Tag: christianity

In Uncertain Times Turn to the Lord for Rescue

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” (Ps 124:8)

God is the One who created all things. He is the One we should turn to for help. In Acts 12, God is the One who helps Peter. Wrongfully imprisoned and held until the feast of Unleavened Bread was over, Herod was going to have Peter killed at the pleasure of the Jews.

Peter, guarded by several squads of soldiers, found his way out of prison and out of the city. Peter’s did not fight his way out of the prison. Nor did a band of soldiers enter the prison and rescue him from the mighty Roman’s. An angel of the Lord rescued Peter. The angel rescued him without drawing any blood. The chains holding Peter literally feel off. They walked back the guards, and the iron gate leading into the city opened on its own accord. Peter escaped by the help of the Lord!

God is our help in present troubles. He has the power to help us. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He literally fashioned the sun, moon, and stars in place. He molded the planet we call home. We were made in His image. Our Lord is our help.

Sometimes God rescues and restores in miraculous ways. Other times He does it in the ordinary. At times, He doesn’t rescue at all. In the same episode in Acts, James was killed while Peter was rescued. James’ death doesn’t point to an impotent or slumbering God. God accomplishes what He desires when He desires. We must remember God’s will doesn’t always match our will. He was done using James but not Peter. While James passed on from this world, he entered a greater world where he is able to see the Lord face to face.

In uncertain times, don’t turn to man to rescue you. Turn to the Lord. Trust in His will. He has a plan. His plan will not be thwarted. He will accomplish that which He has purposed. We should glory in God’s rescue as well as His use of us to accomplish His purposes.

Glory be to God!

Refreshment is found in the Gospel

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, DiscipleshipLeave a comment

“But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.” (Acts 3:18)

Jesus’ suffering was not God’s plan B. It was and always has been plan A. From before the foundations of the world God planned for Jesus to come and die for you. What an amazing plan! What love the Lord has for us!

Admittedly it is difficult to fathom how the Father would give His Son for a rebellious people. But the Father did. He didn’t do it on a whim, instead He did it as part of a plan so that we might be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light (Col. 1). He rescues us in order to win a people for His Son so that we might glorify Jesus for all eternity in the future kingdom to come. He did it so that we might be drawn up into the eternal love relationship the Trinity has with one another.

Understanding what Jesus has done for us, we are called to repent and enjoy fellowship with Jesus and to experience the hope of the future kingdom to come.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.” (Acts 3:19-21)

Those who repent, turning to Jesus as Lord and Savior, not only experience future hope, but they also experience present refreshment. Don’t we need refreshment from the grind of the world? Don’t we need relief? We can have it in a relationship with Jesus.

Turn to Jesus today. Trust in Him whether you would call yourself a non-believer or a believer. The gospel is for everyone. We never move past it. We only go deeper into it, experiencing salvation, hope, refreshment, even in the midst of a nation that is leaning more and more post-Christian.

God’s Word Provides Hope

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Ps 119:130)

I am struck by the Psalmist continued reference to God’s Word. It is that which gives light in today’s passage. It imparts understanding.

God’s Word illumines the darkness. It guides us as we walk through a world that lives in the domain of darkness. But we have God’s Word which provides safe passage through the darkness. It informs us in how we are to live and act.

As well as God’s Words helps us to understand who God is, who we are, and why the world is so messed up. It, however, doesn’t leave us in hopelessness. God’s Word also points us to the answer to the messed up situation in which we find ourselves. It points to the Messiah. The Savior who was planned before the foundation of the world to rescue a lost and dying world from darkness.

Turn to God’s Word today and every day thereafter. It should be what we pick up when we are seeking answers, guidance, and hope.

God, help us delight in your Word

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” (Ps 119:37)

The Psalmist asks the Lord to turn him from those things that are worthless. The things that will not bring joy, satisfaction, and life. Those things that are contrary to God’s will. In place of worthless things, he asks that God would give him life, which is found in God’s ways.

As you read through the remainder of the section, you realize God’s ways are found in God’s Word. His ways are found in His law (Ps 19:34). They are found in His commandments (Ps 19:35). They are found in His rules (Ps 19:39) and his precepts (Ps 19:40). While each of these words have nuanced meanings, they all essentially point back to God’s Word. It is His Word that provides life as we live according to his law, commandments, rules, precepts, teaching, and wisdom found therein. It is no wonder the psalmist says that he delights in God’s Word (Ps 19:35).

We should delight in God’s Word as well. And our prayer, our ask of God should be for Him to help us turn from those things that are worthless to life which is found in His ways.

Spend some time this morning asking the Lord to help you delight in His Word.

The Redeemed Live Holy Lives by Gospel-driven Reflection

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

“When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.” – Psalm 114:1-2

When God led Israel out of bondage in Egypt, He did so because they were His people. In the desert He tabernacles among them. His presence took up residence in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies. Likewise the nation was to be comprised of holy people who were set apart unto God. Their holiness was to mark them as different from the other nations allowing them to witness to the changing power of the One true God.

Just as Israel were to be a holy people where the Lord dwelled, we are to be holy as well. Peter expands on the idea when he writes,

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16

As children of God we are to be holy just as Christ is holy. Christ is the key. Just as Israel was redeemed from physical bondage in Egypt, we are redeemed from spiritual bondage by Jesus.

“knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” – 1 Peter 1:18-19

As Christians then, we are to be holy, aligning ourselves with God’s will and focusing our attention on Jesus as the motivation to live holy lives. Until we recognize that there is no other savior but Jesus, we will always run to other gods, to idols, to those things we believe will provide what only Jesus can.

In order to pursue holiness, your focus has to be on Jesus and the gospel. Holiness is not the result of work-driven effort, but of gospel-driven reflection.

A righteous life stems from a righteous heart

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!”

(Psalm 112:1)

God’s promise for us in Psalm 112 reveals that those who fear the Lord, who live in reverent awe of God, seeking to align their life with God’s will receive blessing from God.

The remainder of the Psalm goes on to highlight what it looks like to live as one who delights in God’s commandments, as one who is upright.

  • They are not greedy but generous (5a)
  • They are not unfair or unjust. Rather they deal justly in all their affairs (5b)
  • Bad news does not move them. Rather they continue to trust in the Lord (7).
  • They are not afraid of their enemy, instead they continue to trust in the Lord to vindicate (8).
  • They freely give to the poor, seeking to care for the marginalized and disadvantaged in the city (9).
  • They are able to give of their wealth and resources because they trust the Lord to provide for their needs, viewing their resources as those given by God whom they are to steward and use to meet the needs of the community in which God has placed them (9).

The psalms ends with a word about the wicked, who doesn’t desire the Lord’s commandments and thus is angry when he observes the righteous in action. The difference between the two characters is not external action but an internal desire. Those who fear God live a life aligned with God’s will and those who disdain God reject the will of the Lord.

The point being we can’t manufacture righteous actions. They do not spring forth from a heart that rejects the Lord. Our heart, our desires, our affections must first be given to God. Only if we have turned to the Lord can we truly live a righteous life. To say it another way, a righteous life cannot spring forth from a wicked well. The well must first be made righteous.

We cannot make ourselves righteous (Rom 3:9-20). Only the Lord can change our heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh that desires to live under His rule.

Ezekiel writes,

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

(Ezekiel 11:19-20)

Has the Lord changed your heart? Do you desire His rule? Are you living a righteous live in the power of the Holy Spirit or are you trying to live for God in your own power and strength?

If you are seeking God in your own power, it is most likely because you want something from Him or the community in which you live. You don’t want God for God. You are using God to meet your own desires. The righteous don’t use God. They are satisfied with God alone.