Devotionals

Proverbs 31:10 New International Version (NIV)  “A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies.”

Other than accepting God’s free gift of grace and receiving salvation, the next best thing to ever happen to me was finding His choice for my wife.  Our marriage didn’t occur by happenstance.  Both my wife and me firmly believe God directed our paths to cross at the very perfect time for marriage to happen.   

We didn’t know each other and our backgrounds were so different.  I’m a city boy and she’s a country girl.  I lived in Nashville temporarily, and she moved there from Tennessee Ridge, a wide spot in the road.  I worked a part-time job at a downtown department story while sorting out my future education.  She was employed by a major shoe manufacturer at its corporate headquarters.  

I planned to pursue a PhD at one of three universities.  Meanwhile, I attended law school in Nashville to see if this profession possessed any appeal.  The woman who became my wife relocated to Nashville to pursue opportunities that didn’t exist in her home town.  We lived in different parts of the city.  Age-wise we were separated by almost six years.  We didn’t go to the same church or share any mutual friends.  

What determining factor caused us to finally meet?  First and foremost, both of us had been praying earnestly for God to direct us to the marriage partner that He had selected.  Each of us desired His choice and not ours.  Both of us had already demonstrated that we were failures at picking out potential spouses!  We didn’t waver in our prayers or our faith.   

As it turned out, my future wife’s sister-in-law worked at the same company as my brother’s mother-in-law.  Somehow they discussed us one day, and subsequently hooked us up for a blind date.  We felt an attraction for each other quickly, and in only three short weeks I proposed.    

Some may question the speed of our decisions, but both of us had listened to God’s voice and acted.  If you’re in a similar situation trying to find a spouse, just turn it over to God and seek His direction and timing.  It’ll change your life–for the better!  

Genesis 19:24-25, 27 New International Version (NIV)  24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah . . . 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities . . . 27 . . .  and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

As modern day Christians we struggle with understanding and accepting some Bible stories.  They seem too crazy to have actually occurred as reported.  Non-Christians exercise the greatest skepticism, which keeps them from learning what they really need to know about salvation through Jesus Christ.  

I suggest a little education will help squash any doubt that you may have.  Know this:  the Bible stories aren’t simply allegories or fables; they actually occurred.  Aside from being so phenomenal, what makes them seem unrealistic is that authors from thousands of years ago recorded what they had witnessed, so their experiences from historical and cultural perspectives are far removed from our own.  

Over the last year I’ve done a little study of Biblical archeology.  The topic gets complicated quickly for me, as this field isn’t my area of expertise.  As just one example, here’s the truth about Sodom and Gomorrah.  

We know the Bible story about God’s destruction of these cities that were located southeast of the Dead Sea.  Today Bab edh-Dhra occupies what used to be Sodom, and Numeira occupies what used to be Gomorrah.  In archeological digs of these two locations, the positively identified remains of the original destruction have been uncovered!  It has been determined that fires started on the roofs of cemetery buildings.  Furthermore, the debris contains a high percentage of sulfur.  These are the facts, but what caused sulfur to rain down is hypothesized.  A nearby fault line reflects an earthquake occurred during the time Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.  It, too, contains a high sulfur content, and the pressure released from the earthquake along the fault line would have sent sulfur high into the air.  The Biblical account mentions the event produced heavy smoke, which would also accompany such an occurrence as geologists have speculated.  The Sodom and Gomorrah event has been verified with modern science.

Don’t ever be apologetic for believing the Bible!  It is true and trustworthy.

Matthew 17:1-3 New International Version (NIV)  “After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John the brother of James with him. He led them up a high mountain. They were all alone.  There in front of them his appearance was changed. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as the light.”

Have you wondered what Jesus looked like when on earth?  Many depictions exist, but I’m unsure if any of them have captured his appearance correctly.  As a lad I remember some great portraits of Jesus hanging on the wall or printed on a fan or bulletin at church.  He was like a light-skinned European more than a Middle Eastern Jew.  

Rodrigo de Borja of Spain became Pope Alexander VI when Columbus sailed to the Americas.  He fathered several children with various mistresses.  One son, Caesar Borgia, became a Cardinal.  He was deemed to be quite handsome.  

The Pope commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint a portrait of Jesus based upon Caesar Borgia.  As a result, this depiction of Jesus as a Spanish-Italian man became the accepted norm of His appearance.  It was perpetuated in the United States by white Christian churches and reenforced by actors who portrayed Him in movies and television.  

Interestingly, this famous Leonardo da Vinci painting known as Savior of the World sold for $450.3 million to a private buyer at an auction in late 2017.  Even almost a half-billion dollar investment doesn’t tell us much about Jesus’s appearance, so what did He look like?  The Bible provides a few hints.

First, with a Jewish mother he inherited common Semitic traits, so He blended in with regular people.  Sometimes He traveled in secret without being recognized.  Judas even had to point Him out to the Roman soldiers.  Second, Jesus likely had short hair, as the Scriptures teach that long hair is a dishonor.  Third, He probably had a beard in observance of Jewish custom.  Fourth, I imagine Him to be physically fit, as He walked everywhere and turned over the tables in the Temple.  Fifth, His facial countenance showed kindness, compassion, and happiness, as He displayed these traits.  

Do you have an imagination of what Jesus looked like?  The great news is that we’ll know one day, and it won’t be too long from now.  

Revelation 21:23  New International Version (NIV) “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”

No doubt you have wondered about deep questions regarding heaven–what it looks like, where it is, what we’ll do there, etc.  The Scriptures contain many references in giving us a tiny glimpse.  However, they fall far short, because the reality is far beyond the ability of a finite man to describe.  

The New Testament mentions Heaven 276 times.  In fact, it cites three separate heavens:  the sky with its clouds and birds, outer space containing the stars and other celestial bodies, and the place where God dwells (referred to as the Third Heaven, New Jerusalem, New Heaven and Earth.)  

Many of you know the story of my wife’s near death experience on January 18, 2017.  Here’s a brief summary of what she observed:

–In the distance was a light brighter than anything she had ever seen on earth.  The Bible informs us that heaven has no sun or moon, and light is provided by the radiance of Jesus.

–People’s faces glowed with a golden tint from this light.  This appearance is akin to Moses when he came down from Mt. Sinai after meeting God, and he had to wear a veil to cover his face.

–It was noisy!  However, the various languages and sounds proved indistinguishable.  

–Time did not exist.  

–A greeting party lined up to welcome her entry.

–Her brother, who had passed away years earlier from the same cause, awaited her first in line.

–Incredible happiness existed there.  

–She did not want to return to earth, but sensed that God has something else for her to accomplish.

–The experience was just as real and vivid as talking with me face-to-face.  

You may chose to believe her story or not.  I know it is true and reliable.  She is delighted to have had the experience, as it gave her the assurance of salvation and eliminated any fear of dying.  She’s looking forward to her return trip!  It gave me great awareness, too, of the brevity of life and the need to be ready to leave this planet at any instant.  

Isaiah 40:22 New International Version (NIV)  “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.”

Three years ago my wife and I vacationed in Utah.  (Put it on your bucket list if you’ve never been!)  When visiting Bryce Canyon we stayed in nearby Tropic.  A serendipitous discovery led us to hire a professional astronomer to show us the heavens.  

We met him late at night in the middle of nowhere in a place billed as one of the darkest in the continental United States.  He owned a monstrous telescope that could reach deep into space.  To look through the eyepiece we had to climb a stepladder.  

He spent the next three hours sharing his knowledge with us–tremendously educational and entertaining!   Until you see the skies with a really big telescope, you really haven’t seen them.  He showed us all kinds of heavenly bodies–the planets and their moons, star births and deaths, star clusters, other galaxies, and incredible close-ups of the moon.  

One fascinating fact is that the universe is expanding rapidly at an incredible rate.  Known as the “Big Bang”, it was discovered in 1964 by Drs. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson.  Here’s what Penzias said about it:  “The best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted, had I had nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, the Bible as a whole.  The creation of the universe is supported by all the observable data astronomy has produced so far.”  

The fact that God stretches out the heavens appears seven times in the Bible.  I also find the Isaiah 40:22 verse interesting as it mentions “the circle of the earth”.  I maintain that these observations confirm the inspiration supporting the scriptures, as references to stretching the heavens and the circle of the earth predate scientists’ discoveries of these actual facts by thousands of years.  It’s readily apparent that the Biblical authors received inside knowledge about the universe that would have been totally unknown to anyone.  The more one studies the Bible, the greater realization that it is inspired, genuine, and trustworthy.  

Luke 18:31-33  The Message                                                                                                                                                            Then Jesus took the Twelve off to the side and said, “Listen carefully. We’re on our way up to Jerusalem. Everything written in the Prophets about the Son of Man will take place. He will be handed over to the Romans, jeered at, made sport of, and spit on. Then, after giving him the third degree, they will kill him. In three days he will rise, alive.” 

Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes for God to use you?  Some folks really struggle with this thought, because they think of Christian leaders who possess skill sets that they don’t have, like preaching, teaching, singing, writing, composing, officiating, etc.  If you have such a mindset, get rid of it!  God has instilled within every believer a desire to serve him in myriad ways, even in the smallest areas that may not even occur to you, like having a listening ear, saying words of encouragement, making people feel welcomed, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, being a mother or father, etc.  All of us are perfectly capable of doing much to be Jesus’s hands and feet in our modern era.  

Think about the 12 disciples.  Quite frankly, they weren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer, yet God chose them for extraordinary purposes.  Today they sit on twelve thrones in heaven.  

I love The Message’s paraphrase of Luke’s account of Jesus informing his disciples about the upcoming week between Palm Sunday and Easter.  He could not have been any clearer.  Be mindful that His revelation wasn’t the first time telling them.  He had already informed them on two previous occasions!  Luke revealed how the disciples absorbed Jesus’s words in the next verse:  “But they didn’t get it, could make neither heads nor tails of what he was talking about.”  

God used these twelve ordinary men–men who Jesus called “dull”–to establish His church.  What they have accomplished is incredible, as clearly shown in Christianity’s expansive presence on earth over 2,000 years later.  Can you have the imagination that you can produce a positive impact, too?  I challenge you to find areas of servanthood.  It’ll make a difference in your own life and the lives of others.  

Luke 14:26-27 New International Version (NIV)  26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”  — Jesus Christ

Without tipping my hand too much, here’s a story from my own life.  Many years ago I committed to a huge debt, far more than you can imagine.  I didn’t have the collateral to qualify for it, but the circumstances at the time permitted it.  I literally had to pledge everything my wife and I owned–house, cars, investments, furniture, kids, dogs–you get the picture.  

This situation placed me into a difficult position.  Whatever it took, I could not afford to fail.  The demands proved extraordinary with a massive amount of work, incredible hours, extensive travel, much stress, hardships on the family, assaults to my health, etc.  It required absolutely total commitment, and not just 100% but 1,000%.  Failure would devastate me and my family for the duration of my life.  

Years passed by.  Only at the end of three years did things start looking up.  In another couple of years I began to see some light at the end of the tunnel.  It took eleven years before success really started.  High risk = high reward.  

Who would do something so crazy?  The truth is that every single one of us is in situation with far higher stakes.  My experience was child’s play by comparison.  We are souls temporarily contained within physical bodies, which will wear out some day.  Our souls continue–not to another body, but to the spiritual realm where we will spend eternity.  Our years on earth are a pittance in comparison.  While I have absolutely no Biblical basis for making this statement, my guess is that Heaven has no clocks and Hell is full of them.  

We make choices and decide on whether we’re going to take the wide or narrow road.  Today’s scripture tells it plainly.  Following Jesus requires all we have, and a willingness to lose everything on earth to follow Him.  Failure is not an option.  We must give it up totally for Him. 

2 Kings 2:23-24 New International Version (NIV)  “23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.”

You’ve likely heard the news about Casey Hathaway, the 3-year old boy in North Carolina who became lost for almost three days last week.  He had been playing in his grandmother’s yard and wandered into the adjoining woods.

Hundreds of volunteers combed the rough terrain before finding him two days later.  Be mindful that Casey experienced this time alone in the woods with heavy rain days and below freezing nights.  He survived in the woods without hypothermia.  

What did he report to his rescuers?  Casey said he hung out with a bear for those two days, and it kept him warm.  Skeptics will scream “impossible” or try to explain it away, and one can read the rebuttal comments on the news story to see them.  However, why would and how could a three-year old boy concoct such a story and also escape physical harm from the cold?  

Does this event demonstrate God’s intervention to save the life of a precious child?  The Bible notes many instances confirming His command of animals to implement His will.  Here are just a few examples:  the raven and dove helping Noah, the plagues in Egypt, Jonah and the whale, ravens providing for Elijah, Daniel and the lions, Jesus’s donkey on Palm Sunday, and others.  

Did you know that the Bible cites bears as animals that God has used to promote His purpose?  The prophet Elisa was on a mission to execute what God had instructed him to do.  A mob of boys confronted him, intending to do him harm.  Two bears appeared and defended Elisa with great success.  

Is Casey Hathaway’s story far-fetched?  I don’t think so at all.  Even the animals obey God.  

John 1:1 New International Version (NIV) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 

John 1:14 New International Version (NIV)  “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 10:30 New International Version (NIV)  “I and the Father are one.”  –Jesus Christ

Have you ever thought, “when did Jesus become Jesus?”  Such a question is not sacrilegious!  I think it reflects a desire to know and understand Him better.

John recorded three truths about Him:  (1) Jesus is the Word–existing from the very beginning, with God, and was God; (2) Jesus lived on earth and showed us His glory; (3) Jesus and God are one and the same.  Does your brain hurt trying to think about how this is possible?

We know that Jesus has always been Jesus–this point is crystal clear.  However, I admit to not understanding it.  For example, since Jesus is God, He is infinite in knowledge, wisdom, power, etc.  When baby Jesus laid in the manger, did He possess all these characteristics but refrained from showing them in order to not freak out Mary and Joseph?  When Jesus worked with Joseph in the carpenter shop, what did the Creator of the universe think about building a simple stool with his hands?  When Jesus played with other children, was He the world’s best hide-and-seek champion?  When Jesus separated from his parents for 3 days and remained in Jerusalem at the Temple talking with the chief priests, what did He say to them?  

Luke 4:17-21 records an amazing Jesus event.  He was handed a scroll. He unrolled it and read Isaiah 61:1-2, an 800+ year old prophecy about Jesus Christ.  Upon completion He proclaimed, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  Was this THE defining event when Jesus became Jesus–at least publicly?  What do you think?  

Leviticus 20:3-5 New International Version (NIV)                                                                                                                                3 I myself will set my face against him and will cut him off from his people; for by sacrificing his children to Molek, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If the members of the community close their eyes when that man sacrifices one of his children to Molek and if they fail to put him to death, 5 I myself will set my face against him and his family and will cut them off from their people together with all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molek.

The Old Testament reveals much about the holiness and character of God.  Books like Kings 1 and 2 tell us about the rulers of Judah and Israel, and each one is characterized as being good or evil.  What distinguishing characteristic raised God’s ire more than any other?  The answer is violating the First Commandment of “You shall have no other gods before me.”  

The evil kings built temples to worship false gods like Baal-Molek.  (Baal in Hebrew is a reference to any false god, while Molek is the Canaanite god.  It may also be spelled as Moloch or Molech.)  Historians have determined that in some locations bronze Molek statues existed.  The god’s hands could be heated with fire to be made very hot.  Parents would give their children up for human sacrifice.  When a boy or girl was placed on the hot hands to burn them alive, priests would pound drums loudly to drown out the child’s screams.  At the same time, the parents would engage in bisexual orgies to appease Molek in hope that he would deliver economic prosperity by causing it to rain and make the ground fertile for crops.   

You’ve likely heard the January 22, 2019, news from New York State.  Abortion has been liberalized even further.  It may be allowed from conception to birth.  Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it into law.  Here is his tweet announcement:

“Today I signed the #ReproductiveHealthAct — codifying Roe v. Wade into state law and protecting women’s reproductive rights no matter what the federal government does.  This is a victory for all New Yorkers.”

How do the abortions allowed by this New York law compare to the ancients sacrificing children?  If you’ve read about the abortion procedure, you probably recognize that burning children alive to Molek required less time and consequently less pain than what an aborted baby experiences.  I see little difference in what Canaanites did thousands of years ago and what New Yorkers are doing today.

The Scriptures contain many verses capturing God’s rage against child sacrifice.  He gave us a directive, too.  We aren’t to stand by and allow it.  This is a major challenge for Christians in America today.  We have accountability, too.