybe it didn’t matter either way. Maybe they had witnessed Jesus healing other people. And whether they knew this man or not, they joined together in getting him the help he needed. Maybe one or more of them had heard Jesus’ teaching on the mountain. Maybe they asked themselves “If I were paralyzed, what would I want someone to do for me?”

The most fascinating phrase in this scene is this: “When Jesus saw their faith….” he forgave this man and healed him. There are people who find themselves in situations of life that cause their “faith bank account” to be depleted. They need others to come alongside them and pick them up and carry them to Jesus. Who is the Holy Spirit inviting you to help carry today?

Personal Worship Option:

Join us in worship today as we explore this scene and worship God together. Ideally, join us in person. (And bring a carload!) If you can’t be there so I can see you in person, I hope you see me and others on the screen. Stay connected to God and each other!