Month: August 2024

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
John 6:66-68

The Words of Eternal Life

Daily Devotion – Augusts 31, 2024

Devotion based on John 6:66-68


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During the Revolutionary War, Ethan Allen made a name for himself as a capable colonel and the leader of the Green Mountain Boys. He was also widely known as a religious skeptic who had no use for the Christian faith. Allen’s wife, on the other hand, was a devout believer and taught their daughter about Jesus as the one who loves and saves sinners. It happened that the daughter fell seriously ill, and her father was summoned to her bedside. As the girl was nearing death, she took his hand and asked, “Father, should I believe what you have taught me or what I have learned from my mother?” The long moment of silence after her question must have felt like an eternity. Her father finally found his voice to say, “My child, believe what your mother has taught you.”

In the twists and turns of life, we can fool ourselves into thinking that there are any number of paths we can take and that any road will do. But when we are finally forced to face our end, with the prospect of where we will spend eternity, our viable options begin to dwindle very quickly. How will we stand before the Almighty on the great day of judgment? How can we hope to enter paradise when we have angered our Maker with our selfish deeds and self-centered lifestyles?

When we are faced with the reality that we, too, will one day die, we cannot ignore the question: “Where will you go? Whom will you follow?” May we, like Peter, answer, “I believe that Jesus has the words of eternal life. I believe that Jesus is eternal life.” His death for sinners has paid our debt. His rising from the grave assures us of God’s love. His word promises us forgiveness. Who else can give us these blessings but the eternal Son of God?

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, keep my eyes and heart fixed on you through your Word. I have nowhere else to turn for blessings today and for salvation in eternity. Amen.

Jesus declared “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.”
John 6:35

Real Food

Daily Devotion – August 30, 2024

Devotion based on John 6:35


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Over the past twenty years, a man named Michael Pollan has written books and given talks about finding good food to eat and avoiding bad food. He has a wonderful knack for avoiding all the nutritionist jargon. Instead, he works to keep his advice clear, simple, and practical. Over time, his words of wisdom have included: “Don’t eat anything with ingredients you cannot pronounce.” “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother would not recognize.” “Stay out of the middle of the supermarket. Shop on the perimeter of the store.” And finally, “Do not eat anything that won’t eventually rot.”

His pithy statements make the point. In our modern world of artificial ingredients and ultra-processed foods, be careful not to fill up your body with food that is not real. To do so is to invite malnutrition and a whole host of chronic health problems. Instead, stick to food that is real.

In this sinful, fallen world of lies and deceptions, spiritual junk food is all around me. There are all kinds of things I can consume to fill up the emptiness in my soul. I can fill it with pleasure. I can fill it with popularity. I can fill it with worldly success. I can fill it with alcohol and drugs. I can fill it with recreation and entertainment. I can fill it with a hobby. I can fill it with politics and current events. I can even try to fill the emptiness of my soul with food.

But it will not satisfy. It will not fill the void. Instead, it will only starve my soul. It will only push me further away from where I need to be. Such is the nature of sin—your sin and mine.

Enter Jesus. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry.” Only the one who has come to confront the ultimate problem of sin. Only the one who has our sin taken away at the cross. Only the one who has risen from death. Only he can fill your empty soul.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, apart from you my soul is empty. Fill me with your gospel. Wash me clean. Make me whole. Amen.

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6:28,29

Presupposition

Daily Devotion – August 29, 2024

Devotion based on John 6:28,29


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Harry Houdini is, perhaps, the most famous magician of all time. As a magician, he knew the power of using people’s presuppositions to pull off magic tricks and great escapes. Even he, however, came to realize that his own presuppositions could mislead him. Houdini was on a European tour, and he came to Scotland. To promote his upcoming show, he asked local law enforcement shackle him and place him in a jail cell. The jailer did so, then left Houdini alone. Promptly, Houdini removed the shackles without a bit of trouble. Then he went to work on the jail cell door. This lock, however, did not respond. He tried all his usual methods. But no matter what he did, the workings of this lock refused to tumble.

Finally, feeling frustrated, Houdini leaned back against the door—and the door swung wide open. Only then did he realize his presupposition. Laboring to pick the lock, he had presumed that there was a lock to pick. The reality was that the jailer had never locked the door.

You and I, by nature, hold a presupposition, too. However, ours has far greater consequences than keeping us inside a jail cell. You and I presume that we can saunter into God’s presence just as we are. Oh, sure, we want to do what we can to live decent lives, but as long as we do that, everything between us and God should be just fine.

That is a deadly presupposition. It presumes that my sin is not serious. It presumes I can do what God requires to make up for any wrong I have done.

But such a presupposition does nothing about my sin. It will lead me to eternal separation from God, for the answer is not in me. The answer is Jesus. It is the perfect life he’s lived in my place. It is the death he died to wash me clean. He alone opens my jail cell. In him alone am I free.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, forgive my sinful presuppositions. Cleanse me in your blood. Move me to rest in you alone. Amen.

[Jesus said] Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
John 6:27

Food That Endures

Daily Devotion – August 28, 2024

Devotion based on John 6:27


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Food spoilage is not a pleasant subject. As we push our carts through the grocery aisles or sit in the booth of our favorite diner, the reality of food spoilage is not something we like to think about. Nevertheless, experts remind us that the moment food is harvested, that food begins to decompose. True, we can slow the process through chemicals, drying, refrigeration, and freezing, but the process continues. In the United States alone, people throw out about 150 tons of food per day. And very likely, each of us has experienced—or knows someone who has experienced—food poisoning from eating food that has broken down too much.

It’s a sobering thing when you think about it. The very substance we need to sustain our bodies is, as we eat it, in the process of spoiling, decomposing, and breaking down. It’s a vivid reminder of the broken world in which we live; a world broken by sin—your sin and mine.

Jesus knows all about this too. That’s why he tells us, “Do not work for food that spoils.” The answer to life is not consuming something that will break down and spoil. Rather, the answer must come from outside, beyond this dying world.

Jesus says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” The food that endures to eternal life is Jesus himself. The food that endures to eternal life is the one who has lived a sinless life on our behalf, died on the cross for our every sin, risen from death, and now reigns in the glories of heaven.

In Jesus alone, we find what lasts, and there is life eternal. In Jesus alone, we possess an inheritance that will never perish, spoil, or fade.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, in this sinful, fallen world, everything breaks, wears out, and spoils. In you alone, I possess what lasts forever. Move me to fix my eyes on you. Amen.

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.
1 Corinthians 10:11

Entitlement

Daily Devotion – August 27, 2024

Devotion based on 1 Corinthians 10:11


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A website called verywellmind.com has published an article that may help you determine whether someone you know has a toxic sense of entitlement. According to the article, symptoms may include the following: High demands (regardless of what they have, they presume they deserve more); Melodrama (a strong reaction when things don’t go their way); Lack of gratitude (expressing appreciation for what they have simply does not occur to them); Victim mentality (they feel that something bad is always happening to them).

But here’s the sobering side of this article. When I apply these symptoms to my attitude toward God, I wince. My old sinful self can often ooze with a sense of entitlement. It’s easy for me to presume that I deserve more. It’s easy for me to harbor strong resentment when things don’t go my way. It’s easy for me not to consider expressing appreciation for what I already have. And oh, it is so easy for me to play the victim—blaming people, circumstances, and even God when my life is not rolling along as I insist it should.

In the Old Testament, God records how he cared for his people as they traveled through a barren wilderness. He gave them enough to eat and drink. He faithfully fulfilled their needs. And yet, their sinful sense of entitlement led them to resentment and rebellion towards God—the very one who could give them life.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul tells us that God recorded these events with us in mind. Through these tragic accounts of calloused entitlement, the Lord wishes to give a warning to you and me—a warning that radiates with love. In love, he calls upon me to consider all that I possess from a lavish, generous God. In love, he calls upon me to identify the sinful sense of entitlement when it sprouts in my own heart. In love, he calls me to repentance and invites me to be refreshed in the forgiveness Jesus has purchased for me.

Prayer:
Lord, I come to you in repentance for my sense of entitlement. Wash me clean. Fill me with thankfulness all over again. Amen.

Each morning everyone gathered as much [manna] as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.
Exodus 16:21

As Promised

Daily Devotion – August 26, 2024

Devotion based on Exodus 16:21


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In the early days of World War I, German forces captured a British officer by the name of Robert Campbell. Soon, Campbell entered a POW camp, deep in enemy territory. Two years later, Campbell received word that his mother was dying of cancer back home in England. Thinking he had nothing to lose, Campbell wrote a letter directly to the Kaiser, head of the German Empire. He requested permission to go home and see his dying mother. To Campbell’s great surprise, the Kaiser granted his request, on one condition—that Campbell would give his word to return to the POW camp after seeing his mother.

Campbell kept his word. He traveled to England. He spent a week with his mother. Then he went back to Germany. Throughout this time, he was not under guard; he was not under coercion. But he had given his word. And so he returned. As promised.

About 1,400 years before the birth of Jesus, God’s people found themselves wandering through a stark, barren wilderness; a place devoid of food. But the Lord gave them his word that, every morning, he would provide them with a special kind of food— “manna,” they called it. The manna they received was enough to sustain them for that day. Then, the next morning, the Lord provided for them again. And on it went; for 40 years. Every morning the Lord kept his word. As promised.

The same Lord has given his word to you and me. He has given his word never to leave or forsake us. He has given his word to carry us through every difficult moment and sustain us with what we need. He has given his word to guide all things for our good. And all this he has sealed in the blood of his Son—the same blood that has washed our every sin away.

And so he will keep his word. He will never leave or forsake us. He will carry us through every difficult moment and sustain us with what we need. He will guide all things for our good. As promised.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for keeping your promises. Refresh my trust in you. Amen.

“If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:15

Choices

Daily Devotion – August 25, 2024

Devotion based on Joshua 24:15


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Life is full of choices. Isn’t it? What to eat? What to wear? Where to go? What to do? Everywhere we turn, we’re faced with choices. Sometimes, the choices are clear; other times, not so much. Sometimes, we’re choosing between two good things. Other times, it seems like we’re choosing between the lesser of two evils.

Today, we’re presented with another choice. It isn’t a choice of whether or not to believe in God. The choice is this: whom are we going to serve?

When we don’t like to make choices, we try to delay them until the last possible moment, or perhaps, try not to choose at all. It seems easier, instead of choosing, to try to stay right in the middle and be neutral. However, when it comes to choosing between serving God and serving things or people opposed to God, there’s no middle ground. We can’t be neutral. We’re either on God’s side or not.

So, whom are you going to serve: The world or the Lord? The world promises pleasure and happiness but often disappoints and never truly satisfies. The Lord never disappoints and always satisfies. The world doesn’t care if you get hurt along the way. The Lord cared so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to die in your place. The world can only offer temporary gifts. The Lord’s gifts last into eternity.

Every day, God places this choice before us. So, whom are we going to serve? Lord willing, we will answer as Joshua did, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Prayer:
Lord God, you give me the opportunity to serve you as a way to thank you for all you’ve done. Help me every day to choose to serve you with all of my heart and mind. Amen.