The Lord Jesus Christ . . . will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Philippians 3:20,21

Our Lowly Bodies

Daily Devotion – October 14, 2023

Devotion based on Philippians 3:20,21

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A handful of you will live your lives free from serious illness or injury. And when you die, you will die quietly in your sleep. For many people, however, it’s simply a matter of time before they experience the hard truth that our bodies are frail, weak, and lowly vessels.

All it takes is one nasty bacterium, one malignant cell, one stubborn virus. All it takes is a second of inattention behind the wheel or a moment of distraction at the worksite, and before you know what’s happening, you find yourself lying in a hospital bed with barely enough strength to sit up. It’s then that you understand how vulnerable your body really is. And if you manage to avoid all this, there is always the slow-motion collision your body has with old age.

No matter how fit we are, how strong, athletic, or vigorous we are—the bodies we have are still lowly bodies. They are lowly and weak because of sin.

When the Son of God entered our time and space, he took on a human body; he became a human being. In that body, he lived a sinless life on our behalf. Then he allowed sinners to nail his body to a cross. On that cross, Jesus’ body carried the sins of the whole world and paid for them in full. And three days later, Jesus rose from death, his body glorified.

What does this mean for us? God’s Word says that “the Lord Jesus Christ…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Remember this when you look in the mirror and see your frailty. Remember this when you’re lying on a hospital bed. Remember this when you feel too weak to leave your home. Remember this when the body of a beloved Christian wears out and dies.

In this fallen world, our bodies are lowly bodies. But for the Christian, the world to come will be different. God’s Word says so.

Prayer:
Sustain me, Lord, as I grapple with my lowly body in this fallen world. Thank you for your promise to transform my lowly body to be like yours. Amen.

Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’”
Matthew 21:37,38

It Makes No Sense

Daily Devotion – October 12, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 21:37,38

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Jesus’ story about a landowner who planted a vineyard and rented it to some farmers took a surprising turn. The renters had refused to pay their rent. So, the owner sent his son to collect. He assumed they would respect the son enough to pay what they owed. Instead, they killed him.

It seems far-fetched, doesn’t it? Yet, whenever you and I refuse to listen to God’s son, Jesus, it is just as strange. Why would we refuse to listen to the son of the God who created us and provides for us? It makes no sense.

Even more remarkable is that God continues to love and forgive us for the times we don’t listen to his son. In fact, it is because of what his son, Jesus, did that he forgives us. Instead of punishing us for our sins, God sent his son to be punished in our place on the cross so that we could be forgiven. It seems far-fetched, doesn’t it? It makes no sense.

But we can be thankful God did what he did. We can be thankful his son was willing to do what he did. And we can spend our lives listening to God’s son and using our lives to thank him. It’s the only thing that makes sense!

Prayer:
Dear God, help me live my life in thanksgiving for what you did to save me from my sins. Amen.

Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Matthew 21:37-41

Thank God for His Grace

Daily Devotion – October 11, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 21:37-41

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Jesus told a story about a man who rented his vineyard to some farmers. When he sent servants to collect the rent, the renters beat them. After sending a series of servants, the man sent his son. Sadly, the renters killed him.

Jesus told the story to warn the religious leaders of his day not to do the same as those renters. God had sent his son to them, and they were planning to kill him. So, Jesus told this story to warn them against what they were about to do. They knew the answer to Jesus’ question at the end of his story. “What will [the landowner] do to the tenants” who killed his son? They should obviously be punished for such a horrible act.

Even as he was looking ahead to being killed by these men, Jesus reached out to them in love to warn them. And even more remarkably, Jesus would go to his death to pay the price for his enemies’ sins, even their sins against him.

His death paid for our sins, too. For when Jesus was killed on the cross and rejected by so many, we were forgiven for everything. Every sin was washed away. Every stain on our hearts was cleansed, and we were welcomed into God’s eternal family.

This is grace. We receive it by faith. May we never take it for granted.

Prayer:
Lord, you are generous with your grace; forgiving me of every sin through the sacrifice willingly offered by Jesus. Thank you. Amen.

[Jesus said] “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Matthew 21:33-41

God Is Patient with Us

Daily Devotion – October 9, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 21:33-41

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What do you find more surprising in this story—the horrible actions of the tenants or the landlord’s decision to keep sending his servants, thinking that perhaps they’ll act differently?

Whatever you think of his decision, it’s clear that this landowner was incredibly patient. And that’s what Jesus is teaching us about God. Our God is incredibly patient with people who disobey and distrust him.

Like the owner of the vineyard in Jesus’ story, God sends person after person to call us to follow him. He even sent his son, Jesus—to give us a Savior to whom we can turn in our sin, repent, and find complete forgiveness. What a patient God we have!

Prayer:
Gracious Lord, help me to never take your patience for granted, but rather quickly turn to you in repentance when I see my sin and find comfort in the forgiveness already won for me by Jesus, my Savior. Amen.

I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?” . . . The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Isaiah 5:1-4,7

The Harvest

Daily Devotion – October 8, 2023

Devotion based on Isaiah 5:1-4,7

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It was back-breaking work to plant and care for a vineyard—the plowing, the clearing of stones, the planting. You had to wait two years to see any fruit. Yet, this farmer did everything possible to make his vineyard fruitful. But when he went to find good fruit, all he found was rot.

God told this story to describe the people of Israel. He had given them everything they could possibly need to succeed: a homeland, a guide to live by, a place to worship, leaders to help them, prophets to lead them. Nothing more could have been done. Yet, when the harvest came, God found no fruit. His people had rejected him.

Friends, this isn’t a picture of Israel alone. This is a picture of every single person on earth. Even though God has done everything for us, by nature, we hated God. We were God’s enemies. We produced only rotten fruit.

But God was determined not to give up on us. He sent his one and only Son, Jesus, to live in our place, to produce the good fruit that God desired. And Jesus not only lived for us, but also died for us to take away all of our sin and establish peace between us and God again. This good news creates a desire in us to do what God desires to produce the good fruit he’s looking for. Because of Jesus, we can once again be the garden of God’s delight!

Prayer:
Lord, have mercy on me for the times when I take your care for granted. Let me never receive that love in vain, but help me to produce the good fruit that you desire and deserve. Amen.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:8-11

Humility Comes Before Glory

Daily Devotion – October 6, 2023

Devotion based on Philippians 2:8-11

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In the life of Jesus, humility came before glory. This is especially evident when we see what happened before and after he died. A few days before his death, he voluntarily rode into Jerusalem knowing full well what would happen to him there.

He did not stop Judas from betraying him, his disciples from abandoning him, and his enemies from putting him on trial. “He was obedient to death” (2:8). So he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He did it all for the disciples who abandoned him, the soldiers who beat him, and sinners like you and me.

And because he humbled himself in that way, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (2:9). If you exalt something, it means you lift it up. God lifted Jesus way up. First, God lifted Jesus up from the dead. Forty days later, he exalted Jesus to his right hand when Christ ascended into heaven.

The message is clear: Jesus Christ is Lord. And on the Last Day everyone will confess that truth. That glory will come for Jesus, but humility came first.

Our lives will be the same. Being a Christian doesn’t stop heartache, sickness, or sadness. It doesn’t give you lots of money. You might not be any healthier or richer than someone else, who couldn’t care less about Jesus. But not even the Son of God himself had an easy life when he became a man. In the life of the Christian, humility also comes before glory.

But there is glory for the Christian! The glory is heaven, eternal perfection, and your own resurrection. For now, Jesus has you right where he wants you—in the nail-scared palm of his hand.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, let the promised glory you won for me sustain me through difficult times. Amen.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”
Matthew 21:31,32

Repent and Believe

Daily Devotion – October 3, 2023

Devotion based on Matthew 21:31,32

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It was a shocking thing to say. Jesus was talking to some religious leaders and told them that tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom of heaven ahead of them. At that time, prostitutes and tax collectors were considered the worst of sinners.

So, how could Jesus say this? Because those sinners believed what John the Baptist preached. He had told them to repent and trust in Jesus. That was the best thing they ever heard. So, the tax collectors and the prostitutes repented, but the religious leaders to whom Jesus was speaking did not. They didn’t understand that they needed to repent just as much as everyone else.

And this is where we need to watch ourselves. It is easy to think we are better than other people–that they need to repent more than we do. But repentance is recognizing that no matter how good you may look outwardly, you’re no better than anyone else, and your only hope is in Christ alone. That’s why tax collectors and prostitutes were getting in ahead of the religious leaders. Not because they were better than them but because they turned from their sin and trusted their Savior.

It was a shocking thing for Jesus to say. But he said it out of love. He wanted to warn the religious leaders so that they would recognize their sin, repent, and trust in their Savior.

And do you know what? He is doing the same thing for you now in this devotion. Repent and believe the good news!

Prayer:
Lord, show me my sins and forgive me for them. Help me to trust in your perfect life and innocent death and give me your righteousness. Amen.

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
Romans 9:14-16

Responsibilities

Daily Devotion – September 30, 2023

Devotion based on Romans 9:14-16

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Those of us who are parents have the awesome task of preparing our children for their future. That future is the fusion of two parts—training for the short time they will be here on earth and training for their future in eternity. That can be a daunting undertaking, involving two totally different approaches to achieving a successful outcome.

For their time here on earth, we teach our children to be self-sufficient and responsible for their actions. We teach them to stand on their own two feet. The goal is to prepare them for life on their own, establishing their own families.

Then there is the training we give them to prepare for eternity. Suddenly we tell them that they can’t be self-sufficient. There is no way that they can prepare themselves to live eternally with God. Not since our first parents—Adam and Eve—sinned. From that time on, none of us could keep God’s commands and earn our way to heaven.

Instead, we totally rely on God and his plan for our salvation. We were unable to find our way to be with him eternally. As much as we may have wanted heaven for our future, we had a fatal flaw; we were sinners and separated from God. So God sent his Son. Jesus’ perfect life, his death in our place, and his resurrection brought us back so that we will be with God eternally in heaven. There is nothing we can do because Jesus has done it all by the mercy of God. Jesus was self-sufficient for us.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I take comfort in knowing that my hope of heaven is completely dependent on you and your mercy. Thank you! Amen.