Category: Devotional

The Lord is Listening
Jesus healing the blind beggar (Luke 18:35-43) makes me think of The Parable of Persistent Widow and Jesus healing the paralytic. (Mark 2:1-12) All are demonstrations of persistence and not allowing other people and conditions to get in the way of our salvation. (Luke 18:2-8) It is good to know that when life seems grim, the Lord is listening for our call.

Christ Healing the Blind Man c. 1640 – Gioacchino Assereto (1600–1649)

As the beggar is calling out to Jesus, others are trying to silence him. The “upper class” Pharisees are crowding the front and no doubt, planning and scheming Jesus’ demise. I can almost see their anger as he keeps calling out to the “Son of David!”

Jesus’ first words on the Sermon on the Mount were words of comfort to the less fortunate and those who do not allow suffering to be a reason to lose faith. (Matthew 5:3-11) We see him making good on this throughout his ministry. If our goal is to imitate Jesus’ example, then we need to avoid:
- looking down on others
- silencing others’ enthusiasm
- discouraging others’ ambition
Just like he proved on that noisy street outside Jericho, our Lord is listening to all his faithful children.

Daily Bible reading for September 26

Psalm 56
2 Samuel 15:13-16:14
Ezekiel 17
Luke 18:31-19:27
September 26, 2013
Do Not Lose Heart

As Luke leads the reader into The Parable of the Unjust Judge, he tells us that we ought to always be in a prayerful state. (Luke 18:1) As God is being contrasted to the Unjust Judge, we are shown the power of persistence. (Luke 18:2-8)

When we are not regular enough with our praying, we risk being guilty of treating God like a gumball machine. In fact, when Jesus taught the crowd to “ask, seek and knock” (Matthew 7:7) he followed up by speaking of those actions as continuous in nature. (Matthew 7:8) Among the closing words of 1 Thessalonians, Paul reminds us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

When our prayers are not answered right away, we can know that we have been heard. Throughout the Bible, we see that God’s answers and promises were given in his own time. Although, when those prayers are for relief, it can be difficult to keep the faith. In those cases we can take comfort in what our Lord went through in comparison. (Hebrews 12:3)

Similar to the widow in Jesus’ parable, sometimes it is persistence that wins the day.

Daily Bible reading for September 25

Psalm 55
2 Samuel 14:25-15:12
Ezekiel 16
Luke 18:1-30

September 25, 2013
Requests and Thanksgiving

In the margin of my Bible, beside the account of the ten lepers, (Luke 17:11-19) I have this written:

How often do the love and life of the pardoned sinner fail to respond to the grace that saved him! – Lamar

I don’t remember writing it there, but it pretty much sums up the reason the event is included in the Bible. All too often, we forget to give credit where credit is due when our prayers are answered. Here Jesus is showing his disappointment at being forgotten.

Among the exhortations Paul closed Philippians with, he reminds the reader to pray and make our requests in the spirit of thanksgiving. (Philippians 4:6) Giving God the glory for our successes and blessings is key to maintaining our faith.

Daily Bible reading for September 24

Psalm 54
2 Samuel 14:1-24
Ezekiel 14-15
Luke 17:11-37

September 24, 2013
If I Only Had More Wealth!

In one sentence, Jesus gave us a benchmark in how we would handle increased wealth.

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much – Luke 16:10

Whatever a man does with what he has, is an indicator of what he would do with whatever amount more of it there may be.

Based on your current condition, how would you handle increased wealth?

Many pretend that if they were rich they would give large sums to charity, make larger contributions to the church, save more and generally be a good steward – but they do none of these things with more modest possessions. These folks, in general are lying to themselves.

Jesus goes on to say that those who can’t make things work with a more modest net worth will not be trusted to handle larger responsibilities. (Luke 16:11-12)

Instead of justifying ourselves by saying “If I had more ___________ I would do more _________”, we should be asking, “How can I best use what God has given me in his service?”

Daily Bible reading for September 23

Psalm 53
2 Samuel 13
Ezekiel 13
Luke 16:1-17:10

September 23, 2013
Forgiveness of Sins
In Psalm 51, David has come to realize that the sins he has committed cannot be covered or forgotten. The darkness of his acts (2 Samuel 11) will remain with him but for the grace of God.

In a previous post, we took a look at the model prayer for some guidelines in how to construct a prayer. We can extend that lesson with Psalm 51. David pleads for forgiveness with urgency and is upfront about the discredit his sins do to him. He asks God to:
- Have mercy (Psalm 51:1)
- Cleanse him (Psalm 51:2)
- Wash him (Psalm 51:7)
- Blot out his sin (Psalm 51:9)
- Hide his face from David’s sin (Psalm 51:9)
- Deliver him from guilt (Psalm 51:14)
We can see that David professes no merit or credit for his position. He relies totally on God’s love and mercy. From the beginning of this prayer God is the basis of David’s hope.

This remains true for New Testament Christians as well. Even after obeying the Gospel, we have to recognize our need for God. Hiding sins, or not repenting from sins, separates him from us and will prevent his grace from reaching us.

As for our own sins, let’s not allow a stubborn heart or pride get in the way of the simple truth that David recognized.

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy – Proverbs 28:13

Daily Bible reading for September 21

Psalm 51
2 Samuel 11
Ezekiel 11:14-25
Luke 14
September 21, 2013
Economical Worship
Humans have a knack for making things efficient and economical.

Someone once told me about how their church had added an early worship service so they could go ahead and “get it done.” I have even had a sister at my congregation tell me how upset she was that nobody told a guest speaker what time he had to stop.

While I suppose it is good that folks like these are in the service and know they are where they are supposed to be, I wonder if that kind of attitude isn’t what Jesus was talking about making it difficult to enter the “narrow door.” (Luke 13:22-30)

Psalm 50 is a warning that both Israel (who had the practice of worship down to a science) and the wicked are in the same boat if they don’t remember God and glorify him. (Psalm 50:22-23)

God expects us to be fully engaged with him. Efficiency isn’t always the best choice!

Jesus made no bones about following him being expensive and that it requires a complete rethinking of one’s life. (Luke 14:25-33) He said those wanting to get through the narrow door must “strive” to get in. (Luke 13:24) The word strive has connotations of agony in its definition.

While being economical is a good trait for saving time and money, what risk do we face when we apply that thinking to our worship? How can it affect our daily lives?

The narrow door may close on us because of:
- Pride (1 Peter 5:6)
- Procrastination (2 Corinthians 6:2)
- A lack of urgency (Luke 13:24)
That last one is pretty complex. If we approach the narrow door in a casual manner we may:
- Attempt to bring contraband
- Not arrive before the door shuts
- Never really ever get around to trying
The challenge offered today is to sing, pray, give, serve and live like our souls depend on it.

It does.
September 20, 2013