Devotional For Men Blog
God’s Spoken Creation
What does it mean to really say YES to God?
“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)
Sometimes I picture God creating the world by throwing stars into the night sky like pixie dust. Except, that’s not how it went down. God pre-existed the beginning of time. He’s always been and always will be. The word for that is eternal. But lots of religions and gods claim the same everlasting qualities.
So how is Elohim any different? The great and mighty God would reveal Himself to humanity, not yet created, in the following millennia. But during creation, before man’s existence, God was. And in this moment, He is known by one very human attribute.
If we were to witness creation, we would only hear Him. That’s right. We would hear His voice. The whisper would reverberate through the void as creation became itself at His command.
God spoke. Everything else followed.
God is not a busy sprite or super-Santa. He is not a Greek myth that needs to throw lightning bolts in order to have any effect on the world. He simply speaks and reality changes. C. S. Lewis was once compelled to conclude, “Christianity is the one, true, factual myth”. It’s places like creation where I can see this the clearest.
God: the true myth. He is the power and the person, the reality, and the mystery.
How does speech create anything? I’m not sure, but I love that His power is revealed through speech because it makes Him somewhat accessible. After all, we speak too. Communication is one of the most human characteristics. God is both powerful and personal and we are created in His image.
God created. That’s too much for me to understand! But God spoke? That’s something I can digest. The myth and the truth are one.
He is the master… and yet His commandments are not burdensome.
He is so high above… and yet He has come that we may have life to the fullest.
He is eternal and outside of time… yet He relates to us in time.
He is the Lord… of love.
He is the God… of grace.
He is the Big… of all that are small.
Let’s make our hearts small before Him. Let’s humble ourselves to His lordship. Let’s embrace the reality that He controls everything, by merely speaking. It’s a great comfort to rest under the shadow of that wing.
Father, Help me to understand the vastness of Your power and love. Amen.
Question: How does God’s powerful nature affect your day?
Homeless
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“Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening He went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear Him at the temple.” (Luke 21:37-38)
Have you ever contemplated the homelessness of Jesus?
“Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’” (Matthew 8:20)
This is more than just a metaphorical picture. Jesus didn’t have a home. The Bible doesn’t mention Him owning anything. In the midst of recording Jesus’ teaching, Luke casually mentions that Jesus spent each night on the Mount of Olives, the hill outside Jerusalem.
Though the gospel writers give little attention to this fact, we dare not romanticize it. Surely Jesus did experience beautiful evenings in the olive grove, away from the crowds, with the stars shining overhead. But other nights it rained or even snowed. Sometimes cold winds blew. Jesus endured hard ground, darkness and loneliness.
How does Jesus’ homelessness impact us? Though not a command that we must follow, it does require us to pause and think. Too often the desire for comfort drives me. Luxury and convenience become needs rather than wants. Material possessions clutter my focus and prevent me from seeking God. I stress about many things. Jesus owned nothing, yet He didn’t worry about His next meal. He trusted God for everything He needed.
I also need to consider my attitudes toward others. Though Jesus likely trained as a carpenter, during the three years of His ministry He didn’t work to provide for Himself or for His mother. Did people look at Him and say, “Get a job”? Jesus can help me see differently, because He knows what it’s like to be homeless.
Holy God, open my eyes to what you want to teach me through these verses. I want to trust You and not worry, to seek You instead of my own comfort, to see every person through Your eyes. Amen
Questions: Does knowing Jesus was homeless change your perspective toward the homeless in your city? What is God nudging you to change as you consider Jesus’ homelessness?
Peace and Thanksgiving
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“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Col: 3:15)
We live in a world that often produces within us the very opposite of peace. Our stress and busyness is a normal response to the rush and cares of the day. Yet God calls us to something higher. He calls us to peace.
Is peace ruling your heart today? It can. When you and I first believed that Jesus is the Son of God and opened our hearts to receive His forgiveness and power in our lives we were given the gift of God’s peace. Do you recall receiving that peace? It’s a peace that is unexplainable and peace that remains even as life and the news of the day swirl around us.
Yet it’s easy to loose our grasp on that wonderful gift. It’s offered afresh to us every morning as one of His great mercies toward us.
- We need His peace to calm our hearts in challenging days.
- His peace brings health to our minds and our bodies.
- Living with peace in our hearts honors God.
- Our peace helps point others who are looking for peace to God.
His peace is free for the taking. God tells us how. Listen again to the wonderful words of life from His word:
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…”
It sounds like it’s a choice. I can let peace rule or I can let peace get buried at the bottom of all those other responses to life. Just how does one go about letting peace rule the heart? God tells us one of the basic steps to walking in peace. He always gives the “how to” when He asks something of us. Catch the often-overlooked words that this verse ends with: “and be thankful”.
Choosing to look at your day and your circumstances and your life with a heart that is filled with gratitude will open the door to peace. Yes, it’s true.
Life is not perfect anywhere on this planet. There are challenges both large and small that come to each one of us. Each challenge has the potential to rob our peace. Yet as we choose to be thankful to God in the midst of those challenges His peace will begin to rule our hearts.
Yes, it can sound trite especially if you are walking in a deep and challenging place today but the principle is sure. It is foundational to a heart that is ruled with peace. “And be thankful.”
If it feels impossible to be thankful where you stand right now ask God to help you to say “thank you” to Him that He alone can give you peace. Thank Him for His love and His care and His power to lead you today through the maze of your life. He will help you as you choose gratitude today and let peace rule your heart.
Prayer of action:
Father God,
So often my heart finds it easier to see the things that I am not thankful for. Open my eyes and my heart to having a new attitude of gratefulness to You.
Help me today to enter into each part of my day as doing what is in front of me for You and as one representing You. Help me to be keenly aware of all the places today that I can offer You my thanksgiving as I choose this day to LET Your peace rule my heart. Fill my mind with the things You bring to my life: Your strength, Your power, Your help and Your love. Thank you that You will help me choose well what rules my heart today. I choose Your peace. In the strong name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Questions: What are you thankful for? How can you be more thankful?
Our Everlasting Consolation
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Originally written by Charles H. Spurgeon, published in “Mornings & Evenings,” entry for August 11th, PM.
Updated to modern English by Darren Hewer, 2010.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NKJV)
“Consolation.” There is music in the word: like David’s harp, it charms away the evil spirit of depression. It was a distinguished honor to Barnabas to be called “the son of consolation.” (Acts 4:36, KJV) It is one of the most illustrious names given to any man, for Barnabas shone with some measure of the light of the Lord Jesus who is “the consolation of Israel.” (Luke 2:25)
“Everlasting consolation.” This is most important part, for the eternity of comfort is the crown and glory of it. What is this “everlasting consolation”? First, it includes a sense of pardoned sin. A Christian son or daughter has received in their heart the witness of the Spirit that their iniquities are put away like a cloud. If sin is pardoned, isn’t that an everlasting consolation?
Next, the Lord gives His people an abiding sense of acceptance in Christ. The Christian knows that God looks on them as standing in union with Jesus. Union to the risen Lord is a consolation of the most abiding order; it is, in fact, everlasting. With this blessed assurance, let sickness prostrate us. Haven’t we seen hundreds of believers as happy in the weakness of disease as they would have been in the strength blossoming health? Let also death’s arrows pierce us to the heart. Our comfort never dies, because our ears are full of the songs of saints as they have rejoiced because the living love of God was shed abroad in their hearts in dying moments.
Yes, a sense of acceptance in the Beloved is an everlasting consolation. Moreover, the Christian has a conviction of their security. God has promised to save those who trust in Christ. The Christian does trust in Christ, and we believe that God will be as good as His word, and will save us. We are safe by virtue of being bound up with the person and work of our everlasting consolation, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Security Systems
What’s on your heart? How can we pray for you today?
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7)
After a robbery my mother had a security system installed. I live far away and thought this was an excellent idea, providing both physical safety and emotional confidence. The company expert explained the system in great detail and left material describing its functions and operation on the table.
Just prior to exiting the house, a series of digits needs to be keyed in to a small panel to enable the system. Anyone who tried to enter illegally would immediately have their eardrums bombarded with a piercing sound that would deter the wrongdoer and also alert neighbors and passersby. The expert had also emphasized how important it was to follow the procedure for re-entering the house. My Mom needed to unlock the door and quickly—very quickly—key in the “disarm” button so the alarm would be deactivated.
What was intended to be something that eased my mother’s mind very quickly became a major irritant. While she remembered the exit strategy, entering was often more complicated. With arms full of groceries, mother would unlock the door and rush to answer the ringing phone. Within seconds the screaming blare of the system would shock not only the neighbors but send my panicked mother to the numbered panel where she promptly forgot which button to push.
We who are Christ-followers have a foolproof security system: God Himself. He promises to never leave or forsake us, to be with us wherever we go, to light the path ahead of us and surround us with His love. We experience that security not by pushing buttons but, says King David, by trusting in Him.
In quoting “the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel,” the prophet Isaiah records a phenomenal security promise: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But then four crucial and sobering words are added: “But you were unwilling.”
We will not experience the fullness of God’s security system unless we are willing to return and rest.
Question: How are you doing with resting in God’s plan for your life? How can you place more trust in Him today?
Salvation, Sanctification, Servants
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“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Salvation is a gift from God and marks the beginning of a new relationship with Him. It is through faith and the bloodshed of Jesus we are saved from the penalty of sin, sealed with the Holy Spirit, and inherit everlasting life.
We become children of God and are summoned to grow in Christ-likeness. In 1 Peter 2:2-3 we read, “Like newborn babies, crave spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” As born again believers, we are not to remain babes in Christ. We are to grow and mature in God’s ways, through reading, hearing, and obeying His word, which will lead us triumphantly to the next level of our spiritual journey with Him.
Sanctification is the process of becoming holy; set apart from sin and used by God. God’s indwelling Holy Spirit brings forth the continual sanctification process that needs to take place within every believer’s heart, mind, and life.
The apostle Paul wrote, “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13) It is impossible for this blessed transformation to take place without full reliance on God’s Holy Spirit. His Spirit working within us produces godly change and leads us into the good works we are to fulfill.
A servant of the Lord, a slave to God – this is what all Christians are to become. In Romans 6:22 we read, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Upon salvation, God destines us to have eternal life with Him but while still here, He wants us to serve Him with all our heart, mind, and life. The Lord delights when we move out of the realm of sin, step into righteous living, and begin to operate in the place of service He has for us.
We must remember that Jesus came as a servant. He did not come to be served and we are to follow His example. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) Seek to serve the Lord and others so you may hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant, with you I am very pleased”.
Dear God, Salvation is a gift so great I can barely comprehend it. Thank you for saving me! Show me the things You have for me to do. Help me to grow in my faith, becoming more like You in thought, word and deed. Amen.
Question: What do these explanations of salvation, sanctification, and servants mean to you today?
Be An Encourager
“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:9
He lives more than a thousand miles away and I only see him a few times a year, but every time I walk into his store, he makes me feel very special… like I am the only person in the world who matters to him. He is never at a loss for encouraging words. His name is Chatman.
After I saw him this week, I resolved to try to be more like him… an encourager for other people. It is amazing what we can do when people take the time to be a source of encouragement in our lives.
Encouragement of others is a powerful leadership tool and deals with basic communication skills. The most effective way to encourage others is to show genuine interest and acknowledge what’s important to them. When we show interest, we affirm and validate.
Applaud their victories and show compassion in their defeats. When others encourage you, always reciprocate the favor and encourage them and then when respond with something unexpected. Ask for advice from others, for it makes them feel special. Offer to lend a hand, for when people see you are willing to lend your own time and energy to their interests, they will become more committed to seeing it through and less likely to give up on themselves.
We all need to be lifted up and encouraged at times and the Bible is the greatest source for encouragement, far greater than any human encouragement. The Bible is the living word of God and feeds us through the promises of God found in scripture.
- Paul tells us we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philipians 4:13)
- Isaiah tells us to fear not, for he is with us and we must not dismayed for He is our God and will strengthen us, help us and will uphold us with the right hand of His righteousness. (Isaiah 41)
- Jeremiah reminds us that God will be found by those who seek him, and will prosper those who find him. (Jeremiah 29:13)
The Bible is replete with hundreds of words of encouragement and I need to pay more attention to them and always be ready to share them with all who come my way, but I will also look forward to my next visit with Chatman, for nothing is quite like words of encouragement coming from those who care for us and expect nothing in return.
Anger and Forgiveness
How do you respond to conflicts? Is there a better way?
“Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:27)
Anger is a natural human emotion that is sometimes necessary and appropriate. Even Jesus became angry when confronted with the moneychangers in the temple: “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves” (Matthew 21:12)
Righteous indignation is an appropriate response to evil, but God does not intend that anger should rule our lives. Far from it – God intends that we turn away from anger whenever possible and forgive our neighbors as quickly as we can find it in our hearts to do so.
Life is full of frustrations, some great and some small. On occasion, we, like Jesus, will confront evil. When we do we may respond as He did: vigorously and without reservation. But more often than not, our frustrations will be of the more mundane variety. As long as we live here on earth, we will face countless opportunities to lose our temper over small, relatively insignificant events: a traffic jam, a spilled cup of coffee, an inconsiderate comment, or a broken promise.
Some of us will create thoughts of revenge and God asks us not to take revenge but leave it up to Him:
- “…for it is written: Revenge is mine; I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
- “If your enemy is hungry feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this we will heap burning coals upon his head…” (Proverbs 25:21,22)
- “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone.” (Romans 12: 17-18)
If we have thoughts of doing evil to one another we must ask the Lord for forgiveness and take action on these thoughts. Angry words are dangerous to our emotional and spiritual health, not to mention our relationships. So treat anger as an uninvited guest, and usher it away as quickly – and as quietly – as possible. Life is too short to spend it being angry, bored, or dull.
“Anger breeds remorse in the heart, discord in the home, bitterness in the community, and confusion in the state.” (Billy Graham)
Dear Lord,
Forgive me and help me to turn away from angry thoughts. Help me always to use Jesus as my guide for life, and let me trust His promises today and forever. Because You have given Your children free will, the world is a place where evil threatens our lives and our spirits. Protect us, O God, from the evils and temptations to take revenge on our own. Amen.
Question: Do you let anger control you? Let’s ask God to heal us.
Our Great Salvation
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Please open your Bible and read:
(Hebrews 2:1 – 4)
What was the greatest moment of your life? For some people, the answer might be their wedding day, the birth of a child, or an important promotion. But for believers, the best experience is salvation, when their eternal destiny was changed.
New Christians often have a fervor to share their faith. In time, however, many find their hearts cooling as they focus less on their relationship with Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 2:1) tells us to pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.?
Salvation is God’s amazing solution to man’s sinful condition: it is His gift of rescue – through the death of Jesus – from the penalty for our transgressions. Before Christ entered our life, we were all sinners existing, as Paul says, in the lusts of our flesh? (Ephesians 2:3). No matter how good our behavior may have seemed, we were spiritually dead and separated from God.
Receiving Christ’s forgiveness breathed life back into our spirits so that we could go before the Father’s throne. We must not forget what Jesus did for us. We have the balm to soothe the hurting hearts we come in contact with every day. But if excuses crowd our minds before passion fills our hearts, people will never hear.
Thankfully, we can rediscover the passion of our early Christian days. Take time today to praise God for His salvation, which delivered you from a path toward disaster. Then commit to carrying out your part in the Great Commission by talking about Jesus with someone in your life. (Matthew 28:19)
Question: If someone asked you for the story of how you became a Christian, what would you tell them?
About the Author: Dr. Charles Stanley
A Master Who Serves
How can we pray for you today?
“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” (Luke 12:37)
Masters don’t serve slaves their dinner. Who ever heard of such a thing? CEOs don’t pour coffee for their secretaries. But as radical as it sounds, Jesus demonstrated that very thing.
“After that, [Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.” (John 13:5)
Nothing humbles me more than realizing that God is humble. The God of the universe humbled Himself to become a man – Jesus. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as an act of service and as an example to us all. His death on the cross – the ultimate act of service –provides the way for us to experience eternal life.
As servants of the serving God we need to heed His instruction: “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning.” (Luke 12:35)
The story in Luke includes a stern warning. “But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and women servants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.” (Luke 12:46)
Jesus tells us to continue to serve Him and be ready for His return, no matter how long it takes.
Holy God, it boggles my mind to know that you are both Almighty and humble. Show me how to live for You, always ready for service. Amen.
Questions: How does knowing that God is humble impact you? Why do we forget the need to always be ready of Jesus’ return?
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