The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

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February 28, 2020

Lent Devotional: Numbers 13:25-30

Numbers 13:25-30 (click here to read the entire passage)
At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land… And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large… But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:25, 27-28, 30)

Reflection
People vs. Promises

That’s the battle taking place in Numbers 13. God had promised to give his people a land for their very own possession, but it was occupied… apparently by very strong, intimidating people.

Is this not a pattern we all experience when it comes to the promises of God? Due to the fact we live in a world occupied by apparently strong, intimidating sin and brokenness… do we not always see obstacles in the way of God’s promises?

It’s people vs. promises all over again. It’s faith vs. unbelief.

Perhaps this is why the fight we engage in throughout our lives is called the “fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12). We fight to believe, to trust, to follow God’s promises no matter how strong and intimidating any obstacle in the way may look.

God’s promises are meant to provide us with the power to press on! We receive that power through the channel of faith! When we believe God’s promises and step out upon them, the promised power is there, provided by the Holy Spirit! However, when we do not believe the promises of God we do what Scripture calls “quenching the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19). It’s like we put a kink in the water hose of faith… we quench the flow of promised power with our unbelief.

This is what the Hebrew people chose to do in Numbers 13-14. As they stood on the precipice of the promised land… they chose not to believe that God would keep his promise to give it to them. They chose to believe that the people of the land were more powerful than the promises of God.

But Caleb (and Joshua) held on to faith. And one day they would return to the border of the promised land alongside a new generation of Hebrews and by faith, they would experience the power of God’s promises as they took the land!

How are you living today? Are you setting before you the promises of God so that they might empower you amidst a world of strong and intimidating people and obstacles that make faith look silly or downright impossible? Are you pressing on by the power God provides by his Spirit through his promises… or are you quenching the Spirit in unbelief?

Today… who will win the battle for your heart?

People or Promises?

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

 

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February 27, 2020

Lent Devotional: Exodus 6:2-7

Exodus 6:2-7 (click here to read the entire passage)
Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. (Exodus 6:6-7)

Reflection
“Do you know who I am? I’m your Papa!”

I have spoken those words to each of my children shortly after they were born. The words were absolutely true, even though there was no way they could know what they meant. How would they come to know what it means for me to be their Papa? What would fill up those words with meaning?

Sure… over time, as their ability to communicate grew, I would continue to speak meaning into our relationship. I would tell them more and more about what it meant for me to be their Papa and for them to be my child. BUT, while my words might outline a “black and white” sketch of who I am, it would be my actions that would color the picture of my identity in their lives!

I could tell them that as their Papa I am an authority figure in their life, but the exercise of authority would color what that means. I could tell them I love, protect, and provide for them, I long to teach them and play with them and lead them, but again… my actions must match my words in order for my children to truly KNOW what it means for me to be their Papa.

My words are important! Without them, my actions might be misinterpreted. It’d be kind of like random colors on a page with no black lines to define what you’re seeing. To know me, my children need my words and my actions… they need the outline and the color.

“Do you know who I am? I am the LORD!”

This is the reality that God unfolds for his people in Exodus 6. He is the covenant-keeping God… the LORD… Yahweh. BUT what does that mean?

God doesn’t leave the picture in black in white… he adds color to his words via his actions. What does it mean that he is the LORD? “I am the LORD… I WILL bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians… I WILL deliver you from slavery… I WILL redeem you…”

The LORD is the rescuer… the deliverer… the redeemer… and through these words married with his actions the LORD says his people will come to KNOW him! “I will take you to be my people… and you shall know that I am the LORD your God…”

We come to know the LORD in this same way for he has most fully revealed himself as our rescuer, deliverer, and redeemer in his WORD made flesh… his WORD in action… his WORD named Jesus.

If you want to know the LORD, you know him through Jesus.

No sharper lines have been drawn with words and no brighter colors displayed through actions than through Jesus! You want to see God in high definition that makes 4K look blurry, then look to Jesus! “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…” (Hebrews 1:3a)

Do you want to see and know God more today? Look to Jesus!

“Do you know who I am?… I am the LORD!… I am Jesus!”

 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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February 26, 2020

First Lent Devotional: Genesis 12:1-4

Each day of the Lenten season, I will be emailing out a devotional to many of the members of SVCC. I will also be sharing these devotionals via www.thejoyofglory.com
 
These are designed to accompany the SVCC Lenten reading guide which may be found here: 
 
In these devotionals, I will give a link that will take you to the entire reading for the day. I will actually include a few of the verses upon which I will focus my reflections. In the reflection section, I will make a few brief comments which I hope will spur your own thinking and prayers.
 
Lent is meant to be a season of repentance and fasting that prepares our hearts for the coming celebration of Easter (fuller explanation here). Repentance is a reminder that we need to be saved from our sin…we need a Savior. Fasting reminds us that we are not in need of the things this world offers, but in desperate need of Jesus. So, the point of Lent is that we need Jesus…we need Easter. It is my prayer that these daily devotionals will simply help remind us of our daily need for Christ.
 
Genesis 12:1-4 (click here)
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
 
Reflection
“Follow me.” Do those words sound like loss or gain to you?
 
Sixteen years ago, when I stood before God, family, and friends, and pledged myself in marriage to Holly, I saw it all as gain. In reality, there was much that I was losing and leaving behind by committing to be Holly’s husband.
 
I was losing my singleness; I was leaving living with my family. I was losing my total autonomy; in many ways, I was leaving behind the word “mine.” On and on the list could go with more losing and more leaving… yet still I call it “gain!”
 
Why?… How?…
 
Because… I gained a bride; I entered into a new family. I gained a new kind of freedom that surpassed the value of my former autonomy; in many ways, I entered into a new kind of “mine” as I am hers and she is mine. On and on the list could go with more gaining and more entering to the point that I look at this marriage and it is no loss to me… it is all gain! 
 
In Genesis 12, when God called Abram (later given his more well-known name, Abraham) to follow him, I wonder if he heard that call as loss or gain? In reality, there was much that he was losing and leaving behind. He was losing his country and leaving his kindred. He was losing the life he had known and leaving the security of home. Yet, I believe Abram still called it gain!
 
Why?… How?…
 
Because he gained God! Abram gained a new country and entered into a new kindred relationship with the Almighty! He gained a new life and entered into a new security as the God of the universe made a covenant with him! By faith, Abram called this gain! I say “by faith” because it would be years before he would see God’s covenant promises come to pass and some he would not ever see come to fruition in his lifetime. But still, Abram looked at the covenant call of God and by faith he called it gain!
 
What about you? The call of Christ on our lives is similar to the call of Abram. We are called to lose and leave the former life we have known. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. Do those words sound like loss or gain to you? 
 
O’ Christian, I pray you hear them for the gain they truly are as they call you to gain Christ and enter into true life in him! In Christ you gain a new country, heaven, and you enter into a new kindred with God as your Father and the Church as your family. In Christ you gain eternal life and enter into a new security as all this has been promised to you and purchased by the blood of Jesus.
 
It’s true, we will not see all these covenant promises come to full fruition in this lifetime, but by faith we look at the covenant call of God knowing that he who promised is faithful and so every step of the way we can call following Christ gain!
 
Today, will you live like following Jesus is gain? 
 
Today, when you hear him say, “Follow me…” do those words sound like loss or gain to you?
 
*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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