Psalm 1:1-6

The Bible declares the Lord’s great power and majesty while also revealing His deep mercy and love. He is worthy of wholehearted, passionate submission, but He doesn’t often get it. Are you among the few who offer themselves to Him without reservation?

Complete obedience is a choice to follow God regardless of the consequences. This means that we obey the Lord even if our friends choose a different path or when suffering or embarrassment is guaranteed. Seeing His will done is more important than our own comfort or personal ambition. We commit the consequences to God and cling to His promises: He will never leave us (Heb. 13:5), and He makes good out of every situation (Rom. 8:28).

Notice the word ‘commitment’ in the title of today’s devotion. I’m not writing about obedience that is born of the moment (as in, I choose to follow God in this instance) but about submission as a way of life. Setting restrictions on compliance is so tempting–we want to be able to change our mind when obeying upsets our lifestyle, the final result is unclear, or we’re just plain scared. But let me ask you this one sobering question: If Jesus is the Lord of your life, what right do you have to limit how and when you’ll do His will?

Believers have no right to set their own limits; their one criterion for making decisions should be, What does God want me to do? The answer at times may cause suffering, but obedience is always right. And following God in all things is the surest path to favor and spiritual growth.

 “You have to earn it,” a gentle, elderly man told my husband and me as we drove through the streets of a crowded city. His eyes were smiling even as he told stories obviously weighing on his heart, as if the opportunity to speak his mistakes aloud to a young couple made looking back somehow worth the ache of remembering. In broken English he told of his days after the war; how, filled with questions, he turned to things now regrettable, deeply hurting people he loved with his rebellion. My heart leapt as he seemed to get to the part that ordained his smiling eyes. “I was running from everything, even myself. But God was chasing me,” he said, sounding yet in awe at the thought of it. “There are two roads in life,” he then explained quickly, as if he felt he was about to lose our attention, not knowing whether we would want to hear it or not. “One way moves toward God, the other away from God. I realized that I wanted to go God’s way, towards heaven, towards Christ,” he said, pointing upwards. “But you have to earn it.”

The hope that seemed to grab hold of me as he spoke, as we were beautifully evangelized in a foreign city by our taxi driver, was abruptly stifled. As he told his story I wanted to shout, “God chased me too!” I wanted to tell him that I was so humbled by his unapologetic faith and his resolve to share it. Such were the things I wanted to say when the chance to speak was mine. But at these words I wanted to cry: You have to earn it. The ride ended. We shook hands, exchanged blessings. And he was gone before I could swallow the lump in my throat.

How can you earn God’s love?

In that unexpected moment in transit, the love of God seemed so vast, so wonderfully intrusive. My heart stirred within me as Christ connected three strangers together, two of us far from home. The world seemed gigantic, and yet three were joined together by a name that will outlive us all, and Christ was there among us, three of his own. I think this is why, to my deep regret, I remained speechless in the wake of such a statement:  The idea of earning this love seemed more impossible than usual.

Yet, what if he merely spoke aloud words many of us know not to utter, though we still try to earn God’s favor, God’s forgiveness, God’s love and attention anyway? How often I have to take captive the thoughts that I am struggling to stay in God’s good graces, mentally visualizing gold stars by my name, as if God were a father on the brink of abandoning me lest one more sticker be lost to bad behavior. Though I know better, do I always know differently? “You have to earn it” is a tune not always far from my repertoire. Yet when struggling to earn our way into God’s presence—whether we are admitting it aloud or not—it is usually not the case that we have overestimated our ability to earn. Perhaps it is that we are grossly underestimating the love we are longing to keep.

So wrote one who walked with God’s begotten: “For God so loved the world that He sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Modern hymnist Stuart Townend reminds us of this great mystery often memorized, but less easily known.

How deep the Father’s love for us.

How vast beyond all measure,

That he should give His only Son,

To make a wretch His treasure.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer.

But this I know with all my heart:

His wounds have paid my ransom.

We cannot earn our way into the presence of God. “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).  The debt, which was ours, has been paid.  You can neither earn Christ’s heart nor his reward. You are asked only to receive him.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

 Morning “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” / Isaiah 49:16

 No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word “Behold,” is

excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said,

“The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me.” How amazed the

divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding

than the unfounded doubts and fears of God’s favoured people? The Lord’s

loving word of rebuke should make us blush; he cries, “How can I have

forgotten thee, when I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands? How darest

thou doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very

flesh?” O unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most to

wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of his people. He keeps his

promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt him. He never

faileth; he is never a dry well; he is never as a setting sun, a passing

meteor, or a melting vapour; and yet we are as continually vexed with

anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God

were the mirage of the desert. “Behold,” is a word intended to excite

admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may

well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart

of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of his hands. “I have graven

thee.” It does not say, “Thy name.” The name is there, but that is not all: “I

have graven thee.” See the fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine

image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses,

thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that

concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that

thy God hath forsaken thee when he has graven thee upon his own palms?

 

Evening “And ye shall be witnesses unto me.” / Acts 1:8

 In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for Christ, look at

his example. He is always witnessing: by the well of Samaria, or in the Temple

of Jerusalem: by the lake of Gennesaret, or on the mountain’s brow. He is

witnessing night and day; his mighty prayers are as vocal to God as his daily

services. He witnesses under all circumstances; Scribes and Pharisees cannot

shut his mouth; even before Pilate he witnesses a good confession. He

witnesses so clearly, and distinctly that there is no mistake in him.

Christian, make your life a clear testimony. Be you as the brook wherein you

may see every stone at the bottom–not as the muddy creek, of which you only

see the surface–but clear and transparent, so that your heart’s love to God

and man may be visible to all. You need not say, “I am true:” be true. Boast

not of integrity, but be upright. So shall your testimony be such that men

cannot help seeing it. Never, for fear of feeble man, restrain your witness.

Your lips have been warmed with a coal from off the altar; let them speak as

like heaven-touched lips should do. “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the

evening withhold not thine hand.” Watch not the clouds, consult not the

wind–in season and out of season witness for the Saviour, and if it shall

come to pass that for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s you shall endure

suffering in any shape, shrink not, but rejoice in the honour thus conferred

upon you, that you are counted worthy to suffer with your Lord; and joy also

in this–that your sufferings, your losses, and persecutions shall make you a

platform, from which the more vigorously and with greater power you shall

witness for Christ Jesus. Study your great Exemplar, and be filled with his

Spirit. Remember that you need much teaching, much upholding, much grace, and

much humility, if your witnessing is to be to your Master’s glory.

And you will be my witnesses.Acts 1:8

 In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for Christ, look at His example. He is always witnessing—by the well of Samaria or in the temple of Jerusalem; by the sea of Galilee or on the mountainside. He is witnessing day and night; His mighty prayers are as vocal to God as His daily services. He witnesses under all circumstances. Scribes and Pharisees cannot shut His mouth; even before Pilate He witnesses a good confession. He witnesses so clearly and distinctly that there is no mistake in understanding Him. Christian, make your life a clear testimony. Be like the stream in which you can see every stone at the bottom—not like a muddy creek where you can only see the surface, but clear and transparent, so that your heart’s love for God and man may be visible to all. You need not say, “I am true”; be true. Do not boast of integrity, but be upright. Then your testimony will be such that men cannot help seeing it. Never, on account of fear of feeble man, restrain your witness. Your lips have been warmed with a coal from off the altar; let them speak as heaven-touched lips should do. “In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand.”1

Do not watch the clouds or consult the wind; in season and out of season witness for the Savior, and if it transpires that for Christ’s sake and the Gospel’s you must endure suffering in any shape, do not shrink, but rejoice in the honor conferred upon you, that you are counted worthy to suffer with your Lord. And find joy also in this—that your sufferings, your losses, and persecutions shall make you a platform from which with more vigor and with greater power you will witness for Christ Jesus. Study your great example, and be filled with His Spirit. Remember that you need much teaching, much upholding, much grace, and much humility if your witnessing is to be to your Master’s glory.

1Ecclesiastes 11:6

Family Reading Plan Hosea 13   Psalm 138

 John 14:15

For a sermon I gave several years ago, I jotted down a list and titled it “The Evolution of a Passion to Obey God.” That passion doesn’t just spring up, full-blown at salvation. We do enter our new life in Christ with a desire to please Him, and that does include obeying Him. But an intensely determined pursuit of His will develops more slowly.

In fact, the first stage–fear of the consequences of disobedience–barely qualifies as reverence for God. But as we progress in our faith and form a commitment to obey the Lord, we eventually reach the final stage, which is love and devotion to Christ. Wouldn’t you rather follow Him out of love than out of fear?

Getting from the first stage to the last begins with what you might expect–an increasing knowledge of Jesus Christ. As we dig into God’s Word to see how He provided for the saints, we develop a desire for His best. Men like Moses, David, and Paul weren’t satisfied with what the world had to offer, and we won’t be either when we witness His work in the lives of His followers. So we test out obedience and discover that God’s promised blessings are real. As we acquire a record of consistent rewards for doing His will, we recognize the wisdom of obedience.

Can you find yourself on the spectrum between fear and devotion? It is my hope that you have committed to obeying God and that you are reading His Word daily to learn how to keep your promise. God wants your best–your passionate pursuit of His will–because He is giving His best to you.

In today’s world, it is often difficult to summon optimism. Bad news swirls around us blowing our hopes and dreams like leaves in the fall wind. In this gale, we often find it hard to cling to hope and to a sense that the future will be a bright one. In general, I see myself as an optimistic person. I try to find the bright side of bad situations, and I work hard to walk the extra mile to give others the benefit of the doubt in personal relationships. I am not a naïve optimist like the character Pangloss in Voltaire’s biting satire Candide. When it is clear the ship is sinking, I don’t believe everything will be alright nor do I believe, as Pangloss would, that the sinking ship is the best thing that could happen to me. I do all that I can to bail out the rising water, even as I wrestle against the fear and anxiety that accompanies impending disaster!

Yet despite my generally optimistic attitude and outlook, there are times when sadness overwhelms me. It may be a growing storm of weary longing or a tide of lonely isolation that sweeps over me, drowning me with a dolor that submerges my hope. Sometimes it occurs when I think about the aging process and our hopeless fight against it. Sometimes it occurs when I am in the grocery line, looking at the baggers and clerks who wonder if this is all they will ever do for work. Oftentimes, it occurs when I cannot see the good through all the violence and evil that oppresses the world and its people. I can easily become overwhelmed by the numbers of people who are forgotten by our society—the last, the least, and the lost among us—and wonder who is there to help and to save them from drowning.

It is in these times that I befriend lament. And I take great comfort in the loud cries and mourning that have echoed throughout time and history as captured in the poems, songs, and statements of lament. Indeed, a great portion of the Hebrew Scriptures comes in the form of lament, both individual and communal lament. The Psalms, as the hymnal of Israel, record the deepest cries of agony, anger, confusion, disorientation, sorrow, grief, and protest. In so doing, they express hope that the God who delivered them in the exodus from Egypt, would once again deliver by listening and responding to their lament.(1)  The prophets of Israel, who cry out in times of exile, present some of the most heart-wrenching cries to God in times of deep sorrow and distress. One can hear the anguish in Jeremiah’s cry, “Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will God indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable?” (Jeremiah 15:18). In addition, Jeremiah cries out on behalf of the people of Judah: “Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?” (Jeremiah 8:20-22).

As I listen to Jeremiah’s cries, I recognize that they arise out of a deep love for the very people he often had to speak against. As Abraham Joshua Heschel notes, “[Jeremiah] was a person overwhelmed by sympathy for God and sympathy for man. Standing before the people he pleaded for God. Standing before God he pleaded for his people.”(2) In this same tradition, Jesus cried out with deep longing about the people in his own day, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace” (Luke 19:42). It is more than appropriate for us to weep and lament over the terrible condition of the world—a condition that all too often, we participate in and condone.

Many face realities in life that feel completely overwhelming: death, and loss, poverty, hunger, homelessness, job loss or under-employment, relational disruption. Lament seems the only appropriate response for those who find themselves on the losing end of things, or who through no fault of their own always find themselves in last place or left behind. Lament arises from looking honestly at these realities for what they are, and wishing for something else.

Yet it has been said that “the cry of pain is our deepest acknowledgment that we are not home.” The author continues, “We are divided from our own body; our own deepest desires; our dearest relationships. We are separated and long for utter restoration. It is the cry of pain that initiates the search to ask God, ‘What are you doing?’ It is this element of a lament that has the potential to change the heart.”(3) If this is true, then the overwhelming sorrow or feelings of bitterness over having to deal with what feels like more than one’s share of the harsh yet inevitable realities of life are, in fact, the crucible for real change. The same waters of despair that seek to drown and overwhelm are the waters of cleansing. Therefore, let the tears flow! The writers of Scripture give witness to the overwhelming compassion of God in the midst of grief: “For if [the LORD] causes grief, then He will have compassion according to his abundant lovingkindness.”(4) Perhaps, as we remember the one who was described as a “man of sorrows” who was “acquainted with grief,” lament offers a crucible in which we might experience a better compassion and care. Indeed, lament may yet have its own way of transformation.

Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

(1) Barish Golan, “A Look at Lament Songs in the Bible,” http://www.disciplestoday.org.

(2) Abraham Heschel, The Prophets (New York: Harper Collins, 1962), 154-155.

(3) Dan Allender, “The Hidden Hope in Lament,” Mars Hill Review, Premier Issue, 1994, 25-38.

(4) Lamentations 3:32.

 Morning “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.” / Isaiah 44:3

 When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to

lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such

is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. As well chain the

eagle’s wing to make it mount, as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is

not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is

not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting

believer afterwards. Slavish fear brings not back the backslider to God, but

the sweet wooings of love allure him to Jesus’ bosom. Are you this morning

thirsting for the living God, and unhappy because you cannot find him to the

delight of your heart? Have you lost the joy of religion, and is this your

prayer, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation”? Are you conscious also

that you are barren, like the dry ground; that you are not bringing forth the

fruit unto God which he has a right to expect of you; that you are not so

useful in the Church, or in the world, as your heart desires to be? Then here

is exactly the promise which you need, “I will pour water upon him that is

thirsty.” You shall receive the grace you so much require, and you shall have

it to the utmost reach of your needs. Water refreshes the thirsty: you shall

be refreshed; your desires shall be gratified. Water quickens sleeping

vegetable life: your life shall be quickened by fresh grace. Water swells the

buds and makes the fruits ripen; you shall have fructifying grace: you shall

be made fruitful in the ways of God. Whatever good quality there is in divine

grace, you shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you

shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with it: and as

sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting rivers, and the fields

are turned into pools, so shall you be–the thirsty land shall be springs of

water.

 

Evening “Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.”

/ Hebrews 9:20

 There is a strange power about the very name of blood, and the sight of it is

always affecting. A kind heart cannot bear to see a sparrow bleed, and unless

familiarized by use, turns away with horror at the slaughter of a beast. As to

the blood of men, it is a consecrated thing: it is murder to shed it in wrath,

it is a dreadful crime to squander it in war. Is this solemnity occasioned by

the fact that the blood is the life, and the pouring of it forth the token of

death? We think so. When we rise to contemplate the blood of the Son of God,

our awe is yet more increased, and we shudder as we think of the guilt of sin,

and the terrible penalty which the Sin-bearer endured. Blood, always precious,

is priceless when it streams from Immanuel’s side. The blood of Jesus seals

the covenant of grace, and makes it forever sure. Covenants of old were made

by sacrifice, and the everlasting covenant was ratified in the same manner.

Oh, the delight of being saved upon the sure foundation of divine engagements

which cannot be dishonoured! Salvation by the works of the law is a frail and

broken vessel whose shipwreck is sure; but the covenant vessel fears no

storms, for the blood ensures the whole. The blood of Jesus made his testament

valid. Wills are of no power unless the testators die. In this light the

soldier’s spear is a blessed aid to faith, since it proved our Lord to be

really dead. Doubts upon that matter there can be none, and we may boldly

appropriate the legacies which he has left for his people. Happy they who see

their title to heavenly blessings assured to them by a dying Saviour. But has

this blood no voice to us? Does it not bid us sanctify ourselves unto him by

whom we have been redeemed? Does it not call us to newness of life, and incite

us to entire consecration to the Lord? O that the power of the blood might be

known, and felt in us this night!

This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.   Hebrews 9:20

There is a strange power in the very name of blood, and the sight of it is always moving. A kind heart cannot bear to see a sparrow bleed and, unless familiarized by use, turns away with horror at the slaughter of a beast. As to the blood of men, it is a consecrated thing: It is murder to shed it in anger; it is a dreadful crime to squander it in war. Is this solemnity occasioned by the fact that the blood is the life, and the shedding of it the token of death? We think so. When we rise to contemplate the blood of the Son of God, our awe is greater yet, and we shudder as we think of the guilt of sin and the terrible penalty that the Sin-bearer endured. Blood, always precious, is priceless when it streams from Immanuel’s side.

The blood of Jesus seals the covenant of grace and makes it certain forever. Covenants of old were made by sacrifice, and the everlasting covenant was ratified in the same manner. What comfort that our salvation rests upon the sure foundation of divine commitments that cannot be dishonored! Salvation by the works of the law is a frail and broken vessel whose shipwreck is sure; but the covenant vessel fears no storms, for the blood ensures the whole. The blood of Jesus made His covenant valid. Wills are of no power unless the testators die.

In this light the soldier’s spear is a blessed aid to faith, since it proved our Lord to be really dead. There can be no doubt about that matter, and we may boldly appropriate the legacies that He has left for His people. Happy are they who see their title to heavenly blessings assured to them by a dying Savior. But does this blood not speak to us? Does it not bid us sanctify ourselves unto Him by whom we have been redeemed? Does it not call us to newness of life and incite us to entire consecration to the Lord? O that the power of the blood might be known and felt in us tonight!

Family Reading Plan    Hosea 12   Psalm 136