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Devotions

Noah, Daniel, and Job can’t save!

“…Even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in [the land], as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” (Ezekiel 14:20)

What do Noah, Daniel, and Job have in common? Each was well known for his righteousness. We read that “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9). Of Job we are told that he was “a blameless and upright man” (Job 1:8). And by the time of the prophet Ezekiel, Daniel’s life had also shown him to be a righteous follower of the Lord in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (see Daniel chapter 1).

And why are these three men in particular mentioned in the book of Ezekiel? For the simple reason that, as our text says, even if they were in the land, they would not be able to save the Jews from the destruction to come at the hands of the Babylonians.

God had sent prophets through whom He warned, encouraged, and pleaded with His people, but still they continued their idol worship. In His loving grace the Lord had shown great patience with them, but the Jews continued to rely on themselves for strength, to depend on their physical ancestry as an “in” with God. Read More »Noah, Daniel, and Job can’t save!

LENTEN . . . JOY?

“…(Jesus) who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

The term joy is not one we typically associate with the seven weeks of the Lenten season. Joy is an emotion usually reserved for the seasons of Christmas and Easter.

The emotions of godly sobriety and repentance are usually associated with Lent—and rightly so. Our thoughts focus on the need for forgiveness of sins, as we consider the suffering, sorrow, shame, and death our Lord Jesus endured to reconcile sinners unto God.Read More »LENTEN . . . JOY?

“Everybody Loves a Parade”?

PALM SUNDAY: (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-15)

It has been said that everybody loves a parade. Large crowds of people young and old flock curbside to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Rose Bowl Parade, or the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

What makes parades popular are beautiful floats, waving celebrities decked out in finery, marching bands, and giant-size balloon characters. Many say they like parades because of the fun-filled entertainment and positive atmosphere.Read More »“Everybody Loves a Parade”?

…Lord, may Thy body and Thy blood be for my soul the highest good!

Picture the scene.
The date is approximately 1600 B.C. The Israelites are living in Egypt, suffering as slaves
at the hands of brutal taskmasters. Pharaoh had refused to let the Israelites leave his country though God has commanded him to do so, and He had sent nine plagues to try to lead him to comply.

Now the Lord resolved to send one more plague. He revealed that on that very night every firstborn in Egypt would die, “from the firstborn son of Pharaoh … Read More »…Lord, may Thy body and Thy blood be for my soul the highest good!

The Privilege of Prayer

“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them” 
(Psalm 145:18-19)

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could pick up the telephone and talk to the President of the United States and share our problems with him? Wouldn’t it be even better if he could actually give individual attention to each and every one of us?

Of course, there is no way the President could address the individual concerns of over 300 million citizens. The current President and others have gone to the scene of some calamity to share in the sorrows and to comfort the stricken, but even as the national leader arrives at one scene, other scenes of loss and distress are occurring elsewhere.

Now let’s consider that we do have the “open access” privilege with the King, the great God, our Father in heaven, who can indeed help us and who can and does care in a very personal way about each and every citizen of His Kingdom.

We have a Ruler in heaven who has power to deliver us from every evil, for He has loved us and sent His Son to redeem us. We can come to Him with all our hurts, all our concerns, and He promises to hear us. He sympathizes with us in our weaknesses and in our sorrows.

How wondrous it is that our Heavenly Father cares about and has compassion Read More »The Privilege of Prayer

LOVE: Valentine’s Day or Every Day?

On the day when the world celebrates “love” with flowers, cards, candy, and various other trinkets, what part does it play in the Christian life?

Actually, the love celebrated on Valentine’s Day by the world is not the love that the Christ-believer celebrates every day. Valentine’s Day is a day in which sensuality, materialism, and commercialism are thinly veiled in the name of love. While there is nothing wrong with showing love toward loved ones with gifts, mere worldly love does not reflect the true love that Christians celebrate daily.Read More »LOVE: Valentine’s Day or Every Day?

Jesus’s Baptism

Seeing Our Lord’s Glory

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”   (Matthew 3:13-17)

We have now entered the season of Epiphany.Epiphany means “to show forth or manifest.” It is a time in the church year when we see our Savior as the One in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

We want to see Jesus as the almighty Savior-God who came with all power to save our lost and fallen world. During the Advent and Christmas seasons we witnessed our Savior through the eyes of faith as the lowly Christ-Child born in a stable and laid in a manger—seemingly helpless. But now it is time to see our Savior as the eternally blessed God who came with all power to save sinful mankind through His holy life and innocent death in our place.Read More »Jesus’s Baptism