Daily Gospel Devotional: September 9

John 12:37-43…

You see what you seek…

The rejection of Jesus was not a rational thing. He had done so many signs and wonders it was an almost more amazing wonder that most had not believed. Instead of an intellectual thing, it was a prophetic thing. This rejection was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 53:1-3). Their own sin led to the hardening of their hearts, and the miracles only calcified their consciences. However, their unbelief did not ruin the purposes of God, but rather confirmed them.

Therefore they could not believe. John wants us to understand the grace of God toward us who are not Jews. The plan of God included us and in order for that plan to include us as an individual, it had to be taken away from Israel as a nation (Romans 9:6-8, 11:25). God ordained that the Jews reject Jesus that He might be crucified for our sins.

This rejection involved both the will of the unbelieving Jews and the will of God (Acts 2:23). This was all known to God and all predicted by Isaiah, who saw the glory of the Lord (Isaiah 6:1-4), and therefore submitted to His sovereignty (Isaiah 6:8-10). He was given the picture of the Messiah as the Suffering Servant, the sacrifice for man’s sin (Isaiah 53:4-12). God is sovereign, and to deny that is to attempt to rob Him of glory.

People think they can wait to submit to Jesus, but the longer they wait, the more difficult it gets. Even when we have committed to Christ, Christians struggle with the temptation to be secret and blend in with the world (but for fear…they did not confess it). The truth is that we are more concerned with our own comfort than we are about seeing God’s glory as revealed in Scripture. Consequently, we fear the world and love its glory. Conversely, if we see His glory, this is what calms our fears.

For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. If you seek your own glory, you will see Jesus with the eyes of fear. If you seek God’s glory, you will see Jesus with the eyes of faith. There is a price to following Jesus. The offer is free, but it will mean the loss of certain things. For Jesus, obedience cost Him His life. In one way or another, it will cost you yours as well.

It all depends on how you see things.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Daily Gospel Devotional: September 8

John 12:20-36…

Value the vision…

Jesus teaches us that to die to self and to serve Him will bring honor from God the Father, and spiritual light will be the result. Walking in this light will increase our fruitfulness, and it will lead us down the path of finding our satisfaction in God and His plan.

We say that we believe this, but then we ask, “Why is it so hard?”

The truth is we don’t fully submit and so we see the obstacles to faith not the object of it. Sometimes we see Jesus as our all in all in general terms, but something else looms larger in the moment. We stop walking and the light grows dim, we can’t see where we are going, and we fail to move from fear.

For some it is simply a struggle with submission itself. For them spiritual vision is mostly an idea. Jesus really isn’t in focus day by day, and He is just turned to when everything else is closing in on them. Many people want just enough God to get out of trouble, but only so as to try it their way once again. The problem with this is that if you get out of trouble, but you don’t get into truth, you will get back into trouble again. Your way won’t work, and you have to see that submission to God is the way into true fulfillment for you.

This is the true problem; people don’t believe God will do right by them, as far as they measure such things. They feel and live as if their ultimate good must also include their temporal satisfaction. They may indeed let God define a good ending but they define a good life.

The way to spiritual vision is the same in every avenue of life. You must follow Christ to the Cross by faith. There is no side road to salvation, or deliverance. If you want the power of God, if you want to learn to value the vision, to see how good God really is, you must go down Repentance Road, and make sure you stop at Submission Street. If you don’t, believe me, you will have made a wrong turn.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Daily Gospel Devotional: September 7

Mark 11:18-19 / Luke 19:47-48…

Favor or flavor…

And he was teaching daily in the temple. He cleansed it, then He healed in it, and now He taught in it. The religious leaders were boiling mad. They had tried to outsmart and outwit Him, and that having failed, they were out to kill Him.

But they did not find anything they could do. It was evident to them that Jesus had power with the people; they were looking on Him as a hero. This meant that while the chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, they had to be careful not to start a riot, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

Jesus was at the height of His popularity for now. There was an excitement about His ministry, but it was mostly a “mob” mentality. The increase of the crowds stirred excitement, but the religious leaders will eventually get the people to turn on Jesus. For all the people were hanging on his words, but they did not do them (Ezekiel 33:30-33 / Mark 4:16-17 / James 1:22).

Many can be stirred to excitement for a moment, yet in the end it is merely an excitement about being a part of the “in crowd”, being at the place where things are “happening.” It is the same today as it was back then; Christians and churches can be swept away with such a mentality.

Are we using church activity as a covering for a life of sin? Are we being transformed, or are we merely excited that our church or doctrine is growing in popularity? Is this thing permanent to you? It does no good if your favor of Jesus is just the flavor of the week.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©