I am surrounded by vineyards where I live. Very few things are more beautiful than driving the highways seeing all the rows of vines as they sprout their green leaves. Jesus used the analogy of the vine to talk about the importance of Christians abiding in the vine. When a branch abides in the vine…
Read MoreDo you need a particular date to tell those you care about that you love them? Do you go about your business the rest of the days of the year doing your own thing? If you truly love someone, it flows out of your heart, and you express it with words and gifts. Somehow, people think it is natural and okay to tell Jesus they love Him once or twice a year. John asks us in Revelation, “Have you abandoned the love?”
Revelation 2:4
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
In the book of Revelation, John writes seven letters to seven different churches. They were all in Asia, which we know as modern-day Turkey. Ephesus was the central city, and the other six formed a postal route around it. The first letter in the series is to the church in Ephesus. They are a busy church fighting wrong doctrine and doing good deeds, but their hearts have grown cold for Jesus, and they have left their first love. From the outside, it looked like a thriving church, but on the inside, it was slowly dying.
Read MoreThe danger for every Christian is letting their hearts grow cold and hard due to sin. When that happens, they become insensitive and uncaring. Only a reversal of their heart, led by the Holy Spirit, will bring about change. When it happens, it’s like we are reaping kindness when you don’t deserve it. That is what God is telling Israel He will do.
Hosea 10:12
“Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you.”
Hosea keeps the theme of sowing and reaping by telling the people to sow righteousness, and you will reap kindness. Another translation says mercy. Israel had been sowing sin, and they were about to reap judgment, but even at the last moment, God was telling them if they sowed doing the right thing, He would extend mercy to them. What a gracious God! Who would overlook generations of sinfulness and extend mercy? The only one would be the God we serve.
Read MoreLet’s face it. We need all the help we can get in life. Each day throws new challenges at us, and often we don’t have the tools or experience to deal with them. Jesus tells us that He has given us another helper who is with us, the Holy Spirit. He is there to guide us through the challenges that we encounter. Are you tapped into the Spirit?
John 14:16-17
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
Chapter 13-17 of the Gospel of John is Jesus having the last supper with the disciples. He imparts many things to them He wants them to know before His crucifixion. As He was preparing His disciples for His departure, He tells them that He will send another helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with them forever. This Holy Spirit is part of the Godhead we call the Trinity. He is fully God like God the Father and Jesus the Son. He is given to us when we put our faith in Jesus as our savior, and He dwells in us forever.
Read MoreOne way streets can benefit old cities where there is not enough room for a street where cars can go both ways. It can also be limiting for those trying to get across town in a short amount of time. Jesus made it clear that there is only one way to heaven, through Him. That’s a problem for some people.
John 14:6
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Jesus has just told the disciples that His Father’s house is a mansion and that He is going there to prepare a place for them. He is going to leave for a while but will return for them. Doubting Thomas asked Jesus how they would know the way, to which Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” The road map is a person, not a path. Jesus was very clear that if you wanted to spend eternity with God, His Father, you would have to put your faith in HIm.
Read MoreIt usually takes someone bigger or better than you to give you a reality check. By that, I mean to put you in your place and show you that you aren’t as good as you think you are. This happens in sports all of the time but stretches across all facets of life. God gave Job a reality check after all the trials Job went through, and He won’t hesitate to do it to you as well.
Job 38:4
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,”
Sometimes we need a reality check. We can get too big for our britches and think we are more important than we really are. Job never had this problem, but God reminded him that He laid the earth’s foundation and Job wasn’t there when it happened. Because that is the case, you don’t know what is happening. God knows what he intended to, and no one else is privy to that information. He is telling everyone to remember that.
Read MoreYou ever seen a movie that was a remake of a classic? How about one of your favorite singers covering a well-known song? Each of those brings a fresh twist on something well known. When Jesus speaks to his disciples, he puts a fresh twist on a well-known commandment. You’ve heard of loving your neighbor as yourself, and now Jesus tells his followers to love each other as He has loved them.
John 13:34-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.””
When Jesus says a new commandment, He isn’t talking about a new revelation but instead a fresh take on something that has been around. Loving one wasn’t new. Jesus had summarized the last six commandments by saying, “love your neighbor as yourself.” Now he was telling his followers to love each other as He loved them. Charles Spurgeon summarizes it perfectly, “We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, but we are to love our fellow-Christians as Christ loved us, and that is far more than we love ourselves.” You are to love those in the church more than you love yourself.
Read MoreThis post is the one-thousandth devotional that I have written on the Daily Walk Devotion. It’s an important milestone for me because it represents following the Lord’s leading to publish what I was reading and journaling during my devotion time. Nothing has changed over the last four years of doing this. The Scriptures I use come from my time in the Word of God that He is speaking to me that day. God has used this in many people’s lives, and it blows me away. Thank you for being part of the Daily Walk Devotion.
Jude 1:20-21
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”
I can’t think of better words that summarize what this ministry is all about; build yourselves up in faith, pray in the Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, and wait for the mercy of Jesus’ return. That is discipleship right there. You are a sojourner on a journey towards heaven, and you need to strengthen your faith and draw closer to the Lord. Growing in your faith means increasing your knowledge of God’s Word and trusting Him in everything. That is what devotion entails and what will sustain you on your journey.
Read MoreThe wind is something that has both beneficial and destructive principles. Most of the time, the wind pushes along nature’s cycle that allows for plants to be pollinated and weather systems to move. On occasion, its speeds can form a hurricane or tornado that leave destruction in its path. Hosea uses this as a metaphor when he explains to Israel the impending judgment. It shows you need to be careful what you sow.
Hosea 8:7
“For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.”
This is a harsh judgment that is being brought against Israel. Hosea uses the principle of reaping and sowing to point out their folly. They have sown the wind, and they reaped the whirlwind. Obviously, you can’t sow the wind, but Hosea uses it to illustrate why they are in the midst of the storm. They have brought this on themselves. Next, he describes how Israel sowed wheat, but there was no grain when it came up. They were useless plants, and if some did produce grain, it was stolen by strangers. This paints a haunting picture of how bad it is for Israel.
Read MoreOne thing that the pandemic has impacted is professional sports. Most leagues have restarted without fans in the stands. Some are pumping in fake crowd applause, but it has been hard to watch as someone who is a lifelong sports fan. The applause of the fans brings so much to the game, and at times it appears that the athletes are going through the motions. One of the dangers that Christians face is living for the approval of man instead of God. Who’s approval are you seeking?
John 12:43
“for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”
A large group of Pharisees believed in Jesus while he walked on the earth, but they didn’t voice it out of fear of getting kicked out of the synagogue but at the heart of it was that they loved the approval of man more than God. After Jesus ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, many of these Pharisees became part of the church. There is a danger when we are more interested in what others will say than what God has already said.
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