You may read this devotional every day and hope that the things you read are true. I hope they are helpful. I try to be as true to Christian truth as possible. But I don't for a minute think that my words are as powerful as those in the Bible. When I write a devotional, I'm not shining a light on the Word of God. I am trying to move some stuff out of the way that may be blocking the light of the Word.  Frankly, I’ve never seen Jesus. I have not heard His voice. When I post these devotionals, it is drawing on historical and spiritual reality. I am trusting that the things I read in the Bible are true. There’s nothing wrong with that. Everything you read today will take a certain measure of faith, whether it is your bank statement, a house contract, or a prescription from the doctor.

But there is something different about the Bible. It is the Word of God. It was the message of God delivered to men who wrote it down. Some of the Bible was written by people who actually saw Jesus. So they have first-hand, live, in person, face to face accounts of what He said, and what His message was. This is significant. It is huge. Knowing that the writers knew Jesus personally gives us an even greater degree of confidence as we apply the words of the Bible to our daily life.

Some of the books of the Bible were written by Jesus’ closest friends. One such book was written by His most beloved friend, John. Here is how John starts his letter…

“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life—that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:1-3)

Some people will try to discourage or dissuade you from believing the Bible because it is so old, or we don’t know if it can be trusted. These same people will show you internet articles that target the reliability of the Bible. (That is one of my favorites… “Hey… look at this website. It disproves the Bible.” Really?!? You are going to try and poke holes in the Bible with a blog on the internet? Ummm… ok.)

But look at what John said. He (and other disciples) heard, saw, and touched the Gospel as He (Jesus) walked on this earth. You weren’t there. I wasn’t there. But people were there. And the living words and message of Christ was given to them for all of us. You can trust the eye-witness accounts of the ministry of Christ and the truth of Scripture.

John said he wrote what he received from Christ so the readers could know and experience the great things of Christ as well. His writing was intentional. He was giving us the tools so we could have success in our spiritual walk like he did. John had known Christ personally, but He knew that one did not have to literally see or hear, or touch Christ in order to know Him personally.

Today you can meditate on the truth John wrote, knowing that God went to great lengths to make sure you understand who He is, what He will do for you, and what He expects from you.

[Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.]

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.

Do you ever feel unproductive? I’m not talking about being unproductive at work. I mean, do you ever feel unproductive in your Christian walk? Do you wonder if you are making a difference in the Kingdom of God, or in the lives of other people? Do you question whether or not you have moved at all in your entire Christian journey?

I want to drop this in your coffee today. Faithfulness is success. If you are faithful, you are being productive. You cannot be faithful and not produce. You can have accomplishments without staying true to God. But you cannot be true to God without producing fruit. Your goal should be faithfulness, not achievements. Faithfulness always brings fruitfulness... Every time. 

Jesus told His disciples…

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” (John 15:1-8)

The primary connection Jesus makes between the Christian and a successful life is the connection with Him. When our connection with Christ is lost, our success is non-existent. We know we are His disciple because we produce fruit. We produce fruit as we are connected to Him. The quickest way to be cast aside from God is to try and become successful without Jesus.

Today, work on your faithfulness. The fruit will come. Enjoy the fruit, but engage in the relationship. Be satisfied with faithfulness and watch an abundance of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control grow in and out of you. This is the fruit of the Spirit of Christ. You can’t create your own fruit, but you can produce His as you are connected to Him.

[Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.]

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.

God has given us a sense of justice. Sometimes it isn’t always as pure as it should be. But we know deep down that those who do wrong to those who are God’s people should not get away with evil. At the same time, we know that vengeance is not ours to take. It belongs to the Lord. We are to love and not keep score. God loves and keeps score. We are to pray for our persecutors. God holds them responsible. We are to love our enemies. God will judge them.

So, as believers we trust that the enemy is not getting away with injustice. At the same time, some would have you believe that in the end we all hold hands and sing ‘Kum Ba Yah’, as we make holy ‘Smores. They make you feel bad for considering the wrath of God being held for sinners, especially those who have mistreated His anointed. But throughout the Bible, and even several times in the New Testament we find references to this very thought.

The early church was very unlike our current Western Church community. Many of the Christians were at constant odds with their culture to the point of great persecution. This was discouraging and distressing. Sometimes they must have thought that God had forgotten or forsaken them. I’m sure some of them wondered if they were sacrificing in vain.

At one point, the apostle Paul who was one of the great Christian leaders in the world at the time, and had himself experienced a great deal of persecution, wrote to one church and said…

“We must always thank God for you, brothers. This is right, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you among God’s churches—about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and afflictions you endure. It is a clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, since it is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels, taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from His glorious strength in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed. And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified by you, and you by Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12)

Notice that he says, “It is righteous for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you… taking vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God, and those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” That may sound like a strange phrase to be found in a letter written in the age of Grace. But it really shouldn’t surprise us. God loves everyone. We know that. But He has a special relationship with those who are in His family. And just because God loves people who do wrong does not mean that He will let their evil go unpunished. That wouldn’t be right… and He is Right.

Notice that He will take vengeance on those who mistreat those who are worthy. If you think that God is going to wage war on your enemies just because you said a prayer at a youth camp 20 years ago and have lived like the Devil since… you don’t understand the system. Remember, He is just. He doesn’t play games, and He knows those who are His. So part of this is living lives that reflect His work in our lives. If you have been redeemed and restored, live the life of one who has been redeemed and restored, not the life of someone who hopes that in the end God will have pity on you regardless of your lifestyle.

But if you are in the family of God by the mercy and grace of God, and if you are being mistreated by others, know that God is keeping score. Your pain and sacrifice is being noticed. God will not allow your enemies to forever dance on your grave. He collects your tears. You don’t have to keep a record of their wrongs. Keep on loving them. They need your mercy and grace, because if the people who abuse you don’t receive Christ, this world is the best they will know.

The early Christians did not live by this idea of vengeance. In fact, it was not unusual for them to pray that God would not hold the sins of their enemies against them. And we should be the same way. God doesn’t need our help keeping score. Our enemies need our help in diminishing their wrong-doings. This kind of grace only comes through the power of Christ’s Spirit living in us. Remember, He is the One who on the cross said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Today you will have the opportunity to do God’s job of keeping score, or your job of loving your enemies. You really aren’t qualified to do God’s job. So do your job. Dish out love to those who mistreat you, and let Him do whatever He is going to do. If you do your job well enough, you may win you’re your enemy, and their scorecard may meet the same fate yours did.

[Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.]

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.

I haven’t seen the news yet this morning, but I’m sure it is mostly bad. We now know if it bleeds, it leads. So the worst news will always make the headline. When is the last time you picked up a newspaper to find a headline like this, “Gibson Family Survives Spiritual Attack, Avoids Divorce”? No. That doesn’t happen. Instead you will find calamity, strife, chaos, and various forms of wickedness plastered across the news site.

It can be easy to become obsessed with the discouragement that flows through the news channels. Now, I’m not suggesting that bad things aren’t happening. And I do believe that evil occurrences are happening with more regularity and at deeper levels of depravity. I’m not suggesting anyone refuse to look at the reality of the world in which we live. But we do need balance in our observation of reality. And in that balance, we need to determine what we will believe.

I should believe that bad things happen. I should not be oblivious to truth… even bad truth. The enemy, Satan is called the ‘prince of the power of the air.’ He is called the ‘god of this world’. I need to know that. But I should not be overrun by the evil in the world, and I must be careful how I acknowledge that evil. As a Christian, the worst news in the world is not nearly as important as the best news in the universe. The Gospel (good news) is the best. It is the top. It is not only the reason for living, it is the fuel for living. I should believe that evil is real, but I should believe in the greatness of the goodness of God.

Scripture talks about the problems of life, but also about the purpose and power to live above those problems. If you ever browse through the Psalms you will find a weaving of the bad and good of life. The authors will cry out in desperation when under attack from their enemies, and at the same time recognize that help is available, swift, and sustained in God. In one writing, David gives us a great example of what it means to absolutely trust that we are in God’s great care. Look at what he pens…

“Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.
I said to Yahweh, ‘You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides You.’
As for the holy people who are in the land, they are the noble ones. All my delight is in them.
The sorrows of those who take another god for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood, and I will not speak their names with my lips.

Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord who counsels me— even at night my conscience instructs me.
I keep the Lord in mind always. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely.
For You will not abandon me to Sheol (death/the grave); You will not allow Your Faithful One to see decay.
You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.” (Psalm 16)

You can complain about your life. You can whine about the government. You can belly ache about what you don’t have. You can blame others for your problems. You can cry about the heat until you rail against the cold. You have that freedom.

Or you can look at the blessings in your lives and realize that God has been much better to you than you deserve. You can recognize His amazing work in your life. You can praise the One who protects you from all the evil you see. You can acknowledge that God holds your future. You can refuse to give time or place to the ones who do evil. You can proclaim that death will not control you because God continuously gives you life in the present, and will continue to do so beyond the grave.

You choose what you will do today. But before you curse this day, think about who gave you the breath to curse or bless it.

[Bible quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.]

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.