Tag Archives: power

For God so loved he used his great power, April 1, 2019

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We are in the middle of Lent. Not the kind of tiny little balls of cotton that stick to your clothes, but the kind that has all but been forgotten in the Christian in terms of its original purpose. When Lent began almost two millennia ago, the church used it as a time to introduce new converts to a period of study to ensure they understood what the faith really entailed.

By the middle of the fourth century, Christianity had leaked into some of the ruling class and some tried to claim the faith without understanding what the faith really was or what it meant. Lent ensured new baptismal candidates really knew about Jesus, knew about lostness without him, and knew the real cost of the commitment of following him. So here we are looking at Lent, preparing for Easter, examining ourselves in light of who Jesus is, the salvation he brings us, and the price he paid and our commitment to him because of it.

This morning in my devotions, I ran across these words: “In the beginning, there was power.” I’d never used those words about the creation story myself, but of course they are true. We understand the incredible forces resident in our universe. We understand because of our scientific knowledge, how the sun continues to shine and give us the light and warmth we require to survive. The fusion explosions that continually fuel the sun and enable life in this very narrow band of our solar system in which we thrive provides enormous energy.

We sometimes discuss nuclear power and how little fuel it takes to power cities with the energy those plants produce. They are certainly dangerous when not properly controlled because of the radiation they can produce, but the raw energy that can come from those tiny amounts of material compared to every other form of energy production is phenomenal. Someday we will figure out how to harness that power more safely and use it worldwide as our best sources of power instead of fossil fuels and other lesser forms of energy production.

But back to creation. Can you imagine the power of the sun times billions of stars like it stretched across our galaxy that we call the Milky Way? Now can you imagine billions of those galaxies like ours stretched across the universe? Our God made those. The Bible tells us he just spoke them into place. Out of nothing. His imagination and his voice created those powerhouses. Just like that. He spoke and it was done. His power created all there is. Some would have you believe it all just happened. That given enough time, all the universe would shape itself into what we have today because of the laws of physics.

The problem with that theory is the thermodynamic property called entropy. Left alone, things tend to become more chaotic, not less. Enough monkeys on enough typewriters will not produce a novel. They will produce nothing but garbage. It’s like the parts of a watch put into a bag and shaken. You’ll never get a watch, only bits of metal that look more like sand than a watch over time. The universe and the power needed to keep it in place requires a designer, a creator. It didn’t just happen.

And where did the raw materials come from in the first place? Now there is a good argument with the “it just happened crowd.” Something had to generate all the atoms that made everything begin. All those hydrogen atoms in the sun that smash together into helium atoms that smash together into larger atoms that smash together into larger atoms that then smash together into molecules that smash together to make something you can see, like water and dirt, had to come from somewhere. So where did it come from unless someone or something created that first hydrogen atom in the first place. Something coming from nothing? Think designer. Think creator. Think God. Think power beyond our ability to think or imagine. He spoke it into place.

The trouble we have today is we are sometimes to smart for our own good. We have discovered all these neat scientific rules to explain how things work. God gave us a pretty nice brain sitting in that bony skull. We only use about 10-15% of its capacity other scientists tell us, but that’s beside the point. The part that we use often makes us rather inquisitive. We want to know about things. What they are. How they work. How we can use things better. What alternative uses can we make of them?

Our inquisitive minds helped us discover all those physics principles, but we didn’t create those principles, we just discovered them. That’s a very important point. We didn’t make the rules. God did. Scientists didn’t cause the world and the universe to operate the way it does, they just discovered some of the mechanics to explain how they work. And they keep modifying those rules because we learn more about them everyday because we still understand so little about how everything really works together in this vast universe. Scientists have a hard time agreeing on things a lot of times. It wasn’t until the late 1500s that we figure out everything in our solar system revolves around our nearest star, the sun, instead of revolving around us! That was a pretty self centered view of the world, but that’s just who we are.

So here we are in the middle of Lent. Three more weeks until Easter. And the thought of the day is “in the beginning there was power.” Power that puts the universe around us into place. Power that creates the laws of physics that keeps order in that universe rather than letting the law of entropy drive those celestial bodies. Power that put this tiny planet in just the right place to sustain life. Power to create that life on the blue planet of our solar system and sustain it. Power to create man and give us the capacity to think and reason. Power to love us and want a relationship with us.

Power to clothe himself in flesh and live among us as an example of how to live and love in community with others. Power to heal and feed thousands. Power to teach what God’s plan and purpose for us. Power to willingly die on a cross to show us the extent of God’s love. Power over death. Power to burst out of a sealed and guarded tomb. Power to appear to over 500 people after his death. Power to ascend to heaven in a cloud. Power to sit at the right hand of God and intervene on our behalf. Power to forgive our sins.

In the beginning there was power. Elohim, the Almighty God. The God of creation. God is the same as he was in the beginning. God will be the same when time stops and eternity stretches on forever. God’s power is beyond our capacity to understand. God was, is, and will be. The Great I Am never changes. His power is available to those who love and serve him. He created us for that purpose. He demands and desires our love. Our devotion. Our worship. He is God, after all. There is no other. He holds the power of creation in his hand.

In this season of Lent as we prepare to celebrate Easter in just a few weeks, think of God’s power. We will sing of his power on that day. Power to overcome death. We will hear sermons on that day. Power to burst forth from the tomb. We will gather to worship the one who demonstrated his power on that first Easter morning 2000 years ago in just a little while. But in these moments. In these few days leading up to our celebration of Easter, take some time to contemplate what God’s power really means. Imagine who he is as Elohim, the Almighty God of creation. Yet came to sacrifice his life that you and I might experience abundant life through him. He shares his incredible, unimaginable power with us, so that we might share his story to those we meet that need his powerful touch.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Adonai (Malachi 1:6), May 27, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Topic Introduction with headline.
Scripture
1. Malachi 1:6
2. Eternal One: (to the priests who despise the name of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies) A son respects his father, and a servant fears[b] his master. If I am your Father, then where is My respect from you? And if I am your glorious Master, then where is your fear of Me? From your self-centered oblivion you ask, “How have we despised Your name?”
Devotional
1. Most often in the NIV, CEV, King James and other versions, Adonai is translated as “LORD”. The Voice translates it as “glorious Master”. Adonai was spoken when the tetragrammaton YHWH was written.
2. We don’t understand the concept of Lord the way the people of England did when King James authorized the translation of the Vulgate into a language the common man could understand
  1. Watch TV shows with lords and ladies
  2. Hear about the titles when we hear about Great Britain’s royalty
  3. Still don’t realize the power lords held over their subjects
  4. The title is believed to have come from an old English word meaning “bread keeper”.
  5. Lord refers to someone who has authority, control, or power over others acting like a master, a chief, or a ruler.
  6. In feudal system, the landowners that provided protection, work and food for tenant families
3. Adonai is one of the seven names the Hebrews used for God that once written could not be erased.
  1. Sacred name of God, Lord of lords,
  2. owner of all things
  3. creator of all things
  4. Everything is His
  5. He has authority, control, power over everyone and everything
  6. Creation turns at His bidding
4. May not understand the term Lord the way those who translated YHWH did
  1. May not feel the weight of lordship the way those in the middle ages did
  2. May not understand the power the lord held over His subjects
  3. We can understand God has authority, control, power over all things
  4. He wants us to recognize who He is as Lord, Adonai
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Elohim (Genesis 1:1), May 26, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Today we start looking at the names of God. He is called a lot of different things in scripture. We will start looking at what His names mean to us today.
Scripture
1. Genesis 1:1; Psalms 19:1
2. In the beginning, God created everything: the heavens above and the earth below.
3. The celestial realms announce God’s glory;

the skies testify of His hands’ great work.

Devotional
1. The Bible starts with the words we just heard, In the beginning, God created everything.
  1. Elohim is an interesting name for God.
  2. Hebrews used it as singular, but ‘im’ usually makes the word plural
  3. Usually means the God of great power
  4. Can mean God of gods, power of powers
2. Hebrews began their basic understanding of God with this word
  1. God of gods, supersedes anything or anyone we might try to put in His place
  2. Power of powers, Elohim is greater, more powerful than anything or anyone Satan may try to use to defeat us.
  3. God is above all
    1. In strength
    2. In knowledge
    3. In wisdom
    4. In goodness
    5. In grace and mercy
    6. In dealing out justice for those who deserve His wrath
  4. Before anything was, God was there and created it
3. When we think about the name Elohim, we also see the triune God-head encapsulated in the name
  1. The word is plural
  2. Singular when referencing God, the creator
  3. Recognition that God is more than one, but one, three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
  4. Those who wrote the words believed in one God, monotheistic society
  5. Still used the plural name, inspired by God
4. As you think of this first name used by the Hebrews to describe our God, think of what qualifies Him to carry this name
  1. Creator
  2. God of gods
  3. Power of powers
  4. Here before the beginning to put in place all there is, nothing exists apart from His spoken word bringing it into existence
5. Elohim, God of power and might
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

That was no magic show (John 11:43-44), March 15, 2017

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Do you like magic shows? I’m always fascinated by them and like to see if I can catch the magician in some mistake that reveals his secrets. 2,000 years ago, that was no magic show at Lazarus’ tomb, though
Scripture
1. John 11:43-44
2. After these words, He called out in a thunderous voice.

Jesus: Lazarus, come out!

Then, the man who was dead walked out of his tomb bound from head to toe in a burial shroud.

Jesus: Untie him, and let him go.

Devotional
1. A couple of months ago, I saw the Illusionists. It’s a group of magicians that do a variety of tricks on stage that really boggle the mind.
  1. A couple of the acts were pretty weird, like running sharp objects through his body. I didn’t care so much for that.
  2. Escape from a water chamber similar to Houdini’s water chamber, but without the straightjacket
  3. One that really fascinated me was a man who just manipulated playing cards.
    1. Hidden in pockets
    2. Appeared from thin air
    3. Thousands of cards
2. We enjoy watching things we can’t figure out
  1. Enjoy trying to catch the magician in his tricks
  2. Try to find the wires or hidden pockets or figure out the strange technology they used to fool you into thinking something magical has happened
  3. Their skills are sometimes incredible
3. 2,000 years ago those around the tomb didn’t see a magic trick
  1. No incantation
  2. No technology, wires, or mirrors
  3. No double to take Lazarus’ place
  4. Jesus prayed, thanked His Father for hearing His prayer
  5. Called in a loud voice
4. The dead man walked out of the tomb bound from head to toe in a burial shroud
  1. Jesus brought life into a dead body
  2. Arms bound to sides
  3. Legs bound together
  4. Enough life to get up, walk out of the tomb wrapped from head to toe, probably hopped out
  5. Took away the stench of death, too
  6. Untie him, and let him go.
  7. Free him from the shroud as I freed him from death
  8. No magic, just power over death
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

A miracle to behold (Luke 10:18-20) October 26, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 122-124

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 10:18-20
Jesus: I know. I saw Satan falling from above like a lightning bolt. I’ve given you true authority. You can smash vipers and scorpions under your feet. You can walk all over the power of the enemy. You can’t be harmed. But listen—that’s not the point. Don’t be elated that evil spirits leave when you say to leave. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We often talk a lot about the things we can do if we have God’s spirit living in us. He gives us His resurrection power to carry out the tasks He gives us. We can face incredible obstacles in accomplishing His will and they just seem to melt away because He is in the plan. We see the evidence of God at work when we carry out His will. It seems nothing can stop His work from going on to completion. The best Satan puts up in defense crumbles when God comes on the scene.

I’ve had the privilege of watching God at work on many occasions. I’ve watched Him melt hearts with sermons I thought were not so good, but He propelled them to someone’s heart to help them see His truth. I’ve watched Him heal in what could only be called miracles. I’ve watched Him change the financial situation of individuals and churches and organizations in ways that baffled financial wizards who said the financial resolution of that particular problem was impossible.

God can and does do the impossible sometimes and we can relish those times. We can point to those events and remember them as the stories in our own lives that point to God’s intervention and His power over this world and Satan’s attempts to frustrate us and keep us from Him. We use those times to remind us of His power and we can rejoice over the fact that He does give us the power to stay victorious as we journey on the path He lays out before us in this life.

But how often do you just stop and remember the good news that your sins have been forgiven? When is the last time that you just stopped and thanked God for His mercy and grace in placing your name in His book of life? Do you look for the miraculous and wonder where God is when you don’t see miracles happening around you? Can you just bask in the wonder of forgiveness?

We forget that the real miracle comes in God’s willingness to take us back despite our disobedience. We forget that God performed a huge miracle in wrapping Himself in human flesh and living among us for over 30 years. Can you imagine what it must have been like to give up heaven to live like us? But He did that so that we could be forgiven. Sometimes I think we take that so lightly. We look for the miraculous when it stares us in the face.

Because He came and lived with us, died for us, and rose from the dead, we can be forgiven. We can be assured He has power over sin and death and the grave. We can know that when He forgives our sins and casts them as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered against us again, our sins really are forgiven. He really does bring us into His kingdom as His children. He adopts us into His family and gives us so much more than we deserve.

We deserve death as the penalty for our disobedience. We deserve eternal separation from God since we acted as His enemies. But instead He gives us opportunities to find repentance and forgiveness. He gives us the opportunity to find acceptance in His love and grace. He lets us make the choice to worship Him and make Him our God and Lord of life. He give us the opportunity to right the wrongs we have committed against Him and He makes us new. He transforms us into the person He created us to be in the first place.

We can still marvel at the miracles He performs for us and around us. We can still be awed by the wonder we see in this world as we see His handiwork in creation and in His answers to prayer on our behalf. But spend some time thinking about the real miracle that takes place when His Spirit comes to us and convicts us of our sin and draws us to Him. Then the miracle that continues when we seek Him with a repentant heart and ask for His forgiveness. And the even greater miracle that comes when in His mercy He forgives us and wipes away our sins. And the incredible miracle that occurs when He writes our name in His book of life that allows us to know we will join Him in heaven through all eternity when this present age comes to a close.

What a God we serve, that He would allow us to join Him for eternity just for the asking. Now that is a miracle to behold.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t you love the power in His simple words? (Mark 1:25) July 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 78-80

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 1:25
Jesus (rebuking him): Be quiet, and come out of him now!

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus starts His ministry with a bang. He teaches and people listen. They are in awe of His understanding of the scriptures. They like what He says. He speaks with authority and the way He shares the Law and the Prophets with such intimate knowledge but as an uneducated carpenter from the village of Nazareth just blows them away. This just shouldn’t be happening. Nazareth was a dean of thieves and robbers. It was the bad side of the tracks for the bad side of the tracks. Nothing good came out of Nazareth and yet here is this Man with such a wonderful gift of teaching God’s message.

Then a man bursts through the crowd screaming out above the sound of His teaching, “I know who you are! You are the Son of the Holy God! What are you doing here? Have you come to destroy us?” It was the demons inside the man screaming out, evaluating the presence of this teacher. They knew exactly who the Man was. And they were afraid. They knew His power. They knew His holiness. They knew He could destroy them with just a single word.

But Jesus’ ministry was just beginning. He didn’t want people to believe because of the testimony of demons. He wanted people to believe in Him because of their faith. He didn’t want His demonstrations to sway them. He wanted them to exercise their faith to realize He was the Son of God. So Jesus stopped the demon from saying anything else.

“Be quiet. Come out of him now!” Jesus demanded silence from the demon that announced who He was. We probably can’t understand why other than what scripture tells us. The timing wasn’t right. He didn’t want to be found out and made king or priest or ruler because people found out too early who He really was. He didn’t come to hold any of those earthly positions. Jesus came to conquer sin. He knew the best way for Him to do that was to live a sinless life and die as the perfect sacrifice for our atonement.

So what can we learn from this exchange between Jesus and this demon He exorcised from this tormented man?

First, we find without a doubt that Jesus is God incarnate. He is the Son of the living God. The second person of the triune Godhead. We don’t understand how all that works, but we can trust that God’s words is true and Jesus, by declaration of the those who walked with Him and the demon’s who feared Him recognized He is God.

The second thing we learn from this exchange is the demons lived among the people of Judea. They inhabited some and did all sorts of dispicable things in and through them. Sometimes it was one demon and sometimes it was many that invaded the life of a single person as we discover in scripture. The Bible doesn’t tell us how demons came to possess this man or others in scripture, but we know they did so to a violent end in most instances. And often the individual had little control over their behavior when the demons decided to take control. No sane person without that influence would throw themselves into the fire, throw themselves on the ground injuring themselves, require chains outside the city because of their violent behavior. But all these describe the activities we read about in God’s word among the demon possessed.

The third thing we learn about this exchange is the demons feared the Son of God. They thought He came to destroy them when they saw Him among the crowd. They feared for their very existence when He approached. They assumed their time had come to an end and judgment day had dawned because Jesus appeared on the scene. They knew they could not defeat Him and bowed in cowardice in His presence.

Next, we learn Jesus had complete and total control over these demons. He told them to be quiet and they spoke no more. He told them to get out of the man and they left. He told the demons to leave immediately and no sooner had Jesus spoken the words than the demons fled. He showed complete and total mastery over the minions of Satan. They could not stand in His presence and power and all He did was speak the words. They could do nothing but obey Him.

Finally, I think we learn that Jesus wants to bring freedom to any of us who want freedom from the sin and evil that is resident within us. We may not be possessed by demons, but we all have sinned and harbor that dark place that needs His light shined upon it so the darkness is dispelled. He wants to do that for us if we will let Him. He is anxious to do the work and all it takes is the sound of His voice. Come out and leave him. For Jesus, it’s that simple. Where no one else can soothe the guilt and turmoil in our soul, Jesus can with just a few simple words. You are forgiven. Enter in. Faithful servant. Child of God. Simple words with great impact.

Don’t you love the power in His simple words?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Don’t catch the woes! (Matthew 23:13-22) May 26, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 41-42

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus: Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. There is such a gulf between what you say and what you do. You will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the kingdom of heaven right in front of everyone; you won’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from doing so.

Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. What you say is not what you do. You steal the homes from under the widows while you pretend to pray for them. You will suffer great condemnation for this.

Woe to you Pharisees, woe to you who teach the law, hypocrites! You traverse hills and mountains and seas to make one convert, and then when he does convert, you make him much more a son of hell than you are.

Woe to you who are blind but deign to lead others. You say, “Swearing by the temple means nothing, but he who swears by the gold in the temple is bound by his oath.” Are you fools? You must be blind! For which is greater: the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, “Swearing by the altar means nothing, but he who swears by the sacrifice on the altar is bound by his oath.” You must be blind! Which is greater: the sacrifice or the altar that makes it sacred? So anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by the sacrifices and gifts laid upon it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the God who sanctifies it. And when you swear by heaven, you are swearing by God’s throne and by Him who sits upon it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

These first woes Jesus gives to the leaders of the religion of His countrymen should give us warning about what God does not want to see in His church today. These were the elite according to those who went into the temple and synagogues. These were the teachers and preachers of the day. These were the ones you were told to emulate if you wanted to get on the right side of God’s grace. Yet Jesus had a lot of pretty harsh words for them as you hear this recollection from Matthew.

“What you say is not what you do. You steal the homes out from under widows. You are blind trying to lead others. You don’t understand what is really important in the temple or the rituals you use within the temple.”

How would you like to hear those words from Jesus? Would it make a difference in what you did or how you acted? It didn’t do much for the Pharisees. They just plotted to kill Him and then carried out their plan. Do we do that? I’m afraid sometimes we do. I’m afraid sometimes we get so caught up in what we think is right we refuse to listen to anything else. We won’t even listen to God. We refuse to listen to anything that might disrupt our comfortable position in the world. We want to be first or at least in the top ten and so we disregard any advice from anyone that would disagree with our position.

That’s what happened to the Pharisees. Jesus disagreed with them. He told them their interpretation of God’s word was wrong. He told those they tried to lead they were blind and not worthy of following because they only wanted glory for themselves and not glory for God. They could stand to share the limelight, even with God. As soon as Jesus began to challenge their position, the thing they coveted the most, they did everything they could to destroy Him.

Jesus saw through them, just like He can see through us when we seek glory for ourselves. We can talk a good game and maybe even do some good things for those around us. The Pharisees did. They prayed well. They took up offerings for the poor. It looked like they did great works for all those around them. But Jesus, and the Father knew better. God knew their hearts and the purpose behind their plans and actions. God knew the ego they worked to stroke with every action they took.

So Jesus told them like it is and hoped they would hear and repent. Those words remain for us today so that we can hear and understand and avoid the temptations to which the Pharisees fell. Woe to you Pharisees. Get it right. Do what you preach. If you know God’s word, then do it. Don’t just pray for the widows, but put feet to your prayers and help them. Don’t live a double standard. Be straight up with the people you lead and should be serving. Understand what’s really important. It’s not the rituals and programs you put in place to help you remember God and His grace. It’s His grace. It’s not the monuments we build to remind us about our journey with Him, it’s Him.

Until we recognize God for who He is and bow before Him as the Creator of all things, God, Commander of His Heavenly Armies and King of the universe and all it contains. Until we acknowledge He is God and we are nothing beside Him, we will try to be like those Pharisees, jockeying for position and power instead of giving our all to the King of kings, giving all glory to Him. Don’t be caught catching the woes the Pharisees caught from Jesus.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Learn to be a servant (Matthew 20:25-28) May 10, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Exodus 21-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 20:25-28
Jesus: Do you want the Kingdom run like the Romans run their kingdom? Their rulers have great power over the people, but God the Father doesn’t play by the Romans’ rules. This is the Kingdom’s logic: whoever wants to become great must first make himself a servant; whoever wants to be first must bind himself as a slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as the ransom for many.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Here’s another one of those speeches that got Jesus in so much trouble. “God the Father doesn’t play be the Romans’ rules.” Once again Jesus turned the world’s thought process upside down. Aren’t you supposed to work your way to the top? Aren’t you supposed to take your knowledge and wealth and power and find a position worthy of your experience as you get older? Aren’t you supposed to try to gain those seats of power in your workplace, in your home, at church, in your social circles?

That’s what the world tells us. There’s this caste system that’s alive and well around the globe. We make it easier to move between castes in this country. You might be born in poverty in the United States, but there are opportunities to break free from it through education and hard work. Your family caste in this country doesn’t lock you into generational bondage. Although sometimes we make it so by following in our parents footsteps.

In a lot of other countries, castes do determine your future. If you are lucky enough to be born into wealth and a higher caste, then you enjoy the privileges of the wealthy. If you are born into poverty, you are subject to remain there with no chance to break free from its strangle hold as long as you remain in that country. Most of the world, unfortunately, still operates under those ancient caste rules. But even in those rigid caste systems, there still remain glimmers of hope. One person in 50 or 100 might break through the bonds by the kindness of someone in the next caste above and be lifted up from the lower caste into the higher one. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens and so there is hope.

But now Jesus is saying it’s the servant, the slave, the people at the bottom of the caste system that will be held in highest esteem in God’s kingdom. How can that be? These people are the beggars on the streets. You don’t even see them. They are there, but if you keep your eyes up as you should, then they are the invisible vermin that populate the roads and ditches and sewers of the city. Why would Jesus insinuate that these people will be first in God’s kingdom?

The priests thought they should be first. They were the ones who entered into the Court of the Priests at the Temple and one of them each year, the high priest, actually went into the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for the whole nation. Shouldn’t they be given the seats of honor in God’s kingdom? Weren’t they closer to God that all the scum that littered the roadways?

Well, the world just doesn’t get it. Outward appearance has nothing to do with God’s kingdom. Our position and prestige don’t move God one iota. He is not impressed by the things that impress men. He made the world, so what can we do that impresses Him? We get impressed by the trappings people wear. Have you looked at the pictures from the Hubble telescope? You want to get impressed, take a look at those. God did that. Do you think anything you wear impresses Him?

But that’s not really it either. There are a lot of criminals, thugs, evil people sometimes found in every level of the castes. The poor have their share of evil just as much as the upper crust. The top tiers can often hide their evil a little better by doing so in the name of corporate investment, saving for future retirement, creating jobs by satisfying personal indulgences, and other such disguises.

But God sees our heart. Jesus talks about a servant heart. Do we serve self or do we serve others and in so doing serve God? That’s what real life is about. God created us to live in community and gave each of us different skill sets so we would be interdependent. We can get along with just a handful of people around us. But we thrive when we give our talents to others and let them give their talents in service to us. When we are interdependent, amazing things can happen. It’s like Proverbs says, a rope of three cords is not easily broken. We really do need each other.

So Jesus tells us it’s the servant’s heart in us that takes us to the top of God’s list. The problem with the wealthy, the power hungry, those seeking position more than anything else, they loose sight of what it means to have a servant’s heart and want to be served instead. Jesus turned it around and the leaders didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense to them because they bought into the world’s rhetoric.

Don’t let the world trap you into it’s idea of success. It doesn’t work. It won’t get you a seat on the bus to heaven. If you want to make it into God’s kingdom, learn to be a servant and practice every day. Practice makes perfect.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Top billing? Be careful what you ask for (Matthew 20:21-23) May 9, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Exodus 21-24

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 20:21-23
Jesus: What do you want?
Zebedee’s Wife: When the kingdom of God is made manifest, I want one of my boys, James and John, to sit at Your right hand, and one to sit at Your left hand.
Jesus (to all three): You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? Can you be ritually washed in baptism just as I have been baptized?
Zebedee Brothers: Of course!
Jesus: Yes, you will drink from My cup, and yes, you will be baptized as I have been. But the thrones to My right and My left are not Mine to grant. My Father has already given those seats to those for whom they were created.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Do you ever crave that center of attention spot? When I got to my first assignment as a brand new Second Lieutenant, I thought, “It must be great to be a company commander and set your own schedule.” See, I had 27 additional duties in my first assignment along with the responsibilities of my real assignment of medical platoon leader in an infantry battalion. So my calendar seemed full. It seemed like I was going to someone else’s meeting two or three times a day. I never seemed to have enough time to do the training I wanted to do with my medical platoon.

Then I became a company commander. And I thought, “Boy, it must be great to be a battalion command and set your own schedule.” See, as a company commander, it seemed I was going to someone else’s meeting four or five times a day. I never had the time I wanted to spend with my company training them to do their mission on the battlefield.

Then I became a battalion commander. And I thought, "Boy, it must be great to be a Second Lieutenant blind to the fact that you have so much time of your own to spend with your soldiers teaching them to work as a team and do their job. I finally figured out (I’m a slow learner sometimes) the higher you go, the less time is your own. The more demands others make of you. The spot light is a pretty lonely place to be and you don’t have much control when you’re in that spot.

As a colonel, I’d come into a room full of my subordinates chatting away with each other about all sorts of things business and personal and as soon as I walked through the door, you could hear a pin drop. It’s not that I wasn’t approachable. Those that got to know me, knew I was pretty personable. But getting time on my calendar to get to know me was pretty hard sometimes. And people were afraid they might say the wrong thing and destroy their career because for many of them in the room, I was their senior rater. That meant changing a few descriptive words on an evaluation or a point or two difference in a rating could make the difference between getting promoted to the next grade. It’s an imperfect military and government system, but the one millions of employees, military and civilian are stuck with. So they were afraid to approach me and just chat.

I’ll have to admit, in my younger days, I wanted those power positions. Commander sounded so nice. But when in the position and you have the life of soldiers in your hand because of the decisions you make, it’s not so much fun. Some of those soldiers you send into battle never come home and those letters are really hard to write. They are tear-stained before they get into the envelop because those soldiers become your family.

I’m not sure James’ and John’s mother understood that about being in the limelight #1. And #2, the positions were not Jesus’ to give. As the Son of Man, He had no authority to name the people who sat on the seats around the Father’s throne. As the glorified Son of God He might, but He wasn’t in that position yet. Besides, He explained those positions were already promised. But then He talks about the difficulty of those top positions.

I’ve been in some of those top positions in the Army. Never as a general and I so very glad I stopped before I got there. I worked with lots of generals throughout my career and watched their lives, or lack thereof. I thought my calendars were full sometimes. They had no life. Sometimes people envied them all the travel, the special treatment they receive in meetings, the perks of being a general. I learned about those perks in some of my jobs. We put the right pen and the right paper and the right drink at the right place at the table. The temperature was just right and the right chair was at his or her spot. The lighting was just right and the screens had no glare from the general’s seat. But these were not perks. We did that because as soon as the general sat down, his total focus was on the work ahead for the next thirty or sixty or ninety minutes. We didn’t want anything to distract his thoughts because another meeting that needed his total focus was happening immediately after that one and that room had exactly the right pen and paper and drink and chair and light and… so as soon as he sat down his total focus was on the work at hand.

Perks? When you wake up in another motel room at 5:30 in the morning and don’t remember what city you’re in today because all the motel rooms start to look alike, travel is not fun. You know someone will be at your door thirty minutes later and whisk you off to breakfast, which will be a business breakfast and the day will run non-stop meeting after meeting until they plant you on another plane or in your motel room after your dinner business meeting at 8:30 that night. Then you get to answer the 300 emails in your inbox before you go to sleep. Perks at the top? Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Will you be among the few? (Ephesians 1:15-23) December 4, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Ephesians 1:15-23

Set – Ephesians 1-2

Go! – Ephesians 1-4

Ephesians 1:15-23
¹⁵ This is why, when I heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus that is present in your community and of your great love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I haven’t stopped thanking Him for you. I am continually speaking to Him on your behalf in my prayers. Here’s what I say:
¹⁷ God of our Lord Jesus the Anointed, Father of Glory: I call out to You on behalf of Your people. Give them minds ready to receive wisdom and revelation so they will truly know You. ¹⁸ Open the eyes of their hearts, and let the light of Your truth flood in. Shine Your light on the hope You are calling them to embrace. Reveal to them the glorious riches You are preparing as their inheritance. ¹⁹ Let them see the full extent of Your power that is at work in those of us who believe, and may it be done according to Your might and power.
Friends, it is this same might and resurrection power that ²⁰ He used in the Anointed One to raise Him from the dead and to position Him at His right hand in heaven. There is nothing over Him. ²¹ He’s above all rule, authority, power, and dominion; over every name invoked, over every title bestowed in this age and the next. ²² God has placed all things beneath His feet and anointed Him as the head over all things for His church. ²³ This church is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus reminds them and you of the power at your disposal. Many Christians today forget what I told you while I was with you in the flesh. I told My disciples that when I went away and sent My Spirit in My place that you would do miracles on My behalf and you would do more than I was able to do while I lived alongside you. It’s an important promise to remember. And it is absolutely true.

Because so few really experience what Paul experienced in his life, you don’t see the things that happened in Paul’s day on a wholesale basis. I can still do those things through you, and do around the world. I still perform miracles of healing, feeding, financing, driving out unclean spirits. I still heal broken relationships, mend confused and broken minds, guide decisions. I still save you from the penalty of sin.

You see, I chose men and women to carry out the tasks in My plan for the world. I chose you to share the message of My good news. I chose ordinary people to do extraordinary things through the power of My Spirit within them. And all it takes is letting Me have control of your life and then letting Me work through you.

Paul talks about the power available to you. Do you ever think about that power? The power I give you? The resurrection power. So many of you try to do things in your own strength. Consequently, you do so little. Your strength gives out. Your muscles, intellect, and spirit are never strong enough to do the work I have for you to do. You might try, but you just can’t do it alone. You’ll never be strong enough by yourself. No matter how much you try, you’ll never have the strength to complete My tasks.

Paul knew that the power that raised Me from the dead is available to you when you give yourself completely to Me. Paul gave himself to Me and let My Spirit control him. He saw what My power in you can do and so he penned those words in very opening of his letter to the Ephesians. “Let them see the full extent of Your power that is at work in those of us who believe, and may it be done according to Your might and power.”

It only takes believing. It only takes letting go of self. It only takes dying to your will and letting My will live out through you. It only takes being resurrected a new creature in Me, being reborn into My kingdom. It only takes becoming what Paul called a living sacrifice for Me. It only takes becoming an instrument for My bidding. Then, like Peter and Paul, you’ll do things you never imagined. You’ll tap into My power source. You’ll use the strength of the Creator of the universe.

When you do My will at all times, letting Me really live in you, you will experience remarkable things. Your schedule will turn upside down as you live for Me. Your journey will take you along paths you never imagined. You will know the full extent of My power at work in you as you do My will. Others will be amazed, but others will want to know more about the power in you.

Few will pay the price to know My power within them. Few will really die to self to let Me truly live within them. Will you be among the few?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.