Virtual Devotions

“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” – Psalm 34:8

Dear Friends,

Let’s suppose you go to work tomorrow, you head straight to your cubicle or office, you drop your things on the desk, pick up your coffee cup and head to the break room.  You fill your cup, take it back to your desk, turn on your computer, read through a seemingly endless stream of emails, have a meeting or two, do whatever it is that you do the rest of the day and then go home.  And you do this day after day after day.  

Now suppose, you go into work tomorrow with a tray of cupcakes. Everyone notices you walking down the hall.  They are curious and a little confused as to why you have these cupcakes.  You take the cupcakes to the break room, or better yet, take them around to everyone’s cubicle or office and offer them one.  Some take them, some don’t but at least you offered.  You go about the rest of your day.  Then the next day, you bring cupcakes again.  People are more curious and even more confused.  You go about offering them to everyone.  Again, some take them and some don’t.  You do your job the rest of the day.  Then the next day you bring cupcakes again, and the day after that, and the day after that and the day after that and on and on.   After a while, people would think of you as different, even a little strange.  Some would enjoy the cupcakes every day and some may get angry with you.  Either way, they’d get use to it and you’d become know as the cupcake person.

 So what does this have to do with being a Christian?  First, which of the two people above would you rather be?  The person who sits at the desk day after day in monotony or the person who brings cupcakes every day?   Going straight to your desk is easy, but not very fulfilling.  Being the cupcake person is much more fun, just a little out of the norm.

The same is true with being a Christian.  You can go straight to your cubicle or office and do your job without ever showing Christ to anyone, and that wouldn’t be very fulfilling.  But when you are intentional about showing Christ to everyone, you will seem different.  When you walk into the office, it will be like walking in with a tray of cupcakes.  People will see that there is something unusual, and hopefully they may even want what you have.  Certainly, if you take Christ around to people and offer Him, some will want Him.  And this is how you do it, day after day after day.  Either way, they’d get use to it and you’d become known as a Christian.

I believe it is truly that simple.  We must be intentional in our witness.  This does not mean that you go cubicle to cubicle aggressively trying to convert people, but instead in every aspect of you dealings with them you try to be Christ-like.  People should notice the difference in you as compared to the world and your old nature.  If you’re not sure where to start, try bringing a tray of cupcakes tomorrow.  If people ask why, tell them it is your Christian duty.  If they ask what you mean by that, tell them your action is in response to what Christ did for you and the door is now open to share the gospel.

In Christ,

David

February 15, 2007

“What has happened to all your joy?” – Galatians 4:15

Dear Friends,

I’m concerned why so many people in the church today don’t express the joy that comes with the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ.  It makes me wonder on what they base their salvation and if it is because they are caught in the trap of legalism. 

In a simple sense, what I mean by legalism is doing what you do because you have to not because you want to.  They attend church and give to the church not because they want to, but because they feel they have to in addition to their faith in Christ in order to gain assurance of their salvation.

In Galatia, certain men were teaching the Galatian converts that in addition to believing in Christ, they also had to follow the Jewish ceremonial laws, including circumcision, to be right with God.  No wonder they had lost their joy!  The Apostle Paul fought against this legalism.

Paul compares it to slavery and faith in Christ alone to freedom.  How I wish this was preached more often in our churches today.  Faith in Christ alone, nothing else, puts you in a right relationship with God.  It is not faith and church attendance or faith and giving or faith and good works.   It is just faith in Christ.

Many people tell me that they are going to heaven because they are a good person.  Their relationship with Christ, if any, is secondary.  This is self-imposed slavery.  Anyone who answers this way is saying they alone must do the work to gain God’s acceptance, yet this cannot be done because no one's good works can make up for their sinfulness.   Only Christ has fulfilled the law.  And though He didn’t deserve it, he died in our place so that we may live eternally with Him.

The joy of Christ comes in many forms, but certainly in the freedom we experience.  I no longer need to worry if I am living a right life to gain my acceptance with God.  I have that through Jesus Christ.  But I do live in the best way that I can because of the freedom that I have been given through Christ.  It is out of joyful appreciation, not obligation.   Be set free today and experience true joy.

In Christ,

David

February 8, 2007

“My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” – John 17:20-21

I have been hearing a lot about unity this past week and I feel the Spirit moving me to explore this concept.  In the prayer that Jesus prayed in today’s verses above, He is asking the Father to unite all who will eventually believe in Him just as He and the Father are united in the Holy Trinity.   Yet, is this what we see in the church today?

First, let’s look at the Holy Trinity.  One God, Three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  United in their being, equal in power, glory and all attributes, no one subordinate to the other, yet each has a distinctive role – Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier.  Is this description of the unity of the Trinity and accurate depiction of the church today?  I fear not.

In various contexts, there are many definitions of “the church”, but for this devotional I want to speak of the visible church, all who are presently on earth professing to be Christians.   I am focusing on the visible church because it is what we, who are professing Christians present to the world.   And this is my concern.  I do not believe that we are showing the face of Christ often enough. 

It seems I read weekly about infighting within a denomination or between denominations.  Within my own denomination, within my own congregation, I have seen splits unfitting of Christians.   True, there are doctrines that must be discussed and corrections made if one is in error in matters of faith, but let us remember that we are all fallible, all capable of being in the wrong, if not in our doctrine then in how we go about correcting and encouraging another professing believer with Christian love.

And we are so often looking to do evangelical mission work outside the church, how often do we look to other churches in our own city to aid?  In Acts we read that collections were taken up in one church for the benefit of another.  When was the last time someone from another church knocked on your door offering to help your church?  When was the last time your church offered to help another church?  Should we not all be united as believers aiding each other even though we are of different denominations?

It is a great deal to consider, but one that deserves consideration.  Some day, Jesus’ prayer will be answered and all believers will be united under Him.  Until then, let us work toward that end no matter how small the outcome may seem for it is bringing us one step closer to being a part of the answer to our own Lord’s prayer to the Father.

In Christ,

David

“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” – John 10:9

Dear Friends,

Some of the best ideas for my devotionals come from my children.  I think it is because children are thinking many of the same things we are thinking, but they aren’t afraid to ask.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, my daughter asked if Saddam Hussein went to “the bad place”.  I paused and considered her question for a moment and then said that given what I knew about the man, I believed that he did.   This was not my condemnation of the man, but my recognition of what I understand to be true.

If he did go to hell, he did not go there because of his wicked ways.  True, by human standards, he was a horrible person.  But we should not forget that we too are sinners and though by human standards may not be as bad as Saddam, we are as equally guilty before the Lord and are deserving of eternal punishment.

If he did go to hell, he went because he did not trust in the only Gate, the only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  From what I have heard and read, Saddam went to the gallows with the Koran in his hand and prayers to Allah on his lips.  If he had only confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in his heart that God raised Him from the dead, he would have been saved as the Holy Spirit has taught us through the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans.

It would not have been too late.  It is never too late while we still have breath in our bodies to turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.  I truly hope that he did, by some miracle of grace, make that decision at the end.  Because there is no sin so great that the sacrifice of Christ cannot cover; not Saddam’s, not mine, not anyone’s.  I have no righteousness of my own, but only the righteousness imputed to me by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Should the Lord Jesus not return before the day of my death, I believe that when I do die and go to be with Him in heaven, I will not enter by a key through a pearly gate, but only by the saving work of Him, the One Gate, the outstretched arms of the Lord Jesus Christ waiting to embrace me for eternity.

In His name,

David