Category: devotional

Seek Out the Gold

In the vault of the Holy Spirit
“He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?”
Matthew 13:54, NLT

 

Chapter 13 of Matthew is your very own gold mine.  There are veins of precious ore throughout these parables.  They will give their riches to anyone humble enough to seek them.  They each are concentrated truth–these parables are gold!

Parables are a fascinating way to impart teaching that requires a quiet and gentle heart.  Not everyone will gain access to them.  The truth in them will only touch the hungry heart, the real seeker.  It’s like they are locked up, and the Holy Spirit has the combination, but He will gladly share it with the sincere heart.

At this point in Jesus’ ministry, He arrives in His hometown.  He goes to the synagogue and begins to teach. (What an awesome time to be in the congregation.)  Their teacher Jesus is absolutely astounding!  They stand and watch Him; they are astonished and amazed.  The text tells us that Jesus not only taught them, but He performed supernatural healings.

The people in Nazareth who were witnesses in such a direct way, begin to draw false conclusions about Jesus.  They can’t deal with His youth and can’t believe what He has come from God–as their Messiah. 

However the general consensus was profound;  “everyone” was in agreement with what they had just witnessed.  For a few, they would never be the same.  When we encounter Jesus, and hear His wisdom, and see His wonders–it has the power to change us.  And that is no mean feat.

A Clear Case of Forgiveness

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When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Luke 7:42, ESV

 We are all in debt.  Some owe $10,000.  Others owe $500,000.  But we are all in debt.  And believe me, things are pretty grim.  Many lament our huge national debt, they have figured out that each individual owes thousands of dollars.  It seems very unfair that so much is owed by just a single person.  However, our debt with God and His law is far beyond our ability to pay.

The Father’s intention and focus is to forgive us, it may seem confusing, but He has kicked off a plan that leads to total and comprehensive forgiveness for anyone who will simply believe.  It’s amazing, and fantastical, but He has decided to forgive our debt.  It doesn’t matter in the slightest what we have done.  We may be a mass murdering Satanist, but when we turn at Him, everything is forgiven and then quickly forgotten.

Everyone who looks to Him, and clings to Him, has their debt forgiven.  The debt has been cancelled, and we have been released completely.  There is no liability, nothing is incurred.  We have been incredibily released.  Absolutely forgiven.  There can be no rebuttal.  No one can state otherwise.

There is one solitary issue that remains, although many would argue about its significance.  That issue is reciprocal love.  In your heart of hearts, you fully know your debt.  And you understand its implications.  The scripture states that you will love according to your forgiven debt.  If you’ve been forgiven much, you will love much.

The degree and severity of your iniquity can be forgiven.  But love should fill the vacancy.  He looks and anticipates your response to His offer.  But love really should be your only response.  We love Him and the amazing things He has set in motion.  We should be astounded at His incredibly deep generosity.  Especially when it concerns us so profoundly.

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The Way Things Are, Really

“We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. 13So put on all the armor that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm.”  Eph. 6:12-13, CEV

 

We cannot divorce ourselves from this particular reality.  We can not pick and choose.  Warfare is part of what we have inherited.  We better not pretend that this is not so.  The battle comes to us, whether we like it or not.  There is an atmosphere of conflict that we are constantly living in.

Some of us never see this truth.  And others choose not to respond to it.  Some are confused by the scope of the battle, and find themselves fighting against people.  But the war is fundamentally spiritual.  And perhaps that is the problem.  “Spiritual” can be a vague and nebulous concept.  It seems far away and irrelevant.

Paul shares this vital truth with the Ephesian church.  He is firmly rooted in reality.  With great clarity, he identifies “forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world.”  These are incredibly real, and represent the deep evil in our world at its most fundamental level.  It is important to note, flesh and blood are never really the issue.

Throughout history, the covenant people of God have faced extermination.  The darkness seems insurmountable. It hems in the people of faith and will take them captive.  Ancient Israel and Judah had an extensive dealings with the darkness.  Warfare was normal.  They understood that survival meant conflict.

“The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.” 

Ex. 14:14

This lays down a core principle of our warfare.  God interjects Himself between His covenant people and those dark forces who intend to destroy them.  He not only buffers them, but He aggressively destroys their power.  These ‘powers’ and ‘rulers of the dark’ are defeated.

 “We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments.”  

2 Cor. 10:4, NCV

Perhaps we’re being too fine and imprecise.  Human beings have often enmeshed themselves with darkness.  They have chosen to blend themselves with evil.  They choose darkness over the light.  Personal gratification is often involved.  They barter their freedom and innocence for trifling sins.  There is power and there is presence.  The darkness has the power, and people have the presence.

“We fight” are two words of incredibly clear purpose and meaning.  You cannot extract the militancy out of Paul’s message.  He understands the war going on in the Spirit.  He mentions weapons energized and efficient.  And ‘people’ are also in the sphere of evil.  We come against their faulty logic–their ‘arguements’.  We dismantle and pull down the evil they have revealed.

Sheep Who Stray Away

“It is well to be the sheep of God’s pasture, even if we have been wandering sheep. The straying sheep has an owner, and however far it may stray from the fold, it ceases not to belong to that owner.
 
I believe that God will yet bring back into the fold every one of His own sheep, and they shall all be saved. It is something to feel our wanderings, for if we feel ourselves to be lost, we shall certainly be saved; if we feel ourselves to have wandered, we shall certainly be brought back.”
 
–Charles Spurgeon
 
As mentally ill people we seem to be always straying.  We are usually very impulsive, and much more vulnerable to things that don’t seem to bother the “norms.”  But because our need is so much greater we find that grace is also multiplied.  We belong to His flock as much as the ‘wonderful’ sheep do.  We can rest (as well as we can) in Him and in His reputation as a ‘good’ Shepherd.