Tag: Jesus Christ

Devotional 19: Help My Unbelief

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Mark 9: 17-24

17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,[a] all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

A father’s faith in the works of Jesus had suffered a blow from the inability of the disciples to cast out a violent, life-threatening demon from his son. The demon threw the boy into fire and water, the father said, in order to destroy him.

How wearying it must have been for the father to be ever-vigilant in order to save his son’s life, how frightening to see that visage take over an innocent face, subjecting it to brief glimpses of hell’s horrors! But to his credit, he didn’t give up. We’re not told if he traveled a great distance to get to Jesus, but I believe he would have done anything to save his son’s life, as any good parent would.

Also to his credit, when the disciples couldn’t cast it out, though his hopes were initially dashed, he sought out the source of holy Power, and went to see Jesus.

When the man tells Jesus that his disciples failed, Jesus initially rebukes them (again, though indirectly) for their lack of faith, because now, as a result, this man has come to him full of hope, but also doubt.

As they bring the boy to Him, the demon does obeisance, albeit violently, and throws the boy’s body to the ground because even demons are unable to stand in the presence of the Lord.

After a brief Q & A with Jesus, the father, not surprisingly, qualifies his request with, “But if You can do anything…” This is the first time Jesus’ ability to do anything is called into question. Normally, when we read “if” statements in Scripture, it goes more like this: “Lord, if you are willing…”

But Jesus, having compassion, puts forth a condition of his own: “If you can believe…”

Faith is the conduit to answered prayer, and without it being in the person making the request, Jesus will not override doubt. Not cannot override doubt, but will not. This is why we are admonished to ask in prayer, believing we have already received.

The father now realizes what he’s done, and cries out, offering his remnant of faith for Jesus to take and increase. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”

And Jesus casts out the demon with a caveat of his own. “Enter him no more!” for the father’s doubt has left his son vulnerable to repossession, as Jesus said. In Luke 11:24-26 we read: 

24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

And the gathering crowd now adds their voices of doubt to the scene, believing Jesus has killed the boy by delivering him:

26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

Is it any wonder Jesus cried out against the faithless generation He worked among? And as much as we would like to believe in our own piety, we too, even now, have our moments; but even faith the size of a mustard seed has to be nurtured.

Therefore I pray:

Lord, You say all things are possible to those who believe, but my faith is as a mustard seed, and the conditions surround its soil are not conducive to its growth: my senses, my circumstances, my finances, my health, my family, and other worldly cares cause it to struggle to break its small and fragile shell, and it suffers greatly, weakening from stagnation every day.

I would not have it die, Lord, so help my unbelief, for you cannot work where there is doubt.

Cast out that demon in me that wants to please man, and to do all that you say makes a man unclean from the inside out, and his soul before God impure and unworthy to enter the Kingdom. I would not be a whited sepulcher.

Bless, purify, sanctify, and forgive this unworthy servant who listens to hell’s whispering: “Did G-d really say…?”

Deliver me, O Lord, from myself: my way, my strength, my will, my thoughts not taken captive, for they are flying demons looking for an empty house.

Lord Jesus, I pray that You command them to enter me no more, that may stand guiltless before Your throne, and hear You say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.

“Enter.”

Amen

All Nations will be Gathered Before Him

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Devotional 17: All Nations will be Gathered before Him (Matthew 25:32)

   Matthew 25:31-32New King James Version (NKJV)

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[a] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

 

A college professor I had once described getting off the topic as ‘birdwalking.’

I was never really sure why this particular phrase stuck with me, and I’ve since tried to research whether or not birds walk in a straight line, but as with all things these days, there are conflicting opinions.

For the purposes of not being an ornithologist, I’ll use it anyway, since I’ve told you what he meant by it.

We have before us the doctrine of the Great White Throne judgement, though nothing says it is a great white throne, but rather simply ‘the throne of His glory.’ Since his body will be transformed, whether or not we get to look at it directly is up for debate, but now I’m  birdwalking.

For those who have a ‘no-hell’ doctrine, I would ask, why then would there be a need for separation? God can’t look on sin, nor will He allow it inside. Spotless, or spotted.

There is no middle ground, no compromise, no ‘winking’ and saying “Well, all right, he / she did try.”

There is salvation in faith in Christ and repentance of sins, or condemnation.

There is only one Way to God, and while other ‘gods’ may have said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, ‘ none of them followed it with, “No man comes to the Father, but by Me.”

There are some who say the everlasting punishment Jesus speaks of is metaphorical.

As metaphors are comparative, I would ask, compared to what?

There are others who say that non-whites should not worship a white Jesus, yet when Jesus says “Go and make disciples of all nations,” I see no exceptions in that list.

If He was black, He didn’t say “Only the nations where they look like Me.”

If He was white, He didn’t say, “Only the nations where they look like Me.”

The enemy has us fighting over the wrong issues with each other: His existence, His color, what He said or didn’t say about certain issues, whether or not He was married and had children, which Bible translation is more accurate, hymns vs. contemporary worship music….

We argue all this, and have allowed the sectarianism which He forbid to invade our thinking, and have separated ourselves while saying we’re of one accord, instead of simply doing what He told us to do: preach the Gospel to the nations who don’t know Him.

Our fruit rots on the vine for all these things we debate that, at their core, are fleshly and of no use Kingdom building.

As Paul admonishes us: Cease from strife. Know nothing but Christ, and Him crucified.

As Christ commands us: Love one another, and fear God, and see the Day of Salvation through the Power of God.

The rest is birdwalking.

 

Therefore I pray:

 

        Father in Heaven, bring to mind the words of my Lord and Savior when I would be distracted, and need to ‘defend’ against the hard-hearted the nature of His sacrifice. Let me not worry about what I will say, but let the Spirit fill my mouth with what You would want them to know, and speak the Truth in love.

     Help me to plant seeds in fertile soil, or to soften hard ground to receive the Good News of the Living Word.

     Forgive me when through my silence, I renounce Your presence in my life, and keep my tongue still when I should testify to Your goodness.

    I know the plans You have for me, and as You are no respecter of persons, allow me to be gracious in imparting the word of Your willingness to bless another.

    Help me too, O Lord, in keeping my own path straight, that I might not cause my brother or sister, new to Your revelation, to stumble, to birdwalk, and stray because of  my lack of discipline and self control.

     Let my rejoicing in Your salvation of me come through in all that I say and do, and forgive me when the world comes in like a flood, and I forget what You have done in my life.

     By the Power of Your blood, and in Your Name, I ask, in faith receiving.

 

     Amen.

 

Devotional 15: Are You the One?

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In the amphitheatre of the Judean wilderness, the herald of the Messiah preached to the people and the religious leaders about repentance and the coming judgment, and imminent damnation and separation and destruction for the unrepentant enemies of God and Christ.

 

 Matthew 3: 7-12

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[a] 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

 

And under the penumbra of that rousing introduction, Jesus begins his work of imparting grace to sinners, of speaking of loving one’s enemies, performing miracles for the servant of a Roman centurion, a Greek woman’s daughter, and revealing Himself to the a Samaritan female with a bad reputation.

 

It was the work of holding the teachers and leaders of the Jews accountable for their corruption, cowardice, hypocrisy, and the work of feeding and healing multitudes of people John said He would punish.

 

And John, who leapt in Elizabeth’s womb at the presence of Jesus in Mary’s, sent messengers whose words must’ve torn at the Savior’s heart, even though He probably knew John would come to doubt before He ever descended:

 

“Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3)

 

John wasn’t there when Jesus proclaimed from the book of Isaiah the ‘year of the Lord’s favor,’ and therefore didn’t realize He did not speak of ‘the day of the Lord’s vengeance’ that John was preaching.

 

Jesus sends the reply that the events which the prophets spoke of and the tenets that the Law commands are being fulfilled, along with this gentle rebuke:

 

‘And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’ (Matt: 11:6)

 

Prophets predicted all manner of works God through Christ would perform, but they were never given specific times; they only knew what would happen, not when.

 

So it was with John, who prophesied the events of the day of vengeance, and so grew disillusioned when Jesus, from what he heard, was going around doing good instead, and didn’t attempt to get John freed.

 

We’re not told if John was comforted, or encouraged by Jesus’ answer, but it was all he was going to get before his death.

We’re not told if his faith was restored, and if he died despairing of hope.

 

John, if he doubted Christ, was not condemned for this moment; Jesus said the least in the kingdom is greater than John, so we know that John is there, leaping again in the presence of his Lord and Savior.

 

And for all of us steeped in the Word of the Lord, it’s all we’re going to get as well, yet God says He will pour out his Spirit on all men, and we will know that we know.

And it will be wonderful to see.

 

Therefore I pray:

 

 Lord Jesus, I praise and thank You for adding this unworthy servant’s name to the Book of Life.

Thank You for finding me in the year of the Lord’s favor.

Thank You for loving me enough to let no one and nothing snatch me from Your holy hand.

Thank You for not only breaking the sin chains, but dissolving them as well.

Pour out Your Spirit on me, O Lord, so that I may walk in white, with Your righteousness before me so I will not die, an old man, will dream dreams again with Your power and favor anointing them.

  

By faith I receive Your mercy, in fear I reverence Your truth, desiring to flee the wrath to come.

 

Therefore, Lord, give me dreams wrapped in faith, mercy, love, joy, peace, understanding, and fill me with divine though and strength for all that You would have me to say, do, think, or imagine. 

 

As I carry out and further the herald’s missive, to prepare the way of the Lord, grant me bolder power, favor, and discernment, that I may disciple all nations for Your Name and to Your everlasting glory, before the throne of God.

 

I ask in faith, believing I have already received.

 

Amen.

Devotional 12: “Unless you repent…” (Luke 13: 1-5)

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Repent or Perish

13 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Lord Jesus dispels the concept of ‘worse sinners’ receiving ‘worse punishment’ (except when he berates the cities that didn’t repent and believe in Him though he performed works in them; Matthew 11: 20 – 22)

The key is to repent, but today, in addition to not wanting to call sin, ‘sin,’ we remain unsure of what that means or looks like.

Various definitions and parameters set by denominations only serve to confuse us further.

Hollywood portrays it as just a matter of saying ‘I’m sorry.’ That’s an apology, not forgiveness.

Sins, once committed, can’t be undone, and as Paul says, the battle between flesh and spirit is one we will fight until our final day. But as he also says, we’re not to go on sinning so grace may abound (Romans 6:1)

Proverbs says we will perish ‘without remedy’ (Proverbs 29:1) if we keep hardened necks and refuse to bow.

We must confess (agree with God you’re in sin, then confess to God, and to our brethren, not to a priest; we have a high priest that has made atonement already).

It is simply not possible without God’s help to live a sinless life, but we can get as close as we ever will if we keep our vision focused, guard our hearts, place a watch over our mouths, and make a covenant with our eyes. These will be imperfect, but we are called to come out of the world, and so we must do our best, and repent when we fail at that.

Therefore I pray.

I thank You, O Lord, for your long-suffering mercy.

Without it, for the things I’ve looked upon, I should be struck blind.

For the things I’ve coveted, I would lose my hands.

For the unforgiving hardness of my heart, which was once softened by the healing balms of Your mercy and grace toward me, and once basked in the warm promises of Your holy Word, I would burn eternally for having turned my lukewarm back to You, to revel in worldly pleasures, mocking Your sacrifice and the coming Judgment.

And like King Saul, die in my sins of disobedience, having played the fool.

Therefore now, Lord Jesus, I come once again to You, reeking of the world, unable to stand in Your presence, to ask once more, like a beggar, for you to clean and purify me, that I may stand among the spotless and blameless of Your selection, before the white throne, where the children of the Lord, the sons and daughters of the king, the righteous, do not beg.

Forgive my doubting, help my unbelief, and rub the mud of Your mercy over my spiritual eyes, so they would open more fully, be more perceptive and discerning, and bold to test, rebuke, cast out, and restore to Yourself a straying soul.

 I would not be a greater sinner in Your sight, that I would perish from Your sight forever.

Remember me, O Lord, when  You come to claim Your bride.

Or let me meet you in the air, beloved Savior, and pull me from this hellish husk of flesh; cast my sins from me, and dry my tears that I may dwell in the House of the Lord forever, because Your goodness and mercy followed me all the days of my earthly life, into eternal life.

By the Power of Your Holy Name, I ask it,

Amen

 

Devotional 10: Matthew 27: 52  And the graves were opened…

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Matthew 27:51-53 Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52) and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53) and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

They were buried inside the hills, in caves, under the desert sands, in verdant gardens, and desolate mountains. Stones had been rolled, and the tombs sealed until the last day, plans and dreams, loves and fears expired, their earthly lives forfeit, their spirits awaiting eternity.

In the process, the flesh rotted beyond recognition, and stank, and became full of maggots and worms eating the internal organs of the dead, their bodies returning to the soil from which all were first birthed.

They were unclean in every manner, and yet redeemed.

But when the veil was torn, the power of the Father was unleashed with the spilling of the Son’s sinless blood, when he surrendered His own spirit, and finished the atoning work.

Jesus testified to this power before the Sanhedrin: Mark 14:62

62And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

And again to the Sadducees when they questioned him: Matthew 22:29

Jesus replied, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

And as when Ezekiel prophesied to the bones, and as when Jesus called forth Lazarus, the Spirit of the Living God moved, going into the tombs of the faithful who received grace to return them to life, just as in Exodus, the Angel of Death passed over their houses and slew the sons of their enemies.

To honor their king, they waited; we are not told what they did in the meantime, perhaps they prayed and glorified and worshiped the Lord, as the Holy Spirit told them what had occurred, and what they were to do.

Scoffers and unbelievers mock, and say things like “zombie Jesus” to ridicule the faith and rile the believers ire, but if we have faith, we don’t need to defend the Truth.

Jesus says this: John 6:40

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall
have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

If Jesus is doing the Father’s will, and we’re told the Father cannot lie, then neither can Jesus: John 14:9

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”

Many believe we are now in the last days; the day fast approaches, but we’re not there.

Be assured, however, that Jesus speaks of a last day.

Graves will be open for the final time, and will exist no longer.

Neither shall the faithful be unclean, nor will we have memory of this world.

No sun, no moon, but the light of the Father our quickening, and our sustenance, for eternity, in His holy presence, praising, rejoicing, working, fellowship, forever and ever.

This is imaginary foolishness, say faithless mockers. Pray for them; they are perishing, and in their pride, have no inkling of their fate.

Hold onto your faith, and pray, and let the Power open the graves of what you once believed lost, or think you are now losing.

Let your faith dig deep, and pull from the graves your marriage, your children, your family, your friends, your own faith, and the faith of believers around the world, suffering for their refusal to renounce the Name of the Lamb of God, and the Judge of all nations.

We know not the hour; therefore watch, and pray.

And believe.

Therefore I pray:

Let not my heart be troubled or afraid, for You, O Lord, have proclaimed the Good News, and have overcome this world. You have taken me under the covenant of Grace, that the wrath of God not abide on me, though I yet walk in this world, in sin, destined to die.

 I believe in Your promise, that if I hold onto my faith, there will be a last day, and an everlasting life connected to the Power behind all things, for You have said, that with Him, all things are possible.

 Increase my faith, Lord Jesus, and help my unbelief. Save me, O Lord, when the waves of doubt would drown me, and bring to mind for me to reach for Your holy hand when I start to sink in the midst of the buffeting.

I ask the Power to renew my strength, to redeem the lost time, to open the grave of the things He called me to that I did not nourish, and let die. Let there be times of refreshing, and renewal.

In Your Holy Name, and by the Power of Your holy blood, I ask, believing I have already received.

Amen.

Devotional 9: Lord, to Whom Shall We Go? (John 6:68)

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68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Often throughout His ministry, to His disciples, as well as all the crowds, and even to the religious leaders, Jesus’ conviction and confirmation of his mission and purpose never wavered: to speak words of life concerning the Father’s will for, and through, the work of the Son, by the anointing power of the Holy Spirit.

These phrases we hear repeated: “I tell you the truth…” “Assuredly, I say to you…” and “Let no one…”

In Acts 4:12, Peter tells the Sanhedrin “…there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

This confirms Jesus’ earlier statement, recorded for us in John 14:6: I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, but by Me.”

If the road that leads to life, leads into the Kingdom of God, is indeed narrow with few travelers,  I will follow the Light of the World who speaks the Truth, who has the words of eternal life.

Therefore I pray:

Lord Jesus, I thank You for not giving up on this rebellious prodigal, the one who daily makes Your sacrifice a common thing through willful sin.

My fear of your holy, righteous wrath is dulled, for I take for granted Your forgiveness; understanding that I had it even as I was in the act, the Spirit is grieved, Your heart is broken, and the Father turns away, for he can’t abide to look on it.

I hear Your voice, Lord, when I walk down the wide path to destruction that spans the chasm of the demons and fires of hell. They whisper my name with sultry voices, and pull at me with soft touches, they cover their malevolent intentions with eyes of innocent beauty, with eyes that feign interest, with adoring looks as they anticipate ripping my soul from me in triumph when I’m cast into the outer darkness.

And so I return, Lord, asking You to make me a hired hand, for I too am not worthy of the sonship, of fellowship with You.

How can You be closer than a brother and stand the smell of the piggish sin upon me?

I don’t know, really, why You continue to pursue me, but on the day that I don’t find You behind me, I will know that I am irretrievably lost, and there will be weeping…

Don’t let the enemy snatch me from Your healing hands.

Embrace me, O Lord, that I may feel Your heart, and take away my sins, the public and the secret.

And thank You, for guiding me to the next step on the narrow path, closer to glory, closer to You, closer to the Father, to dwell now and forevermore in Your House.

By the Power of Your holy Blood I ask, believing I have already received.

Amen.

Devotional 7: He is not the God of the Dead, but the God of the Living (Mark 11:27)

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26 But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?[a] 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”

This rebuke of the ignorance of Scripture, and the power of God, had to have ruffled the Sadducees’ feathers, though we are not told their reaction.

Smug in their disposition, thinking there was safety in numbers and knowledge, they thought to trap the Teacher who taught with so much authority that the people marveled at Him.

His rebuke sounds stern enough, yet not angry, and even a bit downcast at their lack of knowledge, and their willingness to refute the very fruit of Jesus’ sacrifice: eternal life spent in the Presence of God, under the Power of God, in the Light of God, where we worship without ceasing, and the wicked and faithless are no more.

As David said, “Who will praise You from the grave?” (Psalm 6:5)

Yet, as a culture, we celebrate things dead that we bestow with a wretched immortality, unclean things that are rotting and turning into unholy creatures before our eyes.

We celebrate the night of All Hallow’s with abandon, and forget about the morning portion.

The enemy has tricked us into believing being immortally ‘undead,’ (which is not the same as eternally living in the Father’s presence) is fun, harmless, and inoffensive, when it is, in fact, a stench in God’s nostrils.

We believe and embrace the concept of the dead rising to cause us harm, indeed, to join them in their tormented eternity, but we balk at the idea of the dead rising in transformed glory, spotless under the Holy Blood of the Lamb who paid it all, so that when His enemies are made His footstool by the power of God, we remain guiltless and unscathed; we don’t believe because our hearts are hardened to service, receptive to all manner of sin disguised as pleasure, and faithlessness disguised as reason.

We would rather have Mother Nature than Father God and Lord Jesus.

We would rather have ghosts and sacrificial rituals than the Holy Spirit.

We would rather have a Day of the Dead than a National Day of Prayer.

And satan smiles at the mounting success of his many deceptions.

Did not our Lord say, “He who perseveres to the end shall be saved.”?

Did He also not say, “The girl is not dead, but sleeping.”? (Her spirit returned to her, and He took her by the hand…)

Did He not return the widow’s son to her, though no one asked Him?

And in the presence of His astonished friends: “Lazarus, come forth… Loose his graveclothes, and let him go.”

No one stayed dead in the presence of Jesus, and no one left unchanged.

Galatians 6:7 admonishes us:

Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Therefore, I pray:

Lord Jesus, remove the lying spirits from before us, and cast them into pigs. They dress in bright colors, and caper ’round Your flock with sweet words and pleasures for the carnal senses, as the serpent tempted your handmaiden Eve to pride and disobedience, and Adam, your son, who renounced his headship and gave over his dominion.

Lord, help us to crucify our flesh, as Yours was, that we may find it resurrected in glory with You on the last day, as Yours was.

Refresh the faithful with a touch from You, and strengthen our spirits in these last days, that we may not be deceived, that we listen for the voice we know, that we might follow it without hesitation, and go out with great joy, carrying our harvest sheaves, that we may receive our crowns to cast at Your feet.

In Your Holy Name, and by the Power of your precious Blood, we ask, believing we have already received by Your Hand, and through Your will, which is the Father’s.

Amen.

Devotional 6: No One Remembered That Poor Man

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Ecclesiastes 9:14-16: Continue reading “Devotional 6: No One Remembered That Poor Man” →

Devotional 5: Neither do I condemn you…

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From the Gospel of John, Chapter 8:

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up[e] and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,[f] went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,[g] “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?[h] Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and[i] sin no more.”

**********************************

This is the familiar story of the adulteress caught in the act by the religious leaders, and brought before Jesus in order to trap Him. It’s used as a supplement to the verse “Judge not, lest you be judged, and with whatever measure you do it, it will be done to you.”

It’s also used as an example of Jesus’ covenant of grace toward us, but no one ever really talks about the conclusion of the passage.

The fact is, (if God’s Word is inerrant, and John’s witness is true) she was an adulteress, loving on the husband of another woman, and as Jesus convicted the Pharisees with his scorching reply, he did not hold the woman guiltless of her sin, and told her to leave from there and NOT do it again.

She had to go back to this man she had feelings for, and tell him they could no longer be, tell him to return and rejoice in the wife of his youth, in order to purify her own soul before the Lord.

We are not told whether or not she did, for that was not the point of the story. The point of the story, as far as I’m concerned, is that everyone left there with some work to do on themselves in terms of forgiveness, purity, and repentance.

We are under grace, but we will not be held guiltless for sinning under its covenant. Vigilance, keeping watch over our own souls, our words, our thoughts, our actions, is inconsistent at best, and non-existent at worse, taking grace for granted.

In Hebrews 10: 26- 29 it states:

The Just Live by Faith (bold letters added for emphasis)

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

and again in 10:31: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Therefore, I pray:

Lord Jesus, Your sacrifice tore the veil, that I may approach the Father’s Presence under the covering of Your blood, that His mercy may be extended toward me in my final hour, and that I escape the fires of hell by accepting your sacrifice as the only thing that redeems me in the Father’s sight.

Grant that I may approach the throne boldly, but reverently, with fear and trembling, rejoicing and giving thanks in faith that I have received what I will ask, and over and above what I’ve petitioned my King to do for me.

Let me be ever mindful of grieving the Spirit of grace, Who reveals all Truth in Your Word to me.

Thank You for the sacrifice of the covenant of grace, proclaiming the Year of the Lord’s favor, and grafting me in, who was not called ‘His people.’

Lord Jesus, I repent, and return to You; receive Your prodigal once again, and wrap his unworthy soul in the folds of Your mercy..

Let me be ever mindful that the pain you felt was real, that the revulsion You felt toward my sins crept into Your very being, and grieved Your human heart, yet did not deplete Your divine love.

Daily, I contribute nails and thorns, but they no longer touch You, for the Work is finished. Burn them, Lord Jesus, and purify me in their fire, that I may stand on the last day, and enter into my Father’s kingdom, to praise Him forevermore, and rejoice in holy fellowship with You and all the saints.

In Your Name, and by the Power of Your Blood, I ask, in faith believing, that I have already received.

Amen.

Devotional 4: Two Trees of Eternal Life

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Genesis 3:

22 And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever”—

23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Galatians 3:13

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Here, in contrast, are two trees of Life, one from Eden, and the other, the cross of Calvary.

Of one, we were not to eat, but because there was disobedience regarding the Tree of Knowledge, there was a casting out of Paradise, lest there be the same for the Tree of Life.

Yet, Jesus tells us that unless we eat of His flesh, which was to be hung on a tree, thereby becoming for us the gateway to eternal Life, we will not enter Heaven. (John 6:53)

Two trees laden: one with pleasant but forbidden fruit, and one with bitter, holy blood, of which we are invited to partake.

Those who now reject the latter tree do so to their eternal peril.

We are to walk by faith and know that we will be the harvest of the first fruits of resurrection, the Risen One, in this, our Father demands obedience, but does not force us to obey.

The Tree of Life is guarded by a flaming sword, but there are no such weapons around the Cross.

Earthly fruit trees die, and their fruit spoils, but there is no drying up of the holy blood which covers our sins, iniquities, and transgressions to the exacting eyes of our Father, who has handed all judgment to the Son.

Therefore let us not be found in pride, disobedience, and rebellion, for the Father says He will make the Son’s enemies His footstool.

Let us boldly, but reverently, approach the throne of Grace, and partake of the tree of Eternal Life, the cross, who’s fruit is the Bread of Life, and who’s seed is the anointing confirmation of the Holy Spirit, sealing us to Heaven. Let us reach and touch the hem of his holiness, that we might be made well.

Therefore, I pray:

Father in Heaven, help me to know that this is not my permanent home. Help me to remember that I have been called out from the world to minister to it your Holy Truth, the Gospel of Your glorious Son, the Bread of Life, who was nailed to a tree, that I might have Eternal Life and fellowship with Him, and be in the Light of Your Presence without fear of death.

Jesus says no one has seen the Father except the Son, and that is true; I haven’t seen You, Father, but I have seen Your power at work in my life, and the lives of those I love. 

Would that we did not have knowledge of evil, but we do; we also have knowledge of good, and therefore can counter the deeds of evil men, with Your power working on our behalf. We have but to ask, in faith believing we have already received.

Help me to keep the second Tree of Eternal Life, the cross of Your Son, and my Savior, ever in my vision, my thoughts, my words, and my deeds; let me partake fully of the sanctification of the fruit of salvation, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

I thank You for my gifts, and the opportunity to use them for Your glory. Let me therefore be a fruitful branch in the making and establishing of Your coming Kingdom.

Bless me this day, Father, and let my sins of the day be covered by His holy blood once more.

In His Name, and to Your Mercy, I pray.

Amen.