The following devotions are written and shared weekly by Pastor Steve Harmon.
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Day One
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading Ephesians 4:1-16, what comes to mind first is all the divisions that exist in the Body of Christ – all the many denominations – the institutional church. There is a growing number of Christians that don’t want to have anything to do with the institutional church because of those divisions. They don’t want to be a part of something where there is constant conflict.
And that is understandable. No one likes conflict. But it’s also a danger. The devil is at work to break up the unity that God established when He called us all to faith. The devil is at work to, at the very least, hinder the work of the Church – to hide the light of Christ under the bushel basket of the institutional church.
We have been called into ONE body. We have ONE hope. There is only ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism and ONE God and Father of us all. Fortunately for us, that unity exists for us and in spite of us by the power of God’s Word that both established and keeps us in that unity.
We are part of that unity even when there are conflicts – even when there are disagreements – even when we don’t want to work at maintaining that unity. Even for those who walk away from the institutional church, they are still part of that unity – of that ONE body.
And God continues to work to keep us in the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace that has come to us through Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that He shares with us.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is all about breaking down barriers. These ten lepers had to keep themselves separated from the community. They were not to have any contact with anyone who was not afflicted with leprosy. So they stood at a distance (in keeping with the law) and let their cries be heard. They cried out in hope that Jesus might have pity on them and make them clean.
And He does. He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. That was what the law required. The priests would be the ones to determine their cleanness. If nothing else, these lepers observed the law. On their way they were cleansed.
But Jesus was at work to do more. The one returned with thanksgiving. And another barrier was removed. By the cleansing that he had received, he was restored to his community. He would no longer have to remain in isolation. But Jesus announces to him that his faith has removed another barrier. By faith in Jesus and His Word, this former leper was restored to a right relationship with God. His faith was evidence that a greater healing had occurred.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here Jesus puts into action what He had taught earlier in chapter 15. He stands between Zacchaeus and the hostility of the crowd. Zacchaeus is at the very least a collaborator with an occupying army. At worst, he is becoming rich at the expense of his people. He is an outcast. He has, in the opinion of the people, turned his back on them. He is no longer one of them.
So when he is caught in the tree, the crowd expects Jesus to let him have it – to call a spade a spade. But He doesn’t. Jesus doesn’t condemn him. Jesus doesn’t say anything about Zacchaeus’ life choices. He simply tells Zacchaeus to come down out of the tree because He is going to eat at his house today.
Jesus, the great teacher, who was given the red carpet treatment when He arrived in Jericho – who wasn’t planning to stop even though the people were ready to give Him to key to the city – now decides to stay at the home of a ‘sinner.’
Their anger toward Zacchaeus is now turned on Jesus. Zacchaeus’ sin is forgotten. In reality, Jesus’ has taken Zacchaeus’ place and by inviting him to come down out of the tree, He has given Zacchaeus his life back. Any plans for murder – for killing Zacchaeus – are now gone.
Zacchaeus was a dead man and he knew it. But now he lives. And that makes a change. This demonstration
of costly undeserved love has changed Zacchaeus. As a new man, he is now ready to love as he has been loved. He is ready to give half of what he has to the poor and to repay anybody he cheated four times the amount.
In the same way, Jesus stood between us the anger of God toward our sin when He hung on the cross. When He cried out to His Father “Why have You forsaken Me,” He suffered the condemnation that we deserved. He was cut off from God – separated. He was damned in our place. Because He died, we live.
And the same One who died for us, comes to us to invite us to eat with Him – to sit at His table in the seat that He has prepared for us. Jesus welcomes us at His table to be filled with Him – to be strengthened to live in His love and in the new life that is His to give.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The parable that Jesus tells in Luke 19:11-27 is not a “happily ever after” kind of parable. The king puts to death those who didn’t want him to be king. This is probably one of those passages that give folks, who have a limited understanding of God’s love, a good deal of difficulty.
“My God is a God of love,” they would say. “My God wouldn’t do such things.” Love is indeed gentle and slow to anger. It keeps no record of wrongs (cf. 1 Corinthians 13). Love is also at work to protect and so tells us when we are wandering into danger.
That’s what’s going on here. Jesus tells this parable because many believed that He was going to Jerusalem to set up His kingdom – to bring in the Messianic age in all of its fullness. Going to Jerusalem was a part of that process, but it is not the conclusion.
Love is at work first in that Jesus goes to Jerusalem to die. He goes to die because it is the only way that He can secure a kingdom for Himself. He goes to die in the place of sinful man – in our place – so that we can live. Without His sacrifice, we would die as prisoner of sin.
And because He goes to die, there will be a period of waiting before He is named king. In the immediate future that time of waiting is the time between His death and resurrection. He returns as king, but not yet. He has to go away. He will ascend to His Father and will sit on His throne until that day when He will return as King.
In the meantime, during this time of waiting, He is at work through His Word to draw all people to Himself – to bring them into a relationship with Himself through the forgiveness of sins. While He delays, there is still time to turn to Him in faith and be saved. When He returns as King, that time of grace will end and those who have lived their lives in rebellion against Him – who refused to believe in Him as their Lord and Savior – will be condemned to eternal death.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we see two different reactions to Jesus – actually the only two possible reactions. You either accept Him as who He says He is – Lord and Savior of the world – or you don’t (with varying degrees of hostility).
Jesus enters into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Without saying a word, He has declared Himself to be their king (in fulfillment of Zechariah 9). And the people, who have been waiting for the coming of the Messiah, rejoice. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The Pharisees, who believe Jesus to be a false prophet, tell Jesus to quiet the crowd. They don’t believe that He is the Messiah and don’t want that lie spread among the people of Jerusalem. A side note: Many of these people who welcome Jesus as king have come from Galilee and other places for the Passover celebration. They are not residents of Jerusalem.
In response, Jesus tells the Pharisees that if His followers’ voices were silenced, the stones would cry out in witness to Him. God will not be left without a witness. His voice will be heard. Even creation sings His praise. God will not be left without a witness because He will not abandon His creation. He will do whatever is needed to rescue the creation that He loves from the power of sin and death.
And so He does. He gives His life so that we can live. He offers Himself as payment for the debt that we owe so that we can be set free from the chains of sin to live as His dearly loved children.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading Ephesians 4:1-16, what comes to mind first is all the divisions that exist in the Body of Christ – all the many denominations – the institutional church. There is a growing number of Christians that don’t want to have anything to do with the institutional church because of those divisions. They don’t want to be a part of something where there is constant conflict.
And that is understandable. No one likes conflict. But it’s also a danger. The devil is at work to break up the unity that God established when He called us all to faith. The devil is at work to, at the very least, hinder the work of the Church – to hide the light of Christ under the bushel basket of the institutional church.
We have been called into ONE body. We have ONE hope. There is only ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism and ONE God and Father of us all. Fortunately for us, that unity exists for us and in spite of us by the power of God’s Word that both established and keeps us in that unity.
We are part of that unity even when there are conflicts – even when there are disagreements – even when we don’t want to work at maintaining that unity. Even for those who walk away from the institutional church, they are still part of that unity – of that ONE body.
And God continues to work to keep us in the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace that has come to us through Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that He shares with us.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is all about breaking down barriers. These ten lepers had to keep themselves separated from the community. They were not to have any contact with anyone who was not afflicted with leprosy. So they stood at a distance (in keeping with the law) and let their cries be heard. They cried out in hope that Jesus might have pity on them and make them clean.
And He does. He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. That was what the law required. The priests would be the ones to determine their cleanness. If nothing else, these lepers observed the law. On their way they were cleansed.
But Jesus was at work to do more. The one returned with thanksgiving. And another barrier was removed. By the cleansing that he had received, he was restored to his community. He would no longer have to remain in isolation. But Jesus announces to him that his faith has removed another barrier. By faith in Jesus and His Word, this former leper was restored to a right relationship with God. His faith was evidence that a greater healing had occurred.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here Jesus puts into action what He had taught earlier in chapter 15. He stands between Zacchaeus and the hostility of the crowd. Zacchaeus is at the very least a collaborator with an occupying army. At worst, he is becoming rich at the expense of his people. He is an outcast. He has, in the opinion of the people, turned his back on them. He is no longer one of them.
So when he is caught in the tree, the crowd expects Jesus to let him have it – to call a spade a spade. But He doesn’t. Jesus doesn’t condemn him. Jesus doesn’t say anything about Zacchaeus’ life choices. He simply tells Zacchaeus to come down out of the tree because He is going to eat at his house today.
Jesus, the great teacher, who was given the red carpet treatment when He arrived in Jericho – who wasn’t planning to stop even though the people were ready to give Him to key to the city – now decides to stay at the home of a ‘sinner.’
Their anger toward Zacchaeus is now turned on Jesus. Zacchaeus’ sin is forgotten. In reality, Jesus’ has taken Zacchaeus’ place and by inviting him to come down out of the tree, He has given Zacchaeus his life back. Any plans for murder – for killing Zacchaeus – are now gone.
Zacchaeus was a dead man and he knew it. But now he lives. And that makes a change. This demonstration
of costly undeserved love has changed Zacchaeus. As a new man, he is now ready to love as he has been loved. He is ready to give half of what he has to the poor and to repay anybody he cheated four times the amount.
In the same way, Jesus stood between us the anger of God toward our sin when He hung on the cross. When He cried out to His Father “Why have You forsaken Me,” He suffered the condemnation that we deserved. He was cut off from God – separated. He was damned in our place. Because He died, we live.
And the same One who died for us, comes to us to invite us to eat with Him – to sit at His table in the seat that He has prepared for us. Jesus welcomes us at His table to be filled with Him – to be strengthened to live in His love and in the new life that is His to give.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The parable that Jesus tells in Luke 19:11-27 is not a “happily ever after” kind of parable. The king puts to death those who didn’t want him to be king. This is probably one of those passages that give folks, who have a limited understanding of God’s love, a good deal of difficulty.
“My God is a God of love,” they would say. “My God wouldn’t do such things.” Love is indeed gentle and slow to anger. It keeps no record of wrongs (cf. 1 Corinthians 13). Love is also at work to protect and so tells us when we are wandering into danger.
That’s what’s going on here. Jesus tells this parable because many believed that He was going to Jerusalem to set up His kingdom – to bring in the Messianic age in all of its fullness. Going to Jerusalem was a part of that process, but it is not the conclusion.
Love is at work first in that Jesus goes to Jerusalem to die. He goes to die because it is the only way that He can secure a kingdom for Himself. He goes to die in the place of sinful man – in our place – so that we can live. Without His sacrifice, we would die as prisoner of sin.
And because He goes to die, there will be a period of waiting before He is named king. In the immediate future that time of waiting is the time between His death and resurrection. He returns as king, but not yet. He has to go away. He will ascend to His Father and will sit on His throne until that day when He will return as King.
In the meantime, during this time of waiting, He is at work through His Word to draw all people to Himself – to bring them into a relationship with Himself through the forgiveness of sins. While He delays, there is still time to turn to Him in faith and be saved. When He returns as King, that time of grace will end and those who have lived their lives in rebellion against Him – who refused to believe in Him as their Lord and Savior – will be condemned to eternal death.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here we see two different reactions to Jesus – actually the only two possible reactions. You either accept Him as who He says He is – Lord and Savior of the world – or you don’t (with varying degrees of hostility).
Jesus enters into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. Without saying a word, He has declared Himself to be their king (in fulfillment of Zechariah 9). And the people, who have been waiting for the coming of the Messiah, rejoice. “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
The Pharisees, who believe Jesus to be a false prophet, tell Jesus to quiet the crowd. They don’t believe that He is the Messiah and don’t want that lie spread among the people of Jerusalem. A side note: Many of these people who welcome Jesus as king have come from Galilee and other places for the Passover celebration. They are not residents of Jerusalem.
In response, Jesus tells the Pharisees that if His followers’ voices were silenced, the stones would cry out in witness to Him. God will not be left without a witness. His voice will be heard. Even creation sings His praise. God will not be left without a witness because He will not abandon His creation. He will do whatever is needed to rescue the creation that He loves from the power of sin and death.
And so He does. He gives His life so that we can live. He offers Himself as payment for the debt that we owe so that we can be set free from the chains of sin to live as His dearly loved children.