A Week For Devotion

Monday.  Another monday.  Every week comes and goes and brings another week when it is finished. The seemingly-endless cycle of days upon days and weeks upon weeks is back again.  And with each passing measurement of time we are presented with a decision, an opportunity for either rebellion or disobedience.  This monday, this week, let us make the most of the opportunity we've been given, let us take this week for devotion.

Will The Circle Be Unbroken? Not if I can help it!

I learned to play guitar from doing sing-alongs with my family, watching with the hawk-like eyes of an eager ten-year-old boy.  We would play all manner of sing-along songs that are so common.  And many of these songs I hope to pass on to my children and grandchildren as they have been passed on to me.  One in particular has, more recently, had a tremendous impact on me because of the simple, yet profound theology it expresses.

"Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by.
There's a better home awaitin'
in the sky, Lord, in the sky!"

In my life I can only hope to succeed in holding up my arc of the circle as I pass on the circle to those who will come after me.  At the end of things, I can think of nothing more satisfying as being told by my Lord that yes, I did my part in making sure the circle remained unbroken as far as it pertained to me.

Psalm 18:30–This God

Psalm 18:30–"This God–His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him."

This God.

He is holy and totally unlike any other proposed god–He is eternal.  His Word proves true. It is because of this, that God actually is who He claims to be, that He is so deserving of our utmost worship.  The reason He is to be our shield is because He can.  He has it within Him the power to still the storms, to slow the winds, and calm the seas.

Praise be to Him.

Praise be to this God!

Matthew 24:35–Jesus' Words Will Never Pass Away

Matthew 24:35–"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

This is one of those great statements, a statement of eternity, of everlasting mature.  Jesus is making quite a confession here.  And, to be sure, this is a statement of insanity, that is, unless He is who He claims to be.  If, however, Jesus is who He claims to be, then this statement is of remarkable importance.  In reality, if Jesus is the Son of God then we would to take this claim as seriously as it is given.  We would do wise, actually, to pay great attention to what Jesus says if His words are to be eternal...

Matt. 4:2–Jesus Was Hungry

Matthew 4:2–"And after fasting forty days and forty nights, and He was hungry."

Talk about the understatement of understatements: He was hungry.  I can barely make it past lunch before I'm starving.  Jesus goes forty days and forty nights.  And then, it says, He was hungry.  It is at this point in the story, when Jesus is exhausted and hungry that Satan comes to tempt Him.

You see, Jesus was like us.  He got tired like us, He got thirsty like us, and He got hungry like us.  But unlike us, He never sinned in His exhaustion, never strayed in His thirst, and never let His stomach distract from His devotion.

Jesus is our example.  Let us try to be like Him when we're hungry!

John 14:6–Except Through Jesus...

John 14:6–"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."

This is a pretty bold statement for Jesus to make.  He is making an absolute statement.  It is unequivocal, unambiguous–there's no mistaking what Jesus means.  He is stating a theological proposition, that the only way to God is through Him.  Quite a statement.

There are really only three ways to consider this statement.  Either Jesus is out of His mind.  Or He's an absolute liar.  Or He is telling the truth.

So what do you think?

1 John 3:2–To See Him As He Is

1 John 3:2–"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is."

O how I long for this day, when all things will be made right and true as we are brought into the divine presence so that we might see Him as He truly is!  In truth, the very essence of our hope as Christians depends upon Christ and His identity.  It is as we see Him that we are brought to Him.  In my own life, I can attest that my story of faith has always been entirely dependent upon catching a vision of the Lord as He is.  I can then not think of anything greater than the promise to see God as He is!  What a beautiful day that will be!