Virtual Devotions

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.” – James 1:12

Dear Friends,

Deep down inside of me, and I suppose inside of all of you as well, there is a dire concern for all people to have assurance of the saving faith in Jesus Christ.  Not to say that I believe all will accept Christ and be saved, but for those who do profess Christ as Lord and Savior, I pray that it is a true faith. 

Many of us have heeded our Lord’s command to go out and make disciples through out the world.  Yet what I typically find is a methodology that leads the individual to make a profession of faith by saying some sort of “sinner’s prayer.” While this evangelism is to be commended, the method troubles me. 

Often, once the individual has made the profession of faith, we chalk them up as another saved soul and move on to the next one.  But how are we to know that they are truly saved.  Could they be like the seed on rocky soil?   They receive the word with gladness and appear to grow and possibly bear some fruit, but when the drought comes they wither and die.  Or are they possibly the seed that has fallen within thorns and weeds?  It too grows up, but is soon choked out by the cares of this world. 

Salvation is not a summed up in a single event.  It continues all of your life.  It’s the life long process of sanctification and its hallmark is perseverance.  This is crucial knowledge if we are to truly lead people to Christ.

Too often, people tell me that they aren’t sure if they are saved or not. They tell me that at one time or another in their life, often as children, they said a prayer and the person leading them welcomed them into God’s family.  That is their last recollection of their salvation experience, and since then they feel as if things haven’t changed, they now have doubts if they are really saved. 

So take a moment and think about anyone you may have led to Christ.  Have you stayed in touch with them?  Have you helped them to stay on the path?  Are you sure they are saved?   

Do them and yourself a favor.  Find them if you can and find out how they are doing.  Find out if they are confident of their position in Christ.  If they are, stay in touch with them.  If they are not, go back to square one, start over again, but this time don’t let go. 

In Christ, 

David

“By the seventh day God and finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all of his work.” – Genesis 2:2 

Dear Friends, 

When I was in college about 20 years ago, the prevailing thought was that by today technology would have advanced so far that we would all be working four day work weeks and the excess time would spark a booming leisure industry.  How wrong they were. 

Today, technology doesn’t shorten our days, but extends them.  Blackberrys, cell phones and laptops keep us connected to the office all week long.  More and more I hear friends and colleagues saying they are working more than ever before, even on Sunday just to keep up with the demands of work.  They are frustrated, tired and there is a sadness in their voices because they fell like prisoners to their job. 

This isn’t the way it was meant to be.  When God rested on the seventh day, it wasn’t because He was tired.  The Hebrew word, sabat, that we translate as rest really means to come to a rest, to stop, to cease.  God wasn’t tired.   He just chose to stop working.   Why?  Because He designated the seventh day as His holy day, a special day set apart from all others.   God not only demonstrated the importance of the Sabbath by example, but He also commanded us to obey the Sabbath as the fourth of the Ten Commandments. 

So why do we continue to work?   I think because we feel trapped.  In the same way Satan had us enslaved to sin, he has us now enslaved to the sin of dishonoring the Sabbath through our jobs.  There is a side of me that wants to extend grace to those who feel they must work because of their specific circumstance.  But I am struggling with it.  Like any sin, we may fall into it, yet know it is wrong, but to do it continuously is not what God wants for us. 

And for those of us who don’t work on Sunday, I’d bet nearly all of us support the worldly system by shopping and going out to eat on Sunday anyway.  We may know it is wrong to work on Sunday, but by our actions we make other people work.  At church the other night, some folks were commenting on how they remember everything was closed on Sunday when they were younger.    If no one went shopping on Sunday, the stores would be closed. 

I don’t want this to become legalistic, but I do want people to shake off the chains of their jobs on Sunday and worship God, reconnect with their spouse, enjoy their family and get some rest.  Try it this weekend, please.  You’ll find the world doesn’t end.  And if it does, you’ll be in the perfect place for it in church worshipping God. 

In Christ, 

DJ

Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?" – Mark 12:24

 Dear Friends,  

When I was deciding which seminary to attend, I was invited to have lunch with a couple of students from Reformed Theological Seminary to talk about the academics and anything else I might want to discuss with an actual student.

Now RTS is a conservative seminary and the church I attend has a very wide range of theological beliefs and perspectives.  Being more conservatively minded myself, I was wondering if the teachings at RTS could help me to better understand the positions of the more liberally minded folks in my congregation.  The student answered by saying the differences between conservative and liberal Christians will almost always boil down to one thing, their view of the Bible.

Conservative Christians are more likely to accept the entire Bible as the authoritative word of God.  Liberal Christians are more likely to accept some of the books of the Bible as authoritative, and others not.

When the Sadducees questioned Jesus regarding marriage at the Resurrection, Jesus knew exactly where they were coming from.  The Sadducees had a very high view of the five books of Moses and a lesser view of the other Scriptures.  So Jesus answered them on their own ground.   In making His argument to them, He referred to the Book of Exodus, one of the books the Sadducees held to be authoritative Scripture.

I believe that this is a good lesson for us today.  You will likely encounter people who accept some of the books of the Bible as authoritative and some that are not.  If you are having a discussion of faith with them, you will need to know where they stand on the authority of the Bible.  Learn what they accept as truth, and then work from there.  Meet them on their own ground.  If they accept any part of God’s word as authoritative, you have common ground from which to start.

Too often, we who accept the full authority of the Bible choose to throw the entire Bible at them.  Our rationale is that the Bible is God’s truth and therefore it will accomplish its task.  While I believe this is true, I believe we can be better witnesses if we imitate Christ and meet others on common ground and then let the Spirit work in them.  Just one verse of God’s word is a brilliant light in a dark world.  Let it shine.

In Christ,

David