Tag: Jesus

Unity is a blessing from the Lord

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps 133:1)

Because of God’s presence and provision, we are able to dwell together in unity with one another. Unity in community is a blessing showered down on us by God. God is the One who transforms our hearts — our will, wants, desires — so that we can live in unity with one another.

Unity requires self-sacrifice and forbearance. Only a heart that has been transformed by the Lord will be willing to sacrifice and forbear with another.

Where there is unity, there is the Lord’s blessing, His provision. When we experience unity with another, we should praise the Lord. If we desire unity, we should seek the Lord. Out of our relationship with the Lord, our growth in Christ, we experience unity with one another.

If you desire unity, turn to the Lord, seek Him, grow in Him, and you will experience the unity you desire with other brother’s and sister’s in Christ.

For indeed, unity is a blessing from the Lord. May we praise Him when it is present in our community.

Advent proves God’s promise is a reality

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Uncategorized2 Comments

“The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.” (Ps 132:11)

Our God is a promise keeping God. He made a covenant with Abraham and reaffirmed that same covenant with his sons. He also made a covenant with the nation of Israel when Moses led them. Then again with David, promising that He would always have a son on his throne.

The covenants were unconditional and conditional at the same time. The next verse says,

“If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne.” (Ps 132:12)

Many of us know the story of the kings. Incase you have forgotten or are reading about them for the first time, they did not obey the Lord. They didn’t keep His laws. Sure, some of them led the nation to repentance. But one good apple among a sea of bad ones will not do. The overall trajectory of the nation was bent toward’s idolatry and injustice.

The Lord, however, had made a covenant with His people. He promised to be their God. He promised one of David’s sons would sit on the throne. God fulfilled that promise Himself.

During Advent we are anticipating Jesus’ coming. He is the Son of God who did what Israel and the kings could not. He perfectly fulfilled God’s law, living for the Father’s glory and according to His will. He never sinned against the Father. As a result, He was granted the right to sit on the throne of David forever.

Advent anticipates His first coming and it points to His second coming where He will bring the kingdom in all its glory. To be sure, Jesus reigns and rules now. But in the future His reign and rule will be consummated. His kingdom will come and those who oppose Him will be cast out of the city gates, so that those who align themselves with God’s will can live securely inside the city of God for all eternity.

Will you be a citizen of the kingdom to come? Do you hope in Jesus’ second Advent? Will you celebrate His first Advent this year, worshipping and praising Him as the shepherds in the field did that glorious night? Would you travel half-way around the world like the wise men to lay gifts at His feet? Do you know the Savior? Do you have a love for Him? Do you bow to your King, recognizing that Jesus indeed is Lord?

There is hope after this life has ended

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?” (Acts 26:8)

In Paul’s defense before King Agrippa he asks the question posed in verse 8. Why is it incredible to believe that God raises the dead? God is the all-sovereign, all-powerful, ruler and creator of the universe. Why is it so difficult to believe that He has the power to raise the dead.

Not only does God have the power to raise the dead, but it also fits His purpose. He promised we would experience life in a new heavens and new earth. One free from sickness and death. One where we worship King Jesus for all eternity for His glory and our blessing. For millennia, God has been calling a people to Himself to give to His Son. His Son, God Himself, came to die for these people. He will raise those who have died so that they might join Him in His kingdom one day to worship and serve Him for all eternity.

Why is it so difficult to believe God can raise man from the grave. It is within in His power and it fits His purpose. The resurrection is a reality. It is our only hope. Death is not the end. There is hope after this life has ended. But only for those who believe Jesus was raised from the dead as the first fruits of a new creation.

Do you believe in Jesus’ resurrection?

Do you know the forgiveness of the Lord?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” (Ps 130:3-4)

There is a wonderful truth in this verse. One we couldn’t live without. One that would keep us from hope and lead us into despair if it weren’t true. With the Lord there is forgiveness.

Despite our sin our against him, which is plentiful and heinous, the Lord offers forgiveness. He doesn’t hold sin against those who repent and seek His face, desiring to walk according to His ways.

He forgives because He absorbs the cost. He can absorb the cost and be just because of Jesus. Jesus has always been the Father’s plan to deal with our sin. He is not plan b. He is not an afterthought. Jesus is plan A through and through. Because Jesus was coming and the Father’s plan would come to fruition, the Psalmist can write 1000’s of years earlier about the Father’s forgiveness.

Do you know the forgiveness of the Lord? Is Jesus your Savior? Your hope?

God is doing an amazing work in our day!

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.'” (Acts 13:41)

Paul, preaching to the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia, tells the Jews that they should expect the Lord to do a work that they would not believe. The work is that their wise men will perish (Is 29:14). In other words, God will do something among the people that will astound them – He will save the Gentiles. He bring those who they thought could not experience salvation to Himself. He will do it through their belief in a crucified Messiah. While at the same time, He will give the Jews over to their enemies (Hab 1:5-6).

After the Jews rejected their teaching, Paul explicitly tells them the work God is dong in verse 47 when he says,

“For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'” (Acts 13:47)

Again quoting from the prophet Isaiah to show that this has always been God’s plan. A plan that was hidden but is now revealed (Col 1:26-27). Salvation has come to the Gentiles. God’s plan has always been to unite them as one man in Christ (Eph 2:11-22).

Through Jesus we are all united to one another – Jew and Gentile, poor and rich, slave and free. In Christ, we are all equal. We are all brothers and sisters. We are adopted into the same family through the death of Jesus for our sins and the forgiveness extended by the Father and the work done by the Spirit to draw and regenerate. Because of the Work of God, an amazing work we cannot even fathom, we all experience salvation in Jesus alone.

God is doing a work in our day. A work no one would believe if told beforehand. God is uniting us all in Christ. He breaks down divisions. If we want to experience unity, we must turn to Christ. We must recognize that at the foot of the cross all men and women are equal. No one is greater than another. No one is loved by God more than another. We are all one, a new humanity, a new people in Christ.

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!