Devotionary

Today, we begin a lengthy and hopefully enlightening study in the Book of Deuteronomy. This incredible Old Testament book provides us with a glimpse into the preparations Moses went through in order to ready the Israelites for their long-awaited entrance into the land of Canaan. This was the “promised land” – the tract of property located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River – that God had told Abraham would be the home of his descendants. And now, nearly half a millennium later, those descendants stood on the border waiting to enter in and take possession. But Moses had been here before and things had not gone so well. Forty years earlier he had watched as the previous generation had refused to obey God, choosing instead to listen to the dire warnings of the spies who came back with reports of a bountiful land filled with powerful armies made up of giants. Suffice it to say, they didn’t cross over the border and, therefore, they came under a curse from God. That reluctant and rebellious generat

Just a word to explain the delay in our recording schedule. Yes, I am well aware that we are behind and I am desperately attempting to catch up. But it is taking some time. So, please bear with me. In the meantime, if Devotionary has been a help to you, I would love to hear from you. My email is kendmiller55@me.com. Also, if you wouldn't mind, please got to the Apple Store and give us a positive review. That will go a long way to improving our position in their search engine. 

Why do you do what you do? To ask it another way, what motivates your behavior? There is always a reason behind what we do. And it could be good or bad. But as followers of Jesus Christ we must constantly ask ourselves why it is we attempt to live the Christian life. We must regularly assess our motivation and the source of the strength we put into our efforts. You see, sanctification does require work on our part. But we must never forget that, at its core, it is the work of God. That is why Paul reminds us, “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” We must work hard, but never forget that God is working in us. We are working alongside Him, in the power of His Spirit, and in keeping with His will for us. And we must remember that the end goal of all our Spirit-empowered effort is our future glorification. We are not to pursue our best life now in the here-and-now, but the

Imagine running a race without a finish line in mind. You’d be running with no objective and no hope of ever finishing the race, let alone, of winning it. A race without a finish line is not a race at all, but merely an exercise in futility and, ultimately, frustration. And the Christian life would be the same thing if it did not have a final objective or outcome. As we discuss the doctrine of sanctification, we must never forget that it is directly tied to two other major doctrines and cannot exist without them. One is our salvation. The other, our future glorification. And all three are dependent upon our resurrection. Paul told the believers in Corinth that “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” And then he added, “if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” In other words, without our resurrection and glorification

Most Christians would have no problem admitting that they still struggle with sin. But there’s a huge difference between a Christian who is aware of their sin and a Christian who tends to see themselves as a sinner. As a Christian, your tendency to sin should not determine your identity. From God’s perspective, you are a saint or set-apart one. You have been consecrated by God and have been imputed the righteousness of Christ. Because of that, God considers you to be holy. Which is why Paul referred to the believers as saints in the various congregations to which he wrote. And he was constantly reminding them of their new identity as sons and daughters of God. He wanted them to live distinctively different lives based on their identity as saints, not as sinners. While there is value in remembering the past from which we were saved, we are not to dwell on it or to identify ourselves with it. Instead, we are to remember what Paul said, “The old has gone, the new is here!”  

“I can’t wait until…” You fill in the blank. What kinds of things do you eagerly anticipate? A new season of your favorite TV show, the opening of a new blockbuster movie, the birth of a child? When I was a child, I couldn’t wait until Christmas. I looked forward to it all year long, and the closer it got to December 25, the more excited I became. And, interestingly enough, the apostle John expressed that same kind of eager anticipation when speaking of our future glorification when we receive our redeemed, sin-free bodies. And he wasn’t alone in his thinly veiled enthusiasm for this future event. The apostle Paul also expressed his determination to press on or focus all his attention on that future day when he would win the prize of the upward call of God. Paul longed for his resurrection. And his deep desire for it impacted the way he lived his life as he waited for its arrival. One of the things that will impact our current sanctification is to remember that it will culminate with our future glorification.

“I feel like a new man!” We usually hear or make that kind of statement in relationship to a change in circumstances. Maybe after a good nap or a much-needed vacation. When we attempt to repair something and our efforts turn out well, we say something like “Good as new!” That’s because, in our minds, new is good. If we see an advertisement that states, “New and improved”, we take it for granted that whatever it is that is being sold is somehow better than it was. But why is it, that when the Scriptures tell us we are “new creations” and that we have the power to “walk in newness of life”, we don’t believe it? The New Testament has a lot to say about the old nature and the new nature. Paul, in particular, seems to be always talking about putting off the old and putting on the new. But for some reason, we have a difficult time believing it because we don’t always feel or act like a new man.  

The psalmist wrote, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Those are powerful words and a bit foreboding. But do we believe them? Better yet, do we heed them? Do we fully understand that our way is rarely the right way? And the truth is, the counsel we receive from this world usually ends up less than successful. The means by which God has chosen to sanctify us doesn’t always make sense and, sometimes, it isn’t very attractive. But it is the best way because it is Gods’ way. Yet, we are constantly tempted to take another path, to pursue a different set of objectives, hoping for the same outcome. But God’s will can only be accomplished God’s way. And no matter how wise the ways of this world may sound, they can’t deliver what God has promised. God has great things in store for us, and while the world may offer tempting detours and shortcuts, they always end in death.  

Life requires focus. We all know that. But it’s easy to get distracted along the way and to allow all kinds of things to take your eyes off what is truly important and necessary. The occasional distraction is not a problem, but they can easily add up and leave you wondering why you never get anything done. And the same is true in our spiritual lives. Paul had a lot to say about running the race of life with a goal in mind. He was a determined man who expected those who sat under his teaching to live with the same sense of purpose and potential. And he knew that the enemy was adept at distracting Christ-followers from what was truly important. Satan knows how to take the good things and make them the most important things in our lives. He is like a skilled magician who uses sleight-of-hand to refocus our attention on the trivial rather than the vital. And we end up missing what God has in store for us.  

Faith is meant to be productive. I know that sounds odd because faith is usually juxtaposed with works. As Christians, we’ve had it drummed into our heads that salvation is based on faith alone and is not the result of works. That way, none of us has any reason to brag or boast. But faith not only requires an object, but an objective. It is to produce fruit. When Jesus Christ died for our sins, He did so that we might experience newness of life. And for that to happen, He sent His Spirit to come and take up residence within us. It is the Spirit who produces fruitfulness from our faithfulness. The more we rely on His presence and power, the more fruit we will bear, all to the glory of God the Father. While some have pitted James and Paul against one another, claiming that each seems to contradict the other, they are actually saying the very same thing but from slightly different perspectives. Faith is always fruitful.      

When we think about the power of the Spirit of God, we tend to focus on the miraculous. You know what I mean. Those unbelievable, inexplicable outpourings of His power like we read about in the New Testament. Like what happened on the day of Pentecost when the disciples suddenly found themselves able to speak in foreign languages they didn’t previously know. Or how they were able to perform miracles such as healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, or even raising the dead. Now, that’s power. But one of the true miracles that accompanied the coming of the Holy Spirit was the radical transformation of the lives of the disciples. They went from being timid, cowering-in-the-corner followers of Christ to bold, Spirit-filled proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And within days their number had grown from a handful to more than 3,000. And they had all things in common, including their love for Christ and for one another. All as a result of the power of the Spirit.

Fruitfulness. It’s a well-documented expectation in the New Testament. God expects His people to live fruitful and productive lives, but on His terms and according to His power, not their own. Yet, we tend to make fruit-bearing a competition sport, where we score points with God by producing more fruit than the believer next to us. It becomes an endless and hopeless endeavor to manufacture that which only God can produce. Jesus told His disciples that fruit-bearing required abiding. He clearly communicated that, apart from Him, they could nothing that even remotely bore the resemblance of the kind of fruit God was looking for. But when they did abide in Him, they would be productive and fruitful, giving ample proof that they were His followers. And their fruitfulness would bring glory to the Father because His Holy Spirit would be the ultimate source of their fruit.

Most of us as Christians would agree with the premise that the Holy Spirit lives within us. Jesus promised it. The disciples experienced it. And the way we live our lives should reflect it. But in order for us to reveal the presence of the Spirit within us, we must learn to rely upon the power He has made available to us. And that is going to take a concentrated effort to recognize His presence and to understand our complete dependency upon Him for all that we have been called to do as Christ-followers. Paul calls us to set our mind on the Spirit. But what does that mean and how are we to do it? To have the mind of the Spirit is to live under His influence, to think as He thinks, and to act according to His will and in the power that He provides. The Holy Spirit is not just some disembodied force we can tap into and utilize for our own selfish desires. He is the Spirit of God who wants to radically alter our actions and our attitudes.

If you’re like any other red-blooded western Christian, you’ve probably asked yourself the question: What’s the key to living the Christian life? And, no doubt, you’ve come up with a varied list of answers, most of which you have tried – to one degree of success or another. But have you really discovered the secret to successful Christian living? Is it more effort, increased faith, greater sacrifice, or a larger expenditure of selfless love? It seems that Jesus gave us the key to living the Christian life and it was the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He referred to is as “living water” – “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And His disciples experienced the life-changing nature of this spiritual water when the Holy Spirit of God came upon them at Pentecost. They learned that the Spirit within them was meant to empower them so He could flow out from them. They would be like PVC pipes through which the life-transforming power of God’s Spirit flowed to the world around them.

You are a new creation. You have experienced new birth and have been given a new nature. How many times have you heard those truths? But how much do you really believe them? There is a part of each and every one of us as Christ-followers that embraces those Scriptural realities intellectually, but still find it difficult to live them out in everyday life. We don’t feel new. We don’t always act like new creations. And our old nature seems far more in control than whatever new nature we received. So, our doubt turns to duty. In the face of what appears to be a less-than-new lifestyle, we tend to look for a list of things we need to do in order to grow up, measure up, and muster up some much-needed righteousness in our life. But Paul would have us look up - to God. He has done it all. He not only saved us, but He has provided everything necessary to sanctify us.

Most Christ-followers know that their life is to be characterized by progressive spiritual growth. But the question is, do their lives reflect that understanding? Do they display an ever-increasing spiritual maturity that reveals their ongoing transformation into the likeness of Christ? The New Testament is filled with allusions to the growth that should take place in the believer’s life, comparing it to the physical growth of an infant to adulthood. A baby that does not grow is abnormal, an anomaly. The same is true of a Christian who does not display a steady increase in spiritual maturity. And the sad thing is that we are told that we have everything we need to grow spiritually. It is not as if we have been left to survive and thrive on our own. We have all the resources necessary to grow from innocent infancy to full-blown adulthood. But are we taking advantage of them?  

Love one another. We’re all familiar with those words, but do we live them out in real life? If so, are we guilty of pre-determining who the “other” is referring to? Do we tend to make our own list of who we want to love, conveniently leaving off all those we find unlovable or simply unlovely? A big part of the doctrine of sanctification is learning to allow the love that God shows us, to not dead-end on us. In other words, He loved us so that we might love others. And Jesus commanded that we love others in the same way that He loved us: Selflessly and sacrificially. Jesus didn’t love as long as He was loved back. He didn’t withhold His love from those who lacked the capacity to love Him back. In fact, Jesus loved us when we were at our worst. He loved us when we were mired in our sin and lacking any capacity to reciprocate. Love is to be a non-negotiable mark of what it means to be a Christ-follower. We love because He first loved us. And we love because His love resides within us and must flow out from us.

Remember that exchange between Peter and Jesus, just days after His resurrection? Jesus had just finished having breakfast with the disciples, when He asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” And Peter responded, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Then Jesus preceded to repeat His question to two more times, and in each instance, Peter gave the same answer. Jesus’ questions were accompanied by three imperatives: Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep. And Jesus ended the conversation with the same two words He had used more than three years earlier, when He had called Peter to be His disciple: “Follow me.” It’s important to note that Jesus was about to leave them, but He was asking Peter to follow Him. Not to a destination, but in the pursuit of the Father’s will. And Peter and the rest of the disciples would soon find themselves empowered to follow Jesus in full obedience, proving their love for Him as they followed His example by feeding His sheep.

Living the Christian life is essential, but not always easy. Yet, the reason we find it so difficult is not because God has made it hard, but because we fail to do it in the manner He has prescribed. We attempt to live godly lives without God’s help. And when we do, we not only find it difficult, but impossible. We may succeed for a time, but it won’t last long and it won’t produce lasting results. In Romans 8:1-11, Paul reminds us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We have been set free from the penalty of death that accompanies a life of sin. By placing our faith in Christ, we received forgiveness and stand before God as fully righteous in His eyes. But we are expected to live up to our new standing or identity. God is not demanding perfection from us in this life, but a growing awareness of our need for His Spirit’s power.

God’s grace. We talk a lot about it, but I’m not quite sure we fully appreciate it. And when we read passages like 2 Corinthians 12:9, where Paul describes God’s grace as being sufficient, we’re not quite sure what to do with that information. How is His grace sufficient? Exactly what is it sufficient for? For Paul, it had to do with strength in his moments of weakness, contentment in times of calamity, and confidence even when facing uncertainty. Grace was enough. Paul didn’t need to add anything more. Because God’s grace was fully sufficient, Paul could rest in the knowledge that he was in no way deficient. As Peter put it, Paul had everything he needed for life and godliness. Which is why Paul could boldly claim, “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13 NLT). Paul’s confidence came from God, not himself.