Virtual Devotions

"No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him." – 1 John 3:6

Dear Friends,

Earlier this week, I heard Micheal Vick, the NFL quarterback who plead guilty to dog-fighting related charges, say in his public apology that he had "found Jesus".

As a Christian, I should have sang for joy with the angels at the salvation of another soul, but instead, my eyes instinctively rolled in disbelief that another celebrity could possibly be using the Savior’s name in vain. It seems to be part of the apology formula for celebrities these days. Remember Paris Hilton left jail carrying a Bible and claiming she had found God in prison, and Britney Spears made similar claims after leaving rehab.

It’s not that these people, or anyone else for that matter, cannot be forgiven by the grace of God if they turn to Him in repentance and faith. If they do, God is "faithful and just" to forgive them as the apostle John tells us, but John tells us what we should expect from true believers and how to distinguish them from the false.

Repentance was the first command preached by the Lord Jesus. It means more than just being sorry for what you have done (or because you were caught). It means to "turn away", to turn your back on your life of sinfulness and turn toward a life of increasing holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit. When a person truly turns their life over to God, there is inner change that is manifested in outward expressions of faith, often referred to as fruit.

With this, observers should see a noticeable change in the lifestyle and manner of the newly born-again individual. The Bible tells us that we are to put off the "old man" and put on "the new man". This is not to say that those who are born-again will never sin. The apostle Paul tells us that the old nature and the new nature battle within us. Still, the new nature is stronger.

What is left for us to do is to pray. Pray for Michael Vick and Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Pray that they truly turn to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance. As brutal and inhumane as the sins of Michael Vick are, his sin is not beyond the saving grace of God. And before anyone judges Michael Vick for his sins, let us be reminded that in the eyes of God, and apart from Christ, we are as guilty as he is. Let us pray that we see him produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

In Christ,

David

“ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” – Ephesians 6:11

Dear Friends,

Earlier this week, I was out walking and thinking about the coming school year.  I thought of how our children are exposed to so many things that are contrary to Biblical teaching and other things that may seem unimportant, but are seeds of sin and despair.

As I was thinking about this, I recalled how a friend of mine use to take her girls through each verse of the “full armor of God” to prepare them for the coming day at school.  She knew that the biggest challenges her children would face were not physical, but spiritual and she wanted them to be prepared.

When I arrived at work, I had an email from another friend that gave the testimony of a soldier in Iraq.  He too recalled the “full armor of God” in his day-to-day life in Iraq.  He used his experience as an analogy for us.  He said that a soldier would be a fool not to wear the body armor provided by the military to protect him.  He implied that we too would be foolish not to wear the spiritual armor provided by our Lord.

There are many good sermons on the “full armor of God” so I won’t go through each verse.  But I will encourage you to read Ephesians 6:10-17 and reacquaint yourself with these tools.  Then, teach them to your children and your loved ones.  Do not let them go out into the world without protection.  Paul tells us we are soldiers of Christ.  You have been issued the “full armor of God”.  Wear it and be protected.

In Christ,

David

“They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.” – Psalm 22:5

Dear Friends,

It’s been a long week for me and I have just returned home after three days on the road traveling on business.  The week seems particularly long because I have been spending most of these days trying to fix things that have gone wrong because people in my company haven’t delivered on their promises, and I become the one who has to bear the bad news to my customers.  As a representative of the company, it bothers me greatly because I am the face of the company to my clients and if the company fails, it reflects on me.

On the long drive home I was thinking about the events of the past few months and how people at work have consistently disappointed me.  But the one thing that lifted me up is the knowledge that there is one who never disappoints, the Lord Jesus.   No matter what happens, Jesus is faithful.  I thought first of the verse from 2 Timothy, “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself.”  Christ cannot act contrary to his nature, consequently he is always faithful and we can always trust him.

We will all be disappointed in our lives.  Often by the people we love the most.  Your spouse, parents, siblings, friends, clergy, children, all will disappoint you at some time.  When they do, take heart and extend grace because the next time it may be you who is disappointing them.  And remember, that you always have one to turn to who will never disappoint you.  True, he may not give you everything you ask, but that is only because he knows better.  But he is always there, unchanging, unending faithfulness; the solid rock.

In Christ,

David

"And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."- 2 Peter 1:19

Dear Friends,

This week's devotional has been delayed a little because last night I had to take the final exam for my Greek language class.  I've been asked many times if I think learning to read Greek is worth it and I can assure you that it is.

The Bible is God's word given to us so that we may understand Him more fully.  And as the apostle Peter tells us in his letter, "you will do well to pay attention to it."  True, at the time 2 Peter was written, the New Testament as we know it had not yet been fully written and compiled and when Peter is speaking of the prophets he is directly speaking of the Hebrew Bible, what we would call the Old Testament today.

But further on in his letter, Peter makes reference to the writings of the apostle Paul.  And in that discussion, Peter puts Paul's writings on the same level as "the other Scriptures." Peter may have been humble enough not to boast that his own writings were equal to the Scriptures, but he was certainly willing to put Paul's in that position.

And he was right to do so.  Peter tells us that the origin of prophecy is not found in man, but in the Holy Spirit who "carries-along" the writer effectively directing every thought (2 Peter 1:21).  And Paul attests to this as well in his second letter to Timothy saying that all scripture is "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16).  

Originally, Peter, Paul and the other New Testament writers wrote in Greek, and to get a deeper sense of the ideas they were trying to convey, I have been given a desire to learn to read the Greek language of that day.  I find that it provides a much richer understanding of what God's word is teaching me.

But you don't need to learn Greek to understand God's word.  Paul tells us that spiritual things are understood with the aid of the one who inspired them, the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 2:12-14).  All you need to do is ask the Spirit in faith to help you better understand the word of God and He is faithful to do so.  God's word truly is "a light shining in a dark place."  Open the Bible and let God's light help you to see.

In Christ,

David

 "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.” – Romans 15:20

Dear friends,

Last week, as I meditated in prayer on the story of my daughter sharing the Gospel with her friends, I was given a different perspective on church planting.

I have always admired the work of the apostle, Paul.  Paul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, spread the Gospel across the known world and planted churches in many of the cities where he evangelized.  I’ve often wondered to myself if I could be like Paul in spreading the Gospel and planting churches across the world.  Is this something I or anyone else could do today?

The answer came in my meditation and it is based on a principle that I was taught while in the CHAMP Sports Ministry.  It is the principle of multiplication.

You may remember the shampoo commercial that was on television a few years ago.  The woman was telling how she used such and such a shampoo and how she told two friends about it and then they told two friends and so on and so on and so on.  The one became two, the two became four, the four became eight, etc.  The woman’s testimony for her shampoo was eventually reaching people she never knew nor would meet.

The ancient Jews believed that God resided within the physical temple in Jerusalem and that was where believers needed to go and pray before Him.  As Christians, we believe that the Spirit of God lives within us.  Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.  And unlike a building that is stationary, we are mobile.  We can take the church to the people.

Individually, we will have limited success.  But by multiplying ourselves, others will be reached that we never knew nor could have known about.  And this evangelism can traverse more than distance, but time as well.  For if today, I teach my children to share the Gospel and enlist disciples, they will be able to continue to do so long after I am gone.

Many bemoan the current state of affairs in the world and lament the future.  Why should we when we have such a great influence on it in through our children?  Our children are the future.  If we multiply ourselves by teaching our children the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ and show them how to spread the Gospel, this world will be better in the future than it is today.

In Christ,

David