Archive: 2024

(This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of the Series, “The Power of a Fresh Start!” WATCH HERE)

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Isaiah 49   Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations:

Before I was born the LORD called me;

from my birth he has made mention of my name.

2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,

in the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 

3 He said to me, “You are my servant,

Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” 

 

Perhaps one of the most notable monarchies is the royal family of England.  They often make the real news and the tabloid news with the scandals of relationships or the birth of new princes and princesses.

What’s interesting about a royal family, is that even before a child is born, there is a title waiting for them.  Before Prince William was born, he was heir to the throne, second only to his father who is now the king.  Before William’s son George was born, he was already next in line to the throne.

I am not a “Royal watcher” but the monarchy has some intriguing points to it.  Merely by birth do you hold a title and responsibility.  That right can be abdicated if you remove yourself from the Royal family, or you can be removed if your rule is deemed destructive.  You can only inherit the throne as a supporter of the Church of England and if you were Catholic, you are disqualified.

Not many people have their life position and occupation dictated to them at or before birth.  However, one much greater than any British Royal was set apart before his birth for a special task…of being the Savior of the world and ruler over all.

Like a Royal birth announcement, Isaiah wants the world to hear: “Listen to me, you islands, hear this, you distant nations.” What is about to be shared has ramifications for all people…down to you and me.  There was someone of importance coming on the scene who would be the servant of the Lord and display the Lord’s splendor.  He was one whose main weapon would not be a sword of polished steel, but a mouth of powerful words.

What would those words do?

Jesus words would bring truth the world so desperately needed.  Far greater than any earthly ruler, would the words that Jesus spoke influence the hearts and lives of people.  They would be words of good news that people would be led to believe and find peace, joy and hope in Jesus.  They would be words that would cut to the heart, for the sole purpose of exposing and eliminating sin and all that could destroy one’s relationship with the Lord.  They were precise words that the Spirit would use to convict of sin and comfort with forgiveness.  They would be words that would display the promises and power of God.  How do we know?  Consider just a few verses:

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

This is what Jesus came to bring…the power of God’s Word to the heart of God’s people.

And that’s way more significant than any message or work the British royals could ever do.

 

Apply: What impact has the Word of God made on you?  What is one way to bring the power of God’s Word into your life daily?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for connecting me to your family of grace through the power of your word.  AMEN.

(This week’s devotions are based on Week 1 of the Series, “The Power of a Fresh Start!” WATCH HERE)

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Happy New Year!

A week into the new year has the “newness” of the year worn off?  Perhaps you have gotten used to seeing “2024” and even mastered writing “24” instead of “23.”  The celebration of the new year quickly fades into the routine that make it just “another” year.  The brief relief of letting go of the year past and embracing the new year perhaps has quickly faded.

But there is something about new starts that we all love.  Fresh starts allow us to put something in the past and embrace the possibilities of the future.  A fresh start allows us to let go of failures and embark on a new vision ahead.

The start of a new year is a natural time for a new beginning.  Perhaps you have made some resolutions to do some things differently this year (How are you doing on yours?).  There is power in a fresh start.

New starts are not foreign to the Christian.  In fact the power of a fresh start comes from our relationship with Jesus.  Our life as Christians is the reality of a fresh start.  The Apostle Paul put it this way: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Consider these “fresh starts” God gives us.

In our baptism…

Romans 6:3-4 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

In the Lord’s Supper we live in the new covenant of forgiveness instead of the Old Testament law:

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

The promise of heaven is a promise of an eternity in the new heavens void of all the suffering of the current earth:

Revelation 21:1-5 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

The truth is that when we are with Jesus by faith, he makes everything new.  He gives us a new identity (Child of God); he gives us new purpose (to live for him); he gives us a new relationship with him (Our sins are forgiven); and much more.  There is nothing better than a fresh start that the Spirit of God gives us when we are connected to the Lord by faith in Jesus.  It’s this new, fresh start that we will unpack in the days ahead.  It’s this fresh start that we get to enjoy every day of 2024!

 

Apply: In what part of your life do you need a fresh start?  How does your connection to Jesus give that new, fresh start?

Prayer: Lord, thank you in your grace for giving me new life, forgiveness, and new connection to you.  Enable me to enjoy and live in this fresh start each day!  AMEN.

This coming Saturday (January 6) in the Christian Church Year is the Festival of Epiphany.  It is also the “12th Day of Christmas.”  Epiphany marks the coming of the Magi or Wisemen to worship Jesus and present gifts to him.

The story is amazing in its content and sparks questions of curiosity.

Who were these wise men?

What was the star and did it actually move?

How old was Jesus at the time of the visit?

The Gospel of Matthew records the visit with these words:

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; or out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

I invite you to read up on the details to get your questions answered.  The Magi were probably believers who were descendants of faithful Jews in the Babylonian Captivity (think Daniel).  The star, I believe, was a special star that miraculously guided the Magi.  And Jesus was probably around a year old (simply because Herod orders all babies under 2 years of age to be killed).  However, the detail that catches my attention is this.

“When they saw the star…they were overjoyed.”

“When they saw Jesus…they worshipped.”

The point of the Epiphany story is the reality of God’s promises and the certainty of God’s salvation found in Jesus, the one who’s name and mission is and was to save.  

God was revealing his Son to the world…and the Magi were the first foreign visitors to see Jesus and worship him.

However, they were not the first ones to see Jesus by faith and rejoice in him.  To conclude our look at the first part of Psalm 51, King David prayed (Psalm 51:10-12):

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

The joy of salvation is restored when we see Jesus, our Savior.  The joy of salvation is knowing that the Spirit of God creates in us a new heart and welcomes us into his presence.  He does not cast us away, but welcomes us to find joy and worship him as well.

I pray your 2024 is filled with moments where you find joy in worshiping Jesus, knowing the salvation he came to secure is the salvation he gives to you!

A happy and blessed 2024!

Apply: If you were the Magi, what would bring joy to your heart as you saw Jesus?

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for orchestrating a solution to my sin in the person of your Son Jesus Christ.  May my year be filled with joy and my days be filled with worship for all you are and all you have done. AMEN.

Psalm 51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

A new year…a new you?

Resolutions often focus on solving a problem.  We make resolutions about health to solve health issues.  We make resolutions about organization to solve organization problems.  We make resolutions about relationships to solve relationship problems.  We make resolutions about faith to solve faith problems.

The question is do any of your resolutions really provide a solution to your biggest problem in life?

Perhaps you ask, “What is my biggest problem in life?”  King David realized his biggest problem more prominently after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah.  What was that problem? 

His sin and his sinful nature.

I know, the New Year is for positive vibes and forward moving ambitions, but we must be real about the greatest problem to be solved in 2024.

Sin and our sinful nature.

The trouble is we like to play “cancel culture” with our sinful nature and ignore it, dismiss it, or just pretend it doesn’t exist.  We can surmise that “if it feels good do it.”  We can justify our actions with the thought, “As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.”  We can make morality and our behavior relative to the situation and justify what we do based on circumstances around us.  Thus dismiss that sin and our sinful nature is really a problem.

We CAN do this…but we shouldn’t.

David knew that the evidence of his sin was not only visible to people, but most importantly to the holy God.  He couldn’t argue.  God was correct in his judgment.  His verdict was true: “Guilty.”

No matter how much we want to “cancel,” “justify” or “excuse” our sin, God will always know and in his justice always be right in his judgment and his verdict.  Whether we want to admit it or not, one day we will stand before the just, holy God.

When we realize our spiritual predicament before a holy God, we look for solutions.  We resolve to try harder.  We compare ourselves to others.  We try to do more good than bad.  The result is NONE of them provide a true and lasting solution.

The solution is only found in the descendant of King David, Jesus.  David was a sinner like you and me.  However, he trusted God’s promises of forgiveness to come through his descendent.  About a 1000 years later, Jesus was born in the city of David (Bethlehem) as a descendent of David.  We just celebrated this event at Christmas.

Again, you may ask, “Why are you bringing this up at the beginning of 2024?” Because like King David, the two most important things we can know, believe and trust in the New Year are this:

1. I have been sinful from conception…yes, conception.
2. I have a perfect Savior in Jesus Christ.

The problem and battle with sin will continue throughout 2024 and beyond.  However, our solution for sin and our strength to overcome sin are found in Jesus Christ!

So, why not begin the New Year with the confidence and certainty that our biggest problem in life doesn’t need a New Year’s resolution to solve, it has an “every year” solution already given by the perfect life, innocent death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Let this truth be your trust in 2024!

Apply: What changes when you realize your biggest problem in life is sin and your sinful nature?  What changes when you realize the solution to that problem is only found in Jesus?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the confession of King David to help me realize I have the same problem of sin and my sinful nature.  Thank you for solving this problem I never could by sending your Son Jesus to be my perfect Savior.  Let this glorious truth be my trust all year long.  AMEN.

Today is not only the second day of a new year, personally it is a special day for me.  For the past 26 years, or 9495 days, I have been blessed by a faith-filled, loving, passionate, caring, serving, wife and friend, Christy.  Happy Anniversary!  The past 25 years have been filled with many joys, including our two amazing daughters, ministry adventures, laughter, blessings, challenges, hardships and successes…but her love is committed and constant.

I am extremely blessed to start 2024 and year 27 of marriage with her at my side.

While today is extra special for me personally, it also is a reminder of not just 26 years of love from an amazing spouse, but timeless love from our eternal Father.

Jeremiah mused in the midst of challenges: (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Every morning…every year…the Lord’s love is faithful. 

To wake up today and every day with the committed, caring, serving, eternal love of God firmly grounded in your heart is a blessing for each year.

2024 has 364 days left in it.  What will each contain?

Perhaps you have set some goals, some resolutions, or some things you want to accomplish in 2024.  Perhaps some of these things will come to fruition, others may not.  Things you never imagined would happen in 2024 may take place before the year is out.  Some you might categorize as amazing and some might be called devastating.

We don’t know.

But God does.  Each day of 2024 is in his hand and captured in his eternal plan for you.  He has amazing grace to work all things to work for our eternal good.  He has amazing love that walks with us even when we want to or do walk away from him.  He has amazing forgiveness to cover our sins in the blood of Jesus and has amazing faithfulness to stick with us, love us, forgive us and save us…even though we don’t deserve it.

I have truly been blessed by the 26 years of marriage to my wife.  I love her and thank God for her.  That blessing has only come because the Lord has filled and guided her heart with his faithful love and her willingness to show it to me…even when I don’t deserve it!

How much greater the love and faithfulness of God which is yours through faith in Jesus to go with you, guide you and bless you in the year ahead!

May each of the remaining days of 2024 be filled with his love in your heart!

Happy and blessed 2024 to all of you!

Apply: How does knowing the love, mercy and faithfulness of the Lord will go with you into 2024?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your faithful love which you give to us each and every morning.  May we share that same love with others and be blessed by those who show your love to us in the year ahead.  AMEN.