Tues.’s Devo - The Crossroad

Read: Jeremiah 6:16-8:7; Colossians 2:8-23; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 24:26 Israel was at a crossroads and they needed to decide what road they were about to take. One of the choices was to go back to their roots and choose the road that God mapped out for their nation. But, that was not the road they wanted to choose. God had sent prophets which were like signposts to show them the road to take but they refused to pay attention to the signs. The result would be disaster. They would eat the fruit of their own hands which was wickedness. Jeremiah was to test the people and find out what they were made of as a tester or metals examines stones and metals to see if they were pure or worthless. God would label them as “Rejected Silver.” God sent Jeremiah to the gates of the Temple to tell them that if they repented he would allow them to stay in their own land. Just because God’s Temple was there didn’t mean he had to keep the people there. God promised to be merciful only if they would stop their evil thoughts and deeds and started treating each other with justice. They must stop exploiting foreigners, orphans and widow and stop murdering and worshiping idols. Then they would be able to stay in their land forever. The people had a false sense of security because of the Temple of the Lord. They thought God would never let it be destroyed but they were wrong. God had made it clear when they built it that the building could not contain him and that he didn’t need an earthly building with his name on it. The whole earth was his footstool. When the people refused to turn back to Him, God told Jeremiah to stop praying and crying out for the people. They were bent on worshipping other gods and teaching their children to do the same. They were to tell the people this so they would be warned of how God was thinking. They had set up idols inside God’s Temple and their dumping place would become a valley of slaughter. The enemy was coming from the north and it would open up their graves and scatter their bones where they will not be buried again. In other words, they will expose their sins where they will not be able to hid from them. God ended his words explaining that even birds know when to migrate back to their homes but his people refuse to come back home - back to him. Human reasoning and philosophy is the opposite of God’s ways. The only way we can know anything about God is through Christ. When we come to Christ he performs the operation of circumcision on our sinful nature. When Jesus died on the cross he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities that led us to sin. Jesus shamed these spiritual enemies on the cross. Lord, help us to walk in the freedom you purchased for us on the cross. Thank you for your wisdom and revelation.

Tues.’s Devo - The Love of God

Read: Song of Songs 1:1-4:16; 2 Corinthians 8:16-24; Psalm 50:1-23; Proverbs 22:22-23 Song of Songs is an interesting book and means “holy of holies”. It was not even allowed to be read by anyone under 30 because they would not be mature enough to understand its true meaning. Though it is an allegory of a man and a woman, it is the story of God’s great love for his people, Israel. It begins by explaining how great the love of God is. His name is like olive oil poured out. Olive oil was the symbol of the Holy Spirit and this shows how wonderful it is when the Holy Spirit is poured out over a nation. Solomon compares the presence of the Lord like a bundle of myrrh that lies next to his heart all through the night. Surely to the Israelite, God was the lily in the valley. He was with them in all their sufferings. He was with them in suffering, in persecution, bondage, exile and war. They went through seasons of refreshing like the seasons of harvests. Jesus was found in the cleft of the rock - he came gushing out of the rock when Moses prayed for water. Many times through their wilderness wanderings they felt abandoned and alone but God was with them even then. Israel went through great humiliation but rose up to be one of the mightiest nations in the earth under Solomon. Solomon talks about his splendor in Chapter three. In Chapter four, God describes his love for his faithful followers. He mentions the lion’s den, probably referring to Daniel’s unwavering love for him. No doubt, he is referring to his prophets who suffered greatly to speak for him and choose him over life and comfort. In Corinthians, Paul and Titus are coming together to bring the offerings of the churches to Jerusalem. Paul wants another person to prove his accountability in guarding this great offering. Titus has longed to come and meet the rest of the body of Christ throughout the region and Paul greatly respects his walk with the Lord. In Paul, we see the loving Father God. Paul praises those who work with him and loves them as a son. Paul feels the same way about his churches. They are his off-spring. This is just the way God feels about us. He is proud of our successes, reproves our missteps and loves us with an undying love. Lord, thank you for your long-suffering, never tiring love for us. Thank you for being our constant companion and for never leaving us. Thank you for your discipline and your rod of correction. We welcome your hand in our lives.

Mon.’s Devo - Wisdom and Giving -

Read: Ecclesiastes 10:1-12:14; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; Psalm 49:1-20; Proverbs 22:20-21 Today, Solomon talks about wise people, foolish people, and youth. He says that the wise will choose the right road; where a foolish person can be identified by he way he walks. Some princes are foolish while some servants are wise. So position has no bearing on worth. All the people suffer when the rulers are foolish. Success comes through hard and steady work. To the youth he reminds them that they will one day give an account to God for everything they do. He calls us all to remember God before we get old and have spent our strength on meaningless things. We all go the way of the grave and judgment day comes to everyone. He gives some common sense like, “Using a dull ax requires great strength, so sharpen the blade.” And to have a diverse portfolio. He concludes his speech with: Fear God and obey his commands and remember that everything known and done in secret will be judged. Paul reminds his people that their testing produced much joy and generosity. Though they were poor, they gave more than he had hoped to the church in Jerusalem which made Paul so proud of them. Paul encourages them to give again like they did at the first of the year. Paul seemed to always be encouraging them to be givers because he wanted to instill in them the habit of taking care of one another. One day, they might be the ones in need and the people they give to now might be the ones giving to them. They all needed to learn to care for one another. Our Psalm reminds us also that we can take nothing with us when we die so we should spend our money wisely while we are living. Lord, help us to have wisdom with what you have given us. Help us to be generous and joyful in our giving. Thank you for the way you given us your only son and so much more. We are grateful. May we give as you gave.

Sun.’s Devo - Enjoy Life -

Read: Ecclesiastes 7:1-9:18; 2 Corinthians 7:8-16; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbs 22:17-19 Solomon talks much about death in today’s reading. Realizing that death is inevitable is healthy and helps you make better decisions. We are all born to die one day. Life is our gift from God and we have a set amount of time to enjoy it and live it for Him. I laughed out loud when I read that Solomon thought only one out of a thousand men were virtuous and not one woman. Then he turns around and says that people are born to be virtuous so we all have missed that mark. It is God’s plan that we be virtuous and he gave us his Word, his son and the Holy Spirit to help us to live righteously. Solomon says that a wise person will find a time and a way to do what is right and there is an answer even if you are in trouble. I have seen that happen so many times in my life. When I have gotten myself into an unfixable situation, God will show me a way to fix it that I would have never come up with on my own. I saw that happen in my curtain business over and over. Here is some advise to parents: when a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. Punish your children as soon as you see them do something wrong and they will learn faster what is right and that there are always consequences for doing what is wrong. Solomon’s recommendation to the fate of life is to enjoy the life you are given. Have fun and experience happiness. Laughter is good like a medicine so we need to create times of fun and laughter to carry us through the hard times. Solomon also encourages us to do everything to the best of our ability. Doing something well is a reward that no one can take away. Even if no one appreciates what you do, you can be proud that did it well. Solomon ends with, “one sinner can destroy much the is good.” If we turn that around we can say, “one righteous person can destroy much that is evil.” Paul talks to the Corinth church and commends it for repenting after his rebuke. Now they are much stronger than they were before and it strengthened him to see them thriving. Repentance takes off blinders and sets people free to love and become what they are called to be. Lord, help us to enjoy our lives today and be happy. May repentance free us to see better and have wisdom. Thank you for the lives you have given us and for putting us on earth for this moment in time. May we finish our race and fulfill our destiny.

Sat.’s Devo - Jesus is the Answer

Read: Ecclesiastes 4:1-6:12; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:7; Psalm 47:1-9; Proverbs 22:16 It is hard to read Ecclesiastes and not think of songs in the 70’s like Bob Dylan’s “The Answer is Blowing in the Wind” and Donovan’s “Catch the Wind”. Solomon can be rather depressing as he considers life and its meaning. He comes up with ‘meaningless’ and ‘chasing the wind’ as his answers to most of life. Today he does see one thing to bring a ray of hope. He says it is good for people to embrace their own destiny instead of comparing their lives to others. He encourages us to enjoy the life God has given us instead of trying to be something we were never meant to be. That is great advise. Paul tells us not to team up with unbelievers because there can be no agreement there. God called his people out of the world to be separate and we are not to make covenants with people who aren’t in the same kingdom we are. Paul was constantly in the battle of good verses evil and was so aware of it. Lord, help us to be aware of the battle of good verses evil around us. May we separate ourselves from what defiles us and press on to the destiny we are called to. Thank you for the plan you have for our lives and may we not envy others and what they have. May we be grateful for everything you have given us and keep your kingdom first in our minds.

Fri.’s Devo - Chasing The Wind

Read: Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Psalm 46:1-11; Proverbs 22:15 Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon in his old age. In his time, people would meet to hear the philosophy of great wise men, Solomon being the greatest. In these yearly meetings, Solomon gave his philosophy found in Ecclesiastes. It is divided into six parts so he could have given a different part every year. Proverbs was written when Solomon was young and walking close to the Lord, Ecclesiastes was written after he had married many women and lived a life of wealth, paganism and selfishness. Ecclesiastes is his summary of what he learned from life lessons. We read today that Solomon felt most of his life was full of meaningless things he referred to as ‘chasing after the wind’. He describes the sun chasing itself around the earth, the wind chasing itself, the rivers running and people chasing after anything new. Everything was running and chasing itself. We call that the “rat race” - a hamster on a wheel. Solomon admits that he was the greatest chaser. He chased wisdom, knowledge, foolishness, happiness, achievements, wealth, women, pleasure, and hard work. He summed it all up with the word ‘meaningless’ - a chasing after the wind. The only satisfaction that Solomon found was to realize that pleasures are from the hand of God who gives them out as he wishes. God works in seasons and everyone finds themself in one of God’s seasons which change all though our lives. Sometimes we are in the season of planting and sometimes we are in the season of reaping. The wisdom is to find out what season you are in and bloom there. Chances are, your season will not last long, so you learn what you need to learn during that season to prepare you for the nest season. Solomon says that God has made everything beautiful for its own time. That means that in every season, God has something beautiful for us to learn about him and about his ways. Since God has put eternity in the human heart, we can be happy no matter what we are going through because we understand that this is not our eternal home and we are living for a much greater purpose and reward. Paul says exactly the same thing to his followers in Corinth. He describes the trials of his life and explains how he can patiently endure. He is not living for today, but eternity. Paul doesn’t have to depend upon his wisdom and understanding like Solomon, Paul has the Holy Spirit who empowers him to keep going and preaching the truth. The Holy Spirit is truly a gift from Jesus to be our helper. Lord, thank you for the Holy Spirit, our constant companion. May we walk in your wisdom and your power. Thank you for the changes of our lives, may we flourish in every season.

Thurs.’s Devo - New Birth

Read: Job 40:42-17; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21; Psalm 45:1-17; Proverbs 22:14 God accuses Job of being his critic but asks him if he has all the answers. Job has nothing to say. (Good answer.) Then God has more questions for Job. He asks Job if he would discredit His justice to prove his point. He challenges Job to put on his glory and vent his anger to the proud and put them in their places. God is being sarcastic because only he can humiliate the proud. God uses the example of one of his creatures called Behemoth. Behemoth was probably the hippopotamus. Nothing scares him or catches him off guard. Nothing can capture or tame him. All of creation shows us a part of God’s character and the behemoth shows us God’s might and power. Next, God mentions Leviathan which was a crocodile or a large sea monster. It cannot be tamed or conquered by man either. It is another example of God’s sovereignty and power. Fire comes out of its mouth much like God’s word comes out of his. It fears nothing and neither does God. Job repents and tells God that he spoke of things he knew nothing about. Now that he has seen God with his own eyes he takes back everything he has said. Then God went to visit Job’s friends and tells them that they were all wrong about Job. To make things right they needed to offer sacrifices and go to Job and receive his prayer for them. Job did pray for his friends and then God reversed everything for Job. He was restored his fortunes doubly. He gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters. He lived another 140 years and saw four generations of his children and grand children. He died an old man having lived a long, full life. Job’s encounter with God was like his salvation that ushered him into a whole new life. Paul explained that Jesus died so they could live, so they also must die to their selves to live a new life unto God. We have been reconciled back to God just as Job was. This is the gift of reconciliation and the great news that we share with others. Lord, thank you for the message of the cross and the gift of reconciliation. Thank you that we now have a way to communicate and fellowship with you. May we feel your presence today as we go about our day. All glory and honor to you.