September 14, Thursday

jason2 The AMI QT Devotionals from September 11-17 are provided by Pastor Jason Sato who serves at OTR in Cincinnati. Jason, a graduate of UC San Diego (B.S.) and Westminster Theological Seminary in California (M.Div.), is married to Jessica, and they have two young children: Jonah and Lily.

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“Good News of War”

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

In response to Adam and Eve’s sin, God pronounces judgment. First, He curses the snake that tempted them. The end of this curse is sometimes called the proto-euangelion (i.e. the first gospel). What is the good news that God shares?

News of war.

Human beings and Satan will constantly be at war. And ultimately the war will end with the offspring of the woman destroying the serpent.

This is the greatest news that Adam and Eve could possibly receive. The devil had succeeded in separating them from God. Death had entered into the world. Sin would keep them enslaved. But in the end, the devil will not win. Death will not win. Sin will not win. One descendant of the woman would come. He would be bruised but victorious.

Sometimes peace in and of itself appears to be best. But it always depends on what kind of peace and with whom. By and large, the German church was at peace with the Nazi party. In that time, war was the better option.

Today, we are lulled into thinking that peace with sin is grace, but making peace with the cancer that kills you or the addiction that keeps you in bondage is not a peace worth having.

Thank God, Jesus does not make peace with death. Instead, He wages war. And He will not falter, He will not cease to fight until evil is extinguished and sin, death, and the devil are done away with for good.

He will fight until the knowledge of the glory of God covers the earth as the waters cover the seas. May we have peace with God and with our neighbor, and may we wage war against sin and the enemy—if that is what it takes to obtain it.

Prayer: Father, I am so thankful that Your Son has brought me peace with You. Thank You that I am no longer Your enemy but Your child. May I always be at peace with You and at war with sin that would try separate me from You. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 36

Lunch Break Study

Read Exodus 15:1-4 (ESV): Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. [2] The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. [3] The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. [4] “Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.

Question to Consider

Exodus 15 follows the crossing of the Red Sea. According to v. 1 and 4, why do the people sing?
In verse 2, the people sing of God’s salvation. What did the Lord save them from?
According to verse 3, what is part of the greatness of Israel’s God?

Notes

Surprisingly, they are not most impressed by the raw miracle of the Red Sea splitting; rather, they sing of how God destroyed the Egyptian army.
The Lord saved Israel from slavery, and more immediately, He saved them from certain death and capture at the hands of the Egyptian army.
The Lord is a man of war. He is a conquering warrior.

Evening Reflection

Reflect upon your day. What evil did you witness in your own heart, home, or community? Pray that God would grant forgiveness to sinners, but that He would also destroy this sin and wickedness.

September 13, Wednesday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“Naked and Ashamed”

Genesis 3:8-13 (ESV)

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. [9] But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” [10] And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” [11] He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” [12] The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” [13] Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

At the beginning, Adam and Eve enjoyed God’s presence. Now, after they have sinned, they try to hide themselves from God. Adam is asked a simple yes or no question: “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” In his response, Adam increases his isolation, blaming his wife who he failed to protect and his God who he failed to honor. Likewise, the woman blames the serpent—at least her response actually answers the question God poses to her.

So why do they try to hide from an omnipresent God? Why do they try to mislead an omniscient God? In verse 10, Adam explains that he is afraid. Because of sin, the man and the woman are now naked and ashamed. They cannot bear to be this way, so they hide behind their fig leaves and their excuses.

We, too, cannot bear our shame. We try to be good parents, students, employees, and Christians. But so often our efforts simply expose the gap between our public and private personas. We blame our sin on traffic, the weather, other people, or even God, frightened of what it would mean if we were personally responsible for all of our actions, words, and thoughts. Yet these methods are most successful at deceiving ourselves, less successful at deceiving others, and absolutely unsuccessful at deceiving God. But thankfully, God does not need to be deceived.

God already has an objective and complete knowledge of our sin and nakedness; and rather than send Adam and Eve away in their nakedness, He clothes them in the skins of animals sacrificed for them (Genesis 3:1).

For us, the Father offers us better than animal skins. He offers up the life of His Son, that Jesus might take our sin and we might take Jesus’ righteousness. Apart from Jesus, we all remain naked and ashamed before God, but the Lord Jesus Christ offers to clothe us in His righteousness, to bear our shame, and to bring us back home into His presence.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming, not for the righteous, but for sinners. Neither my excuses nor my spotty righteousness can stand before You. I am naked and ashamed. Clothe me by Your Son, my Righteousness. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 35

Lunch Break Study

Read Psalm 32:1-5 (ESV): Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [2] Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. [3] For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. [4] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah [5] I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Question to Consider

What happened to the psalmist when he kept his sins hidden?
What is the result of not trying to cover our own sins ourselves?
Who is blessed?

Notes

His bones wasted away and God’s hand was heavy upon him.
When we do not cover our own sins and instead confess them to the Lord, we receive forgiveness.
The one who is forgiven and whose sin the Lord does not count against her. In other words, those found to be in Jesus Christ!

Evening Reflection

Reflect upon your day. When were you tempted to blame others or to reject responsibility for your sin? Take a moment to own all of your words, thoughts, and actions that dishonored God and ask Him for forgiveness. Receive His grace and enjoy His presence.

September 12, Tuesday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Living in a Fog

Genesis 3:6 (ESV)

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to them eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

During college, I was in a very unhealthy relationship. I knew that God did not approve of it, but I was convinced that He didn’t know what He was talking about—I knew what I needed to be happy and He did not. The relationship ended up being spiritually and emotionally damaging to us both. As it turned out, God was right.

In the Garden of Eden, there was a tree in the midst of the garden. God said that eating of the fruit of that tree would lead to death, but to the woman, it did not look like death; it looked like a tree good for food, a delight to the eyes, and something to be desired to make one wise.

The power of sin is greater than we think. Sin not only fuels our desire for evil, it clouds our thoughts so that evil looks like good. We live in a fog in which we cannot see; worse still, we don’t know that we cannot see. God saw death and the woman saw something delightful and desirable. And as is always true, God was right.

Brothers and sisters, today you and I will disagree with God about many things in our lives. Our thoughts appear to be objective and reasonable, but God always knows what He’s talking about. He aims to lead us away from death and destruction into a life of abundance and joy.

Oftentimes, His truth will make no sense to us. How can dying to ourselves lead to life? How can denying ourselves be freedom? How can all things work out for our good? The honest answer to these questions is that we do not know how, but God is a good Father and He is more than able to figure it out. May we ask for eyes to see the truth clearly, and when we cannot, may we reject our perception and stand on the solid rock of the Word of God.

Prayer: Father, I thank You that You are true and Your Word is truth. My heart and even my mind lead me astray so often. Give me grace to believe You over all others, even myself. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 34

Lunch Break Study

Read 1 Samuel 13:8-12 (ESV): He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. [9] So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. [10] As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. [11] Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, [12] I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”

Question to Consider

Saul knew he was not supposed to present the offerings to God. So why did he do it?
What is Saul blind to?
What is blinding Saul’s eyes?

Notes

His army began to scatter and he didn’t want to go to war without having offered the offerings. Saul makes excuses and explains that he had no choice but to disobey God in order to (ironically) seek God’s favor.
Saul is blind to his sin and his responsibility for his sin. Saul is blind to God’s omnipotence and sovereignty.
Saul’s ambition, fear of man, and pride blind his eyes.

Evening Reflection

Reflect upon your day. What things appeared to be life but according to God are death? For the moments you fell to temptation, ask for forgiveness. Ask Jesus for more of His grace that washes away your sin and gives you spiritual eyes to see the truth.

September 11, Monday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Unreasonable

Genesis 3:1-5 (ESV)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” [2] And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [3] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” [4] But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Do you have any unreasonable people in your life? An unreasonable boss? An unreasonable pastor? An unreasonable parent? How about an unreasonable God?

Adam and Eve live in paradise. They dwell with their Creator. They are given every tree in the garden except one. And then the serpent comes along and says to Eve, “Did God really say you can’t eat of any of the trees in the garden? Why is He so unreasonable?” To her credit, Eve corrects the serpent and tells him they can eat of many trees. But at the same time, she mentions that they cannot so much as touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A bit of doubt regarding God’s generosity has crept into her mind. The serpent then ups the ante. Not only is God unreasonable, but He is also either wrong or a liar. According to the serpent, sin does not lead to death. Rather, it leads to life and power.

The transition between thinking someone is unreasonable and thinking they are either wrong or have questionable motives is fairly quick. An unreasonable boss seems to make only wrong choices. An unreasonable parent appears to really be looking out only for themselves. An unreasonable God seems to not know or not care about what will really be good for us.

Brothers and sisters, our Father is not unreasonable when He calls us to flee and fight against sin which leads to death and separates us from Him. He is not wrong when He says that dying to ourselves is gain. His motives are pure. He is for us! May we reject every lie that says otherwise.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You are the God who never changes, whose goodness and love and glory are ever the same. Give me grace that I would not believe lies about You. You are a good Father.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 33

Lunch Break Study

Read Romans 8:31-35 (ESV): What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? [33] Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

Question to Consider

What does the passage say about God the Father?
What does the passage say about Jesus?
What does the passage say about God’s people?

Notes

God is for us. He gave his Son for us and will give us all things.
Jesus died, was raised, and is at the right hand of God interceding for us.
We have God on our side, we are justified not condemned, and we will not be separated from the love of Christ.

Evening Reflection

Reflect on your day. Was there a time when God did not seem to be a good Father? Speak with Him honestly and ask for grace to see Him as He truly is.

September 10, Sunday

The AMI QT Devotionals from September 4-10 are provided by Pastor Mark Chun of Radiance Christian Church in S. F. Mark, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.), has been married to Mira for 21 years; they have two children, Jeremiah and Carissa.

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Genesis 2:19-25

Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib x he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

In this passage, we see that marriage and family is the only social institution that was a part of God’s created order before the Fall—before the consequence of sin. Therefore, we are given a glimpse of what an ideal marriage should look like by God’s perfect design. We see immediately that the dignity and equality of the genders is never questioned in the Scriptures. It is simply assumed, and therefore, the inequality that we see in the world is not by design. I believe Christians should consider it to be injustice when women are paid less for doing the same work as men, when positions of power—whether it is in politics or the corporate world—are withheld from them. These types of social issues should be examined, but alongside it, we are seeing an increasing attack on the notion of God’s design for men as the head of the family.

The argument that I have heard on many occasions is that it makes no sense that a woman can be the president of the United States but in the home she has to take a demotion. In fact, certain schools of feminist thought consider traditional views of marriage and family to be the root source of our societal problems in gender equality. And I would agree to a certain degree because traditional views are not the same thing as Biblical views. In fact, I would argue that Christianity, even when it has often been improperly or partially implemented, has offered a much better solution for women than any other social construct.

Rodney Stark, in his book The Triumph of Christianity, has a fascinating chapter on why women in the Roman Empire converted at such high rates. Some of the archaeological findings show that in the catacombs under Rome, Christian women were nearly as likely as Christian men to be commemorated with lengthy inscriptions. Princeton historian Brent Shaw made this observation in regards to his discovery: “This near equality in the commemoration of males and females is something that is peculiar to Christians, and sets them apart from the non-Christian populations of the city.”

Another reason many women converted to Christianity was to protect their daughters. A common practice among Roman aristocrats was the taking of child brides. Cambridge historian Keith Hopkins calculated that many of the famous women in Rome were married before the age of 12, and nearly 50% of pagan women were married off before their 15 th birthday. In contrast, it appeared that among Christians, it was a growing practice to withhold their daughters from marriage until 18. Contrary to popular thought, it would appear that the notion of Christian marriage and gender roles furthered the cause of women and gave them a place of dignity, equality, and safety within the church in comparison to the oppression that was prevalent in Roman society.

Prayer: Lord, we place our trust in Your perfect design for our marriages. We intercede for our families, knowing that there are problems that sin causes. We pray that we would not simply accept the way the world defines the concept of marriage but look into the Scriptures. We also pray that You would protect our marriages and children, as well as our parent’s marriages. May we reflect the love that Christ has for His Church as we live in harmony with our spouses. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 32

September 9, Saturday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Genesis 3:14-19

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin j and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Most modern women have a negative reaction to being called a ‘helper’ of man. The reason for this is that we tend to impose our cultural bias and assume that ‘helper’ means ‘junior assistant’. The Hebrew word that is translated as helper in English is ezer which is used 19 other times in the Old Testament. Three times it is used to describe one person helping another; 16 times it is used to describe God helping man. We get the Hebrew name, Eliezer, the God who helps, and Ebenezer, the rock of my help, from this exact word. In each case, the one who helps gives that help from the position of power, which makes logical sense. If I am offering my help to you, I can only offer you that help if I have the capacity to help. If someone offers to help you and you evaluate that this person is less capable than you, then you would naturally reject their offer.

Women were created with certain God–given powers to help men but unfortunately that power was distorted when Eve fell into temptation. It is not difficult to see the subtle and sometimes not so subtle power that women have over men. I fall under my daughter’s spell every day! I tell myself daily that I will not give into Carissa’s Jedi mind tricks but somehow, she gets me to do everything for her. And the only one who can free me from my daughter’s evil schemes is my wife. She is my help and I could not imagine raising my children without her because she has strength and power that I do not have!

It is important to note that it was Eve who was first attracted to the temptation of power that was presented to her by the devil. Surprisingly, it is Eve that first pushed this pendulum of power that caused the imbalance in gender equality. This is why God’s curse on women revolves mainly around the issue of power. But we also see why the devil tempted Eve first because God entrusted her with the power to be the helper of man.

However, as we read the scriptures through the lens of redemptive history, we can also see that God is restoring all things including the equality of male and female. As the apostle Paul writes, “there is neither male nor female” in Christ, one day, men and women will have full equality and there will no longer be this sinful struggle for power. But that day is not quite here because we still live in a fallen world and because of our sinful and selfish tendencies, God asks women to submit to men in the home and in the church for the sake of restoring and fulfilling their powerful role as the helper.

Prayer: Father, we praise You that You have made both men and women in Your own image. What an incredible honor and joy it is to know that You have no biases and share Your likeness equally with both genders. Help us to overcome any feelings of inferiority or insecurity and to embrace the ways in which You have designed both sexes. We have all been fearfully and wonderfully made. May our heart and soul know this truth full well!

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 30-31

September 8, Friday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Genesis 2:4-9 (NIV)

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man w from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin j and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

I think it surprises some people that the Bible has so much to say about work and how relevant it is to us today—even after thousands of years. From the very first pages of Genesis, we are told that God finished His work of creation and then rested on the seventh day. In most religious views of the world, work is something that is beneath the gods and reserved for lowly humans to undertake; but in the Christian worldview, God literally gets His hands dirty and forms man from the very dust. And you can see from today’s passage that the very first thing that God does for man is to share His love for work with him. Genesis 2:15 states, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” What should be readily apparent is that this mandate was given to humanity before the Fall—that is, before the introduction of sin in the world. This is important for many reasons, but the key theological lesson to be taken from this sequence of events is that work itself is not the curse. Work, like everything else God created, is good but what has been cursed by sin is how man relates to work.

Solomon, after a lifetime of striving and toil, comes to realize one of the most important truths in life: that work of all types is a gift from God. If you can believe this at the bottom of your heart, life becomes less burdensome, more enjoyable, and certainly more fulfilling. One of the worst feelings in life is the sense that your work doesn’t matter or that you are not being as productive as you can be. How many of us feel good after wasting a day browsing the internet and putting off work that we should be taking care? On the flip side, there is a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in a job well done and knowing that your work is significant. This is what Tim Keller writes about the importance of work in our lives:

Without meaningful work we sense significant inner loss and emptiness. People who are cut off from work because of physical or other reasons quickly discover how much they need work to thrive emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Your ability to work is a gift from God and has the potential to help you flourish. Unfortunately, many of us are not experiencing these blessings from our work. Instead of work causing us to thrive, it is actually having the opposite effect, causing emotional damage, physical exhaustion, and spiritual stagnation. Although all of us know the importance of work, this fact is actually more of a burden than a blessing, and for some, a major source of unhappiness. So if work is a gift from God, why is it also a source of so much frustration? It comes down to the fact that we often can have a sinful relationship with work. We can fall into the trap of deriving our identity from our jobs or becoming workaholics, or conversely—becoming lazy. Whatever the case may be, the solution to the problem of work is given to us by the apostle Paul in Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, and not human masters…”

Prayer: Father, we thank You for the gift of work. Help us to have the appropriate perspective regarding our jobs and careers, and that it would not become an ultimate priority but something we do for Your glory. We confess that it is all too easy to simply work for ourselves or for our employers, forgetting that all our efforts should be directed towards the One who gave us the opportunity and the ability to accomplish fulfilling work. Today, at our places of work, may we be a good testimony of Your goodness by the way we engage with those around us. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 29

Lunch Break Study

Read Colossians 3:22-4:1 (NIV): Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. 4 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

Questions to Consider

Is this passage advocating slavery or unjust employment practices?
How should Christians relate to their employers?
If you are a Christian employer, how should you relate to your workers?

Notes

This passage has often been used improperly to justify the practice of chattel slavery. However, this form of forced slavery was not what Paul was alluding to. In the Ancient Middle East, many people became indentured servants to pay back debt or deal with other financial hardships. These verses were never meant to promote a stoic acceptance of unfair practices in the workplace.
This passage gives us great insight in terms of the attitude that we should have towards our employers. We should work diligently, even when we are not under direct supervision and be sincere towards them. In the end, a proper work ethic is derived from our reverence for God and the knowledge that we will be rewarded beyond our earthly paychecks if we work as unto the Lord.
I have sometimes witnessed Christians being poor managers, bosses, and employers. This is a sinful waste of a wonderful opportunity to influence those whom God has entrusted into your care. We are to treat our employees with equity, care, and compassion, because this is the way that our Master in heaven treats us.

Evening Reflection

It is so easy to dismiss our work as being insignificant. When I was working in the corporate world, it was easy to say things like “another day, another dollar.” As harmless as this may seem, it revealed a certain attitude that I had in my heart towards my job. In the end, this showed a very low view of the work and opportunity that God had given me. What is your attitude towards your job and your employer? Are you able to rest at the end of the week, knowing that you have worked with all your heart?

September 7, Thursday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Genesis 2:1-3(NIV)

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

The biblical understanding of the Sabbath rest comes primarily from the account of the creation. For six days, God created the universe, and after its completion He rested on the seventh day. But consider this: God—who never tires, gets burnt out, or has need of sleep—decided to take a break. Many of us could only dream of having that kind of energy. If we were God, we would have worked that seventh day and made creation even better. But this is the motivation of God behind His decision to rest: He rested because He saw that everything He had done was very good. The reason why the majority of people are tired is not because of the physical work they do but because of the perpetual restlessness of their souls. They can’t look at anything in their life and say for even a moment, “That is good.” We never allow our souls to come to rest because there is no sense of contentment in what God has done in our lives. We constantly find ourselves striving to prove that we are good enough, smart enough, or capable enough.

Most Christians today think about the Sabbath rest as an archaic, obsolete regulation that is out of touch with our hectic and competitive work environments. I would say to you that the Sabbath was designed exactly for this. For a short moment in the week, we can allow God to remind us that our lives belong securely in His hands, that we are not the authors of our own success, and we can rest from that unreachable goal. The problem is compounded by the fact that we often view church not as a place of rest but just another place to strive. We do this by reducing the Sabbath to another obligation that we need to fulfill in order to prove that we are good Christians. This is what the Pharisees were guilty of; and to them and to us, Jesus reminds us that “man wasn’t made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man”—meaning, God requires the Sabbath not for His benefit but for our own.

One of the great benefits for those of us who are committed to the Sabbath rest is the flourishing of our relationships. When you rest from the daily grind of making a living, getting ahead in this world, and trying to prove your worth, you can focus on the more important things of life—such as your relationship with God and people. This was the heart cry of the early church. Although, it is not written in the book of Acts explicitly, it would seem that many people in this church took time off from work in order to meet day by day, to break bread, to pray, and learn from the apostles. All Christian fellowship is dependent on cycles of rest because you cannot establish deep relationships if you are otherwise consumed by your work and your ambitions. Our God desires this balance in each of our lives and He set the example from the very beginning.

Prayer: Father, You know what is best for us. We acknowledge the temptation to forsake the Sabbath and to live out of our own personal ambition. Help us to take seriously Your command to rest from all of our striving and to trust in Your abundant provision. Teach us how to rest and to take upon us the yoke of Christ that is light and easy. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 28

Lunch Break Study

Read Matthew 11:28-12:8 (NIV): “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” 3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Questions to Consider

What was Jesus’ main dispute with the Pharisees in regard to the Sabbath rest?
What reason does Jesus give for rejecting these traditions?
How is Jesus the “Lord of the Sabbath”?

Notes

The Pharisees had completely forgotten the main purpose of the Sabbath, which was to provide rest for man. Instead, they heaped on all sorts regulations and traditions that made the keeping of the Sabbath a burden rather than a blessing. Due to the proliferation of these man-made rules, people lived in constant fear of breaking the many restrictions surrounding the proper observance of the day. Jesus took offense at this misuse of religious authority by the Pharisees.
Jesus goes to the Scriptures to prove that His disciples did nothing to break the Sabbath. First, Jesus refers to an account in the Old Testament where David, as the king of Israel, is allowed to bend the rules of the Sabbath. In an indirect manner, Jesus is indicating that the true King of Israel has arrived. Second, He refers to the priests who technically had to “work” in order to prepare things for the proper observance of the Sabbath. Through this, Jesus revealed that a legalistic view on the Sabbath could not be biblically supported.
It should be noted that this conflict with the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath comes right after Jesus’ famous statement that His yoke is light and easy. The religion of man leads to more burdens and heaviness while Jesus promises us a faith that leads to rest. Ultimately, we find our true Sabbath rest in Christ.

Evening Reflection

As you prepare to end the day, have you considered the appropriate cycles of work and rest in your life? Are you feeling burnt out or dry spiritually? Perhaps, you haven’t allowed your mind, heart, and soul to rest in the Lord. Make a commitment to observe the Sabbath this weekend and allow the Lord to free you of your burdens.

September 6, Wednesday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Genesis 1:27-31(NIV)

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Some years ago, I had a chance to go on a mission trip across the Western United States with a group of high school students; and we went on the streets of cities like Portland, Seattle, and Salt Lake City to share the gospel. One of the first stops during this trip was the campus of Cal Berkeley. After one particular session of street evangelism, we started to discuss our experiences. One student came back very troubled, because he had run into a homeless man who asked him a simple but very profound question: “If God created everything, then who created sin?”

Being relatively new to the Christian faith at that time, I had absolutely no answer to that question—and neither did anyone else in our group. Eventually, we all chose to forget about the question and dismissed it as being too intellectual and simply a hindrance to our faith. Unfortunately, because we didn’t have an answer to this basic philosophical question, we opened the doors of doubt in the mind of this particular student. I now believe that every single Christian should be able to give a rational defense of the Christian faith based on the word of God.

Knowing Berkeley, I would not be surprised if this man habitually used the dilemma of the origin of sin and evil as a stumbling block to believers. The reason why this question is so loaded is that at the heart of the matter, it casts a shadow doubt on the goodness of God. And once you start doubting God’s goodness, you cannot trust Him, you cannot love Him, and you certainly cannot live for Him. Our relationship with God is predicated on His goodness, and that is why the first chapter of the Bible is spent establishing that God is good and that everything He created at the beginning was also very good. In hindsight, if we understood the story of Genesis, we could have given a satisfying answer to the question of the origins of evil.

Everything that God created was good, but He also created morally free creatures who have the potential to take that which is good and use it for evil. Even the fact that we are born with our freedom is a good thing. However, what we choose to do with that freedom is entirely up to us, and we will be held responsible for it. In the world that God created, the freedom of man could only be truly free if there was also the potential for evil. Sadly, in our world, we take many of the things that God created for good, and we exercise our moral agency and use it for evil. This does not negate God’s goodness, but rather it highlights our wickedness and our need for His saving grace.

Prayer: Lord, we bless You because You are good and Your love endures forever. Even though we are tempted to question Your goodness and compassion towards us, we acknowledge that You are not like us and You do not waver between good and evil. You are good at all times and You never change. May we rest our hope in Your unwavering goodness. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 27

Lunch Break Study

Read James 1:13-18 (NIV): When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

Questions to Consider

Why is it wrong to accuse God of tempting us?
What is the source of our temptation?
How can we fight against the deception and lies of the enemy?

Notes

James makes it clear that God cannot be tempted by sin nor does He actively tempt anyone to sin. However, God does permit Satan as a free being to bring temptation into the believer’s life; but this is vastly different from saying that God personally is involved in tempting us with sin.
The source of our temptation rests within our own sinful nature. This is the area of our hearts that Satan exposes and takes advantage of because we are enticed by our own evil desires. This also gives us strong motivation to put to death the old nature and to live in the newness of life.
We combat the lies of the enemy by growing in the truth of God’s word and believing in the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. Every good and perfect gift has come from an unchanging God.

Evening Reflection

It is so important to pause once in a while to consider the goodness of God. In what ways has God been good to you? Think about your family and friends, your health, your job, and your church. These are all blessings from the hands of God. It is easy to believe in God’s goodness when things are going well. The challenge is to trust that God is good when life is difficult.

September 5, Tuesday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Genesis 1:3-24 (NIV 2011)

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

In today’s world, creationism is dismissed as a myth or the wishful dreams of the uneducated. CS Lewis once observed that within the scientific discipline, biologists tend to be the most irreligious and that physicists are the most religious. The reason for this general trend is evident. Biologists tend to look at life as a closed system, that there is life and death, a beginning and an end. On the other hand, physicists ultimately have to deal with the mystery of ultimate beginnings and how the universe came to be. Any honest scientist has to confess that the idea of the universe being created from nothing cannot be intellectually satisfying.

I would propose that the view that is better than any theory out there is the belief that the universe began by the initiative of God. In fact, the idea that everything has its beginnings in God’s initiative is at the heart of Biblical Christianity. The world was created because God desired its creation. The fallen mankind can be saved because before the foundation of the world, God chose his Son as a ransom for our sin. We can love because God first loved us from the very beginning and we can know Him because He has made Himself known. Our fundamental understanding of God comes from the belief that everything starts with Him, including our own existence.

The acceptance of God as our creator is the most logical place to start a relationship with Him. Some years ago, a young woman, who was wrestling with her faith, asked me, “Did God create man or did man create God?’’ And whether she realized it or not, she landed on the foundational question that every single person, whether you are religious or not, has to answer. And ultimately your answer to this question places you on two completely different paths of life. Sadly, this young woman decided that God was an invention of man and decided to walk away from the Christian faith.
Our world is filled with distorted ideas of who God is and what spirituality should look like. Every idol and every false system of theology begins with a rejection of God’s initiative and replaces it with the initiative of man. We become the creators of our own gods. The challenge that awaits us as Christians is how we can break the stronghold of idolatry and the deception of false gods (e.g., materialism).

Prayer: Lord, we thank You for taking the initiative in creating us and ultimately loving the ones You created. As You have first loved us through Christ, teach us to love others in the same way. Help us to submit our lives to You so that You can shape us as the potter shapes the clay. Reminds us that in You we move and breathe and have our being. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 26

Lunch Break Study

Ephesians 1:3-10 (NIV 2011): Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship n through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Questions to Consider:

When did God come up with the plan of salvation?
Why and for what reason did God predestine our relationship with Him?
Where does our salvation fall into the greater scope of God’s plan?

Notes:

We read that God chose His people for salvation even before the creation of the world. This reminds us that none of the events of history came as a surprise to God. Sin and all of its consequences were permitted by the will of God so that He could choose a people for Himself solely on the basis of His grace.
Although there is a lot of debate about predestination, the apostle Paul’s main emphasis was on God’s love as the primary reason for initiating this relationship with us. From the beginning of time, it was God’s plan to take sinners like us and adopt us into His family as spiritual sons and daughters.
Man’s salvation is the climax of God’s saving work. It is the crowning achievement in the redemption of the whole created order. One day God will bring all things into unity under the reign and rule of Christ. This is why Paul tells us that all of creation waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed. (Romans 8:19)

Evening Reflection

Every day is a gift from the Lord. It is one more day to celebrate His salvation and to live in the joyful knowledge that God has known you and loved you from the very beginning. As parents carefully plan their future family, Christ has been preparing a place for you in God’s family. Reflect on this truth and pray to the Lord.