Author: Kerry

Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.
Hebrews 3:4

We Live in God’s World

Daily Devotion – February 3, 2024

Devotion based on Hebrews 3:4


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The Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in Chicago is one of the tallest and most famous buildings in the world. That building did not just appear by itself. Behind the fame of that building is the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. This firm has received great honor for its work with that tower. Every time someone looks into the history of the building, its name is attached to it.

The accomplishment of this firm is put into perspective by the message we read today from God’s Word. God is the builder of everything. He built everything when he created the world. We live in his world, but we don’t always give him the honor he deserves. In fact, we do just the opposite. We tend to take what he has made and abuse it and waste and misuse what he has given us. We aren’t satisfied with the physical and natural blessings he provides. Through our sins, we heap insult and dishonor before his feet and destroy what he has built.

But in his grace, God did not wipe us out for the lack of honor we show him. Instead, he followed a plan to rescue us from our failures and restore us to himself. His plan included sending prophets like Moses, who proclaimed that a Savior would come to save us. His plan unfolded as the promised Savior finally came, revealing himself as Jesus, the Son of God. Through Jesus, God grants us the forgiveness of sins and gives us new life—life that lasts forever with God.

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill may receive honor as long as the Willis Tower stands. Yet we have a God who will receive eternal honor, for he has restored us as a new creation through Jesus, a restoration that will never be destroyed.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I give thanks that you have restored me through Jesus as your new creation. Lead me to honor you always for every blessing you give for both body and soul. Amen.

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.
Hebrew 3:1

Authority Worthy of All Honor

Daily Devotion – February 2, 2024

Devotion based on Hebrew 3:1


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Moses was a great prophet. Jesus is greater.

God sent Jesus to share God’s message. He showed the world that sin is not just something we do. We are sin-sick. Sin so thoroughly stains our hearts that even the good we do is filthy in God’s eyes. But it is to sin-sick people like us that God sent Jesus. He shared with the world that God takes no delight in the death of anyone. He is our Savior who wants everyone to be saved.

That is why Jesus came into this world—to save sinners. He did not save us because of our good behavior. He saved us by the sacrifice of himself on the cross. He did it without our asking or pleading. By the sacrifice of his Son and the work his Spirit through his Word, God sets us apart for salvation. He makes us his sons and daughters and gives us a share in the glory of heaven.

For giving us what we do not deserve, Jesus deserves our highest honor. God told Moses that honoring Jesus means listening to him. But listening to him means more than just hearing what he has to say. Listening to Jesus means doing what he says.

Fix your thoughts on Jesus—and you will freely forgive as God in Christ has forgiven you. Fix your thoughts on Jesus—and you will find freedom in living a pure and decent life in word and action. Fix your thoughts on Jesus— and you will delight to serve others and consider their needs more important than your own. Fix your thoughts on Jesus—and you will never lose confidence or hope in the future glory Jesus is preparing for you.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to you forever and ever. Amen.

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.
Deuteronomy 18:15

Verbal Authority

Daily Devotion – February 1, 2024

Devotion based on Deuteronomy 18:15


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This year, countries with more than half the world’s population will hold elections. That is a lot of campaigning. Some of what they say will be good and helpful, and some will be bad and harmful. Sometimes, what sounds good will be bad, and what sounds harmful will be helpful.

How can you know to whom and what you should listen? You need one voice that serves as the authority over all other voices. A voice that is always unchanging, reliable, and true. Who is like that? People lie. People fail to keep their promises. People change their minds. But God is not like us. He cannot lie and does not change his mind. He says what he means and does what he says.

Jesus, the Son of God, is a voice you can trust. The Old Testament records over 300 prophecies and promises regarding the Savior. Jesus fulfilled them all. Everything he spoke came from God. As God, Jesus has the authority to tell us what is right and what is wrong. He has the authority to condemn us for not listening to his Word but also has the authority to forgive us. And he has.

Because he is truly God, Jesus had the authority to lay down his life for the sins of the world. His death pays for sin, once and for all. But he also had the authority to take his life back again. His resurrection is proof that everything he did and said is unchanging, reliable, and true.

So, when it comes to other voices in the world, how can you know to whom and what you should listen? Compare what they say to what God’s Word, the Bible says. If what they say does not line up with what God says, cover your ears.

God’s Word does not tell us everything we might want to know, but it does tell us everything we need to know. By the authority of Christ Jesus, you are forgiven for all your sins. Listen to him.

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, your Word is my light and my life. Lead me in the way everlasting. Amen.

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites.
Deuteronomy 18:18

Humble Authority

Daily Devotion – January 31, 2024

Devotion based on Deuteronomy 18:18


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God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of four centuries of slavery. Moses stood face to face with the Pharaoh of Egypt and won. He oversaw millions of people, handling their complaints, leading them through the wilderness, and judging their toughest disputes. Moses was important. He was the man. But he wrote of himself: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).

Isn’t that ironic? It certainly does not seem like a very humble thing to say. Until you consider what author C.S. Lewis wrote, “humility is not thinking less about yourself but thinking about yourself less.” That certainly was Moses. Moses did not care about rank or reputation. He put the needs of the Israelites ahead of his own and brought them to the Promised Land.

As humble as Moses was, his sin barred him from entering the Promised Land. And his humility could not save all the Israelites who died in unbelief in the wilderness.

It was the humility of another like Moses that got Moses into heaven. Jesus is the prophet God chose to lead his people out of spiritual slavery. As God, Jesus has absolute authority over everyone and everything.

Yet Jesus did not use that authority to his own advantage. He put our needs ahead of his own and gave his life on the cross. He used his humble authority to pay our sin debt with his blood. Victorious over the grave, Jesus is the way through the wilderness. All who believe in him have eternal life in the land that God has promised.

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, give me humility like yours so I can be confident in my salvation and share your salvation with those in need. Amen.

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. . . Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”
Mark 1:21,23-27

The Final Authority

Daily Devotion – January 30, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 1:21,23-27


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Seventeenth-century French philosopher Rene Descartes is known for the saying: “I think, therefore I am.” The Twenty-first Century bumper sticker equivalent is: “Honk if you exist.”

If you want to know what issues matter to society or the mindset of current culture, read their bumper stickers. One of the more popular is the command to “QUESTION AUTHORITY.” It is a warning not to follow blindly after anyone just because they are influential. Certainly, not everyone with authority is trustworthy, but that does not mean that everyone is not trustworthy.

Jesus is an authority you can trust. He proved it by what he proclaimed. When Jesus taught in the synagogue, he did not just regurgitate what other teachers of the law thought God’s Word meant. He did not reiterate their manufactured laws. Jesus proclaimed the freedom, healing, and release that God promised. Then he backed up his word with action. With the same authority that the people heard Jesus teach, they witnessed him drive a demon out of a man.

Despite society’s efforts to convince us otherwise, regardless of whatever bumper sticker gets slapped on the back of a car, Jesus is the final authority. When Jesus died on the cross, he destroyed the devil’s work. And when he rose from the grave, he proved his victory over sin, death, and hell. That victory is yours through faith in your Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, what peace, what joy, what hope is mine that you are the final authority over all things in life and in death. Amen.

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites.
Deuteronomy 18:15

A Prophet Like Moses

Daily Devotion – January 29, 2024

Devotion based on Deuteronomy 18:15


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The prophet. When you hear those words, who comes to mind? If you are of Arab descent, you think of Muhammed, the founder of Islam. If you live in the western United States of America, you probably think of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church. If you are connected to Orthodox Judaism, you think of Moses.

There were many prophets that God commissioned in the Old Testament. But none like Moses. God himself sent Moses to the Israelites. God made Moses their leader, and he was their deliverer. Moses led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt. He performed miracles and wonders. And God spoke face-to-face with Moses, giving him the laws that governed the Israelites for over a thousand years.

As great as Moses was, God raised up a greater prophet—Jesus.

The law was given through Moses, but the Israelites could not fulfill it. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. We cannot fulfill God’s law either, but Jesus graciously kept the law in our place. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the laws that God gave Moses.

The truth is we all deserve to die for our sins, but Jesus graciously died in our place. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the entire world. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. By his resurrection from the dead, Jesus has opened the way to eternal life with God in the Promised Land of heaven.

Jesus is the way for all who follow him in faith.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King, teach me your way, forgive my sins, and govern my heart by your grace and truth. Amen.

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
Mark 1:21,22

Amazed

Daily Devotion – January 28, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 1:21,22


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What does it take to amaze you? Are you often astounded? Or does that happen somewhat infrequently, only when there’s something really out of the ordinary?

Mark says that the people were amazed when Jesus taught in the synagogue. Why so? It was because of the content of Jesus’ teaching. The religious leaders simply demanded from the people: “Do this! Live this way! Act this way!” Jesus, on the other hand, spoke not merely of external things, but spoke to the heart. He spoke of God’s promises being fulfilled of the promised Savior—himself! He told them that in him was the salvation which God had promised to send to the world.

Think of it—God loved you and me enough to come to this earth himself. God loved you and me so much that he was willing to live our life and willing to die for us. We sinful humans had separated ourselves from God and had no way to get back to him, but God loved you too much to lose you, so he did what was necessary to reunite you to him. He lived, he died, he rose, all for you!

Amazing. And true! Because it comes from God!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for teaching me about all you have done for me. May it always amaze me! Amen.

God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21

A Substitute

Daily Devotion – January 27, 2024

Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 5:21


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On June 2, 1925, Wally Pip, the starting first baseman for the New York Yankees, was hit in the head by a pitch in pre-game batting practice. The manager put a substitute in to play for Pip that day. Pip never started another game at first base for the Yankees because his substitute went on to play in 2,130 straight games—a record that stood for many years. What a substitution! You probably never heard of Wally Pip. Even if you aren’t a baseball fan, you probably heard of Pip’s substitute: Lou Gehrig. He’s in Baseball’s Hall of Fame!

The Bible tells us about a substitution that was even more spectacular. Over 2,000 years ago, God put a substitute on Calvary’s cross for all sinners. Our substitute’s name was Jesus Christ. Although this God-man was perfect, he willingly took our sins and imperfections upon himself and was punished in our place. He experienced the agony of hell and the righteous anger of a holy God for you and me! By his wounds we are healed. Our sins are paid for. We are righteous in God’s sight because of our substitute.

Because of a substitution, Lou Gehrig is in baseball’s Hall of Fame. Trusting in the substitute that God appointed for you—Jesus Christ, you will be in heaven’s Hall of Fame, forever!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I confess that I often sin and deserve to be separated from you and all your blessings. But in love you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, who bore the guilt of my sin for me and died to set me free from the condemnation I deserve. Thanks and praise to you for Jesus, my substitute! Amen.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:16,17

The New is Here!

Daily Devotion – January 26, 2024

Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 5:16,17


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At the beginning of a new year, we desperately want an answer to this question: Can people change? That is, given enough time and effort, can I change my old habits and habitual sins? And, in a world characterized by selfishness and tribalism, can I change the way that I view other people?

Well, consider the man behind today’s Bible passage. Twenty years before he wrote these words, the apostle Paul was “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” (1 Timothy 1:13). He hated Jesus and Jesus’ disciples, so he hunted them down and arrested them.

All that changed when Jesus blinded him with light, spoke to him from heaven, and sent a man named Ananias to preach the good news to him, to baptize him, and to shine the light of faith in his heart. That’s how Paul became “a herald and an apostle and a teacher of the true faith” (1 Timothy 2:7).

Paul is proof that people really do change. And God continues to change people to this very day. When you become a Christian, God changes you from dead in sin to alive in Christ. Because of Christ, when God the Father looks at you, he sees someone clothed in the perfection of his Son.

Because of Christ, when you look at other people, what do you see? That every single person—regardless of their age, their race, their economic status, or their politics—is someone for whom Christ died.

The Son of God does not see you as some hopeless, lost cause of a sinner. You are an heir of eternal life, and that changes the way you look at life. You don’t have to be selfish anymore. You don’t have to be angry anymore. You don’t have to lose control anymore. You have been changed. You have been forgiven. The new is here.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for making me a new creation. Please give me strength to live like it. Amen.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. . . God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:14,15,21

A Life Lived for Jesus

Daily Devotion – January 25, 2024

Devotion based on 2 Corinthians 5:14,15,21


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You may have encountered the slogan “WWJD?” It is shorthand for “What Would Jesus Do?” The goal of that acronym is to get people to live like Jesus. Although its intent is noble, it has one major flaw: it gives an incomplete view of Jesus and his work.

The problem is that it presents Christ primarily as an example to follow. Today’s Bible passage, however, destroys the notion that Jesus is just an example for Christians to follow on their walk with God.

Have you ever heard better news than these three verses? Jesus died for all of our sins in our place as our substitute. And when Jesus died, it was as if everyone who has ever lived, is living, or will live had died. He died for all so that you will never know the horror of hell.

This means that when God saw his Son on the cross, he saw all of the sins and sinners, and Christ was punished for each sin of all sinners. More than that, Jesus gives sinners what he alone has—his perfection and righteousness. The love behind that great exchange is what compels Christians to live, not for themselves, but for the One who had died for them.

All this means that Christianity is not about what you should do. It’s about what someone else did for you. A better acronym would be “RWJD,” shorthand for “Remember What Jesus Did.” In other words, we don’t live like Jesus; we live for Jesus.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, let your life, death, and resurrection for me empower my life lived for you. Amen.