All the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.

Esther 10:2-3

Occasionally in the course of history, a single person has arisen without whose presence everything would be different. One such person was Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister, statesman, and defender of freedom. No student of history is able honestly to disavow that the history of the Second World War and its consequences would have been radically different if Churchill had not stepped forward. Though often the tide of history seems to flow inexorably on regardless of the actions of any one person, you will be able to think of those in your own nation and society who have diverted history’s course in a decisive way.

Back in the 5th century BC, Mordecai was one such individual. The events of his life were recorded in the chronicles of Media and Persia because if he had not arisen, things would have been markedly different.

Mordecai wasn’t a Persian. He was a Jew and lived as a Jew, honoring a different God (the only true God), living in a different way and keeping different traditions than the Persians. Yet even though he was so obviously different, he was honored by the Persians, not because he spoke out of both sides of his mouth or sought to curry favor with King Ahasuerus but because of his absolute integrity and moral consistency. Mordecai didn’t set out to be liked. He set out to do what was right—what God had given him to do.

When someone is given a position of significant influence, they often become unpopular because others are jealous. Mordecai’s lasting popularity with his fellow Jews was uncommon. It may have been in part because Mordecai cared about them. He did not become isolated from or disinterested in his people but instead used his position for the welfare of others, rather than the enrichment of himself, and to speak “peace to all his people.” As one commentator sums it up, “Mordecai’s lasting legacy is that he combined service to the king with service to his people, without compromising on either account. He serves both and speaks up for both, desiring for both their good and their peace.”^[1]

Learn from Mordecai. Aim to do what is right—what God has given you to do, in the place and the time He has assigned for you. Like Mordecai, let your legacy be one by which people recognize that because you have a mind for God, you also have a mind for others—doing all you can to bring them rest, welfare, peace, and prosperity. Your deeds may or may not make it into the history books of this world—but they will be recorded and celebrated in eternity.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Esther 10:1-3

Topics: Biblical Figures Christian Life Loving Others

FOOTNOTES

¹ Debra Reid, Esther, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (InterVarsity, 2008).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

The Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.

Esther 9:27-28

“Obligation” is a fairly unfashionable word in contemporary Western culture. People commonly say things like “I don’t want to make you feel obligated in any way.” But obligation is often necessary and good. I want to be obligated to my wife entirely, and I want her to be obligated to me. When my children were young, I wanted them to be obligated to me in terms of respecting my parental authority. And in fact, the obligations that extend throughout interpersonal relationships are first of all obligations to God Himself.

After being rescued from destruction at the hand of Haman, the Jews “firmly obligated themselves” to the task of remembrance. They were not half-heartedly committing to observing their new tradition, only keeping it if it was convenient for them when the time came. They were definitely going to follow through. That’s the nature of duty.

The Jews not only committed themselves but also obligated their children and “all who joined them.” They made this a comprehensive commitment throughout all locations and every generation. And 2,500 years later, the tradition of Purim still goes on. Jewish communities throughout the world continue to celebrate the feast because of the obligation these people made never to allow the generations that followed to forget God’s intervention on their behalf in Esther’s time and through Esther’s bravery.

Our culture tells us that we don’t need to obligate ourselves to anyone or anything, that we can just live for ourselves in the here and now, and that most commitments can be rethought in future if we feel they are inconvenient or unsustainable. But in the kingdom of God, obligation matters. After all, God has obligated Himself to save and keep His people. What you commit to and hold to speaks of what matters most to you. So, commit yourself to the celebration of the gospel, including partaking in those great moments that God has given us to remember what He has done for us: the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And, so far as you are able, ensure that these things pass from one generation to the next. Even if Christ has not yet returned a thousand years from now, there will be those who know and stand for the gospel because of the obligation we have made in our generation.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Esther 9:20-32

Topics: Obedience Priorities Worldview

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

When the king’s command and edict were about to be carried out, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred: the Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.

Esther 9:1

Haman and his cronies had been confident that the annihilation of the Jewish population on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month was inescapable. It had been decreed throughout the kingdom. The Jews were going to be obliterated. But when the day dawned, the Jews overpowered their enemies instead. Haman and his friends had taken nearly a year determining what would be the best day for their enemies to be killed (Esther 3:7). No wonder that the author is specific about the date when the great reversal took place: “on the very day” Haman had chosen!

This is just one of several great reversals in the book of Esther. Earlier, Haman had emerged from the banquet with the king and Esther the queen feeling as if he was on top of the world. He had gone home to his wife and friends and “recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons” (Esther 5:11). Yet on that day chosen by Haman, all ten of his sons, his crowning glory, were killed (9:7-10). His family plummeted from exaltation to devastation.

Mordecai’s experience was just the opposite. He went from obscurity and apparent irrelevance to becoming the most powerful man under the king. He started off as “a Jew in Susa the citadel” who sat at the king’s gate (Esther 2:5)—which doesn’t sound like much! But by the end of the book, he “was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces, for the man Mordecai grew more and more powerful” (9:4).

Mordecai and Esther did not gloat over the destruction of their enemies. They did, however, dance and celebrate with their Jewish community (Esther 9:18) because they recognized that these reversals were God’s doing, and so they were marvelous in their eyes (Psalm 118:23). We can almost hear them singing the song of deliverance:

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

 you have loosed my sackcloth

 and clothed me with gladness,

that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

 O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever! (Psalm 30:11-12)

God is the God of great reversals. He can turn a curse into blessing. He achieves the impossible, the word irreversible means nothing to Him, and no situation is irredeemable for Him. The cross of Calvary stands as the ultimate and eternal evidence of this.

If you are facing circumstances that look hopeless, call out to God for help. Even though you may have to wait through your entire earthly pilgrimage, He promises to deliver you. And if you have already experienced one of God’s reversals in your life, take time to give thanks and sing His praise. He is good indeed!

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Esther 9:1-19

Topics: Character of God God’s Will Providence of God

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” … Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.”

Esther 6:6, Esther 6:10

Here is one of the Bible’s great jaw-dropping moments.

Haman was a proud and presumptuous man, and this led him to make a huge miscalculation. His assumption, upon hearing that there was a “man whom the king delights to honor,” was to assume that he must be that man. So he outlined a plan for exaltation involving royal robes, a royal horse, a crown, and public praise with no one in mind other than himself (Esther 6:8-9). We can imagine Haman’s heart swelling as he heard the king say to him, “Hurry, take the robes and the horse, as you have said…” And then he heard… “And do so to Mordecai the Jew.”

How that name must have struck Haman’s heart when he heard it!

Haman had set out that day to hang Mordecai (Esther 6:4). And now he was being told to parade the man through the public square, announcing the king’s generous reward for the one person Haman most despised. What a picture! What a performance!

By contrast, the humility and normality of Mordecai’s existence is established in just a single sentence: “Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate” (Esther 6:12). Mordecai didn’t blow his trumpet as Haman had done when he came from Queen Esther’s first banquet (5:11-12). Though he was paraded through the town—an unsought exaltation, an unsought ride on the king’s horse—he just went back and sat down where he had always sat.

There’s something compelling about humble faithfulness—doing what we do, day in and day out, not in hope of praise but because it is the right thing to do. It doesn’t seem like much at the time. Yet often when children and grandchildren reflect on the lives of their faithful parents and grandparents, they say things like “She always did this,” “He always sat there,” “This is when she always prayed,” or “This is where his Bible always was.”

Mordecai did what was right because it was right, not because he wanted to be recognized and exalted. Today, let it be enough that you do what is right in God’s eyes, whether you’re honored by those around you, as Mordecai was, or you’re quickly forgotten like so many faithful believers throughout history. One day, all the scales will be reset, and honor will be given where honor is due. In the meantime, set aside any prideful endeavor for distinction, and continue in the normality of your daily routine with faithfulness and humility.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Esther 6:1-11

Topics: Humility Meekness Obeying God

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.

Esther 5:9

Haman was the archetypal egomaniac. He surrounded himself with those who would listen to his incessant talking about himself and who would sycophantically acknowledge his significance and greatness. He lived with the mistaken notion that he was the center of the universe. Haman would fit perfectly in contemporary Western culture, where social-media feeds and news outlets are often littered with stories of those who apparently have done little of true significance but who live for, and expect, attention and recognition. (Of course, our hearts are not much different in their proud desire for praise. The difference is often not that we are more godly but that we lack the opportunity to showcase ourselves.)

So it was that after Haman attended the exclusive banquet put on by Queen Esther, he left “joyful and glad of heart” at the elevated position in the kingdom that had seen him invited as the honored guest. Yet all the enjoyment, prestige, and accolades were insufficient to prevent him from becoming entirely destabilized by the fact that Mordecai did not stand when Haman passed by. His joy was so brittle that this one apparent slight caused wrath to consume him.

Pride does that to a person. Nothing can ever satisfy. For the proud person there is always another promotion, another award, another dollar to aim for—something else beyond their reach. King Solomon writes of such a person, “Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12). This was true in Haman’s life. It was pride that drove him to plot murder—even a massacre. It was pride that meant he could not enjoy what he had but could only be angry at what he did not have.

We may shake our heads at Haman’s pride. But then we read in God’s word of how Jesus, God Himself, “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). And we are forced to ask whether we are more like that or like Haman. When we thoughtfully consider Jesus’ pattern of humility, we see the truth of our own prideful hearts.

We would do well to echo the words of George Whitefield: “O that I could always see myself in proper Colours! I believe I should have little reason to fall down and worship myself. God be merciful to me, a Sinner!”^[1] As we witness Haman’s pride and eventual downfall and look inside ourselves, surely we are prompted to cry out for God’s mercy to help us walk in humility like Jesus—for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Esther 5:9-14

Topics: Biblical Figures Humility Pride

FOOTNOTES

¹ The Two First Parts of His Life, with His Journals (W. Strahan, 1756), p 75.

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

2 John 1:3

One of the fundamental and most fantastic truths of the Christian faith is that God gives to us what we do not deserve. As sinners, down to the very last man, woman, and child, we deserve death. And what does God grant us instead? “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

This reversal—God giving us what we do not deserve and withholding what we do deserve—is so precious that we have a special word for it: grace. By His grace, God gives the most beautiful gift of life to the least deserving.

And how is it that He can show us such grace, freeing us from sin and guilt and bringing us every benefit in Jesus Christ? Because of His mercy. It is God’s great mercy that inclines Him to give us what we don’t deserve—and by that mercy, He showers us with grace.

Flowing from such grace and mercy is a bounty of peace. Peace is the experience of those who have been reconciled to God, of those who are no longer alienated from Him but who now live in fellowship with Him and in community with other recipients of His favor. This peace is such an otherworldly experience of God’s grace and mercy that it “surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

In a world that can feel fraught with disappointment and danger and sometimes void of meaning and purpose, what more could we ask for than such supernatural grace, mercy, and peace? They are stable. They are durable. They are permanent. And God the Father is always pleased to dispense them generously to all who come to Him through His precious Son, Jesus Christ. If you are trusting Christ, grace, mercy, and peace will be with you. So, pause before moving on and let the meaning and magnitude of those three words sink in. God’s grace is yours, God’s mercy is yours, God’s peace is yours—all through Jesus, your Savior.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

2 John 1

Topics: Grace Mercy Peace

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

John 20:21-22

Jesus came to earth as a man on a mission, and He left earth having called His people to that same mission.

Jesus made it clear from the very beginning that He came to preach good news: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). That remains true, and so it makes perfect sense that when His earthly pilgrimage was nearing an end, the Lord sent His disciples out to continue that mission. Appearing to His friends on the evening of that first Easter Sunday, He wasted no time in commissioning them to proclaim the way of forgiveness, while reminding them that the Holy Spirit would help them in His absence.

For the disciples, the previous few days had been overwhelming. Within just 72 hours, they had shared in the first Communion meal together, had watched their Savior and friend be unjustly tried and crucified, and had begun a grieving process that completely engulfed them. But their mourning was unwound by Jesus’ return after His resurrection. Now life meant going out to do just as He’d asked: proclaiming this amazing story, good news, forgiveness, and the love of God. These men lived for that—and, in most cases, they died for it.

Only a couple weeks later, we find Peter preaching a sermon. He began:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:22-24)

Peter directly addressed the situation his listeners were facing: they were rebels unfit for God’s goodness, who had rejected the King whom God had sent to live among them and reveal Himself to them. Yet now that same God had punished His only Son instead of sinners and was offering forgiveness to them through the mouth of one of Jesus’ followers.

Christ’s call for us to share the reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15) is no different for us today than it was for His disciples then. We are surrounded by death, despair, emptiness, regret, and fear. All the time, we peer into an unknown future. Those in our circles of influence need to know that only in Jesus can they find pardon and peace. Praise God that His Spirit goes before us. What would change in your words to others if you knew you were sent to them by divine appointment as part of a divine mission? “As the Father has sent me,” says Jesus, “even so I am sending you.”

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

John 20:19-21

Topics: Evangelism Holy Spirit Mission

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

Many of us begin the day with anxious thoughts. The “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) never seems to reach us in the middle of the night or when we first open our eyes. Instead, as the morning comes we say to ourselves, “There is so much to think about. So many things are dancing around in my mind. I’ve got so many challenges.” Thoughts such as these so easily produce anxiety and stultify our commitment to prayer.

Paul helps us to overcome these draining, even crippling feelings by directing our gaze toward those virtues which will liberate our thinking. A mind that is filled with the content described in Philippians 4:8 will have little space for anxiety-producing, peace-disrupting, joy-destroying notions.

What Paul was encouraging his readers to adopt is a distinctly Christian way of thinking. A Christian mind, he taught, is not a mind that is trained to think only about “Christian topics” but one that has learned to think about everything from a Christian perspective. Ultimately, we are what we think about. It is in our minds that our affections are stirred, and it is through our minds that our wills are directed. It is in the mind that we conceive of and produce every action. It is therefore imperative that we learn to think about what is right and godly.

The Bible is not concerned with mere mental reflection for its own sake. The Christian is not called to sit on a high hill and think blessed thoughts in abstraction, removed from the routines of everyday existence. Rather, Paul provides us with a list that will establish us in our motives, our manners, and our morals. Each of us is called to live in the realm of the real, not the phony; the serious, not the frivolous; the right, not the convenient; the clean, not the dirty; the loving, not the discordant; and the helpful, not the critical. In short, we are called to think like Jesus.

Paul is not simply calling you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, though. This is not a rallying cry to try your best to perform the list. Sanctification by self-effort is not God’s agenda. The multifaceted virtue Paul speaks of is the fruit which grows on the tree of salvation. This fruit is brought forth by those whose roots are embedded in grace. So, let your heart be gripped by God’s grace, and train your mind to think on that which is truly praiseworthy. When those influences converge, your life will be one that brings glory to God. Aim to make His grace, and this fruit, the first thing you think about when you wake up tomorrow.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Luke 6:43-49

Topics: Anxiety Christian Thinking Peace

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 1:1-2

We might expect that by now men and women would have mastered the art of happiness. By now the subject ought to be obsolete, because everybody ought to know what happiness is and how to achieve it. But in fact the evidence points in the opposite direction. You only need to look at the news briefly to recognize that genuine happiness is in short supply.

The Bible concerns itself with our genuine happiness. The word that begins Psalm 1, translated as “blessed,” may also be translated as “happy.” Likewise, the very first word out of Jesus’ mouth in his Sermon on the Mount was a form of the word happiness: Happy, he essentially said, are the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers (Matthew 5:3-11).

According to the opening verses of Psalm 1, one aspect of our happiness relates directly to how we think and how we see. Our thinking about reality shapes our lives, for better or for worse. Therefore, if we desire to live under the smile of God and enjoy the sort of blessed happiness that only He can provide, we must not embrace the godless thought patterns of our world. This “counsel of the wicked” refers to the aims of the ungodly—their maxims, principles, and ensuing patterns of behavior. Such worldly wisdom holds out the promise of happiness and blessing but in reality leaves us chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; we are ever searching but always coming up empty-handed. Happiness is found in refusing to chase after the wind even as the world calls you to do just that.

Yet the path toward lasting happiness isn’t just one of rejecting deceitful counsel; it also involves embracing the beauty of truth. The happy person’s “delight is in the law of the LORD.” Reading and thinking about the word of God is presented to us not as a task or a duty but as a joy, a delight. Why? Because it leads us into deeper communion with its author: our Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. So, whatever fleeting pleasures this world presents to you, cling to God’s word alone as that which can revive your soul (Psalm 19:7). Nothing else can bring true, sincere, lasting joy to your life.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Matthew 5:3-11

Topics: Christian Thinking Wisdom Worldview

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.”

2 Samuel 7:8-9

Reminders are vitally important. Again and again in the Scriptures, the word of God to His people is essentially that of Deuteronomy 6:12 and 8:11: “Take care lest you forget the LORD.” When we fail to remember, our hearts go astray.

When King David and the kingdom of Israel were at rest, David had proposed to build a house for God—a finer place for the ark of the covenant to dwell than in a humble tent (2 Samuel 7:1-2). But David’s ideas weren’t part of God’s plan (v 6). So instead of leaving David to think about what he might do for God, God sent the prophet Nathan to remind David of what God had done for him—and to reveal what God intended yet to do.

God had taken David from lowly shepherd to exalted king. That wasn’t something that David himself had initiated; God had. Everywhere David had been, God had been with him. His enemies were now scattered and David was at rest because God’s hand had been on him. David was being reminded, as he sat on the throne, of how far he had come from the field—and who had brought him so far. And in being reminded of this, he was also being assured that God would continue to lead him on. God had begun the process—and when God commits Himself to someone, He brings to completion the good work that He has begun (Philippians 1:6).

In a sense, David was being given an “Ebenezer moment”: a reminder that God helps His people. Years previously, the prophet Samuel had given all the people a similar moment when he raised up a stone to remind them of the victories God had given Israel. He “called its name Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Till now the LORD has helped us’” (1 Samuel 7:12).

Be careful not to forget how God has helped you. Take time today to remember and reflect on the purposes to which He has called you, His presence along the way, and the ways in which He has rescued and protected you. For as you do so, you will be reminded that the God who has helped you this far will assuredly continue to help you today and every day as He works to bring His good purposes to completion.

His love in time past forbids me to think

He’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink;

Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review

Confirms His good pleasure to help me quite through.^[1]

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

1 Samuel 7:3-17

Topics: Character of God Faithfulness of God Promises of God

FOOTNOTES

¹ John Newton, “Begone Unbelief” (1779).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

Philippians 2:14-15

Ancient Israel had a lot of great moments—crossing the Red Sea, entering the promised land, the reign of King David, and many more. But the Israelites could also be a disaster. Think of what they did just after the exodus. They had seen the wonders of the Lord, had been redeemed from bondage in Egypt, and had been set free from tyranny and slavery. They of all people should have been marked by joy and gratitude. But not long after they left Egypt, the entire community grumbled about food and drink and complained about the leadership and motives of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16:1-9). It was not a good look for God’s people.

Centuries later, Paul wrote to God’s people in Philippi to keep them from a similar failure, telling them to “do all things without grumbling.” He wanted his readers to understand that the manner in which they did something was as vital as what they were actually doing. As for them, so for us: it is possible for us to do the right thing but to do it in a spirit that deprives us of joy and is detrimental to all who are around us.

Peter included a similar instruction in his own letters: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling” (1 Peter 4:9). He could have left it at “Show hospitality to one another,” and they (and we!) would have had an easier time keeping the instruction. But those words “without grumbling” show how much Peter understood human nature. God is not concerned with the mere performance of hospitality, or any other good deed, but with the disposition of our hearts as we carry it out.

We can think of all kinds of examples in our lives, can’t we? Maybe you have a teenager in your home who does their chores with a less-than-happy heart. Perhaps you have a coworker who seemingly can only complete a task after complaining about it. Or maybe the example is you, silently grumbling about the life God has given you or the acts of service to which He has called you. The sad reality is that we are often more like the Israelites than we care to admit. We, too, forget the great salvation God has accomplished for us, and we, too, would rather determine the course of our lives than entrust ourselves to God. Yet Paul tells us that when we do things without grumbling, God is making us “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish.” Every time we resist the opportunity to grumble, it is evidence of God transforming us.

Today, recall the way God delivered you through the sea of your sin and condemnation, bringing you to the other side and the solid ground of salvation in Christ. You did not deserve it, nor did you achieve your redemption any more than Israel did. Then recognize ways in which you are going about your days with a grumble in your heart, and pray that God would so amaze you with His grace once more that your grumbling against Him would be displaced by a gratitude that praises Him.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Psalm 95

Topics: Humility Temptation Thanksgiving

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “… Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.”

Genesis 47:29-30

Death will come to us all. Therefore, the great question of life is not so much “How do we face life and live in this world?” but rather “How do we face death and where will we live in the next world?” This life isn’t irrelevant; indeed, it’s vitally important! But we can’t know what it means to live unless we have first learned how to die.

Jacob is a wonderful illustration of how to live and die in light of God’s promised plan. He was specific in his requests regarding his death and burial—and his concern over his burial place was primarily about theology, not geography. He recognized that in his death, he was making a statement about his place in the unfolding plan and purpose of God’s relationship with His people.

God had made a covenant with Abraham, promising that he would become the father of a great nation in the land of Canaan, the promised land. This promise was passed to Isaac and then to Jacob. Humbled by and entrusted with this promise, Jacob wanted it to be passed on to the coming generations through his final blessing and his burial location. He wanted his descendants to remember they were destined for Canaan, not Egypt, and he wanted them to remember his faith in the certainty of God’s plan and purpose.

Joseph honored his father’s wishes, and Genesis 49 – 50 describes the elaborate funeral procession from Egypt to Canaan and the mourning that followed. Scripture tells us that the onlooking Canaanites noticed the elaborate ceremony (Genesis 50:11), but they couldn’t have known the full depth of its meaning. Similarly, many people do not—because they cannot—fully understand why Christians deal with death in the way the Bible says we can. The Christian’s perspective on death should be radically different from anything that the world is able to offer. If we simply go through the same motions as other people, with the same subdued ceremonies, the same sentimental music, and the same empty platitudes, we miss a prime opportunity to say in our dying and in our mourning, “Death has no ultimate hold on us. We have been delivered from our sins and therefore from the terrors of death. Thanks be to God for giving us victory through Jesus Christ!” (see 1 Corinthians 15:57).

When the world is watching, the way we deal with death is an opportunity to proclaim that the King of heaven came to earth and transformed how we live and die. The covenant that Christ made on the cross cleared the debt of your sin and guarantees you and all believers “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4). Like Jacob and countless other saints who have faithfully gone before you, be sure to proclaim this in the way you speak of death, in the way you grieve for those saints who go before you, and in the way that, one day, you confront your own passing. How does this comfort you today? How does this reframe your own perspective on your future today?

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Topics: Death Hope Security of the Believer

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation.

James 1:9

It seems like a paradox to say that a “lowly brother” should rejoice and take pride “in his exaltation.” We should ask, “What exaltation?” If life is viewed simply from the perspective of time, wealth, and status, then there is no high position for the lowly. But when we view life with godly wisdom, remembering the glorious riches that Jesus provides, we see that the believer who lives precariously on the lowest rung of the socioeconomic ladder in fact has a significant and secure position simply because they are in God’s care.

Two biblical stories illustrate respectively the danger of viewing low circumstances without wisdom and the blessing of wisdom in the midst of poverty.

In 2 Kings 5:15-27, Gehazi, the servant of the prophet Elisha, chased after the prosperous Naaman, seeking riches for himself. But Elisha confronted Gehazi, essentially challenging him not to despise his position as a servant but to believe that God would look after him. Because of his lack of trust in God, Gehazi and his descendants became lepers. His story reminds us of the peril of greed, envy, and ingratitude.

Ruth, meanwhile, was abjectly poor. After migrating to Bethlehem following the death of her husband, she and her mother-in-law, Naomi, had nothing to eat other than the bits and pieces of grain that Ruth could scrape up from already-harvested fields. When she was shown preferential treatment by Boaz, “she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?’” (Ruth 2:10). Because she was clothed with humility before Boaz and—more importantly—before God, she was able to receive Boaz’s kindness as the blessing it was, without any presumption. Instead of being quick to seek more material wealth, she was quick to be grateful for what she had been given.

Ruth’s story teaches us something else. As Boaz was Ruth’s kinsman and redeemer, so Jesus is the Redeemer who shed His blood for men and women like Ruth, who are undervalued and disregarded. Paul reminds us that when we were called, “not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth” (1 Corinthians 1:26). Jesus has come to those who were on the lowest rung of the spiritual ladder—you and me—and has caused us to ask the same question as Ruth: Why have You shown such interest in me?

James’s message is not that we will become rich by applying wisdom. Rather, he wants us to see that if we think about life from a proper perspective, we will realize that we are already rich beyond imagining. The wisdom of God comes to us in our poverty to show us the vastness of all we have in Christ; and it comes to us in our plenty to remind us that the only wealth that matters is what we have in Christ. When you grasp this, you can look at any less-than-desirable circumstances and continue in the journey of faith, with your eyes fixed on all that awaits you in heaven, where your true treasure lies.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

James 1:9-15

Topics: Contentment Money Trusting God

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

In these verses, the apostle Paul is openly taunting death. How can he do so? Death is so horrible. It’s so tragic. It’s so sad. It seems so final. What did Paul know that enabled him to flout its terrible tyranny with such confidence?

It is because death has lost its sting.

To illustrate Paul’s point, imagine this scene: A young girl is gleefully playing with her father in the backyard. A bee starts buzzing around. When it flies into view of the little girl, she shouts, “Oh, keep that bee away from me! I don’t want to get stung! Daddy, please do something!” As the bee draws closer, the father begins to swat at it—and as he reaches out, the bee fastens on him and drops its stinger right into the father’s arm. The father takes the sting and experiences the pain. The bee’s sting is drawn, and the little girl is safe.

On the cross, Jesus Christ bore the sting of death. Sin leads to death, and death stings because of sin, for sin must lead to judgment. But Christ bore the judgment for sin in His own body on the tree so that all who trust in Him will never face judgment (Galatians 3:13). We may still walk through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4), but because of what Christ has done, that is all death is: a shadow without substance. This is the very reason that Jesus took on humanity. Our Lord took on flesh and blood for this purpose: “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Hebrews 2:14-15).

You no longer have to live in that kind of slavery or walk in that fear. By His own death and resurrection, Jesus has abolished true death forever. He took death’s sting so that you would never have to face its power over sinners. Instead, you can walk in freedom today and every day, knowing that God has already given you decisive victory over sin and death through your Lord, Jesus Christ. So you can look at death and say, “Horrible, tragic, sad though you are, you have lost your sting.” And you can look at the one who drew the sting for you and say:

Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son—
Endless is the victory Thou oe’r death hast won! ^[1]

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Hebrews 2:10-18

Topics: Death Hope Salvation

FOOTNOTES

¹ Edmond Budry, “Thine Be the Glory” (trans. Richard Birch Hoyle, 1923).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’”

John 1:29-30

Are you weary, beleaguered, and weighed down today by the burden of your sin? Do you lack assurance of your forgiveness before God? If so, there is only one sure antidote: to fix your gaze humbly and believingly on the Lord Jesus Christ. Anyone or anything else is insufficient to deal with the oppressive weight of sin.

In reading the Old Testament, we discover that the substitution of the innocent for the guilty is the divine principle of dealing with sin. The sacrificial system and its requirements were put in place by God in order to address His people’s disobedience. But as the story of God’s people unfolds, it becomes apparent that the sacrificial system was not sufficient in and of itself. Neither the priests nor the animals were enough. They couldn’t take away sin. They couldn’t save. They couldn’t justify. And they couldn’t make the people holy.

But the sacrificial system was absolutely necessary, in one important respect: it anticipated and explained the arrival of the perfect Lamb. As the writer to the Hebrews explains, “If that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second” (Hebrews 8:7). So when John the Baptist saw Jesus and declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” he was proclaiming the truth that Jesus was the one who had come to offer His very life for sin, once and for all, for anyone who might believe.

In Jesus we have not only this willing and spotless sacrificial Lamb but also a perfect “high priest” who “entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11, 12). In contrast to the priests of old, who could never sit down on account of the fact that their work was never done, Jesus was able to say “It is finished” and sit down at God’s right hand (John 19:30; Hebrews 10:12).

Oh, the joy and freedom that are ours when we place our trust in Jesus as the final sacrifice for our sin! What peace and rest for our weary souls! In Him our burden is lifted and we are forgiven, freeing us to sing forever:

I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.^[1]

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Leviticus 16

Topics: Redemptive History Sin Substitutionary Atonement

FOOTNOTES

¹ Eliza E. Hewitt, “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place” (1890).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes … Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 19:7-8, Psalm 19:11

Christians often seem to have a paradoxical relationship with God’s law.

Sometimes, we misapply Paul’s teaching that we’re not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14) to suggest that all of the law was only for Old Testament times. Back then, the error goes, God’s people did as they were told and obeyed the Ten Commandments; now, we can do whatever we want because we live in freedom. But with such a perspective, it’s difficult to understand the psalmist’s love for God’s law. He didn’t see the law only as something that had to be done—as a means to an end—but recognized it in itself as a source of restoration, joy, and blessing. That should be no less the case for believers today. It is true that we’re no longer under law as a means of acceptance with God; but we are still to see the law as a means of living for God. We have been redeemed so that we might be the firstfruits of God’s new creation, dedicated to God by doing His will—and we find His will in His law!

Jesus told us, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). The liberating power of God’s word will only do its work when we hold on to the truth in obedience to what Jesus said.

The apostle James described God’s law as perfect, giving us freedom (James 1:25). In Christ, this law is no longer external to us, written on tablets of stone. It is now written on our hearts: “The Holy Spirit also bears witness to us … ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds’” (Hebrews 10:15-16).

This is the paradox: our freedom in Christ is tied directly to our obedience. Disobedient people think they’re free, but really they’re in bondage to sin. Obedient people may at times feel constrained, but they’re in freedom, no longer enslaved to the impulses of a sinful nature. The greater our obedience, the greater our freedom, for the more we obey our Creator who told His image-bearers to enjoy being blessed (Genesis 1:28), the more we are living in line with the people we were made to be.

The psalmist recognized this paradox and therefore could rejoice in God’s law. So should we. If you want to know freedom from guilt, lust, fear, loneliness, aimlessness, and emptiness, you must abide in the truth. As you walk in obedience to God’s law, you will discover true freedom that revives your soul, bringing unending joy and unimaginable blessing along the way. In what way are you struggling to live under God’s law today? That will be the place where you can experience the paradoxical freedom of obedience.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Topics: Law Obedience Obeying God

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house.

Acts 20:18-20

In his meeting with the Ephesian elders, Paul reminded his brothers in the faith that the manner of his living and teaching among them had been transparent and sincere. In no way had his conduct resembled that of a dishonest salesman who desperately hopes that you will purchase the used car and drive away from the lot before you notice the rusted floor beneath the mats.

Paul’s time in Ephesus wasn’t a flying visit by a traveling evangelist who shot into town, endeared himself to the people, and then left again. No, he had spent at least two years there, staying involved, teaching the gospel, and building the church (Acts 19:1 – 20:1). The people in Ephesus had seen him in the streets and in the marketplace. Many of them had had the opportunity to have private conversations with him. They would have known that when he said that he served the Lord with great humility, he was telling the truth. They had seen the tears he’d wept over them and the trials he’d faced among them.

In other words, Paul’s ministry and Paul’s heart were transparent. There was nothing to hide, and he would never have sought to do so. Paul later wrote to the Corinthian church about the need for transparency, saying, “We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2). He also emphasized the great importance of transparency to his protégé, Timothy: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (1 Timothy 4:16).

Paul believed that Christians ought to close the gap between what they say and how they live. The power and effectiveness of God’s word can be undermined if there is not transparency on the part of the one bearing the good news.

When you share the hope and truth of the gospel, those who listen should be able to investigate your life and confirm that you genuinely believe the truths that you are proclaiming. Inside and outside the church, the way you live should commend the gospel just as much as the words you say. This doesn’t mean you will be without sin; it does mean that your life will reflect that you have been transformed by God’s grace. Pray that God would help you, by His grace, to be a living testimony to the truthfulness of the message you proclaim.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Acts 19:1-20

Topics: Christian Life Christian Living Evangelism

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

Remember also your Creator … before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Ecclesiastes 12:1, Ecclesiastes 12:6

Life is extremely fragile—and the poetry written here by the author of Ecclesiastes is intended to demonstrate just how fragile it is. It’s like a hanging lamp that is shattered as a result of just one little piece of the cord breaking. Our lives here are held by a very, very slender thread.

In the poetic world of the Preacher, it would take only the slightest movement for a cord to sever, a bowl to shatter, a pitcher to fall into the spring, or a wheel that has been used to bring the bucket up from the well to find itself out of commission. This list reminds us that one day, and very possibly without warning, our time will be up as well.

Perhaps you work in the world of investments, engineering, technology, or scientific research, or you know someone who does. In these fields of employment, all sorts of calculations are required—oftentimes vitally important ones. Every single one of us, however, is called to calculate something even more crucial: our life. And if we are ever going to number our days rightly or figure out life’s meaning and purpose, it will only be through divine grace.

The book of Ecclesiastes frequently reminds us that the end of our lives is coming. We are told that “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). But we are not at the conclusion of our lives—yet. So today is a day of opportunity.

What is the opportunity that we are being called to take? God, by His word, isn’t asking you to do something particularly difficult. He isn’t asking you to start a charity organization, to climb the height of Kilimanjaro, or to run around the block 47 times saying various prayers. He’s simply asking you to remember Him and commit all of your life to Him, without holding anything back, while you still can, so that, beyond the day when the silver cord is snapped, you will enter the eternal city where the streets are paved with gold (Revelation 21:21). Have you done that? Will you do that? Will you do that now?

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Ecclesiastes 12

Topics: Christian Life Christian Living Death

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org

They drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.

Luke 24:28-29

Jesus’ encounter with the individuals on the Emmaus road started strangely, to say the least. He appeared suddenly. He kept His identity from them. He asked questions. He told them that they were “foolish … and slow of heart” (Luke 24:25)! Yet, as He’d gone through the Old Testament “interpret[ing] to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (v 27), their hearts had been stirred and set on fire (v 32).

It’s quite possible that the reason Jesus stopped this impromptu Bible study was that His fellow travelers had arrived at their destination. Darkness was coming, but He made as if to continue His journey. But these two disciples did not want to part from Him; they longed for this man to stay with them.

And so they gave Jesus an invitation. Indeed, they “urged him strongly” to remain with them. Without this invitation, Jesus would have kept going. And if Jesus had kept going, then these disciples would have missed the wonderful privilege of realizing that their teacher on the road, who to this point they had not recognized, was none other than the risen Lord Himself (Luke 24:31).

How often do we encounter Jesus along life’s journey and neglect to invite Him in? How often do we seek to do day-to-day life on our own, relying on our own efforts and ingenuity and sleepless anxiety to get us through? When was the last time you extended an invitation to Jesus, who knows all about your troubles, your pains, and your difficulties—the things that other people can’t know and can’t fix? The risen Christ comes and stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20). Will you invite Him to come in and stay? Will you say, “Jesus, stay with me. I can’t do this on my own”? Doing so may well be the way that you get a fresh, heart-stirring glimpse of Jesus and His love for you.

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Luke 24:25-35

Topics: Anxiety Hope Jesus Christ

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg,

http://www.truthforlife.org

I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

For almost every Christian, there comes a moment when we’re tempted to despair over whether we will make it to heaven, whether we will be able to keep trusting Christ for another day, and whether we can continue in faith amid our own waywardness and sinfulness. And when that moment comes, we must take hold of this promise: it is God who perseveres, God who keeps us, and God who guards His people.

When we talk about the great Reformation doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints” we are, strictly speaking, talking about the perseverance of God Himself. In Romans 8:31-36, Paul poses a series of rhetorical questions that are intended to underscore the reality that nothing can separate God’s children from Christ’s love and to reinforce the truth that once we are laid hold of by the Good Shepherd, who “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11), we remain in His fold forever. And Paul ends with these glorious words: nothing that he (or you) can possibly conceive of “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If you are in Christ, you can never be lost.

So what are we to do about the doubts and fears that assail us? We must fix our gaze on the Lord Jesus Himself. When we look at ourselves, we have good reason for discouragement and trepidation. It is by looking to Jesus that we are enabled to run the race set before us. He endured the cross, scorned its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2), that we might be forgiven and continue through our days.

Our faith will not fail, because God sustains it. Those who have already run the race, breasted the tape, and entered into the joy of the Lord are today happier but no more secure than the stumbling, struggling, trusting, growing, persevering believer. There is no power or plot that can separate those who trust in Christ from the love of God. You could not be more loved than you are. You could not be more secure than you are.

The work which His goodness began
The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen
And never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now,
Nor all things below or above,
Can make Him His purpose forgo
Or sever my soul from His love.^[1]

Questions for Thought

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading

Philippians 1:1-6

Topics: Faithfulness of God Hope Perseverance

FOOTNOTES

¹ Augustus M. Toplady, “A Debtor to Mercy Alone” (1771).

Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotionals by Alistair Begg

http://www.truthforlife.org