Category: Devotionals

Longing For Peace?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

Peace

We are in the midst of the Christmas season. It’s a time to be merry. A time to celebrate with family. A time to give. Most importantly, it is a time to celebrate and learn more about Jesus’ birth. The church calendar commonly refers to this time of year as Advent. With Advent in full swing, I have been studying a lot about Jesus’ birth.

Jesus’ Birth Announcement

As we all know Jesus was born in a manger in the little town of Bethlehem. After his birth, an angel appeared to shepherds in a nearby field revealing to them the good news. As the angel wrapped up his report, a multitude of angels appeared singing praises to God.

Here is what they sang,

“Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!“

What is in a Song?

Among other things, their song reveals Jesus brings peace to the world. His subsequent death on a cross will, and now has, purchased peace for man.

Peace, the Longing of Man

If we are honest with ourselves, we all want peace. We look for it in all sorts of ways. Some seek peace through drugs or alcohol. Others through the neighborhood in which they live. Still others through meditating, self-help books, or vacations. 

But you know what? The peace we seek cannot be found in earthly things. No matter what we do, we will never experience true peace until our relationship with God is restored. The only way to restore our relationship with God is through Jesus.

It’s Christmas, and I am an evangelical, so I have to ask: Do you believe Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? Have you experienced the peace only He can offer? If you haven’t turned to Jesus, turn to Him. Repent of your sins. Submit your life to Him. The peace you are seeking is found only in Him.

Question for Reflection

  1. Have you experienced the peace only Jesus can provide?

Resource

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On Isaiah 9:6 & Jesus’ Incarnation

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, QuotesLeave a comment

The Son of God did not want to be seen and found in heaven. Therefore he descended from heaven into this humility and came to us in our flesh, laid himself into the womb of his mother and into the manger and went on to the cross.

This was the ladder that he placed on earth so that we might ascend to God on it.

Question for Reflection

  1. What should our response be to Jesus’ incarnation?

Resources

Martin Luther on Isaiah 9:6 via Stephen J. Nichols, Peace: Classic Readings for Christmas, 56-57.

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How Should We Respond to the Good News of Jesus During Advent?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

Sycamore Baptist Church Snow

Advent is the season leading up to Jesus’ birth. During this time of year we will exchange greetings of Merry Christmas, send Christmas cards to friends and family, and post many sayings on Facebook and Twitter such as: ”Jesus is the reason for the season” or “Let’s keep Christ in Christmas.”

These things are good. They not only cause us to think about Jesus, but they cause others who may never consider Jesus to do so.

While it is good and right for us to do these things, what I’m afraid of is that even though we speak about Jesus, write about Him, and celebrate His birth this time of year, we may not really know how the Bible calls us to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

How should we respond to the good news of Jesus Christ? In other words, what should we do after hearing the message of the gospel? The shepherds’ response in Luke chapter two acts as a model.

The Shepherds’ Response

The First Way They Respond is Immediately

In verses 15-16, Luke writes,

“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.”

Our response should be identical. When we hear the good news of Jesus – that He has come to save us, to restore our relationship with God, and make peace for us – we should respond immediately by seeking to confirm the truth of the message.

If we are apathetic and lackadaisical, it means we have not yet grasped the magnitude of the message, or our need for a Savior. As well as it means we don’t understand that this world cannot offer us the peace that only Christ can offer.

The Second and Third Way They Respond is by Believing and Telling Others the Good News.

In verses 17-18, Luke writes,

“And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.”

We should not only believe the gospel message, but we should also respond as the shepherds did by telling others. That is the proper response, and it should be our response.

The Last Way They Respond is by Glorifying and Praising God. 

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.” (Luke 2:20)

We too should respond by glorifying and praising God. In other words, God’s beauty, splendor, and majesty should capture our imaginations and thought, as well as we should obey His commandments, submitting to His rule over our life, and telling others about Him.

Why should we respond in this way?

Because God Himself has come to this earth to rescue us from death and destruction.

He planned out His rescue mission before the foundations of the world. Directed history to fulfill His plan. A plan He Himself fulfilled by leaving His throne in heaven, being born as a man in a manger, and going to the cross to die the death we should die, so that we might have life.

Isn’t that amazing? The King, the Creator of this world has come to rescue us from death and destruction while we were His enemies.

That is why we should glorify and praise God. That is why the message the Angel brought to the shepherds was good news. That is why we should respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Have you responded to the good news by searching out the truth?
  2. Have you responded to the good news by believing in Jesus?
  3. Have you responded to the good news by telling others the gospel?
  4. Have you responded to the good news by glorifying and praising God?

On Asking Jesus Into Your Heart

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Quotes3 Comments

Repentance and faith are heart postures you take toward the finished work of Christ. You might express the beginning of that posture in a prayer. But don’t make the mistake of equating that prayer with the posture.

The sinner’s prayer is not a magic incantation or a recipe you follow to get a salvation cake.

The real stuff – the stuff that matters – is the posture of repentance and faith behind the words you speak. The prayer is good only insofar as it verbalizes the posture.

Questions for Reflection

  1. What do you think of the sinners prayer?

Resources

J.D. Greear, Stop asking Jesus into your heart, 7.

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On Idolatry

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Quotes1 Comment

John Calvin comments,

“God renders his glory conspicuous everywhere, so that it ought to engage and occupy the thoughts of all men; and it would do so were they not led away by their own vanity.”

Idolatry does not exist because the Lord is unclear about His existence but because of our own vain imaginations. Sin makes us prone to trust gods other than the one true Lord of all, but when we do that we become captive to fear and the destructive results of putting our final hope in any but God.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Calvin argues idolatry exists because of our own vanity (our futile thoughts due to sin), what do you think?

Resources

Table Talk Magazine, Devotional from July 10th

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On Christian Community

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Devotionals, Discipleship, QuotesLeave a comment

How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?

To the Congregation

If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

To Pastor’s and Zealous Members

This applies in a special way to the complaints often heard from pastors and zealous members about their congregations. A pastor should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men.

When a person becomes alienated from a Christian community in which he has been placed and begins to raise complaints about it, he had better examine himself first to see whether the trouble is not due to his wish dream that should be shattered by God; and if this be the case, let him thank God for leading him into this predicament.

But if not, let him nevertheless guard against ever becoming an accuser of the congregation before God. Let him rather accuse himself for his unbelief. Let him pray God for an understanding of his own failure and his particular sin, and pray that he may not wrong his brethren. Let him, in the consciousness of his own guilt, make intercession for his brethren. Let him do what he is committed to do, and thank God.

A Gift of God

Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases.

In Christ Alone

Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.

Questions for Reflection

  1. How do you think of your own congregation (Christian Community)?
  2. Are you guilty of wishing your congregation (Christian Community) was different?
  3. Do you recognize God’s sovereign placement of you in your particular congregation (Christian Community)?
  4. Do you believe Christian Community is a Gift of God that can only be experienced through and in Jesus?

Resources

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 29-31. (Note: Text is Bonhoeffer’s, headings are mine.)

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