Archive for Devotional with Hymn

The Temptation of Jesus

2014-02-23 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’” [Deuteronomy 8:3]

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” 

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” [Deuteronomy 6:13]

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” [Psalm 91:11-12]

Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” [Deuteronomy 6:16]

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:1-13, NIV)

The Heavenly Father drove His own beloved Son, with Whom He was thoroughly pleased, into the desert alone, for 40 days without food, to be tempted by His bitter enemy, Satan, who wanted only Jesus’ destruction.

How different is our Heavenly Father’s treatment of His children compared to us human parents! We do anything we can to spare our children unpleasant circumstances. The Father, knowing what is best for us and how much we can bear, regularly exposes His children to various types of pressure and need. We tend to focus on our children’s temporary comfort and preferences. Our Father focuses on our character and eternal well-being. We shouldn’t squirm or complain like selfish children when He puts us through difficult-but-necessary preparations for His service.

Here Satan tried to turn Jesus away from His Father. Knowing that the key to Jesus’ power was His relationship with His Father, Satan tried to separate them. He tried to turn Jesus toward His own needs.

Jesus stayed focused on His Father. In His responses to Satan, He always spoke of the Father’s will. That was His constant concern.

That is also our key in temptation. When you first sense Satan’s approach, turn to your Father. Ask for His provision, His will, and His glory. Nothing can shake you if you depend on Him.

I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
(Psalm 16:8, NIV)

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: With Jesus in Temptation
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The Transfiguration

2014-02-16 Devotional with Hymn No comments

“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” 

About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure [literally, His exodus] which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters–one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) 

While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone.
(Luke 9:27-36, NIV)

Jesus had just drawn from His disciples a confession that He was indeed the Messiah. Immediately He began to explain to them what this would mean: He would have to suffer, be rejected, and be killed, then rise again after three days; and if they wanted to be His disciples, they would have to deny themselves, take up their own crosses daily, and follow Him.

What a bombshell for these disciples! It definitely wasn’t what they were expecting, either for Jesus or for themselves.

So to cement this crucial new revelation about Jesus, three of the disciples were given a glimpse of who He really was. Normally an ordinary-looking Hebrew peasant, for a few fleeting moments three disciples saw a glimmer of His natural glory. He physically shone with the radiance of heaven, and there in person were the law and the prophets, Moses and Elijah, testifying to Him. What a stunning sight!

Decades later, as an old man, Peter would still be talking about it as the day of his own martyrdom drew near:

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18, NIV)

This was the One who would soon suffer humiliation and a seemingly-final death. This was the One calling them to lay down their lives and follow Him.

And for all of us who follow after, the truth about who Jesus is still brings us assurance and stability. Who Jesus is fills our uncertainty with a settled peace. It points us beyond suffering to eternal glory. We must never forget Whom we are following. We must never forget Who spoke the wisdom and the promises by which we live.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Transfiguration Hymn
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Forgive Me, Lord

2014-02-09 Devotional with Hymn No comments

If anyone has material possessions and
sees his brother in need but has no pity on him,
how can the love of God be in him?
(1 John 3:17, NIV)

I watched as a flock of Canadian geese walked through the grass, feeding together. And I wondered:

How would I react if I saw one bird aggressively taking most of the food, hoarding it from the others, letting them starve?

Father, I wonder how I look to You in my wealth and comfort while so many of Your dear ones are in desperate need. You provide enough for all of us, as you do for the birds. But I use so much and share so little.

Forgive me, Father. Teach me how You want me to live. Teach me how to love those in need.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Open Your Hand
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The Truth Sets You Free

2014-02-02 Devotional with Hymn No comments

John 8:31-36

Continue in the word of Jesus Christ.
Remain in it day by day.
Walk in it.
Make it your lifestyle.
Faith is more than a momentary decision.
Discipleship is a daily commitment.

As you walk with Jesus,
the Truth is your constant personal companion, and
the Truth sets you free.
You are no longer bound by your own weaknesses.
Sin can no longer master you and keep you as its slave.
Its lies have no more hold over you.
The Truth has set you free,
and you are truly, completely free!

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Think, Speak, and Live the Truth
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The Beatitudes Describe Jesus

2014-01-26 Beatitudes, Devotional with Hymn No comments

This is the final installment in an eleven-part series on the Beatitudes.
Each part features a hymn to a familiar tune.

Do you want to better understand the Beatitudes, or any of the Bible’s teachings, for that matter? Look at the life of Jesus. The Beatitudes are describing Him. He is the fullness of the person they are recommending. He is the way to the Father, the truth about the Father, and the life of the Father made human flesh (John 14:6).

He is thoroughly pleasing to His Father. At His baptism, the Father spoke from heaven:

This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. (Matthew 3:17, NASB)

At the transfiguration, as Jesus was about to be rejected, humiliated, tortured, and murdered by the Jewish leaders, the Father repeated virtually the same words of glowing approval.

The Apostle Paul, having described Jesus’ humble obedience, even to the point of death, phrased the Father’s pleasure and blessing this way:

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11, NIV)

Jesus’ life is the life most fully blessed by the Father. To understand the Beatitudes, look to Him.

He was poor in spirit. He had emptied Himself of all His own power and glory. He made Himself completely dependent on His Father for every word and every action. Though Lord of all, at His death He owned absolutely nothing. His only possessions, the clothes on His back, were divided by the soldiers as He died. Yet truly the entirely kingdom of God was His.

He wept with the other mourners at Lazarus’ death, and He wept over unrepentant Jerusalem. Though already full of righteousness and pure in heart, pleasing His Father was His food and focus and constant passion.

He was meek, and He was merciful. He spoke one-on-one with people from all walks of life, including the very lowest levels of society, and He always showed each individual dignity and respect. He forgave the worst of them, even His enemies as they were torturing and killing Him.

Though He was persecuted, pressured, and pursued most of His public life, He constantly lived God’s peace and spoke God’s peace. In the face of Jewish leaders intent on His execution and an angry mob calling for His life, He remained silent and calm. He never defended Himself, speaking only to faithfully witness to the truth.

Jesus is the life blessed by our Father. Embrace Him. Exalt Him. Desire Him. Follow Him. Be filled and led by His Spirit.

Above all else in this world, seek a close relationship with Jesus Christ.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Lord, Life Becomes More Simple
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Blessed Are the Persecuted

2014-01-23 Beatitudes, Devotional with Hymn No comments

This is the tenth of an eleven-part series on the Beatitudes.
Each part features a hymn to a familiar tune.

Jesus eighth and final beatitude is this:

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12, NASB)

The Sermon on the Mount, and particularly the Beatitudes, teach us how to live in the presence of our Father who is almighty, all-wise, all-loving, and always with us. Trusting such a God turns our usual way of living upside-down. Giving now makes sense, not grasping…meekness, not pride…hungering and thirsting after holiness rather than glory and gold. We mourn what others consider normal or even good.

But here, as we suffer persecution and injustice, the opposite happens. In a situation where others mourn, we rejoice. Consider these verses:

When people insult you and persecute you…rejoice and be glad. (Matthew 5:11-12, NASB)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials. (James 1:2, NIV)

Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering…rejoice. (1 Peter 4:12-13, NIV)

Why should we rejoice when life is painfully unjust? Why should suffering that is unfair and even life-threatening become a compelling reason for joy? God’s Word gives us these reasons:

  1. If we suffer for doing the right thing, we are blessed by Sovereign God. He has decreed our eternal well-being. That is reason to celebrate! (Matthew 5:10-12; 1 Peter 3:14; 4:14)
  1. In exchange for temporary suffering, we gain a reward that is infinitely greater and more lasting. It will be the best exchange you ever make! (Matthew 5:10-12; Mark 10:29-30; Romans 8:17-18; 1 Peter 1:3-7; Revelation 2:9-10; 7:13-17)
  1. Suffering for doing good puts us in great company. The saints of all the ages, the prophets, and Jesus Christ Himself went through such suffering and are now enjoying their rich reward. They are like an entire stadium full of encouragers, watching as we run our race, cheering us on. (Hebrews 11:1 – 12:3)
  1. Suffering is extremely fruitful. When we are willing to suffer for Christ and for what is right, others take notice. Christ considered His suffering to be His best chance to glorify His Father. It is our best chance as well. As we suffer, we are planting seeds that will grow an abundant, eternal harvest. (John 12:23-28a; Philippians 1:12-14; 2 Timothy 2:8-10)
  1. Suffering tests and refines our faith, which is our vital connection with the unseen God. Suffering builds priceless character traits that can’t be developed any other way. (Romans 5:1-5; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 4:12-14)
  1. Most importantly, as we suffer for Christ, we are suffering with Christ. We are united with Him more deeply. In a very tangible way that goes beyond words, we are embracing His faith in the Father, His commitment to the salvation of the world, and His eternal destiny. We are throwing in our lot completely with Him. We are bound to Him, not just by our promises, but by pain and sacrifice. (Philippians 3:7-11; Colossians 1:24; 2 Timothy 2:11-12)

When Jesus listed the qualities that God blesses most richly, the qualities that are the keys to true and eternal success, the climax of His list was suffering for Christ.

Father, when I have to suffer for following Christ, help me not to be surprised, discouraged, angry, or afraid. You offer each believer a unique opportunity to share in His sufferings in some small way. When my opportunity comes, help me to accept it for what it is: a precious and personal gift from You.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Captives of Eternal Love
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Blessed Are the Peacemakers

2014-01-21 Beatitudes, Devotional with Hymn No comments

This is the ninth of an eleven-part series on the Beatitudes.
Each part features a hymn to a familiar tune.

Jesus’ seventh beatitude is this:

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9, NASB)

Father, You are the God of peace.
In You there is no conflict of any kind.
You are wholeness.
You are harmony.
You are complete and pure well-being.

You are the ultimate peacemaker.
You sent Your only Son from Your heavenly peace
into our battleground world.
Prophets announced Him as the Prince of Peace.
Saints and angels greeted Him as the coming of Your peace.
Throughout His 33 years He lived Your peace and taught Your peace
while wrapped in the most severe poverty and persecution.
And before returning to You, He spoke Your perfect peace
into the hearts and lives of His followers, saying:

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” (John 14:27, NASB)

In Christ, You have brought Your peace to us.
Paul told the Ephesians:

He Himself is our peace. (Ephesians 2:14, NASB)

And to the Colossians he said:

It was the Father’s good pleasure…through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:19-20, NASB)

In Christ, we have peace with You.
Romans 5:1 says:

Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NASB)

In Christ, our hearts and minds are wrapped in Your peace
throughout every circumstance
as we trust You.
Philippians 4:6-7 says it so beautifully:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NASB)

In Christ, You have promised to permeate all creation with Your perfect peace.
Many centuries ago, Isaiah described our future this way:

The wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6, 9, NASB)

In the meantime, Father, You have left us here, wrapped in Your peace,
to be Your peacemakers.
You are the ultimate peacemaker.
You made peace here
by coming to us,
by crossing every barrier to reach us in our need.
You made peace by
loving,
healing,
forgiving,
talking,
listening, and
giving,
by accepting suffering daily, and
in the end, pouring out Your life completely.

You call us to make peace the same way,
by daily, constantly pouring out our lives for others.
And as we make peace,
You call us Your children.

Father, what reward could be greater?
How could we do any less than share the precious gift of
Your peace?

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: God of Peace
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Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

2014-01-19 Beatitudes, Devotional with Hymn No comments

This is the eighth of an eleven-part series on the Beatitudes.
Each part features a hymn to a familiar tune.

Jesus’ sixth beatitude is this:

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8, NASB)

That is very much like Psalm 24, where it says,

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
(Psalm 24:3-5, NASB)

Father, I long to be pure.
I long to want only what You want.
I long for my every desire, every thought, and every action
to flow from love for You.
You have planted this desire deep within me.
I know that I can only live in Your holy presence
if I have clean hands and a pure heart.

But Father, purity is beyond me.
I was born in sin.
My roots sink deeply into it.
Even when I want to do the right thing,
without You I’m too weak.
Only You are pure, and
only You can make me pure.
You call me to a purity that only You can provide.
And Lord, You have promised it to me.
You said:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness…I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you…I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27, NASB)

Father, You have promised my purity, and
You have provided it completely through Jesus Christ.
But what is my part?
Am I only a passive observer in all this?
How should I respond to what You have done for me?

Paul wrote:

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1, NASB)

And this:

In reference to your former manner of life…lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit…and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. (Ephesians 4:22-24, NASB)

And to the Colossians, he wrote:

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature.
Rid yourselves of all such things. (Colossians 3:5, 8, NASB)

Father, Your promises are always a call to faith, and
faith always demands action.
My faith is in You.
I believe that in Jesus Christ, Your divine power has given us
everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3, NIV).
I believe that as I walk in the light,
I have unbroken fellowship with You, and
You deliver me from all sin (1 John 1:7).
I believe that as I turn to You and trust You,
You help me lay aside my old self and
put on the new self You have created for me.
Holy God, I believe that as I trust and obey You,
You help me purify my heart and mind and life.

Praise to You, Father!
Continue to make me more and more like Your pure and beautiful Son,
Jesus Christ!

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Holy in Me
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Blessed Are the Merciful

2014-01-16 Beatitudes, Devotional with Hymn No comments

This is the seventh of an eleven-part series on the Beatitudes.
Each part features a hymn to a familiar tune.

Jesus’ fifth beatitude is this:

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7, NASB)

Father, You are merciful.
You are kind to the undeserving.
You are generous even with the greedy and selfish.
You freely forgive those who wrong You.
You warmly welcome the unworthy.
You are gracious and patient and always good.

You call us to be the same.
If we are to be Your children,
we are to think and love and act like You.
We are to be merciful.

What’s more, the giving and receiving of mercy are inseparably linked.
We cannot receive Your forgiveness
unless we extend it to others.
Your forgiveness cannot flow to us
until it flows through us.
Until we grant forgiveness to those who have wronged us,
we remained enslaved by sin,
suffering the lovelessness, resentment, anxiety and anger that injustice brings.
We can only free ourselves by also
freeing those who have wronged us.
If mercy is the solution for sin,
it is the solution for every last one of us.

Father, Your Son showed us the way of mercy.
While being tortured till death, He prayed,

“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34, NASB)

When I suffer because of someone else,
give me His Spirit.
Give me His love.

When I am asked to share with the undeserving,
give me Your generous heart.
You lavishly pour out an entire world of blessings
on both the wicked and the good.

Father, grow in me
Your compassion,
Your open heart,
Your open hand,
Your freedom from selfishness.

May the needy sense in me Your eagerness to
smile and help and bless.
Let all who cross my path,
including the unkind,
get a glimpse of Your beautiful, life-giving mercy
through me.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Let Mercy Shine
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Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

2014-01-14 Beatitudes, Devotional with Hymn No comments

This is the sixth of an eleven-part series on the Beatitudes.
Each part features a hymn to a familiar tune.

Jesus’ fourth beatitude is this:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6, NASB)

We are not self-sufficient, self-contained beings.
We have needs outside ourselves:
food, water, and air,
shelter and security,
relationships and fellowship,
purpose and meaning,
knowledge and wisdom.

We are needy, and
the Source of all things is God.
We need God in absolutely every way.
We are inherently, completely, eternally, inescapably dependent on Him.

But we have broken our relationship.
We have turned away from Him and
have tried to supply our needs through other sources.
But all these sources are
secondary and shallow,
temporary and painfully inadequate.
We have aspired to be gods,
self-sufficient and
self-contained.
But we are not and
can never be.

This is especially true of our greatest need,
a need we rarely face and only vaguely realize:
We need help to be who we ought to be.
Our most desperate need is our inward weakness.
On our own, we cannot think or act as truth demands.
We sense this weakness,
but we don’t want to admit it to ourselves or to others.
We don’t grasp how broad it is or how deep it goes.
Our own will-power is no match for this weakness,
and none of our reasoning or acquired wisdom can enable us to conquer it.
We are deeply wrong, and
we cannot make ourselves right.

Father, You are completely right, and
we long to be right as You are right.
O God, we are hungry for it.
We are thirsty for it—
so
very
thirsty.
We’ve tried and tasted everything else, and nothing satisfies.
Nothing can touch this hunger, this thirst.
All that we’ve tried is like drinking dust:
it only makes us more thirsty.

Our God, we hear Your invitation:

Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost. (Isaiah 55:1, NASB)

We come to You.
We turn to You, thirsty for Your own Spirit to fill us.
Jesus said:

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive. (John 7:37-39, NASB)

As we come, we find that You are not far away.
Before we ever thought of coming to You,
You came to us.
You gave Yourself to us,
You who are the Living Bread.
Jesus said:

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” (John 6:35, NASB)

You Yourself are the Water of Life.
Jesus promised us this:

“Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14, NASB)

Almighty God, our Creator, our Father,
You Yourself are what we long for.
You Yourself are what we need.
We hunger and thirst for Your rightness.
We hunger and thirst
for You.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: We Taste Your Life and Long for More
Recording
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