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 Luke 24:36-49, it’s important to know why Jesus opened their minds to understand Scripture. He opened their minds to see and believe that He is the Christ – the Savior of the world. He opened their minds to understand that all of Scripture points to Him and the work that He would and continues to do to rescue His whole creation from the destructive work of sin. The Bible can be used as a guide for how to live as a child of God – a guide to show us how to live with and for our neighbors. And that is good. But that isn’t the primary purpose that God gave us His Word. He gave us His Word to direct us away from trusting in our works – in our strength – and turn us to Jesus – to His work done for us to save us from the power of sin and death and make us children of God. Apart from Christ, we are lost. If we trust in our own works – in our own goodness – then we will remain a prisoner of sin and its work. We will remain separated from God and destined for eternal torment. So God continues to speak to us through His Word so that we can hear His voice, so that we can know His love, so that we can see and believe that He is alive and that He is our Lord and Savior.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks often ask God for signs to let them know that God is with them, that He is real or that He cares. They want to know which choice to make – which path to follow. There are all kinds of reasons why people ask God for a sign. And often it is because we want something concrete to hang our hat on – something tangible that we can see and grasp. It’s hard to live under somebody else’s care – especially when that one is unseen. We have His promises, but we want something more certain. In Isaiah 7, God turns that around. He tells Ahaz to ask Him for a sign. In a sense, God is at work to make Himself tangible to Ahaz (who has turned away from Him to worship other gods). Ahaz won’t ask for a sign. So God gives him one (and it‘s a sign to us too). God makes Himself known in the person of Jesus Christ – born of a virgin. The Son of God became a man and walked among men. He is indeed God with us – Immanuel. Jesus is God in the flesh. He came to save the world from the destruction of sin and death. He came to rescue us from the prison of sin and make us His own.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 11:1-10 describes the goal of God’s saving work. That is to restore His whole creation to that time before the Fall when He looked on all that He had created and said that it was very good – even man. His desire is to restore us to the relationship that Adam and Eve enjoyed with Him before they sinned. They lived in perfect communion with God. There were no barriers. They felt no guilt or shame. There was no death or pain or sorrow. God has claimed us as His own. We are His treasured possession. And He is at work to remake us in His image – to conform us to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. He is faithful and He will do it.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In the movie “Field of Dreams,” we are told that people will come to watch the game of baseball. They will come and hand over the $20 for a seat without thinking because it’s money they have and peace they lack. They will come in search of peace. In Isaiah 66, God says that people will come to His holy mountain. They will come in search of peace. That’s still true today. We strive after security through careers, investments and relationships. We strive for security because we think that will bring us peace. But the peace we desire – the peace that we need – can’t be
gained by our efforts. It can’t be gained by the accumulation of things. In “Field of Dreams” people will come because they are looking for a place where time will stand still – an untroubled place – a place where dreams come true. Jesus Christ has prepared such a place. It is a place that is free from the power of sin and its consequences. It is a place where there is no pain of suffering. – no want or need. That place is given to us as His gift. It is ours now by faith in Jesus Christ and His saving work done for us. It is ours by virtue of the relationship that Jesus established with us in Baptism when He united us with Him in His death and life (Romans 6). And that peace is guaranteed to us by Jesus’ Word and faithfulness.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 43, God warns us about living in the past – of getting stuck in the past. The real danger is that we close our eyes to what God is doing today – in the present. We get so focused on looking for the big thing (like God’s deliverance at the Red Sea) that we can’t see His hand at work in the little things – in the daily blessings that come. The devil would like to get us stuck in the past. He is very good at causing us to recall past sins – sins that haunt us – opportunities lost – hurts inflicted. He does that in order to trap in those sins – to make us prisoners once again of those sins that just never seem to go away. That’s when we need to focus on the new thing that God is at work to do. Through Baptism, He has raised us from death in sin to new life in Christ. He continues to speak His Word of forgiveness – a Word that we received in the past that is still in effect today. That is especially true when the devil tries to use past sins – sins that have been forgiven – to lock us in the past. God is at work through His forgiving Word to make all things new – to set us free from the devil’s chains – to cause him to flee. We have been raised to life. We have been made new. And through God’s forgiving Word, His mercies are made new every day.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Reading Luke 24:36-49, it’s important to know why Jesus opened their minds to understand Scripture. He opened their minds to see and believe that He is the Christ – the Savior of the world. He opened their minds to understand that all of Scripture points to Him and the work that He would and continues to do to rescue His whole creation from the destructive work of sin. The Bible can be used as a guide for how to live as a child of God – a guide to show us how to live with and for our neighbors. And that is good. But that isn’t the primary purpose that God gave us His Word. He gave us His Word to direct us away from trusting in our works – in our strength – and turn us to Jesus – to His work done for us to save us from the power of sin and death and make us children of God. Apart from Christ, we are lost. If we trust in our own works – in our own goodness – then we will remain a prisoner of sin and its work. We will remain separated from God and destined for eternal torment. So God continues to speak to us through His Word so that we can hear His voice, so that we can know His love, so that we can see and believe that He is alive and that He is our Lord and Savior.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Folks often ask God for signs to let them know that God is with them, that He is real or that He cares. They want to know which choice to make – which path to follow. There are all kinds of reasons why people ask God for a sign. And often it is because we want something concrete to hang our hat on – something tangible that we can see and grasp. It’s hard to live under somebody else’s care – especially when that one is unseen. We have His promises, but we want something more certain. In Isaiah 7, God turns that around. He tells Ahaz to ask Him for a sign. In a sense, God is at work to make Himself tangible to Ahaz (who has turned away from Him to worship other gods). Ahaz won’t ask for a sign. So God gives him one (and it‘s a sign to us too). God makes Himself known in the person of Jesus Christ – born of a virgin. The Son of God became a man and walked among men. He is indeed God with us – Immanuel. Jesus is God in the flesh. He came to save the world from the destruction of sin and death. He came to rescue us from the prison of sin and make us His own.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 11:1-10 describes the goal of God’s saving work. That is to restore His whole creation to that time before the Fall when He looked on all that He had created and said that it was very good – even man. His desire is to restore us to the relationship that Adam and Eve enjoyed with Him before they sinned. They lived in perfect communion with God. There were no barriers. They felt no guilt or shame. There was no death or pain or sorrow. God has claimed us as His own. We are His treasured possession. And He is at work to remake us in His image – to conform us to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. He is faithful and He will do it.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In the movie “Field of Dreams,” we are told that people will come to watch the game of baseball. They will come and hand over the $20 for a seat without thinking because it’s money they have and peace they lack. They will come in search of peace. In Isaiah 66, God says that people will come to His holy mountain. They will come in search of peace. That’s still true today. We strive after security through careers, investments and relationships. We strive for security because we think that will bring us peace. But the peace we desire – the peace that we need – can’t be
gained by our efforts. It can’t be gained by the accumulation of things. In “Field of Dreams” people will come because they are looking for a place where time will stand still – an untroubled place – a place where dreams come true. Jesus Christ has prepared such a place. It is a place that is free from the power of sin and its consequences. It is a place where there is no pain of suffering. – no want or need. That place is given to us as His gift. It is ours now by faith in Jesus Christ and His saving work done for us. It is ours by virtue of the relationship that Jesus established with us in Baptism when He united us with Him in His death and life (Romans 6). And that peace is guaranteed to us by Jesus’ Word and faithfulness.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 43, God warns us about living in the past – of getting stuck in the past. The real danger is that we close our eyes to what God is doing today – in the present. We get so focused on looking for the big thing (like God’s deliverance at the Red Sea) that we can’t see His hand at work in the little things – in the daily blessings that come. The devil would like to get us stuck in the past. He is very good at causing us to recall past sins – sins that haunt us – opportunities lost – hurts inflicted. He does that in order to trap in those sins – to make us prisoners once again of those sins that just never seem to go away. That’s when we need to focus on the new thing that God is at work to do. Through Baptism, He has raised us from death in sin to new life in Christ. He continues to speak His Word of forgiveness – a Word that we received in the past that is still in effect today. That is especially true when the devil tries to use past sins – sins that have been forgiven – to lock us in the past. God is at work through His forgiving Word to make all things new – to set us free from the devil’s chains – to cause him to flee. We have been raised to life. We have been made new. And through God’s forgiving Word, His mercies are made new every day.
