Month: October 2023
God Wants Us to Grow – October 13, 2023
I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes . . . The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the vines he delighted in.
Isaiah 5:1,2,7
God Wants Us to Grow
Daily Devotion – October 13, 2023
Devotion based on Isaiah 5:1,2,7
See series: Devotions
God isn’t kind to us because we were first kind to him. He’s kind to us because being kind to us is what God delights in. The prophet Isaiah compared God’s kindness to what it takes to build a vineyard—digging the land, removing all the stones, planting the vines, building a watchtower and a winepress. All of that takes a lot of work. And it took an extra amount of work in Palestine (where Isaiah lived at the time).
The Palestinians have a legend that goes like this: When God created the world, an angel flew over it, carrying a bag of stones under each arm. As he flew over Palestine, one bag broke so that half of all the stones in the world were in Palestine.
The point of that short story is to say that there are a lot of stones in the dirt of Palestine. And if you have ever been given the task of removing stones from a field or a backyard, then you certainly know that this isn’t a delightful task. But it’s the kind of task that God delights in if it takes care of you.
Your life is a labor of love for God. He is glad to invest whatever amount of time it takes to strengthen you spiritually so you produce a bumper crop of spiritual fruit. He even gave his son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for your sins so you could be in a right relationship with him and spend your life serving him. What are ways you can do that today?
Prayer:
Lord God, help me to guide my life according to your Word and ground my faith on all that was accomplished for me by Jesus. Amen.
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It Makes No Sense – October 12, 2023
Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’”
Matthew 21:37,38
It Makes No Sense
Daily Devotion – October 12, 2023
Devotion based on Matthew 21:37,38
See series: Devotions
Jesus’ story about a landowner who planted a vineyard and rented it to some farmers took a surprising turn. The renters had refused to pay their rent. So, the owner sent his son to collect. He assumed they would respect the son enough to pay what they owed. Instead, they killed him.
It seems far-fetched, doesn’t it? Yet, whenever you and I refuse to listen to God’s son, Jesus, it is just as strange. Why would we refuse to listen to the son of the God who created us and provides for us? It makes no sense.
Even more remarkable is that God continues to love and forgive us for the times we don’t listen to his son. In fact, it is because of what his son, Jesus, did that he forgives us. Instead of punishing us for our sins, God sent his son to be punished in our place on the cross so that we could be forgiven. It seems far-fetched, doesn’t it? It makes no sense.
But we can be thankful God did what he did. We can be thankful his son was willing to do what he did. And we can spend our lives listening to God’s son and using our lives to thank him. It’s the only thing that makes sense!
Prayer:
Dear God, help me live my life in thanksgiving for what you did to save me from my sins. Amen.
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Thank God for His Grace – October 11, 2023
Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Matthew 21:37-41
Thank God for His Grace
Daily Devotion – October 11, 2023
Devotion based on Matthew 21:37-41
See series: Devotions
Jesus told a story about a man who rented his vineyard to some farmers. When he sent servants to collect the rent, the renters beat them. After sending a series of servants, the man sent his son. Sadly, the renters killed him.
Jesus told the story to warn the religious leaders of his day not to do the same as those renters. God had sent his son to them, and they were planning to kill him. So, Jesus told this story to warn them against what they were about to do. They knew the answer to Jesus’ question at the end of his story. “What will [the landowner] do to the tenants” who killed his son? They should obviously be punished for such a horrible act.
Even as he was looking ahead to being killed by these men, Jesus reached out to them in love to warn them. And even more remarkably, Jesus would go to his death to pay the price for his enemies’ sins, even their sins against him.
His death paid for our sins, too. For when Jesus was killed on the cross and rejected by so many, we were forgiven for everything. Every sin was washed away. Every stain on our hearts was cleansed, and we were welcomed into God’s eternal family.
This is grace. We receive it by faith. May we never take it for granted.
Prayer:
Lord, you are generous with your grace; forgiving me of every sin through the sacrifice willingly offered by Jesus. Thank you. Amen.
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God’s Investment – October 10, 2023
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.”
Matthew 21:33
God’s Investment
Daily Devotion – October 10, 2023
Devotion based on Matthew 21:33
See series: Devotions
Notice all that the landowner did before the renters came in. He invested sweat equity in planting the vineyard. He took the time to build a wall around it. He dug the winepress—all by himself—before the days of heavy-duty farm equipment and machinery. He built the watchtower. He did all those things to produce a vineyard.
Just as the landowner in Jesus’ story made investments in his vineyard, God has made investments in our lives.
He pieced together 37.2 trillion cells and organized them into what you see when you look in the mirror each morning—cells that work together in such a way that the average person can get out of bed and not have to tell their brain to think, their heart to beat, their lungs to inflate, or their blood to flow in order for all those things to happen.
Additionally, he commands his angels to guard us. He actively watches over our lives, making sure all things work together for our good.
Most importantly, he invested the perfect life of his Son, Jesus, to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil.
Our God loves us. He cares for our lives and has invested so much in us already. He will never stop investing in us!
Prayer:
Lord, you are generous in what you invest in my life. Lead me to live a life of generous gratitude to you. Amen.
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God Is Patient with Us – October 9, 2023
[Jesus said] “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Matthew 21:33-41
God Is Patient with Us
Daily Devotion – October 9, 2023
Devotion based on Matthew 21:33-41
See series: Devotions
What do you find more surprising in this story—the horrible actions of the tenants or the landlord’s decision to keep sending his servants, thinking that perhaps they’ll act differently?
Whatever you think of his decision, it’s clear that this landowner was incredibly patient. And that’s what Jesus is teaching us about God. Our God is incredibly patient with people who disobey and distrust him.
Like the owner of the vineyard in Jesus’ story, God sends person after person to call us to follow him. He even sent his son, Jesus—to give us a Savior to whom we can turn in our sin, repent, and find complete forgiveness. What a patient God we have!
Prayer:
Gracious Lord, help me to never take your patience for granted, but rather quickly turn to you in repentance when I see my sin and find comfort in the forgiveness already won for me by Jesus, my Savior. Amen.
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The Harvest – October 8, 2023
I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” . . . The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Isaiah 5:1-4,7
The Harvest
Daily Devotion – October 8, 2023
Devotion based on Isaiah 5:1-4,7
See series: Devotions
It was back-breaking work to plant and care for a vineyard—the plowing, the clearing of stones, the planting. You had to wait two years to see any fruit. Yet, this farmer did everything possible to make his vineyard fruitful. But when he went to find good fruit, all he found was rot.
God told this story to describe the people of Israel. He had given them everything they could possibly need to succeed: a homeland, a guide to live by, a place to worship, leaders to help them, prophets to lead them. Nothing more could have been done. Yet, when the harvest came, God found no fruit. His people had rejected him.
Friends, this isn’t a picture of Israel alone. This is a picture of every single person on earth. Even though God has done everything for us, by nature, we hated God. We were God’s enemies. We produced only rotten fruit.
But God was determined not to give up on us. He sent his one and only Son, Jesus, to live in our place, to produce the good fruit that God desired. And Jesus not only lived for us, but also died for us to take away all of our sin and establish peace between us and God again. This good news creates a desire in us to do what God desires to produce the good fruit he’s looking for. Because of Jesus, we can once again be the garden of God’s delight!
Prayer:
Lord, have mercy on me for the times when I take your care for granted. Let me never receive that love in vain, but help me to produce the good fruit that you desire and deserve. Amen.
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Teaching the Truth – October 7, 2023
Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?” Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Matthew 21:23-27
Teaching the Truth
Daily Devotion – October 7, 2023
Devotion based on Matthew 21:23-27
See series: Devotions
Our Bible verses today record some of Jesus’ activity in Jerusalem a few days before he was crucified. He entered the temple courts and taught the people. He wanted everyone to know why he had come. His impending arrest, trial, and crucifixion was looming. But, in love for the people, he continued teaching the truth that all sinners need to learn, that he was their Savior who had come to sacrifice his life for their sin and rescue them from eternal death.
Not everyone believed him. The religious leaders challenged Jesus because they did not accept him as the Son of God. He lovingly warned them that without him they could not be saved from their sins.
As Jesus entered Jerusalem on that day to teach the people, he still enters our lives to teach us through his Word. The most important truth that Jesus wants us to learn and live by is that he is our Savior, who died for us to give us eternal life with God. He cleansed us from sin by his blood and overcame death by his resurrection.
Jesus teaches the truth of God’s love. You can count on him for forgiveness. You can rely on him for every need. You can place your hope in him for a life filled with God’s eternal blessings. He teaches you what’s really important. Are you listening?
Prayer:
Teach me, Jesus, that I may know you better as my Savior and follow you more closely as my Lord. Amen.
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Humility Comes Before Glory – October 6, 2023
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:8-11
Humility Comes Before Glory
Daily Devotion – October 6, 2023
Devotion based on Philippians 2:8-11
See series: Devotions
In the life of Jesus, humility came before glory. This is especially evident when we see what happened before and after he died. A few days before his death, he voluntarily rode into Jerusalem knowing full well what would happen to him there.
He did not stop Judas from betraying him, his disciples from abandoning him, and his enemies from putting him on trial. “He was obedient to death” (2:8). So he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He did it all for the disciples who abandoned him, the soldiers who beat him, and sinners like you and me.
And because he humbled himself in that way, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (2:9). If you exalt something, it means you lift it up. God lifted Jesus way up. First, God lifted Jesus up from the dead. Forty days later, he exalted Jesus to his right hand when Christ ascended into heaven.
The message is clear: Jesus Christ is Lord. And on the Last Day everyone will confess that truth. That glory will come for Jesus, but humility came first.
Our lives will be the same. Being a Christian doesn’t stop heartache, sickness, or sadness. It doesn’t give you lots of money. You might not be any healthier or richer than someone else, who couldn’t care less about Jesus. But not even the Son of God himself had an easy life when he became a man. In the life of the Christian, humility also comes before glory.
But there is glory for the Christian! The glory is heaven, eternal perfection, and your own resurrection. For now, Jesus has you right where he wants you—in the nail-scared palm of his hand.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, let the promised glory you won for me sustain me through difficult times. Amen.
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