June 2022
The Second Mile
June 30, 2022 • Matthew 5:41
And whoever compels you to go a mile, go with him two. — Matthew 5:41 Centuries before Christ, Cyrus the Great was a mighty monarch of the Persian Empire, which stretched from one end to the other of the known inhabited world. He invented the first national postal system, probably because the decrees of the king of the Medes and the Persians were inviolable and could not be changed, so it was important that the people heard about it when the king made a decree. In the process of putting that huge postal service in place, Cyrus the Great issued a decree that the couriers could require any person to carry any burden on his person, his mule, his cart, a horse, in a ship or whatever, for one mile. After that, he could not impress or compel him any further. The Romans adopted this postal system, along with the custom of compelling a person to carry a burden for a mile. It was a very onerous thing for the Jews, who already detested the fact that they had to pay taxes to the despotic and tyrannical Roman conquerors. When Jesus said we should go a second mile, it was unthinkable to His Jewish hearers. It was unconscionable. Then they would have to walk two miles back—that's four miles. Does Jesus know what He is asking? Ah, yes, He knows. Jesus not only taught it by precept, he taught it by example. It is one of the most difficult things anyone will ever learn to do. It is the art of true Christian forgiveness carried through to the end. Question to ponder: How can you apply the second mile principle in your life today—showing kindness to someone who may not deserve it?
God and the Arts
June 29, 2022 • Psalm 27:4
One thing I have asked from the LORD … to see the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. — Psalm 27:4 Christianity has been a great patron of the arts—from paintings to music to the great cathedrals. Now there are those who have supposed that the second commandment against graven images forbids the use of visual arts altogether. However, God also gave all of the instructions for the building of the tabernacle, and in that tabernacle were all manner of visual arts. On the veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies there were flowers and pomegranates and palm trees and many other things. Note what it says about the high priest's clothing: "And you shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty" (Exodus 28:2). God is a God of beauty. He changed the chaos into the cosmos—a thing of beauty. The very word means order and beauty. Cosmetology is the practice of beautifying the face. God is the great artist who beautifies His creation, giving us the magnificent sunsets He paints for us every evening. He gives us the glory of the budding flowers and the beautiful trees and plants that we all enjoy. God is not opposed to art. He is the Great Artist. What God forbade was idolatry, the worship of an idol or even of the true God through an idol. Question to ponder: What place does art play in your life in general and in your spiritual life particularly?
Available for God
June 28, 2022 • Deuteronomy 33:25
… according to your days, so shall be your strength. — Deuteronomy 33:25 What is the greatest ability we can have when it comes to serving God? Is it the ability to preach great sermons and lead thousands to Christ? Is it the ability to cross the ocean and serve in some great missionary enterprise? Is it the ability to stay home and rear children in the Christian faith? All of these things are important and have their place. I believe, however, that the greatest ability that the Christian needs is availability. Are you available to God? Are you available to Him today and each day to use you? When we make ourselves available to God, He equips us for every good work He wants us to do. He gives us the strength to accomplish that which He has set before us. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13 NKJV). Someone recommended taking that verse and repeating and emphasizing separately each succeeding word. "I can do all things through Christ," not merely the apostles, or the martyrs or super saints, but "I can do all things through Christ." That is a promise to you. Do you believe it? "I can do all things … I can do all things." I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Question to ponder: If you knew you couldn't fail—because God was in it—what great thing would you attempt for His glory and others' good?
Defender of the Faith
June 27, 2022 • 1 Peter 3:15
… Always be ready to give an answer to every man who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and fear. — 1 Peter 3:15 Some years ago, I heard Dr. Somebody-or-Other taking calls from Christians on a radio show. They were calling in and challenging him on various things, and he was chewing them up and spitting them out. Not one Christian could answer any question he asked them. They would explain why they believe with statements like, "Well, because I've got it down in my heart." This atheist answered, "Well, I don't have it down in my heart, and I don't believe it either"—and he hung up. The Scripture says that we should always be ready to give an answer as to why we believe anything we claim that we believe. The Bible is not based upon blind faith, but on God's acting in history, past and present. Just to give one example: when Jesus was born, carried out His ministry, was crucified and raised back to life, He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies that were written hundreds of years before He came. Only God knows the future. Only God could have written that story. All around us, we have unbelievers today challenging us on what we believe. We hear challenges on television, radio, books, magazines, motion pictures, and the internet as to why we believe any of this "stuff" we say that we believe. Let us always be ready with reasons for our faith. Question to ponder: How can you prepare to give a good answer to people who challenge your faith?
The Strait and Narrow
June 26, 2022 • Matthew 7:13–14
Enter at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who are going through it, because small is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. — Matthew 7:13-14 We live in a time when the majority report is virtually always ungodly, unchristian, immoral, and defeatist. We hear it all the time. It blares at us from our radios, our television, our newspapers, and magazines. The majority report is ever before us, which is: Forget about what God has said. Forget about Him altogether. This is the "popular" way. Sometimes we have agreed with the majority and said, "Yes, God's way is too hard." Nevertheless, His way is the "strait and narrow" road that leads unto life. It is the wide gate, the broad way that the Bible says leads to destruction. Every one of us has to decide whether we are going to go with the popular view, the majority view, or we are going to follow the minority report, which is a report of faith. Are you able to face the real difficult things of life, to stand for Christ when it is unpopular to do so? God has a special blessing for those who stand firm for Christ and the truth, even in the face of great unpopularity. Question to ponder: How can you stand for Christ, when it is unpopular to do so?
An Anthropic World
June 25, 2022 • Genesis 1:27
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. — Genesis 1:27 The 500th anniversary of Copernicus' birth was celebrated in 1973. Copernicus showed that the earth was not at the center of the universe, a scientific finding used to displace the earth and man from their presumed place of central importance in the cosmos. In celebrating the Copernican revolution, his followers were celebrating the demise of man and, more importantly, the demise of God. However, at the celebration Brandon Carter, a highly reputed astronomer from Oxford, discussed his discovery of certain strange and almost inexplicable things in the world of particle physics and astronomy. They all seemed to that suggest that this world, and the whole universe, have been made for the purpose of hosting intelligent life on this planet—namely man. He noted, for example, that if the mass of the proton were just a tiny fraction larger or smaller, the entire solar system would collapse. Many similar physical constants, which appear optimized for human existence, point to the fact that this universe seems to have been designed for mankind. Carter's "anthropic principle" says that this universe has a "purpose." This is a dirty word to evolutionists, who have substituted "chance" for "design" and "purpose." But suddenly, at the 500th anniversary of the Copernican revolution, when the final spike was being driven into the significance of man, the anthropic principle was born. Despite man's attempts to deny God, He has left His fingerprints all over the universe. Question to ponder: Why did God create the world?
Anger Management
June 24, 2022 • Proverbs 16:32
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. — Proverbs 16:32 When it comes to anger, someone has said that people tend to be of two different types. There are those who blow up and there are those who clam up. Some people do both. Paul deals with that in Ephesians 4:26. He says, "Be angry but do not sin." There is such a thing as righteous anger but the sin related to anger is when this bursts forth in all sorts of vicious speech. When we rail against another person, give place to malice, explode, and tell other people off. We have then given way to sin; we have given place to the devil. So Paul tells us in verse 26 that we are not to let our anger explode. Furthermore, he says, "No not let the sun go down on your anger." That is, do not close up like a clam and keep that hot boiling anger within you. There are some people who can keep it in for years, blocking any sort of communication. But by His grace, many people are able to control their anger, to "be angry and sin not." Question to ponder: How has the Holy Spirit worked in your life to control your temper?
An Absolute God
June 23, 2022 • Psalm 24:10
Who is He—this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. — Psalm 24:10 What exactly are absolutes? If you were to check the word "absolute" in Webster's Dictionary, you would discover that "absolute" comes from the two Latin words ab ("from") and solvere ("to set free") from which we also get the word dissolve. So absolute means "to be set free." But set free from what? It means to be set free from imperfection. To be pure. It means to free from any admixture. It is perfect. It means to be free from any limit, restriction, or qualification as in an absolute monarch. And it means to be positive, certain, authoritative. That is what absolutes are, whether we are talking about persons or truth. To be absolute is to be free from any kind of error, admixture, imperfection, or limit. If there are no absolutes, there is no God, because God is the ultimate absolute. His omnipotence is without limit, restraint, or qualification. His omniscience is unlimited. His omnipresence is without restraint or restriction. God is the altogether absolute One. He is the absolute Monarch, the absolute God. Question to ponder: What are the consequences of a world without absolutes?
Propitiation
June 22, 2022 • 1 John 4:10
… In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. — 1 John 4:10 God's forgiveness is astounding. I hope that you realize that all of your sins are wiped away by a God who cannot forget anything because He is omniscient and knows all things. One of the great mysteries of the Scriptures, a paradox indeed, is that He has said, He will cast all our sins "into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19) and He will remember them no more (see Jeremiah 31:34). In Christ we have the assurance that all of our sin has been wiped away and we are reconciled unto God, invited back into His favor, into the fellowship of His communion, adopted into His family, given His name, invited to His table, made His heir everlastingly. Our inheritance in Christ cannot possibly be measured. That is what Christ has done for us on the cross. What I have just described is called "propitiation." This means that the wrath of God toward us is set aside and falls not on us, but on our substitute, Christ. Secondly, it means our sin is wiped away forever, as when one would wash a blackboard. Thirdly, we who had our backs to God are reconciled and drawn into the fellowship of His love. This is God's forgiveness; this is God's love. Question to ponder: What does it mean that God is "appeased"?
Rejoice in All Circumstances
June 21, 2022 • 1 Thessalonians 5:16
… Rejoice always. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Trouble comes to us all, saved or unsaved. But people react differently. We know that the same sun that bakes bricks melts butter. Adversity causes some people to become embittered and hardened, to become hateful toward God and man. Others it sweetens and softens and enriches. The world finds it very, very strange that even in the midst of the most painful circumstances, there can be rejoicing. In fact, Paul tells us that we can be sorrowful and rejoice at the same time: "as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10). Regardless of the pain of the circumstances, there can be deep-seated joy. In the midst of an illness, at the very nadir of my experience, a time when I was in such pain that I absolutely did not know what to do and tears were coursing down my cheeks, I could honestly say to my wife, "I yet believe that God is good and will lift me up out of this." What kind of problems have you had this past week? Did you face them like Paul, or like the world faces them? How do we deal with our problems? Faith comes from our realization that God is with us, whatever the problems we may face. When we face them, do we become better or do we become bitter? Question to ponder: Are you going through a difficult time? Can you find something to thank God for in the midst of your adversity?
A Father Who Loves the Mother
June 20, 2022 • Proverbs 5:18
… rejoice with the wife of your youth. — Proverbs 5:18 The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. If you are going to be a godly dad, you need to forsake all others with heart and mind and soul and love your wife. We are to love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for us. It is in loving each other that parents create a stable and good home. Besides loving his wife in order to be a good father, a man must commit to be there for his children. It is really very easy to become a father, but it is very difficult to be a godly father in the home. You must, first of all, be a godly man. Second, you must—very obviously, but today, importantly—be in the home, because if there is one place where tens of millions of American fathers are not present today, it is in the home. Eighty percent of all of the families in the inner city are fatherless. Eighty percent! Without fathers in the home, children will lack the emotional center a father provides, crime will go up as will all the troubles that lack of guidance and fathering bring upon a family. Question to ponder: What happens to a society where men are not present in the home?
The Gospel in the Stars
June 19, 2022 • Psalm 19:1–2
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night declares knowledge. — Psalm 19:1-2 The zodiac has twelve major signs. The first is Virgo, depicting a woman who has in her right hand a branch and in her left hand sheaves of corn. In Hebrew, she is called Bethulah, which means "virgin," even as virgo, from Latin, means virgin. Everywhere her name is the same. She is called "the virgin." This is of course, the picture of Mary, the virgin mother of Christ. So we have Virgo, the virgin woman, holding the branch and seeds in her hand. We find next to her, Coma, "the desired one" (the desire of all nations, who shall come) who is now an infant being nourished in her lap. Thirdly, we see him grown to manhood—a very unusual man, however, one with two natures: One who is the great hunter, teacher, physician; one who gives his life voluntarily and conveys his immortality to others; one who is the great High Priest, slaying the victim over the Southern Cross. Finally, we see him, also full grown, coming mightily and in power, and rapidly as Bootes—the coming One, the ruler, the governor, the harvester of the earth, coming with a sickle in his hand in judgment to harvest the world. Thus, there is the Gospel presented in the stars, in the Zodiac—none of which has anything to do with reading your horoscope. Question to ponder: How do the stars "reveal knowledge"?
A Surprising Witness from Antiquity
June 18, 2022 • Psalm 8:3
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have established … — Psalm 8:3 The Bible condemns astrology. It says that we are not to consort with astrologers; we are not to consult them; we are not to have anything to do with astrology. And, yet, behind all of that, there is a great revelation of God and His glory and of His salvation in what has come to be known as the zodiac. This is often described as a circle of animals. But that is not really what the word "zodiac" means. Rather it comes from a primitive root, zoad, which comes from the Hebrew sodi, and in Sanskrit means: "a way; a step; a path." It is the path, or the way, and it is the way of salvation revealed in the heavens. I hope that as you go out and look at the starry skies above, you will be impressed anew and afresh. You will become amazed at the God who hath written on high these things for all the world to see. For surely His voice has gone out unto the ends of the earth, and the invisible things of Him are plainly seen from the creation of the world. God has placed in the constellations of the zodiac, which He brought forth with His own hand, pictures of the great salvation which He has wrought in Jesus Christ. Before it was corrupted and twisted, the zodiac presented a clear picture of God's story. It shows the virgin who gives birth to a son and is attacked by the evil one. And there is much more, as we will show in the following devotional reading. Question to ponder: The horoscope is a tool used by Satan to deceive. How did it become so twisted?
A Day of Reckoning
June 17, 2022 • Romans 14:12
So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God. — Romans 14:12 The Bible makes it plain that we shall, each one, have to give an account of ourselves. It will not be your wife, your husband, your parents, your neighbors, church members, or preachers—it will be you yourself that you will be giving an account of in that great day. No other statements will be allowed. I guess the Corinthians are still around today. How many people walk out of church and make comments such as: "Well, what did you think of that sermon?" "How did you like the preacher?" Are we not back to Corinth again? My friends, do you come to judge God's servants or do you come to place yourself under the judgment of God's Word? What a difference there is in those two attitudes. In a worship service, to paraphrase Soren Kierkegaard, it is God who is the audience, the congregation, the performer, and the preacher. God is the one to judge. We who are covered by the blood of Christ will be forgiven, but we are still accountable and will face the day of reckoning. Question to ponder: What is frightening and what is comforting about the accountability of believers?
Sin Has Consequences
June 16, 2022 • 2 Kings 5:25–26
"Where have you come from, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your servant went here and there." He said to him, "Did my heart not go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to take money, and to take garments, olives and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?" — 2 Kings 5:25-26 Many people think they can get away with all sorts of crimes today. Perhaps they do for a while. But in the big picture, God sees, and He will one day bring it to light—whether in this life or the next. In 2 Kings 5, Gehazi ended up with Naaman's leprosy because of his greed. When David sinned, he was forgiven—yet "the sword" never left his house. Even though God forgives us for our sins when we come to Him with repentance, God does not always remove the consequences of our sins. Sin is always serious and always destructive. Certain sins can follow families and be repeated for several generations. Yes, God can break the cords of sin. Chains can be loosed at Calvary, but it is much better to keep ourselves from sin in the first place. Question to ponder: Have you seen situations where one sin has brought trouble to many?