The following devotions are written and shared weekly by Pastor Steve Harmon.
Click Here for Week of February 3rd
Click Here for Week of February 10th
Click Here for Week February 17th
Day One
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s devotion was based on 1 Timothy 2:3-4. In particular, it focuses on God’s desire that all people would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. The larger context is that prayers be made for everyone, especially for those in authority so that we peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
We are to pray that God would work through those in power to create an environment in which the Church can flourish – in which the Word of God can be shared freely without fear. That Word is the means through which God will work to save and bring all people to a knowledge of the truth.
And when we talk about the truth, we aren’t talking about right and wrong. We are talking first and foremost about Jesus Christ who said that He was the Truth. So we ask God for a stable environment in which to share with others the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ and the resurrection that He shares with us. Even living godly and holy lives is designed to give us opportunities to point others to Christ and the life that He has shared with us.
God’s desire that all people be saved and come to knowledge of the truth is to be our desire as well. Our primary vocation is to share the salvation that we have received through faith in Jesus Christ.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s devotion is based on John 14:25. It doesn’t give us much to go on. But if we look at the context, we get to see what it is that Jesus has spoken to His disciples.
Jesus is preparing them for His going away. He will soon be arrested, crucified and buried. He tells them not to be troubled. If He goes away, it is to prepare a place for them so that He can come back and take them to be with Him where He is. He also tells them that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
In the later part of this chapter, Jesus promises to send them the Holy Spirit who will teach them all things and remind them of all that Jesus has spoken to them. And He leaves them His peace – a peace that will be made possible by His death and resurrection. He will die as the sacrifice for their sin (and ours) in order to make peace for us with God. That peace He gives to them (and to us) through the forgiveness of our sin.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes I read the verse selected as the basis for the devotion and I wonder what the author is going to do with this. Today’s devotion based on Deuteronomy 34:4 is one of those. They provided an interesting perspective tying this verse with the Transfiguration when Moses stood talking with Jesus.
The context of Deuteronomy tells us that God did not allow Moses to enter into the land because of his disobedience to God’s Word. Seeing Moses with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration tells us that Moses wasn’t cut off from the promise given to Abraham. And in fact, at his death, Moses was able to see the full reality of that promise fulfilled.
The only thing that cuts us off from God is unbelief. Refusing to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the flesh – that He is the Word of God in the flesh – cuts us off from the promises of God. Rejecting Jesus as our Savior who took our place and suffered and died so that we could live, puts us outside of God’s mercy.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The author of today’s devotion begins by quoting 2 Kings 2:6. But their devotion, in the words of Paul Harvey, tells the rest of the story. Elijah’s service as God’s prophet has come to an end. The mantle will be passed to Elisha. God will not be left without a witness in this world.
Elisha has been a student of Elijah. His loyalty is without question as we see here in verse 6. But no matter how strong his loyalty or his desire to keep his promise, the leaving isn’t for him to decide. Elijah will be taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
But Elisha will not be left alone. He will receive from God a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. God’s ministry will continue now through Elisha. That work will continue through other Old Testament prophets. And after a time of silence, God will continue His work through John the Baptist. He became the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.
Jesus then came to fulfill all of God’s promises. He came to fulfill the demand that tells us that we need to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. By His perfect obedience, Jesus satisfied that demand. He then went to the cross to satisfy another demand – the death that we deserve as descendants of Adam.
He did that for us and gives the benefits of His saving work to us as a gift. The curse of the Law has been lifted from us. Through the forgiveness of our sin, we are free to live as children of God. By faith, we cling to those promises made YES in Jesus and His saving work.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s devotion is based on 2 Peter 1:16. The theme is “No Fairy Tale.” The author talks about how the disciples were eyewitnesses to such events as the Transfiguration when Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, was revealed to Peter, James and John in all of His glory. They knew that what they shared about Jesus and His saving work was no fairy tale.
But what about us. How do we know? We could look at the events of Jesus’ life and the words that He spoke. We could look at the testimonies of the New Testament writers. We could talk about how all the pieces fit together to fulfill God’s plan of salvation.
We could do that and still have to hear people say (of think it ourselves) that it’s just a good story – a myth – with no historical anchor. And that is completely false. There are a great many historical anchors for the testimonies made in Scripture. Chief among those is the empty tomb. The empty tomb is mentioned in Roman historical records and also in Jewish records.
Josephus, a Jewish historian who was opposed to The Way (a designation for those who followed Jesus), records that Jesus was crucified and buried. He then records that stories were spread that He rose from the grave three days later. If the tomb was not empty, then he would have also included that in his report. He would have talked about such reports as silly stories that couldn’t be supported by historical fact.
But he doesn’t. Any historian will tell you that when you find a positive reference in a negative source, you can take that to the bank. You can be sure that reference is true. History tells us that the tomb was empty – that Jesus is no fairy tale. Faith believes that the tomb is empty because Jesus rose just as He said He would and that God’s plan of salvation was brought to completion through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s devotion was based on 1 Timothy 2:3-4. In particular, it focuses on God’s desire that all people would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. The larger context is that prayers be made for everyone, especially for those in authority so that we peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
We are to pray that God would work through those in power to create an environment in which the Church can flourish – in which the Word of God can be shared freely without fear. That Word is the means through which God will work to save and bring all people to a knowledge of the truth.
And when we talk about the truth, we aren’t talking about right and wrong. We are talking first and foremost about Jesus Christ who said that He was the Truth. So we ask God for a stable environment in which to share with others the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ and the resurrection that He shares with us. Even living godly and holy lives is designed to give us opportunities to point others to Christ and the life that He has shared with us.
God’s desire that all people be saved and come to knowledge of the truth is to be our desire as well. Our primary vocation is to share the salvation that we have received through faith in Jesus Christ.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s devotion is based on John 14:25. It doesn’t give us much to go on. But if we look at the context, we get to see what it is that Jesus has spoken to His disciples.
Jesus is preparing them for His going away. He will soon be arrested, crucified and buried. He tells them not to be troubled. If He goes away, it is to prepare a place for them so that He can come back and take them to be with Him where He is. He also tells them that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.
In the later part of this chapter, Jesus promises to send them the Holy Spirit who will teach them all things and remind them of all that Jesus has spoken to them. And He leaves them His peace – a peace that will be made possible by His death and resurrection. He will die as the sacrifice for their sin (and ours) in order to make peace for us with God. That peace He gives to them (and to us) through the forgiveness of our sin.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes I read the verse selected as the basis for the devotion and I wonder what the author is going to do with this. Today’s devotion based on Deuteronomy 34:4 is one of those. They provided an interesting perspective tying this verse with the Transfiguration when Moses stood talking with Jesus.
The context of Deuteronomy tells us that God did not allow Moses to enter into the land because of his disobedience to God’s Word. Seeing Moses with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration tells us that Moses wasn’t cut off from the promise given to Abraham. And in fact, at his death, Moses was able to see the full reality of that promise fulfilled.
The only thing that cuts us off from God is unbelief. Refusing to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the flesh – that He is the Word of God in the flesh – cuts us off from the promises of God. Rejecting Jesus as our Savior who took our place and suffered and died so that we could live, puts us outside of God’s mercy.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The author of today’s devotion begins by quoting 2 Kings 2:6. But their devotion, in the words of Paul Harvey, tells the rest of the story. Elijah’s service as God’s prophet has come to an end. The mantle will be passed to Elisha. God will not be left without a witness in this world.
Elisha has been a student of Elijah. His loyalty is without question as we see here in verse 6. But no matter how strong his loyalty or his desire to keep his promise, the leaving isn’t for him to decide. Elijah will be taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
But Elisha will not be left alone. He will receive from God a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. God’s ministry will continue now through Elisha. That work will continue through other Old Testament prophets. And after a time of silence, God will continue His work through John the Baptist. He became the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.
Jesus then came to fulfill all of God’s promises. He came to fulfill the demand that tells us that we need to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. By His perfect obedience, Jesus satisfied that demand. He then went to the cross to satisfy another demand – the death that we deserve as descendants of Adam.
He did that for us and gives the benefits of His saving work to us as a gift. The curse of the Law has been lifted from us. Through the forgiveness of our sin, we are free to live as children of God. By faith, we cling to those promises made YES in Jesus and His saving work.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today’s devotion is based on 2 Peter 1:16. The theme is “No Fairy Tale.” The author talks about how the disciples were eyewitnesses to such events as the Transfiguration when Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, was revealed to Peter, James and John in all of His glory. They knew that what they shared about Jesus and His saving work was no fairy tale.
But what about us. How do we know? We could look at the events of Jesus’ life and the words that He spoke. We could look at the testimonies of the New Testament writers. We could talk about how all the pieces fit together to fulfill God’s plan of salvation.
We could do that and still have to hear people say (of think it ourselves) that it’s just a good story – a myth – with no historical anchor. And that is completely false. There are a great many historical anchors for the testimonies made in Scripture. Chief among those is the empty tomb. The empty tomb is mentioned in Roman historical records and also in Jewish records.
Josephus, a Jewish historian who was opposed to The Way (a designation for those who followed Jesus), records that Jesus was crucified and buried. He then records that stories were spread that He rose from the grave three days later. If the tomb was not empty, then he would have also included that in his report. He would have talked about such reports as silly stories that couldn’t be supported by historical fact.
But he doesn’t. Any historian will tell you that when you find a positive reference in a negative source, you can take that to the bank. You can be sure that reference is true. History tells us that the tomb was empty – that Jesus is no fairy tale. Faith believes that the tomb is empty because Jesus rose just as He said He would and that God’s plan of salvation was brought to completion through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.