Month: October 2024

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:27

Impossible

Daily Devotion – October 15, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 10:27


See series: Devotions

Impossible. What Jesus was asking seemed completely unreasonable. The man he was talking to was a model citizen. But the problem was that he loved his money; it was the most important thing in his life. And God demands undivided allegiance. Put God number one in your life all the time, and eternal life will be yours.

Who can do that? That’s impossible! So many things demand our attention. How can we possibly keep God first one hundred percent of the time? And when we realize how impossible it is, God has us where he wants us.

He wants us to see that what is impossible with man is possible with God. No, I can’t love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, but Jesus did. No, I can’t resist the allure of wealth and worldly possessions, but Jesus did. No, I can’t keep all of God’s commandments, not only with my actions but also with my heart and mind, but Jesus did. No, I can’t earn heaven—and neither can you—but Jesus did.

In shattering our pride and breaking down our self-reliance, Jesus gives us something far more firm and certain. He gives us himself. He invites us to follow him, to watch him die willingly to pay for our sins, to watch him rise from the dead to seal our salvation, to watch him ascend into heaven to prepare a place for us in his kingdom, to wait for his return to take us into the treasures of heaven to which no earthly wealth compares. Jesus, whose holiness, power, and love are without limit, has done the impossible, reconciling us sinners with a holy God, and winning heaven for us.

Now, the answer to who can inherit eternal life changes completely, doesn’t it? Because that inheritance rests in God’s hands, the kingdom of heaven is open to all. Because it depends on the perfect, almighty, and all-loving Son of God, no one is excluded from God’s offer of forgiveness and eternal life.

Who then can be saved? You can. I can. With man, this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for doing the impossible so that I can inherit eternal life with you. Amen.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mark 10:21

Treasure in Heaven

Daily Devotion – October 14, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 10:21


See series: Devotions

Riches come in many shapes and sizes. One person treasures the blessing of family. Another person lives to exercise and compete. Still another loves to watch others compete and lives or dies with their favorite team or athlete. Some may value their home, car, work, music, grades, recreation, and on and on.

What treasures do you live for? What would you give up to get them or keep them? What do you think would happen if you lost them?

The reality that we hate to admit is that many of the things we treasure won’t last. As wonderful as these blessings are, as thankful as we are for them, they aren’t what matters most.

Jesus once met a man who was trying to be the best version of himself. He worked hard to be a good person. Along the way, he was blessed with great wealth. Slowly, his wealth and possessions became more and more important to him.

The Bible says, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” He loved him enough to point out that the treasures he was holding onto weren’t the real treasure. In fact, they were standing in the way of the real treasure.

In love, Jesus urged him to give all of it up so that he could receive what Jesus wanted to give him—a free gift, treasure in heaven. We can’t work for that treasure. It can’t be bought or sold with money. Jesus bought it for us with his innocent blood and his sinless death.

It’s a life of perfect, eternal joy, satisfaction, and purpose. It’s a life free from pain, want, and fear. It’s a life that lasts forever. Jesus gives you that treasure, as he tells you in the Bible how he bought it for you and leads you to believe that his promises are true. Listen as he speaks and receive the treasure that lasts forever. Don’t let anything stand in the way of it!

Prayer:
Jesus, take away the treasures in my life that stand in the way of my greatest treasure—life with you in heaven. Amen.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:23-27

Money Becoming Your God

Daily Devotion – October 13, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 10:23-27


See series: Devotions

You need money. There’s no way around it. You need a job to make money and perform at your job to keep receiving money. You need a plan and budget to manage your money.

You can’t live without money.

So why does Jesus say that being rich is so dangerous? Doesn’t he understand that we need to pay our bills? Why does he say that having a lot of money could keep us from entering the kingdom of God? Wouldn’t life be easier if we just had more money? Not necessarily.

Money is a good thing. But money becomes a bad thing when we make it our ultimate thing. Money can easily become our functional god.

When we look to money to give us ultimate happiness or a sense of peace and security, money has become our god. When we give all our time and effort to making money, we are worshiping money like a god.

At one time or another, we have looked to money to give us what only God can. If money has become our god, how can we possibly be saved?

Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Jesus did the impossible. He left the riches of heaven to be a poor human. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, you, a poor human, have become spiritually rich. Now, instead of worshiping your money, by God’s grace, honor God with your money.

Prayer:
God, my Father, thank you for providing all that I need for my body and life. God, the Son, thank you for giving me the riches of your grace and forgiveness. God, the Holy Spirit, lead me to treasure what is truly valuable in your eyes. Amen.

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Ephesians 5:25

The Least I Can Do

Daily Devotion – October 12, 2024

Devotion based on Ephesians 5:25


See series: Devotions

A professor from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago once did a research paper on what drives people to give their lives in service to others. His research led him to many people and many places. Perhaps the most extraordinary place was in London, England, where a woman had devoted her life to serving the poor. He asked her why. The answer he received is something he never forgot.

She was a woman of Jewish descent. She’d grown up in Germany but had moved to France in the 1930s to escape Hitler. Then the Nazis invaded. Soon, she found herself fleeing from one location to the next in order to avoid capture. In time, she became exhausted and felt like she could go no farther. That is when an old, French widow knocked on her door. The elderly woman warned her that the Nazis were doing another search and that she needed to escape. “But it’s no use,” she told the old woman. “They will find me anyway. They are so close behind.”

But the elderly widow, a Christian, then said this. “Yes, they will find someone here, but it’s time for you to leave. Go. I will take your identification and wait here.” Immediately, the young Jewish woman understood the ramifications of the old woman’s plan. The Nazis would come and find this Christian widow and think she was the fleeing Jew. “Why would you do such a thing for me?” she asked. To her question, the widow responded, “It’s the least I can do; Christ has already done that and more for me.”

The Nazis did come and took the Christian widow in the Jewish woman’s place. She perished within six months at a concentration camp. But her capture gave the Jewish woman time to escape. She found her way to England and, through the power of the gospel, came to faith in Christ.

And that is why she went on to devote her life to serving others. In light of all that her Savior from sin had done for her, it was the least she could do.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when I stop to consider what you have done to wash away my sin and to give me life, move me to live my life for others. It is the least I can do. Amen.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:21

Putting Yourself Last

Daily Devotion – October 11, 2024

Devotion based on Ephesians 5:21


See series: Devotions

You won’t get very far in life putting yourself last. There are not many CEOs who have a history of making sure their coworkers receive all the attention. The star athlete probably didn’t spend most of their practice time making sure others got enough reps. World-famous artists spend more time working on their own craft than helping others develop their skills.

Our God doesn’t work like the world works, and his people don’t work like the world works. God tells his people to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Because we know it is what Jesus wants, we submit to the wants and needs of other Christians in our lives.

God doesn’t give us this command to submit to one another because he wants us to underachieve or to have lives where we are walked on. Instead, God gave us this command because loving Christ means knowing what Christ does with those who humble themselves and submit to others.

This command is given to us by the God who says the first will be last and the last will be first. He is the same God who put Joseph in a position over all of Egypt, even though he once submitted as a slave. He is the God who elevated David to king, even as David submitted to wicked Saul. It is the God who willfully submitted himself even to death on a cross that we might be lifted up.

God does not work like the world works, and so we don’t work like the world works. God accomplishes so much of his work and gives so many of his blessings as we submit to one another. Not making demands or looking out for ourselves but by putting others’ needs in front of our own and making their will our priority, we submit ourselves to one another. All of this is out of reverence for Christ and in response to what he was willing to submit to in order to save us.

Prayer:
Mighty God, help me to submit to others out of reverence for Christ. Amen.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” —which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
Ephesians 6:1-3

An Honor for Always

Daily Devotion – October 10, 2024

Devotion based on Ephesians 6:1-3


See series: Devotions

People are all very different. We come in different shapes, sizes, and shades. We have different cultures and histories, priorities and abilities. Among all our differences, there is at least one thing that we share: We all have had parents. Every single person to ever walk this earth has had a mom and dad.

For many of us, it is these parents who teach us what it means to be human. They are our first personal encounter with unconditional love. They give us our first tangible rules and enforce the consequences when we fail to adhere to those rules. Love, obedience, care, and responsibility are all shown by our parents and then copied by us as we grow.

Our responsibility to our parents is to honor them. Even after we are grown and on our own, we are to honor our parents. Whether your parents gave you a lot or a little, God would have you honor them.

You may not come running to the table anymore when they call you for dinner, but honoring parents will always include listening to them and hearing their words. You may no longer present them with a handful of dandelions picked from the yard, but you are still to esteem them for their role in your lives. You may not say prayers with them before bed any longer, but may their names always be on your list of prayers.

God gave us a good gift when he gave us parents. May we always honor our father and mother.

Prayer:
Jesus, you honored your own father and mother for all the times I have failed. Forgive me for my failures to honor my parents and make me to be more like you in all that I do. Amen.

[Jesus said] “At the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Mark 10:6-9

What God Has Joined Together

Daily Devotion – October 9, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 10:6-9


See series: Devotions

I am only middle-aged, but I have already owned nine different cars, sixteen different cell phones, and lived in seven different cities. It seems there isn’t much in this world that is forever, and the only constant is change.

In our early years, our family and home consist of our parents and siblings. We live in their house and have little say in whom we live with. The family we are given is the family we have. However, marriage brings about a big change, and the person who is our new family is a person of our choosing.

Getting married isn’t the end of change, either. We continue to change jobs, houses, hobbies, and interests. We experience changes in our health and finances. Things will come and go, and there are very few things that we will be united to our whole life.

Because so much of life comes and goes, there is beauty and goodness in a husband and wife united for a lifetime. As things fade away and are replaced by the new, it is good to have a spouse and their love as a constant. As the common wedding vows say, “for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health” husband and wife are joined together.

We may be separated from happiness, health, or finances, but let no one separate what God has joined together.

Prayer:
Gracious Lord, strengthen the love and commitment of husbands and wives. In a world full of change, let no one separate those who have been joined together as one flesh. Amen.

[Jesus] said to them “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
Mark 10:14,15

Not Doing but Done

Daily Devotion – October 8, 2024

Devotion based on Mark 10:14,15


See series: Devotions

There are some things children shouldn’t do because they just are too young and too little. Ask a young child to bake a cake from scratch, and you are probably in for a mess and not a cake. Ask a child to clean out the gutters, and there is bound to be an accident. Have a child put on the spare tire and I am willing to bet he won’t even get a single lug nut off, and you will be on the side of the road for a long time.

However, there are some things young children can be really good at, even babies. A young child can cry out in need. A young child can receive love. A young child can be cared for and looked after. Young children are not very good at doing, but they are good at receiving.

It is for these reasons Jesus invites the young children to him without hindrance. Even more than just inviting them, Jesus holds them up as models to everyone. It is not because they can do much but because they need much. “Everyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” With this stern yet beautiful invitation, Jesus invites us to lay down our greatest accomplishments and simply trust in him. Through trust, we receive the many blessings offered to us in the kingdom of God.

It is this act of simply receiving gifts that we get worse at as we get older. As we gain abilities, we want to show them off. We want to do more and show that we deserve things. However, our salvation is never something we can do; it must be done for us. As a child cries out and simply receives, may we cry out to God and receive his mercy, love, and forgiveness.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, give me a child-like faith that I would not work for my salvation but receive it only as a gift. Amen.