St. Johns News
Hide and Seek – March 2, 2023
But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3:9,10
Hide and Seek
Daily Devotion – March 2, 2023
Devotion based on Genesis 3:9,10
See series: Devotions
Do you remember playing hide and seek? Many parents have loved playing that simple game with their young children. Dad or mom would often hide in obvious places, but the toddlers were so happy to find the parent that they would giggle with delight. They were so cute when they played that game.
It is not so cute when we play hide and seek with God. He is always calling out to us in his Word, but we tend to hide, even as adults. Maybe we feel guilty for not being in God’s house more often. Maybe we don’t want to address our own life choices that we know aren’t God pleasing. Maybe we are angry at God or one of his representatives. And so we hide. And like when our parents hid from us as toddlers, we hide from God in rather obvious places: places like work, Netflix, excuses, and even kids’ sports. While we think we are conveniently unable to make time for God, it is all painfully obvious to him that we are trying to hide. He knows exactly where we are and what we are thinking.
And by a miracle of his grace, he still seeks us. He still comes to find us even though he knows all our sin and all our guilt. In love, he seeks to find and save us. That is exactly why he sent Jesus into this world to be our Savior. A Savior who was willing to suffer and die to pay for all of our sins. A Savior who would pay for and remove all our sin, guilt, and shame so that we could now have a right relationship with God. Because of Jesus and his work for us, there is no reason to hide. No reason to fear coming back to God.
So maybe it is time to stop hiding. Come out, come out, wherever you are! Find free grace and forgiveness from God through Jesus.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, forgive me for the times when I hide from you and your Word. Thank you for taking my sins away. Enable me to come back to you every day. Amen.
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Guilt and Shame – March 1, 2023
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Genesis 3:7
Guilt and Shame
Daily Devotion – March 1, 2023
Devotion based on Genesis 3:7
See series: Devotions
“Why did I do that? What was I thinking? It all sounded good and felt right in the moment. But now, all I feel is guilt and shame.”
We have all been there. Maybe we woke up in someone else’s bed. Maybe we were sleeping off a hangover and could not remember the events of the last evening. Maybe we called in sick to work because we didn’t want to face the co-worker we had offended the day before. Maybe we lost our temper with a family member and are ashamed of how we looked and sounded. We all live with guilt and regret for our past behavior.
God could never forgive us, right? Adam and Eve had to be thinking that as they fashioned for themselves the world’s first clothing. What had they done? What were they thinking? How could they ever face God again? How could he ever forgive them?
But in the first of many surprises in the Bible, God could forgive them. He did forgive even their sin that had such far-reaching consequences. And to prove that his forgiveness for them was more than just words, he sent his Son into this world to pay for their sins and ours. Jesus came and hung on the cross to pay for a world full of sin, guilt, and shame. He died for all of our sins. That’s right. ALL of them. Even the big ones. Even the ones that were too terrible to be forgiven.
Whatever it is in your past that is filling you with guilt and shame, lay it at the cross. Confess it to Jesus and be assured that he has paid for it. Your guilt is gone, and your sin washed away. In its place, Jesus gives you forgiveness and eternal life and invites you to live for him.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you. You have washed away my sin and paid for my guilt. Help me not to look backward, but to look forward in joy to the heaven you have won for me. Help me live for you today. Amen.
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Going Along With the Crowd – February 28, 2023
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Genesis 3:6
Going Along With the Crowd
Daily Devotion – February 28, 2023
Devotion based on Genesis 3:6
See series: Devotions
There you were. You were part of the crowd—surrounded by all your friends. It started off as a great evening. Everyone was having fun, and life was good. But then things started to take a turn. Things got out of control and a fun evening crossed the line. Things happened that should not have happened. You wanted to speak up and to tell them all that this wasn’t right.
But there you stood, doing nothing. Sometimes doing nothing or saying nothing is just as wrong as doing the bad or evil thing. And God holds us accountable for our inaction. Adam stood-by and did nothing as Eve was led down the wrong path. He went along with it, and his silence had consequences that were bigger than he ever could have imagined. His inaction cast the whole world into sin and now we are all born with an innate desire to sin.
This makes Jesus all the more remarkable. He never went along with the crowd when they were on the wrong path. He always spoke when things were headed in the wrong direction. Jesus lived a perfect life in our place, and then at the end, he let the crowd put him to death so that you and I and the whole world could be saved from our sins. Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we have been set free from sin and through faith in him, we now have the gift of eternal life.
That means we no longer have to go along with the crowd! We can now say no to the evil in this world and live our lives for our Savior, Jesus, who gave his life for us. We can now be a positive influence in this world and lead others to the light of Jesus.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for giving yourself as my Savior from sin. Empower me to say no to the crowd and to live my life for you. Help me be a positive influence for others. Amen.
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Did God really say? – February 27, 2023
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1
Did God really say?
Daily Devotion – February 27, 2023
Devotion based on Genesis 3:1
See series: Devotions
Did God really say you shouldn’t indulge in this behavior? Did God really say you shouldn’t live your life the way you want? Did God really say you shouldn’t do whatever makes you feel good? After all, wouldn’t God want you to be happy?
Satan has succeeded with that line of reasoning for centuries. It is a tried and true approach to leading people into sin. It worked on Eve in the Garden of Eden and has been working on mankind ever since. It works on us too. We are too eager to believe that life really is about us and that our top priority is to make ourselves happy. It does not take much convincing for us to make life about our desires rather than what God wants or to make it about pleasing ourselves rather than seeking the good of other people. This is the society we live in, and there is only one way that can end. (Spoiler alert: it doesn’t end well.)
Thankfully there is One who did not believe the devil’s lie. Thankfully there is One who did not pursue his own desires but instead pursued what was best for the rest of us. Jesus came into this world not to look out for himself but to see that we would get what we need. He easily could have made his life all about himself and could have used his almighty power to please himself. But instead, it was all about us. He came to save us, and that meant doing what no one else could. It meant living a perfect life in our place and dying so that we could be saved now and forever.
Because of Jesus, God now really says that we are his forgiven children. He says that through faith in Jesus, we will have eternal life. He says that we are his children now and always.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for your selfless work on my behalf. As your forgiven child, help me to live for others and not for myself. Amen.
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An Unlimited Guarantee – February 26, 2023
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15
An Unlimited Guarantee
Daily Devotion – February 26, 2023
Devotion based on Genesis 3:15
See series: Devotions
When purchasing a product, we are interested in the manufacturer’s warranty. What does the company promise to repair or replace? How long is the warranty good for? How reliable is the business making the guarantee? Usually warranties are limited to varying degrees and cover only certain items for a specific period of time. Manufacturers do not issue warranties that cover their products without exceptions. Every guarantee is limited.
Except one, God’s guarantee of rescuing us from death and hell. God made a promise to the first people on earth. They had fallen into sin and lost the perfection with which God created them. Their sin condemned them to eternal separation from God in hell and not only them, but the whole human race. But God made a promise. He declared that a descendant of those first sinful people would come and destroy the devil’s power over them. That mighty offspring of the woman would deliver them from death, by being delivered to death himself. Yet he would overcome hell and guarantee for his people life forever.
Unlike a manufacturer’s limited warranty, God promise of salvation is full and free and offered to the whole world. The reliability of this promise is as sure as the existence of the eternal God who loves all people so much that he came into our world to fully accomplish what he promised.
Look at your Savior, Jesus, on the cross. He is your guarantee of unlimited life with God.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you that in your mercy you do not condemn me as my sins deserve but rather give me your ironclad guarantee of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus. Amen.
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Real – February 25, 2023
We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
2 Peter 1:16
Real
Daily Devotion – February 25, 2023
Devotion based on 2 Peter 1:16
See series: Devotions
In 2001, director Stephen Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks paired up to produce the miniseries Band of Brothers. The ten-part drama followed a company of World War II soldiers from their basic training through the end of the war.
In this miniseries, the characters were colorful. The plot twists were riveting. The battle scenes were beyond intense. For those who watched the entire program, however, perhaps the conclusion of the final episode packs the most powerful punch. You see, each episode of Band of Brothers began with an old man talking to an off-screen interviewer. Over the course of the series, the various old men became familiar faces as they quietly spoke of their days as young soldiers. Only at the end of the ten-part story did you learn their names. They are the very men depicted in the miniseries. They are the Band of Brothers. Their story was not fiction. Their story was real.
When the apostle Peter sat down and wrote his second letter, he was an old man too. He wanted his readers, including you and me, to understand something about what he and all the other writers recorded in the Bible about Jesus. They did not write it down for entertainment. They did not write it down to tell a rousing story. They did not write it down to keep us spellbound with colorful characters and riveting plotlines. They wrote it down because that’s what happened. They wrote it down because they were eyewitnesses. They wrote it down because it really happened.
That means your forgiveness in Jesus and his guiding hand in your life is real. It means his promise to uphold you and your security in him is real. And that is really comforting.
Prayer:
Holy Spirit, as I read your Word, fill me with the awareness that Jesus’ life and death and resurrection took place in real time, for me and for all. Amen.
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