Category: devotional

Colossians 4:2-4 – 2Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 3At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—4that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
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Often times, people will ask me how they can pray for me. These verses from Paul in Colossians show us how Paul, at least at that point in life, answered such a question. Paul’s answer is helpful to call us to prayer, to give us a topic of prayer, and to show a little of how we ought to think about presenting the gospel.

Paul calls the Colossians to continue “steadfastly” in prayer. The call here is that this church be constantly, continually, regularly in prayer. The prayer that they are to practice is also not supposed to be the little weak offerings we often give before our meals, but steadfast, strong, powerful prayer. Clearly, we as believers need to learn the joy and the power of true, life-changing, intercessory prayer.

Paul also gives us a topic for which to pray. Paul asks the church to specifically pray for him that God would grant him an open door for the declaring of the word. He wants the chance to declare the word of God to the lost. He wants God to open doors, to give him opportunities to faithfully share the gospel. And we too would be wise to pray, asking God to give us the chance to share with someone the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

Finally, Paul also shows us something very important about presenting the gospel in these short verses. He shows us that the way that he intended to share the gospel—the way that all should share the gospel—is through open, bold, honest declaration of the word of God. Paul wanted to make the gospel clear, and declares that that is how he ought to speak. Let us never become people who try to sneak the gospel into something. Let us never become people to hide the gospel behind gimmicks or veil the message of Christ behind socially acceptable terminology. Instead, let us see, as Paul saw, that speaking the gospel with clarity and boldness is how we ought to speak.

Lord God, I come to you this morning, and I again thank you for what you reveal to us in your word. I first ask that you forgive me for my own weakness in prayer. I know that you call me to be steadfast in prayer, and I pray that you help me to become constantly stronger in that all-important spiritual discipline. I also ask that you will help me, as Paul prayed, to have open doors this day in presenting the gospel. Help me to share Christ with someone today. Help me to share Christ with someone this week. Help me to have open doors to share the gospel each day. And, I ask that you will also challenge me to always speak the word boldly, clearly, and without hesitation. Let me speak the gospel the way that you want it spoken. Let me not use gimmicks or man-made tactics. Instead, I pray that you will help me to prayerfully, honestly, and boldly present the gospel to a lost and dying world.

Colossians 2:23 – These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
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As Paul writes to the church at Colossi, he uncovers for us an important lesson about Christianity. The Colossians had backed away from biblical Christianity, applying for themselves laws and rules that go far beyond what God had commanded. They believed that they could buy God’s favor by doing certain right religious actions, by knowing certain secret truths, and by obeying certain specific ceremonies. But God lets them know through Paul that such things are not what a relationship with God is about.

For you and me, it is very tempting to fall into the very same trap that captured the Colossians so many years ago. It is very easy for us to think that the way that we will follow God is by creating for ourselves a series of rules and regulations that will make us become exactly the kind of people we should be. Often, those rules and regulations that we make for ourselves are rules that go beyond the commands of scripture. For example, we might try to require ourselves or others to have a particular amount of time that must be spent every day in prayer. We might tell people that, if they are not spending an hour in prayer, they are missing the mark. We might tell them that they must be reading some particular book, watching some particular pastor on DVD, or going to some particular conference if they want to be truly spiritually changed. But, if we do these things, we are missing the point.

It may be that our rules are good rules. It may be that it would help us or others to pray for more than an hour per day or to read the writings of great men of God. However, if we pretend that our rules are the things that will truly keep people from sin and make them more like Christ, we lead people toward a superstitious legalism instead of a faithful Christianity. People will never stop sinning simply because there are rules imposed on them. People will stop sinning when, by the power of God’s word and God’s Spirit, they have a different heart toward their sin. People will grow, not simply through regular spiritual practices, but when those spiritual disciplines come out of a heart that has been changed by the supernatural power of God.

Today, if you are going through the motions of Christianity or of some legalistic system, I urge you to change. I am not necessarily telling you to stop what you are doing. If you are praying because of your legalistic system, I do not tell you to stop praying. Instead, I urge you to go to God seeking the right heart to go behind your prayers. Change, not based on some externally applied rules, but from the change that comes via a changed heart. Change because God is working change in your heart, and the change that occurs will last.

Dear Lord, I come to you today, and I ask that you will help me to see any empty, superstitious, or legalistic practices that I have in my Christian life. I pray that you will then work in my heart to do things rightly for the sake of your name. Help me not to fall into sin, making the excuse that my heart isn’t feeling right. Instead, help me to follow you rightly, according to your commands in your word, out of a heart that has truly been changed by the marvelous grace of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53:5-6

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
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It is a good thing to read a passage such as Isaiah 53 as Christmas approaches. As we find ourselves just a week from celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, we ought not forget the death of Jesus as well. While we decorate our homes, sing joyful songs, and plan to give gifts in celebration of our Lord’s coming, we ought also to remember that he came for a purpose.

Today, as you hear Christmas songs or see Christmas lights, remember that there is something more to the story of Christ than a baby in a manger. Remember that the child born in Bethlehem grew up, lived a perfect life, and took upon himself the punishment for sins he did not commit. Remember that the baby in the manger grew up to become the sacrifice for your sins and mine. Remember, and give God even greater thanks for Jesus.

Dear Lord, I thank you for this joyful season in which we, as your people, remember the birth of Jesus. Yet I also do not want to forget the purpose of the entire story of Jesus. Lord, I will not forget Jesus’ death. I must not forget what he came to accomplish. And even now, I give you thanks for Jesus’ entire life, including his sacrificial death on the cross for my sins. I acknowledge that I have no hope for salvation apart from the risen Lord Jesus. I pray that you will bring this back to the forefront of my mind as I celebrate Jesus’ birth this Christmas.

Philippians 1:20 – as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
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How do you pray when you are sick, hurt, or in danger? How do we pray when loved ones suffer in the hospital? What prayer is in line with that of the scriptures? In this short verse from Paul in Philippians, we have a fascinating look at the prayers and mindset of the apostle as he suffers in prison, with his very life at risk.

The phrase that I want you to notice is the very end of verse 20 of Philippians 1. Paul says that his hope is that “Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” I do not doubt that Paul prayed for his release from prison. I do not doubt that he prayed, at other times for the physical healing of his loved ones. But I think what we see in this verse is the most excellent model for how we ought to view our sufferings and those of our loved ones. We should desire that, most of all, Christ would be honored in our bodies, whether by life or by death.

What kind of change is here made appropriate? It is a major change in focus and goal. When we or a loved one suffers, we should recognize that the highest goal is not their comfort or their restoration to health. While we may deeply long that they be restored to health, and we might pray to that end, the ultimate goal is that Christ be honored in them either by life or by death. Why? We desire this because the ultimate goal of all of our lives must be that Christ be honored. Therefore, our desire for our friends and family should be that Christ be honored in their lives—that Christ allow them to fulfill the purpose for which they were created.

Ladies and gentlemen, a change in our point of view regarding suffering and death will help us to become Christians who both live and die to the glory of God. We want to live our lives, every last breath, to the glory of God. But we also must become people who live to die well. We should desire that our deaths also be to the glory of God. We should desire that our sufferings, our hardships, our struggles magnify the glory of God; and we ought to pray for that long before we pray that God comfort us, heal us, or take away our struggle. If our struggles, our discomforts, our pains, or even our deaths are what will ultimately bring glory to Christ, our desire and our prayer to God should be that his name be glorified in the strongest possible way.

Dear Lord, I pray that you will help my mindset to be far more desirous of your glory than my comfort. Yes, I pray that you will give me health and comfort, but only so much as honors you. I pray that you will give me peace and prosperity, but only so much as pleases you and shows the world that you are the Giver of all good things. I pray that, should your will be that I suffer, I will suffer to your glory. When the day comes that I should die, I pray that I will die to your glory. I pray that you be glorified in my body, either by life or by death.

Ephesians 4:19-24 – 19They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20But that is not the way you learned Christ!—21assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
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In this short section of the Book of Ephesians, Paul delineates for us a very important key to the Christian life and the struggle against sin. In describing how a certain people live in hard-hearted and fleshly rebellion against God, Paul reminds the believers that we did not come to know Jesus through such rebellion. Instead, we were taught by those who shared the gospel with us to take part in a three step process in the struggle against sin. We, if we want to become more like Christ, must put off sin, have our minds renewed, and put on Christlikeness.

The first step in struggling against sin is to put off the old self (verse 22). This is what many commonly call “repentance,” but is actually only a portion of what genuine repentance truly involves. This is the area of life where you recognize that a particular behavior is wrong and dishonoring to God, and you work in the power of the Holy Spirit to remove such an area from your life. For example, a man who has become involved in Internet pornography might perform this step by trying to stop visiting illicit web sites. This is a first step in the struggle against sin, but it is most certainly not the end.

The second step is the renewing of your mind (verse 23). Once you have stopped a particular activity, you have to work to have a brand new mind toward that activity. If the man in our example has stopped watching Internet porn, but he still loves it in his mind, it will not be long until his safeguards fail and he finds himself right back where he was before. In order to have continual victory over his sin, the man in our example must continually turn to God’s word and God’s Holy Spirit to gain a renewed mind, a mind changed by God. Repentance from sin is not only about stopping a particular bad action, repentance also involves a change of mind, a renewed mind, which changes how we feel about the particular sin.

Paul than adds the third important step for us in verse 24. Besides putting off the old self and renewing your mind, in order to live out Christianity, you must also put on godliness or Christlikeness. To return to our example once more, our man must not only stop visiting illicit web sites and seek a renewed mind toward his sin, he must also find something to replace his old habitual use of his time. He takes off the sin by stopping his action. He renews his mind by looking to God’s word and learning to feel about his sin in the same way that God feels about it. He then completes the repentance process by replacing his sin with something holy, something honoring to Christ. He puts off the old self, renews his mind, and puts on Christ. He might replace his habitual sinful activity with time spent with his family or with other believers who can encourage him toward Christlikeness. He might completely change his life schedule, going to bed earlier and getting up earlier in the morning for time in God’s word. He might replace his time on the Internet with time spent in a thousand other ways that honor Christ. And he must replace his deviant view of human sexuality as depicted in pornography with a biblically informed and God-honoring view of the topic.

We do not repent of sin simply by “cutting it out.” Instead, we repent and change when we stop the activity, have our minds renewed by God, and replace the sinful activity with something that honors Christ instead. This is the process of sanctification, and all believers should continually be working through this process for as long as they are here on this earth.

Today, ask God what in your life needs to change. Ask him to reveal to you one area of sinful action or thought that he would like you to repent of. Then, work through the process. Put an immediate halt to the activity. Look into God’s word with much prayer to have God work with you on beginning the process of renewing your mind on the topic. Ask God for a brand new way of thinking and feeling toward your sinful habit. Perhaps you will want to share your struggle with another trustworthy and mature believer for help, advice, and accountability. And, seek out an appropriate biblical opposite to your sinful activity, a replacement if you will. Find something that you can put on in place of the sin you take off, and you will find the repentance process much easier, much more God-honoring, and much more permanent.

Dear Lord, I see in this passage a clear process for how to go about repenting of sin. I pray that you will reveal to me one area of my life that is dishonoring to you. Show me one place where you want me to change. Help me then to have the strength and courage to either stop what is wrong or start doing what is right. Help me to find scripture on the topic that will lead me to a renewed mind that is changed by your word and your Holy Spirit. Then, I pray that you will help me to find the appropriate replacement, the appropriate thing to put on in place of my sin. I know that repentance in my life honors you. I pray that you will empower me to work through the process of repentance for the sake of your name and your glory. I acknowledge here and now that you command me to repent, and thus it is my job to do so. I also acknowledge that I need your power and your Holy Spirit to repent. Sanctify me in your word, as I work along with you. All the work will only be accomplished by your power, and thus all the glory is yours for all the change you make in my life. Yet, it is my responsibility to work, and I do not shirk that duty. Help me to put off evil and put on Christ, and do so for your name’s sake.

Isaiah 42:8 – I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
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We protect the things that are important to us. In life, there are only a few things that we have that we would not willingly share with others; but those things are the things that are most precious to us. In this verse in the middle of Isaiah, God shares with us what is precious to him and why it is so precious to him.

God first tells us that this verse is about him by using his covenant name. He makes this personal for himself. And then he tells us that he will not give his glory to another or share his praise with any idol. Thus, as we think it through, we see that, of utmost importance to God, is his glory and his praise. God’s glory is at the dead center of what is important. In fact, God’s name and his glory is simply most important.

When we recognize that God’s glory is of utmost importance, we also can recognize that we must focus our own lives on what is most important. If God sets up his glory as supreme, he must also make that a part of why we exist. God created us in his image, for his glory. We are here because of God, for God’s purposes. Thus, we should see that our lives must center around God’s praise and God’s glory. God’s praise, his glory, is why we are here. And, simply put, we can not do anything that will ever give our lives fulfillment if we do not focus our lives on the true reason for our existence, namely the glory of God.

For many of us, this is a reminder of something that we have read a thousand times. For others, this may be a new thought. Either way, set your life around the glory of God this day. God is jealous for his own glory, and rightly so. You exist to give glory to God, and thus it would be wise for you to make sure that, this day, you do the things that will most bring him that glory. Let the glory of God and the praise of God become the central purpose of your existence. When you do so, you will find our soul satisfied as your life’s purpose is fulfilled.

Dear Lord, I see that you do not share your praise and your glory, and indeed you should not. You are the mightiest of the mighty. You are the highest of the high. You are the greatest of the great. All glory belongs to you. All praise is rightly yours. For you to share your praise would be for you to allow the lesser to be praised instead of the greater, and you should not do such a thing. I pray that my life will be an offering of praise to you. I pray that you will use me, even this day, to bring glory and honor to your holy name.

Isaiah 40:6-8 – A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
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It is good for us to remember what lasts. When I was younger, I often got wrapped up in my current situation as though it would never end. During elementary school or high school, I can remember thinking of the little world that I was in as though it would continue forever. In college, I thought just how silly that school aged child was, as college was what seemed to go on forever. And with each stage of life, it is difficult to picture that stage coming to an end.

But as we hear the words of God in Isaiah, we are reminded that the lives of men, in comparison to the eternity of God, are like grass. They spring up. They flourish for a day. And, when all is said and done, they die and fade away. Our lives are short. Our time on this earth is very temporary. What is 70 years in the light of eternity? It is as nothing.

In comparison to our short lives, God shows us one thing that will last. In comparison to the brevity of life, one thing is rock solid, never fading, always here. The word of the LORD will stand forever.

Today, remember that the lives of men are brief little spans, but the word of the LORD stands forever. So many people throughout history have thought that they would do away with the notion of the word of God. Many thought they could put away the Bible, disprove it, or otherwise show it to be invalid and useless. However, all such men have come and gone. Many of their names are not remembered at all. But the word of God still stands. When you become worried about how certain arrogant people in the world attempt to attack the word of God, remember that God’s word will stand forever, far longer than the teeny little life span that we have.

And, when you think of the word of God standing forever, remember that the forever word of God is what you must cling to in order to have some stability in life. When your emotions, circumstances, and surroundings threaten your stability or even your faith, it is in the word of God that you will find an anchor to get you through life’s storms. You can not turn to your own intellect to solve all your problems, because your mind fades like the grass of the fields. You can not turn to your own emotional stability to keep yourself headed in the right direction, because your emotions change with the chemistry of your body, with the weather, or with any other thing you can think of. You can not turn to the counsel of others and expect that will keep you always headed in the right direction, because the word of God itself is full of stories about how men steered others wrong. If you want true stability, true long-lasting hope, you must cling to the thing that God gives to us that he tells us will stand forever. You must cling to, treasure, read, study, and meditate upon the word of God.

Dear Lord, I again thank you for your word. While my life will pass very quickly in the scheme of eternity, your word will stand forever. While I will not likely be remembered in a couple of generations, your word will be as strong, steady, and influential as it was when you first gave it to your people. Please help me to cling to you and to your word through this life. Let me not grasp at the weak, shifting, and temporary supports that others may offer. Instead, let me find your love and your will in your word. Let me come to know you through your word. Let me find stability and strength in your word. I thank you for your word, and I ask that you will continue to reveal yourself to me in that wonderful book.