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. Here in Psalm 119:58, David entreats God to be gracious to him according to His promise. That was a common plea in the Old Testament. The cry of God’s people was always that He would remember His promises and be gracious to them. It’s the same for us. When we gather on a Sunday and confess our sins, we are asking God to be gracious to us according to His promise. We are asking Him to gracious to us according to His promises that have become YES in Jesus. That’s why God responds to our confession with the words “that for the sake of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.” By His perfect life, His sacrificial death and His victorious resurrection Jesus completed God’s promised work of salvation. He became the YES to every promise of God. And we live by faith in Jesus – in the promises of God made complete.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Luke 10:42, Mary is being held up as an example to us. We are told that she has chosen the good portion. And since this is taking place in the context of meal preparations, there is nothing that Martha is preparing that will take the place of what Mary has chosen. She sits at Jesus’ feet and feeds on His Word. We have to be careful that we don’t make Martha the bad guy. She is busy with the normal activities that good hospitality demands. She is providing a service and that service is good. But when she complains that Mary isn’t doing her part, Jesus reminds her that peace won’t come to her through her service. Peace will only come to Martha through the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh. And He has come to bring peace to a fallen and broken world – to fallen humanity in particular. Mary has chosen the good portion by sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to His words. She rests in His peace. And it is at Jesus’ feet that Martha will find peace as well. When we get to busy with the responsibilities of this life – when we get too focused on what we need to do – we need to step back, pick up God’s Word and rest at Jesus’ feet as He speaks to us words of life and peace.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Galatians 1:11, Paul writes that the gospel he preaches is not man’s gospel. In other words, it doesn’t have its origins in the thoughts of man. It is not a matter of philosophical musings or an attempt to unlock some inner truth in man. It is God’s gospel. It is His revelation of His saving work done to rescue us from the dangers of sin and death. And that’s where it has to begin. Man’s gospel will always begin with the premise that there is inherent good in all mankind. God’s revelation begins with man as a fallen creature – as one in whom nothing good dwells. We have inherited Adam’s sin. And that sin would hold us captive. That sin would keep us separated from God. That sin would drive us to justify ourselves before God by our works or by our own ideas and philosophies. That sin would drive us to fashion God in our image. But God won’t abandon us to sin’s power. God came into this world so that He could accomplish all that was needed to save us from sin and death. He then comes to us through His Word to show us His salvation – His salvation through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. He comes to give us the benefits of His saving work so that we can be free from sin and live for Him. That’s the gospel that Paul preached and that we have received by faith in Jesus.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 10:25 talks about how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And now we could spend time ragging on the rich and even say that Jesus was a socialist or communist at heart. There are many who would say “amen” to that. Liberation Theology would say that Jesus came for the poor. He came to give them what they lack by taking it away from the rich who oppress the poor. For them, the gospel is the elevation of the poor – giving them the dignity that the ruling class (the rich) denies them. But Jesus isn’t really talking about that kind of rich. When I think of the rich, I think of folks who have no needs. They have the resources to get whatever they want. And that’s not tied solely to money. Jesus is talking about people who think they have no needs. If you don’t know you’re drowning, you won’t grab for the life preserver that has been thrown to you. That’s why Jesus says that is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. The first step to entering the kingdom is realizing that you are drowning – realizing that apart from God you are bankrupt – you are dead. When the Word of God has brought you to that point, then you are ready to receive the true riches of the kingdom of God. God works through His Word to show us our sin – to show us our need. He does that to prepare us to hear and see His solution for that need. He reveals His salvation to us through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Once we realize that we are lost in sin, then we are ready to see Jesus as our Savior – as the one who opens the gates of the kingdom of God to us.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Luke 12:37, we are told that it is a good thing to be found awake when Jesus returns. And it is. But the meaning of awake is sometimes problematic. Too often the conclusion is that if you aren’t engaged in pious activities when Christ returns, then you will be thrown out – cast away. We have to be careful with such conclusions because that could lead to a life of uncertainty – a life of doubt – where we constantly ask ourselves if we are righteousness enough. But salvation doesn’t depend on our works or on our ability to remain awake and doing the Lord’s work 24/7. Our eyes get dull. Sin distracts us in spite of our best efforts. We wander. We get lazy. We lose focus. And while that’s not good, it’s not damning. The problem is that we have trouble staying awaked – that we fall asleep. The problem is that we would stay asleep – that our slumber would turn into unbelief. Can we wander so far that we no longer believe? Can we become so dull that God is no longer in our thoughts or in our hearts? The answer to that is YES! To guard against a permanent state of sleep, we need to awake to our sin and the consequences so that we turn to Christ. Confessing our sin, we can then hear His Word of forgiveness. Confessing our sin is evidence that our slumber has not become permanent. Confessing our sin shows that we understand that apart from Christ, we are lost. So until He returns, remain awake to your sin and your need for Jesus’ saving work. Confess and hear His Word of forgiveness spoken to you. Keep the cross before your eyes and rejoice in the life and hope that is yours in Christ. John tells us that the Word was God and that nothing that has been made was made apart from Him. The Son of God spoke creation into existence. He also took on human flesh so that He could save His beloved creation from the power of sin and death to destroy it. That the tomb is empty is confirmation that all that Jesus said is true. He is indeed the Son of God in the flesh. He is indeed the Savior of the world. He has joined us to Himself in His death and life so that we can receive all the benefits of His saving work. We weren’t there when God was laying the foundations of the earth. Jesus was. And His Word is true.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Psalm 119:58, David entreats God to be gracious to him according to His promise. That was a common plea in the Old Testament. The cry of God’s people was always that He would remember His promises and be gracious to them. It’s the same for us. When we gather on a Sunday and confess our sins, we are asking God to be gracious to us according to His promise. We are asking Him to gracious to us according to His promises that have become YES in Jesus. That’s why God responds to our confession with the words “that for the sake of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.” By His perfect life, His sacrificial death and His victorious resurrection Jesus completed God’s promised work of salvation. He became the YES to every promise of God. And we live by faith in Jesus – in the promises of God made complete.
Day Two
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Luke 10:42, Mary is being held up as an example to us. We are told that she has chosen the good portion. And since this is taking place in the context of meal preparations, there is nothing that Martha is preparing that will take the place of what Mary has chosen. She sits at Jesus’ feet and feeds on His Word. We have to be careful that we don’t make Martha the bad guy. She is busy with the normal activities that good hospitality demands. She is providing a service and that service is good. But when she complains that Mary isn’t doing her part, Jesus reminds her that peace won’t come to her through her service. Peace will only come to Martha through the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh. And He has come to bring peace to a fallen and broken world – to fallen humanity in particular. Mary has chosen the good portion by sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to His words. She rests in His peace. And it is at Jesus’ feet that Martha will find peace as well. When we get to busy with the responsibilities of this life – when we get too focused on what we need to do – we need to step back, pick up God’s Word and rest at Jesus’ feet as He speaks to us words of life and peace.
Day Three
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Galatians 1:11, Paul writes that the gospel he preaches is not man’s gospel. In other words, it doesn’t have its origins in the thoughts of man. It is not a matter of philosophical musings or an attempt to unlock some inner truth in man. It is God’s gospel. It is His revelation of His saving work done to rescue us from the dangers of sin and death. And that’s where it has to begin. Man’s gospel will always begin with the premise that there is inherent good in all mankind. God’s revelation begins with man as a fallen creature – as one in whom nothing good dwells. We have inherited Adam’s sin. And that sin would hold us captive. That sin would keep us separated from God. That sin would drive us to justify ourselves before God by our works or by our own ideas and philosophies. That sin would drive us to fashion God in our image. But God won’t abandon us to sin’s power. God came into this world so that He could accomplish all that was needed to save us from sin and death. He then comes to us through His Word to show us His salvation – His salvation through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. He comes to give us the benefits of His saving work so that we can be free from sin and live for Him. That’s the gospel that Paul preached and that we have received by faith in Jesus.
Day Four
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark 10:25 talks about how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And now we could spend time ragging on the rich and even say that Jesus was a socialist or communist at heart. There are many who would say “amen” to that. Liberation Theology would say that Jesus came for the poor. He came to give them what they lack by taking it away from the rich who oppress the poor. For them, the gospel is the elevation of the poor – giving them the dignity that the ruling class (the rich) denies them. But Jesus isn’t really talking about that kind of rich. When I think of the rich, I think of folks who have no needs. They have the resources to get whatever they want. And that’s not tied solely to money. Jesus is talking about people who think they have no needs. If you don’t know you’re drowning, you won’t grab for the life preserver that has been thrown to you. That’s why Jesus says that is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. The first step to entering the kingdom is realizing that you are drowning – realizing that apart from God you are bankrupt – you are dead. When the Word of God has brought you to that point, then you are ready to receive the true riches of the kingdom of God. God works through His Word to show us our sin – to show us our need. He does that to prepare us to hear and see His solution for that need. He reveals His salvation to us through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Once we realize that we are lost in sin, then we are ready to see Jesus as our Savior – as the one who opens the gates of the kingdom of God to us.
Day Five
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Luke 12:37, we are told that it is a good thing to be found awake when Jesus returns. And it is. But the meaning of awake is sometimes problematic. Too often the conclusion is that if you aren’t engaged in pious activities when Christ returns, then you will be thrown out – cast away. We have to be careful with such conclusions because that could lead to a life of uncertainty – a life of doubt – where we constantly ask ourselves if we are righteousness enough. But salvation doesn’t depend on our works or on our ability to remain awake and doing the Lord’s work 24/7. Our eyes get dull. Sin distracts us in spite of our best efforts. We wander. We get lazy. We lose focus. And while that’s not good, it’s not damning. The problem is that we have trouble staying awaked – that we fall asleep. The problem is that we would stay asleep – that our slumber would turn into unbelief. Can we wander so far that we no longer believe? Can we become so dull that God is no longer in our thoughts or in our hearts? The answer to that is YES! To guard against a permanent state of sleep, we need to awake to our sin and the consequences so that we turn to Christ. Confessing our sin, we can then hear His Word of forgiveness. Confessing our sin is evidence that our slumber has not become permanent. Confessing our sin shows that we understand that apart from Christ, we are lost. So until He returns, remain awake to your sin and your need for Jesus’ saving work. Confess and hear His Word of forgiveness spoken to you. Keep the cross before your eyes and rejoice in the life and hope that is yours in Christ. John tells us that the Word was God and that nothing that has been made was made apart from Him. The Son of God spoke creation into existence. He also took on human flesh so that He could save His beloved creation from the power of sin and death to destroy it. That the tomb is empty is confirmation that all that Jesus said is true. He is indeed the Son of God in the flesh. He is indeed the Savior of the world. He has joined us to Himself in His death and life so that we can receive all the benefits of His saving work. We weren’t there when God was laying the foundations of the earth. Jesus was. And His Word is true.