Category: Devotional

Mark 5:15 – And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

Mark 5:33 – But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.

Mark 5:42b – …and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

There is an old proverb that says that familiarity breeds contempt. Sometimes when you are too familiar with a thing, you stop being amazed by it; you stop loving it.

How close do we come to this as we read through the works of Jesus. If you red your Bible regularly—as you should—you might become very familiar with the scenes of the supernatural. Is it possible that these are no longer jaw-dropping for you? Friends, If you saw them in person, they certainly would be.

In Mark 5, we see three miracles that will blow us away if we will see them with fresh eyes. First, Jesus meets a demon-possessed man. The man is so far gone that he is a danger to himself and others. He is so full of evil and supernatural power that he breaks chains that are intended to bind him for his own safety and that of others.

What happens when this man meets Jesus? The Savior drives out the legion of demons. And when the people see the man, he is, for the first time, clothed and in his right mind. Jesus defeated the powers of the devil. Jesus fixed a man who had been broken for years. Jesus overpowered a man who could overpower large groups of men. Jesus showed great love and great power.

Later, Jesus is met by a woman who had been suffering with a medical ailment for more than a decade. The woman, in faith, touched Jesus’ garment, and her socially damaging and physically crippling disorder was healed.

You know how frustrating medical care is today in a world of antibiotics, surgeries, and technology. How stunning is it to see a long-term illness removed in an instant? How loving? How wonderful?

Then, Jesus stands in a room with a dead twelve-year-old girl and her family. The Savior looks at the body—no breath, no life, no blood flow. The family is weeping. Jesus sends most people away, speaks a word to the girl, and she gets up. The parents, who believed they had lost their dear little one, have her back again. This should blow our minds.

Notice the three responses to the miracles that Jesus performed. Above, we list verses that show that fear and amazement are the responses from everybody. Why? The things Jesus did do not happen in the real world. But they happened in the real world. They happened in the world you walk into every day. They happened in the air you breathe. Jesus beat demons, disease, and death, and he did not break a sweat. Jesus is mighty, mightier than you think. Jesus is gracious, more gracious than you think. Jesus is loving, far more loving than you have ever imagined. You want to know this Jesus. You want to love this Jesus. You want to, as did the crowds, properly fear and be amazed by Jesus. Do not let your familiarity with these accounts breed contempt in your heart. See them afresh, imagine yourself there, and let it stun you with the glory of Jesus.

Matthew 26:34-35

34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

Luke 22:31-32

31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

In Matthew 26, on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, the Savior told his disciples that all of them would fall away, running and hiding when he would be arrested. And, of course, all of them said they would never do such a thing. Peter, perhaps the most brash, simply told Jesus he was wrong. But Jesus was able to look at Peter and tell him that, before the night was over, Peter would deny knowing Jesus three times.

In the parallel passage in Luke 22, Jesus unveils for us the spiritual warfare taking place. Satan, the devil, has demanded to sift Peter like wheat. And, for a short season, Peter will be allowed to go through the painful process. But Jesus also tells Peter that, when Peter comes back, when he comes to his senses, when he repents of running and hiding and denying Jesus, he should also be kind enough to strengthen and encourage the other disciples.

What grabs my attention here which I think will encourage our souls is the knowledge of Jesus. Jesus looked at Peter, knew exactly how Peter would fail him in the next hours, and offered him a word of encouragement. Jesus knew how Peter would lie and deny, and yet the Savior tells Peter about what will happen after he turns again to Jesus. Jesus knew Peter’s future failing and his future restoration, so he could speak to Peter with loving kindness in the face of what is to come.

Think about your own life. There are failures. There were failures in your past. There will be failures in your future. Jesus knows them all. Jesus sees them as clearly as he saw what Peter would do. And Jesus knows God’s plan for you. Christians, Jesus knows God’s forgiveness for you. He knows God’s knowing you, predestining you, calling you, justifying you, and eventually glorifying you (cf. Rom 8:29-30). And because Jesus knows all your failures before they happen, and because Jesus still died to cover that sin years ago, you and I can have confidence to know that, if we are in Christ, our sins are covered. Jesus has taken care of our guilt—past, present, and future. We do not surprise him. We do not disappoint him. He already knows it all. And he still chose to love us, save us, and promise us eternity with him.

Jesus knows our future failures. This is no excuse to continue in sin. But it is an encouragement for us when we are weak and doubting. He knows us, and he loves us. He knows us, and he has forgiven us. He knows us, and he will make something of us that we could never make of ourselves. What a glorious grace is the grace of Jesus!

Matthew 24:33-34

33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

In Matthew 24, we have the Savior speak to us of world-changing events. Some of them are first century events. Some of them include his actual return. All of them are to get the attention of those who follow him.

Many people have fairly passionate opinions about the promises of upcoming events including the return of Jesus. People differ in their view of the order of events, of a period of tribulation, of a millennium that is either literal or figurative, of the victory of the church and the response of the world. And I will not say that these are irrelevant. But I wonder if we get too bogged down in timing arguments and forget the point that Jesus wants us to see. He will return.

Without reproducing all my sermons on this passage, I would suggest to you that Jesus, in Matthew 24, is letting his church know that his return is near. This is not to say that it will happen soon. Instead, I think that Jesus is showing us that he has fulfilled all the requirements for his return to happen quickly, possibly within any generation. I believe that the Savior wants us to grasp that we cannot look at our age in history, be that the latter first century or the early 21st century and say that there is just no way that Jesus could return in our lifetimes.

So, with timing arguments set aside, let me ask you, believer, do you live as though the Savior could return while you still live and breathe? I’m not saying he will. I’m simply asking if you live with that sort of utterly world-transforming event as a possibility in your mind? Do you live in the light of eternity? Do you live looking for and longing for the Savior to finish setting up his kingdom? Do you live remembering that the wicked of this world will not stand? Do you live believing that the church will be victorious regardless of the persecution of the world? Do you live believing that the Son of god will in fact stand again on this earth and will set all things right?

I believe our world changes when we stop living with our eyes only on this world. We can become practical naturalists, forgetting that the God who made this world has broken into it in the past, still rules it, and will radically transform it. Things like upcoming elections matter. Things like life-saving laws matter. Things like paying your bills matter. But, dear friends, they matter in a temporary sense. The Savior has won. The Savior will win. The Savior is King. The Savior will be King. And we are made for far more than we experience today.

Matthew 8:23-27

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Traveling across a sea that is a few miles wide should, hopefully, be an uneventful experience. But when the Lord wants to teach us something, there is likely to be something unique occur. That certainly was the case here.

The storm came. Jesus was sleeping. That the Savior slept shows us the authenticity of his humanity. God the Son truly took on humanity in order to come and be our Savior. This was no play-acting.

When the disciples woke Jesus, the first thing the Savior did was rebuke them. Why? What about waking Jesus demonstrates a lack of faith on their part? The disciples should have understood that Jesus had a mission that he would accomplish. Nothing in the universe could have prevented Jesus from living the perfect life he came to live, dying on the cross, and rising from the dead. Nothing could keep Jesus from Saving the people he came to save. Nothing at all.

Then Jesus spoke to the storm, calmed the sea, and proved his true deity. No man has the power over wind and wave. But we think back to creation. There, God spoke, and things came to be. God spoke, and the world that was covered in water saw the waters pull back and dry land appear. Here, Jesus speaks, and a storm stops, and waves die down. This is the true God and true man who has what it takes to be the promised one and the Savior.

Response: Lord Jesus, I worship you, God the Son. You control the wind and the waves with your voice, by your power, for your glory. I thank you for taking on flesh to be the Savior. I also ask that you will help me to have the faith that the disciples lacked on the boat. Help me, I pray, to remember that you will accomplish your mission in all things. I cannot stop you. I cannot hinder you. I must trust you and know that you will keep me, as your own, and do with me your will.

Matthew 6:31-33

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

We live in an anxious age. How many people do you know who are on antianxiety medication? How many are speaking with a therapist regarding anxiety? We have so many things that would bring us fear and worry.

Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in global causes of fear. The economy in the US is plummeting. Many were terrified in 2020 and 2021 for medical reasons. All we hear or read in the news related to the border crisis, the fall of Afghanistan, or the Russian invasion of Ukraine all cause a good deal of discomfort.

How great is it, then, that we see the Lord Jesus, in his teaching on living as a citizen of God’s kingdom, call on his people not to worry, not to be anxious? Specifically, Jesus tells his people, beginning in Matthew 6:25, not to worry about what we will eat, drink, or wear. Do not let yourself fret regarding the future and your provision. His reasoning is simple. God feeds the birds. God clothes the flowers in the fields. And we are worth far more to God than are they. Thus, if God cares for things as small as birds and flowers, he will surely care for his people.

God knows our needs. And God calls on us to seek not those needs, at least not first. We are to seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness. We are to have our lives and our hearts hungering for the Lord and for that which magnifies him. And when our hearts are set on God, we will not fear this world.

Consider the simplicity here. Just imagine that your heart truly hungers and thirsts after righteousness. You want Jesus. You want to be like Jesus. You want to act like Jesus. You want every step to magnify Jesus. You want to glorify Jesus. You want to love his word. You want to share his gospel. You want to see his glorious return. The more you want these things, the more you set your life toward these things, what will happen to your anxiety? If you know Jesus and therefore know that you who trust in Jesus are fully accepted by him, fully made part of his family, fully guaranteed eternity with him, you will not fear. What can this world take from you?

Jesus tells us that the gentiles, here meaning the lost and not merely an ethnic component, seek after food, drink, and clothing. They are terrified that they may not have the money they want, the clothing they want, the jobs they want, the vacations they want, the health they want. But Jesus says this is not the way of his followers. To follow Jesus is to love him, desire him, find satisfaction in him, trust him.

One beauty here is that this type of thinking is not a mere command to stop worrying. Yes, stopping worry is good and right. But we do not tend to kill anxiety with a direct thrust of willpower. We defeat anxiety best, according to Jesus here, when we have our focus changed. When we are deep in the gospel, turned toward the Lord, loving him and his kingdom, this is when our fears will be conquerable.

A response: Dear Lord, help me this day to desire you above all things. Help me to seek first you, your kingdom, and your righteousness. Give to me a true hunger for your ways. Let me trust in you totally. I know you provide for the flowers and the birds. Surely you will care for me and for my family. Please, Lord, show me your goodness that I might better rest in you. Please forgive me for allowing myself ever to be anxious about this life. My hope here is only in Jesus and in your great grace.

Matthew 3:16-18

16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus is God. The Father is God. The Spirit is God. There is one God. This, in short, is the doctrine of the trinity. We worship the one God in three persons.

Among some believers, a belief system we call modalism has tried to redefine the doctrine of the trinity for centuries. The modalist believes that the persons of the holy trinity, the one true God, are simply different presentations of God, but not different persons. In simplest terms, these would suggest that God presented himself as the Father or Yahweh (Jehovah) in the Old Testament, but became Jesus in the New Testament. Once Jesus left, God presented as the Holy Spirit. But, to those who follow this belief system, there is no trinity, no single God who is these 3 persons all at once.

But take note of what we see happening in Matthew 3 as a simple prooftext that the doctrine of the trinity is actually biblically correct and the presentation of modalism is mistaken. At the baptism of Jesus, in one biblical picture, we see Jesus, God the Son, going into the water. We see the Spirit of God descending upon Jesus like a dove. We hear the voice of the Father. These are three persons in the frame of the picture at the very same time. There is only one God. These three persons are God. This is the trinity presented in a moment.

You might think to yourself that you have never struggled to believe in the holy trinity, even if it is hard to explain. But you might be wise to consider if you have tried to explain the trinity and ended up in a form of modalism. For example, I once heard a dear Christian attempt to illustrate the trinity by saying that a man can, at the same time, be a husband, a father, and a son. That is a perfect picture of the unbiblical doctrine of modalism. You might hear another person try to explain the trinity by reminding us that ice, water, and steam are all water. Again, this is modalism, one water changing form. Honestly, there is no such thing as a good metaphor for the trinity. We are far more likely to present false doctrine through a metaphor than we are to accurately express the infinite in a finite picture. So, I recommend we ditch any metaphor and stick with the Scripture’s claims: God the Father is God; Jesus is God; the Holy Spirit is God; There is only one God.

Matthew 2:13-15

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

The wise men from the east came to worship Jesus while he and his family remained in Bethlehem. This was likely when Jesus was a toddler. Joseph and Mary seem to have set up house for a bit in Joseph’s family’s native town. Perhaps this was to give Mary time to recover from the birth. Perhaps Joseph and Mary wondered where they should raise the Son of God.

But God would move Joseph, Mary, and young Jesus exactly where he wanted them. When King Herod plotted to kill Jesus by slaughtering all the children in Bethlehem, God rescued the family by calling on them to flee to Egypt. Perhaps this destination was made ready for them by the Jewish community that grew up in Egypt around the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The family would remain safely in Egypt until Herod’s death, which historians tell us took place in 4 BC. Then God would move the family back into the land of Israel and to the town of Nazareth.

We know this story pretty well. And many Christians are familiar with the end of verse 15, “This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” But have you ever considered what is being said here?

Matthew cites Hosea 11:1. In context, Hosea is speaking about Israel, the nation, which god rescued from Egypt in the exodus. Now Matthew says that this is Jesus. Jesus is doing what Israel did. Israel is the type and Jesus the antitype. Israel and the exodus foreshadow the life and the work of Jesus.

In Genesis 12, God promised Abram that he would bless the entire world through Abram’s offspring. The reference is not to all the offspring of Abram, all the people born in his line, the nation, but simply to a singular offspring, through Christ. Matthew shows us that this offspring of Abram, the Israel of God, is fully bound up in the person and work of Jesus. What God promised Israel, God promised Jesus. When God is victorious in Jesus, God fulfills his promises to Israel.

While all this might seem a bit heady, there is application for the Christian of today. Are you saved? Are you in Christ? If so, then you are in the true Israel of God. What God promised his people is what God promised you. No, you and the church have not replaced Israel. But all who are in Christ, all who have blessing in Christ, have been counted in the true Israel.

National Israel in the Old Testament is the nation through which God promised to fulfill his glorious plan. And national Israel had a very conditional covenant. When national Israel obeyed, they would be blessed. When national Israel disobeyed, they would be judged. Within national Israel would be found members of the true, spiritual Israel, true believers in God who were under his grace. And it is certain, as Paul says in Romans 9, that not all who are Israel are Israel—not all in the nation are truly saved and under God’s grace. But God would always preserve a remnant of the nation out of love for Abraham, the other forefathers, and David. More importantly, God would preserve a remnant of the nation so that he could fulfill his promise to send the Christ out of that nation.

Now the Christ has come. He is now the representative head of the true Israel of God, the people under his grace. And we see that Jesus plays this role by being the true Son of God whom he called out of Egypt.

Jesus fulfills all of God’s promises. To be part of the true Israel of god has nothing at all to do with your ethnicity. It all has to do with this question, “Are you in Christ?” This gives hope to all who have seen themselves guilty of sin and have run to Jesus for mercy. And the offer of God’s mercy is available to all who will repent and believe.

Revelation 20:11–15

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

As we draw near the end of the book of Revelation, we see the great white throne judgment. There all people who have not already been raised to life experience their resurrection and the confirmation of their eternal destination.* When the people are brought before the throne of Christ, we see a dichotomy. There are two ways a person can be judged. There are books and there is a book.

The passage above shows us that a person judged by the “books” is judged based on his own deeds. What did you do in your life? A person judged by the “book of life” is given life simply based on whether or not his name is present there. The bottom line is that, if God judges you based on what you do, your works, you die forever. If, however, you are under the grace of Jesus, the Lamb, you live eternally in glorious joy.

Think of some other popular pairs in Scripture, and this scene develops some greater clarity. In the garden, God pointed out two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was forbidden the tree of knowledge. If he chose to eat of that tree, he would die. God, in the garden, had a very simple test for Adam. If the man would obey God’s command, he would live. If he rebelled against that command, he would die.

Of course, the two trees also remind us of the two choices for humanity’s representative leadership, our federal head. Adam is the original representative of mankind before god. All who remain under Adam’s representation die. Adam sinned and brought guilt on all humanity as we see in Romans 5:12-19 and 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. Under Adam, the command to live perfectly before God still applies, any failure still brings death, but there is no way to live well enough to earn life.

God sent Jesus into the world to be the second Adam, the better Adam, the true and perfect representative for mankind. If a person is found in Christ, even if that person has not lived up to God’s standard of perfection, he will live because of the perfection of Christ. Jesus, God in flesh, lived the perfection Adam never did. Jesus died a perfect sacrificial death. Jesus rose from the grave, defeated death, and proved that all who come to him are forgiven. Jesus is now the representative of all who come to him in faith. God actually grants to the saved the legal record of Jesus’ perfection.

Put the books, the trees, Adam, and Jesus all in one scene now and see how clearly the Bible has been telling one single story. You have a choice of trees. Will you have the tree of life or the tree of death? You have a choice; will you be represented by Adam or by Jesus? You have a choice; will you be judged by your own actions in the books, or will you be found forgiven by Jesus with your name in the book of life? There is no third option. Either you try to live as your own master and die, or you surrender to Jesus and receive all the grace he offers. Choose life. Choose the Christ. Choose the book of life.

* I view Revelation 20 from a historic pre-millennial position (not dispensationalism). Thus, I believe that two resurrections are being promised, the resurrection of the forgiven and the later resurrection of the lost.

Zechariah 2:10-12

10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

To the Jew of the sixth century BC, the return of Judah from Babylonian captivity was a major event. It must also have been loaded with questions. Now that God has judged us for our sin and returned us to our land, what should we expect? Will Messiah come and make us a political power? Is the promise still alive? What does it look like?

Here in Zechariah, we see some glorious truths of the promise of God that were made under the Old Covenant but which can only be fulfilled by the establishment of the New Covenant. Notice how God speaks of what will occur beyond the physical return of exiles to Jerusalem. It is cause for joy. God will dwell in the midst of his people. That is bigger and better than even the Old Testament experience of the Jews with the temple or the tabernacle. While those edifices symbolized the presence of God, their walls were there to tell the people that there must be a separation between the Lord and them, a boundary that the people cannot cross. This dwelling in their midst promised in Zechariah sounds bigger and better.

Verse 11 points to the fact that God will gather to himself more than the Jews. Yes, the Jews who trust in him will be included. But God is gathering for himself a people out of all the nations. Again and again, as God makes his ultimate promises, he points to the building of a new people of God, one not determined by ethnicity but by faith.

In verse 12, we see the Lord taking Judah and Jerusalem for himself. Something about this promise of God will include God in Jerusalem accomplishing his kingdom purposes. The place where the temple stood, the place where David ruled, that place will be the great launching point of the blessing of God.

If we put this all together, we see the gospel in sign form. On the surface, this looks like a major promise of blessing on Jerusalem—and it may be that. But well beyond blessing the city, God is going to accomplish his eternal purpose. Jesus, the Son of God, will come into Jerusalem declaring himself King. Jesus will bring to God a nation made up of people from all nations. There will be rejoicing and blessing for the people, as god will live in the midst of his people in a way never before experienced in Israel. The Spirit of God who came to his church in Acts 2 is the better fulfillment of the promise of God dwelling among his people. And, by grace, we also look forward to the day of Christ’s return when God will dwell in our midst both physically and spiritually forever.

Proverbs 31:26

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

Many of us have heard of the “Proverbs 31 woman.” Many ladies have gone through bible studies about her. Many ladies’ conferences have focused here. And now, many have pushed back, finding there to be a lot of law in many of those teachings without, perhaps, much grace.

Without jumping into that discussion, I think it is safe to say that we can see godly attributes, good characteristics, in Proverbs 31:10-31. The 22 verses each begin with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet—it’s an acrostic. This section offers us the A-B-Cs of a godly lady.

When reading through these things, verse 26 grabbed my attention. Honestly, it did not grab my attention as anything particularly feminine. Instead, it grabbed my attention as something particularly godly and something particularly needed today.

The woman of noble character speaks with the two attributes of wisdom and kindness. Wisdom indicates a lady with a right love of and fear of God. She speaks true things, applying the knowledge of God to daily living. She can look at a situation and bring the truth of God to bear in a way that is right, accurate, and helpful.

The noble woman also speaks with kindness. Please let us never forget that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit of God in our lives. While many on-line have mocked those who question a person’s tone when they speak about issues, the truth is that godly people have kindness as a fruit. And here, as we study the woman of noble character, kindness is an attribute of her speech and her application of godly wisdom.

As I already mentioned, I see nothing particularly feminine here. It is not as if the word of God does not wish for godly men to speak with wisdom and kindness. It just so happens that this particular piece of wisdom in godly character is found in our passage about the woman of noble character. I would suggest to you that all believers could benefit from a dose of both wisdom and kindness as we speak. This is not a call to softness or compromise. It is merely a call to believers to display the fruit of the Spirit in how we speak and how we write.

Dear friends, we need the grace of Jesus here. Who has not spoken unwisely? Who has not been guilty of unkind speech? Who has not laughed when sharp, even mean-spirited, snarky lines have put others in their place? May we lean on the Lord for mercy. May we ask Jesus for help and wisdom. May we seek that the Lord would fill us with his Spirit and that his Spirit would bear the fruit of kindness in us. May we never compromise. Kindness is not allowing sin to go unchecked. May we not tolerate evil. But may we not look like the world in our attitude. Instead, may our lives reflect this noble lady of Proverbs 31 in wisdom and kindness.