Devotionals

Daily Reading:  4-21-16

Daniel 7:13-14  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

In many, many passages in the Old Testament, we will find the prophetic description of the Lord; Yeshua HaMashiach or Jesus the Messiah.  In the Old Testament, YHWH (Yahweh) told His people He would send Mashiach to rescue them, set things right again (a result of sin), and destroy evil.  Daniel dreamed about Messiah (translates the Anointed or the Christ) and how he would rule a spiritual kingdom that was eternal and supremely powerful.  During the time in which Yeshua lived on earth, kings were anointed with oil but in our reading we see Yeshua was anointed with God’s authority.  Messiah would be greater than any earthly ruler and all of creation would be called to obey and bow to his authority.

 

Daniel 7:13-14

13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed.

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Daily Reading:  4-20-16

Jeremiah 50:17-20  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

Jeremiah the prophet was given a word from the Lord concerning Babylon.  Babylon was a mighty empire in Jeremiah’s time.  In fact, God used Babylon to punish Judah for her sin.  When God was done with Babylon, it was destroyed by the Medes and Persians around 539BCE (Daniel 5:30-31). In our passage below, we can discern a message that spiritually applies to a time when God will wipe out all sin forever; called the end times.  It is a message of Hope found in Messiah!

 

Jeremiah 50:17-20  Hope for God’s People

17 

“The Israelites are like sheep

    that have been scattered by lions.

First the king of Assyria ate them up.

    Then King Nebuchadnezzar[a] of Babylon cracked their bones.”

18 

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,

    the God of Israel, says:

“Now I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,

    just as I punished the king of Assyria.

19 

And I will bring Israel home again to its own land,

    to feed in the fields of Carmel and Bashan,

and to be satisfied once more

    in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

20 

In those days,” says the Lord,

    “no sin will be found in Israel or in Judah,

    for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.

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Daily Reading:  4-19-16

Psalm 100:4-5  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

Yesterday, in our daily devotional, we highlighted the invitation God extends to every person to enter and worship Him.  Remember, worship is connection, oneness, and agreement with God; He is the Source of all that is good and righteous.  Please keep that worship invitation in mind this morning as we read the rest of Psalm 100.

 

Psalm 100:4-5

4 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

    go into his courts with praise.

    Give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 

For the Lord is good.

    His unfailing love continues forever,

    and his faithfulness continues to each generation. 

 

If we offer a spirit of thanksgiving to God for His goodness and kindness to us, that spirit will also work to keep us kind and thoughtful with others.  Why?  Because when we enter into worship we experience the love and acceptance God extends to us; we know we do not really deserve what God offers us.  God offers pure, undefiled, and redeeming love and all we have to do is receive it with thanksgiving.   Without the impartation of God’s love through His Spirit, human love fades and turns toward self.  When we accept God’s invitation to enter His presence with thanksgiving, we are acknowledging our lack, as well as His greatness; we come to receive what we do not possess.  God is generous, dependable, and gives us the necessary grace to honor Him and His love as we connect with others.  So when others behave in an unkind fashion, we can be like Jesus and receive the grace to remain kind even when they do not deserve it.   This is the love that remains from generation to generation because it is eternal love.  

 

Prayer:  Father, there are many things going on around me, today.  With all the tasks forthcoming, help me to stay in a place of thanksgiving for your love and grace.   I receive what You alone can give me.  Help me to return what is from You to others in the many different encounters I will make, today.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

 

Daily Reading:  4-18-16

Psalm 100:1-3 New Living Translation (NLT)

Invitations are requests that come in a written or verbal form.  These invitations call for an action; to go somewhere or do something.  Depending upon the event, we may be joyful about getting an invitation to attend.  In fact, we may be saddened when we do not receive one.   I know from recent experiences it would bring great joy to me to be able to invite everyone I love and know to an upcoming wedding event, but it is absolutely impossible to do so.  Some events have limitations.  But, there is a moment-by-moment event to which every human being on earth is invited to attend; an invitation that should bring great joy.  The Host is the Creator of All.  That invitation is to come into the protective fold of the Good Shepherd and worship the Lord with gladness.

 

A psalm of thanksgiving.

1 

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!

2 

    Worship the Lord with gladness.

    Come before him, singing with joy.

3 

Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

    He made us, and we are his.[a]

    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

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Daily Reading:  4-15-16

Ezekiel 20:39-44  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

Ezekiel is a prophetic visionary used by God to gain Israel’s attention.  God’s people—Israel—have been worshiping other gods while trying to worship the one true Lord; therefore, they are experiencing judgment. (Note: remember judgment can be translated “to distinguish”).  The Word lends Light to help us distinguish, but it’s our choice.  This situation is really no different with many professing Christians, today.  The pleasures of this tangible world can lure us to compromise our commitment to follow God’s Word and ways.  According to Romans 12:2, humanity can easily try to live with one foot in the world [conforming to the behavior and customs of the world] and one foot in the Kingdom [renewed in thought and transformed by God’s Word].  Eventually the Word will make us choose between the things that call for our allegiance or devotion.  It’s the same with Israel in our passage this morning.  God will bring a symbolic fork in the road and at the appointed time God’s people will choose the Sovereign Lord of lords and the King of kings—Jesus—the Living Word.

 

Ezekiel 20:39-44

39 “As for you, O people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Go right ahead and worship your idols, but sooner or later you will obey me and will stop bringing shame on my holy name by worshiping idols. 40 For on my holy mountain, the great mountain of Israel, says the Sovereign Lord, the people of Israel will someday worship me, and I will accept them. There I will require that you bring me all your offerings and choice gifts and sacrifices. 41 When I bring you home from exile, you will be like a pleasing sacrifice to me. And I will display my holiness through you as all the nations watch. 42 Then when I have brought you home to the land I promised with a solemn oath to give to your ancestors, you will know that I am the Lord. 43 You will look back on all the ways you defiled yourselves and will hate yourselves because of the evil you have done. 44 You will know that I am the Lord, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

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Daily Reading:  4-14-16

Psalm 23  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

While he is going about his day to day vocational activity, David has an experience with the Lord.  In his “aha” moment, David writes a song of wisdom about and to God.  A light shines in his heart and he realizes God loves him and cares for him in very specific ways.  David is a shepherd; through the lens of that responsibility, David experiences and understands the Lord as his Shepherd.  God meets David and kindles a growing relationship with him by working through something familiar.  God takes what is familiar to us; what we do understand and uses it to teach us more about Himself and His great longing for our hearts.  God longs for communion—the sharing or exchange of familiar thoughts and feelings on a spiritual level.

 

A psalm of David.

1 

The Lord is my shepherd;

    I have all that I need.

2 

He lets me rest in green meadows;

    he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3 

    He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

    bringing honor to his name.

4 

Even when I walk

    through the darkest valley,[a]

I will not be afraid,

    for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

    protect and comfort me.

5 

You prepare a feast for me

    in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

    My cup overflows with blessings.

6 

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

    all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord

    forever.

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Daily Reading:  4-13-16

Isaiah 6:1-8  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

In our reading today, we recognize Isaiah (like Ezekiel) uses imagery to describe a heavenly realm that opens up to him in a vision; he sees the Lord.   This vision is Isaiah’s commission from the Lord to be a messenger to His people.  NOTE:  King Uzziah was a good king for Israel, but he tried to take over the high priest’s duties (not God’s idea) and God afflicted him with leprosy.  He was trying to do in human strength what only God can do.  As a result, during Uzziah’s reign many of the people wander away from their relationship with the Lord; they reject God’s holy ways for living.  As we read, we get a strong message that God alone decides who represents and speaks for Him; it requires a vision of Truth, repentance, a purifying touch, and a willing heart for the messenger.  Let’s read:

 

Isaiah’s Cleansing and Call

6 It was in the year King Uzziah (a permissive king 742BCE) died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!

    The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

 

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

 

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

 

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

 

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

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Daily Reading:  4-12-16

Ezekiel 1:26-2:1  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

We continue in our reading today with Ezekiel’s vision of God and his call to prophetically speak God’s message of hope to an exiled people.  The call begins with Ezekiel seeing the Light.

 

1:26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

 

Ezekiel’s Call

2:1 And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.”

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Daily Reading:  4-11-16

Ezekiel 1:1-25  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

Ezekiel (name translates God is strong) is called to be a prophet of God during Israel’s exile in Babylon around 571BC.  Ezekiel, approximately 30 years old, has several visions that reveal God’s absolute moral perfection.  The purpose of the vision(s) is to help Israel understand their sin or rebellion against God (why they have been taken captive), God’s greatness (draw them to divine dependence), as well as His power to help them overcome sin and reflect His holiness (a message of truth and hope).   

 

The vision Ezekiel has is categorized as apocalyptic (symbolic pictures that vividly convey an idea).  If you choose to do so, you can read a similar vision the Apostle John has in Revelation 4:6-7.  Read the passage below several times; don’t get too bogged down in the symbolism.

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Daily Reading:  4-8-16

Psalm 30:6-12  New Living Translation (NLT)

 

Daily Reading:  4-8-16

Psalm 30:6-12  New Living Translation (NLT)

6 

When I was prosperous, I said,

    “Nothing can stop me now!”

7 

Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.

    Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.

8 

I cried out to you, O Lord.

    I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,

9 

“What will you gain if I die,

    if I sink into the grave?

Can my dust praise you?

    Can it tell of your faithfulness?

10 

Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me.

    Help me, O Lord.”

11 

You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.

    You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,

12 

that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.

    O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!

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