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Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 172/260: Zephaniah

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Read Zephaniah 3

The Power Of Hope

Zephaniah pleads with the people of Judah, “Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger” (Zephaniah 2:3). In these words there is the implication that the day of grace has passed; there is no hope for God’s wrath to be abated, but rather the only hope that remains is that some may escape.

There is a certain type of people that will be saved in the end: those who are meek, just, righteous, and humble. Those who are strong-willed refuse to bend to God’s precepts. Those who are cruel and unfair are often selfish, looking for ways to get ahead at the expense of their neighbors. Those who are wicked do not care what God has commanded. And those who are proud will seek to be justified in their own works. Yet, no man can save himself. Only God can save, and God will only save those who submit and bend their wills to His will. Indeed, God declares that He “will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer by haughty in My holy mountain” (Zephaniah 3:11).

When we arrive at the end of Zephaniah’s prophecy, we read of God’s personal interest and investment in redemption. Notice the personal pronouns used: “‘I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, who are among you, to whom its reproach is a burden. Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame in every land where they were put to shame. At that time I will bring you back, even at the time I gather you; for I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes,’ says the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:18-20).

The work of the redemption of man is the work of the Lord. He has the power to do it. He sets the parameters to which one must submit. We cannot decide for ourselves that we will be saved in any particular way; it is only His way that is acceptable, and only His way that leads to salvation.

Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 171/260: Nahum

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Read Nahum 1-3

Laid Waste

The prophet Jonah predicted the destruction of Nineveh within forty days, but at their repentance, God relented. Approximately 100 years later, Nahum was called to proclaim “the burden against Nineveh” (Nahum 1:1). Nahum decried the savagery of their military and the commercial greed of the capital city of Assyria.

Few could have fathomed the fall of Assyria while they were in power. The same could be said about the rule of the Babylonians, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. These empires were mighty, but as all earthly kingdoms do, they eventually fell.

Nahum’s prophecy shows the utter destruction of Nineveh. He writes, “She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; much pain is in every side, and all their faces are drained of color” (Nahum 2:10). He further writes, “It shall come to pass that all who look upon you will flee from you, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste! Who will bemoan her?’ Where shall I seek comforters for you?” (Nahum 3:7).

There is but one kingdom that will never fall, but it is not an earthly kingdom. This kingdom was established nearly 2000 years ago during the days of the Roman empire; it was prophesied by Daniel and built by Jesus. It is the only kingdom “which shall never be destroyed” and “shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).

Our allegiance must be pledged to that spiritual kingdom. Our love for country must never exceed our love for God. We have a greater citizenship than our American citizenship, and we desperately need to understand that fact. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).

May we all work together to increase the citizenship of heaven, and realize the importance of that task. Whatever happens in our country ultimately matters little if we are not striving to get to heaven and take as many others with us as possible!

Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 170/260: Isaiah

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Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Do You Despise God’s Suffering Servant?

In one of the most well-known passages of Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah describes in gritty detail the Suffering Servant and how His people rejected Him. In some of the saddest words concerning our Savior, the prophet wrote, “He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” There are many ways in which man may despise the Messiah still today.

There are some who despise Jesus because they know by accepting Him, they themselves will be despised. That was the reason some in the first century rejected Him. “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).

Another way to despise the Lord is by refusing to suffer with Him. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12). If the ones who are persecuted are blessed and a great reward awaits them, what does that say about those who compromise the truth to avoid such persecution?

There are others who show their hatred for the Lord through their refusal to help His people. Jesus tells of the great judgment scene in Matthew 25:31-46, in which everyone is separated on the right and left. Those on the right were commended for everything they did for the Lord, while those on the left were condemned for neglecting His needs. Both groups questioned Him, “When did we do (or not do) these things?” His answer was simple: whatever you do or don’t do for “the least of these my brethren,” you do or don’t do for Jesus.

Finally, one may despise Jesus by refusing to accept what He says. When all is said and done, man will have no excuse for disobedience. “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

Do you despise the Suffering Servant?

Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 169/260: Isaiah

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Read Isaiah 35

The Highway Of Holiness

Isaiah encouraged his readers, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees” (Isaiah 35:3). It is the responsibility of all of God’s people to encourage and strengthen others when they are weak. Everyone suffers from the pressures of life from time to time and needs such encouragement from God’s family.

Jesus told Peter to strengthen his brethren (Luke 22:32). The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 15:1-2, “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.” Likewise, in Galatians 6:1-2, he writes, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Paul and his companions did this very thing in “Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God’” (Acts 14:21-22).

The prophet continued, “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Bes strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you’” (Isaiah 35:4).

Fear is often used by Satan to the detriment of one’s faith. Throughout the ages, God’s children are told, “Do not be afraid!” (Genesis 15:1; Exodus 14:13; Deuteronomy 20:1-3; Joshua 1:9; 2 Kings 1:15; Nehemiah 4:4; etc.). In the New Testament, we are commanded, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). As children of God, we should remember the words of Paul: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Support one another in the church. Lift up the weak and lean upon the strong. Encourage each other by alleviating fears whenever possible. Remember the promise of the Lord: “They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10).

Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 168/260: Isaiah

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Read Isaiah 32:1-8

The King Who Will Reign In Righteousness

Who is the King who “will reign in righteousness” (Isaiah 32:1)? While a case could be made for Hezekiah or Josiah, especially relative to the other kings who reigned in Judah, there can be no denying the fact that the Messiah is the one who completely fulfills the words of Isaiah the prophet. And if Jesus is the King, are not Christians the “princes” who “will rule with justice” of the same verse? After all, Peter called the elect to whom he wrote “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).

Isaiah speaks of a man who would serve as “a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2). In the New Testament, Jesus offers rest to “all you who labor and are heavy laden” (Matthew 11:28). We are reminded of the refuge He offers also in the old African American spiritual chorus: “Jesus is a rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm.”

Isaiah continues, “The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly” (Isaiah 32:3-4).

During the days of the Old Law, God’s plan was not yet fully revealed. There was still an air of mystery shrouding what was to come. But now, under the new covenant established by Jesus, the truth will no longer be hidden from those who seek it; there will be no more spiritual blindness or deafness.

Paul told the brethren in Ephesus that “by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 3:3-5). The mystery has been revealed, and we can understand it when we read the inspired Word of God!

Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 167/260: Isaiah

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Read Isaiah 25

Sing Praise To Your God

Often when we think of the songs of the Bible, our minds immediately turn to the Psalms written by David, Asaph, the sons of Korah, and others. There is beautiful imagery in the inspired poetry of the Psalms, no doubt, but we should not limit ourselves to just that collection. Inspired hymns are found throughout the Scriptures. Some estimate that one-third of the Old Testament is written in poetic form. Besides the books of poetry (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon), several of the books of prophecy are written in poetic form. The 25th chapter of Isaiah is one such example.

Take note of the personal pronouns the prophet uses in the first verse. “O Lord, you are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth” (Isaiah 25:1). The prophet is declaring his own love and devotion to God. Certainly, the words should have been representative of the entire nation, just as the songs we sing should represent the church as a whole even if the pronouns are singular.

Further, we should ever remember that when we are worshiping God in song, we are addressing Him. Our singing should never be solely an act of entertainment for ourselves, although we most certainly should derive joy from the act. After all, James encourages the “cheerful” to “sing psalms” (James 5:13). Ultimately, though, our singing is an act of worship directed toward the Almighty.

It is when Isaiah meditates on the “wonderful things” God has accomplished and ponders His “counsels of old” that are “faithfulness and truth” that the prophet is motivated to worship in song. There is both the destruction of “the terrible ones” and the diminishment of their own song (Isaiah 25:5) as well as the protection and provision of His people (Isaiah 25:6, 9) that are counted among God’s “wonderful things.”

Consider the “wonderful things” of God that you have witnessed in your own life. Contemplate the answered prayers; mull over the people He has placed in your life; think about His providence that has blessed you. Do you exalt and praise the Lord as your God?

Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 166/260: Hezekiah

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Read 2 Chronicles 31

Restoration Requires Repentance

The inspired penman of 2 Chronicles records the restoration of temple worship in 2 Chronicles 29 and the renewal of the Passover feast in chapter 30. However, all was not right in the land. Remnants of apostasy and still existed; the objects associated with idol worship remained. Hezekiah and his subjects took action.

“Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and the altars—from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh—until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession” (2 Chronicles 31:1-2).

Many times, when we start on the path of reconciliation with God, restoring our relationship to what He desires, we hold onto something that will hinder us from complete renewal. Consider the parable of the sower, and the Lord’s explanation of the thorns, in Luke 8:14, “Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” They hear the truth, but because they are unwilling to make the necessary changes in their life and turn the cares of this life over to the Almighty, they are unable to fully accept His grace.

Paul identified an individual who fell into this trap. Demas was once a “fellow laborer” with the apostle (Philemon 24), one who sent greetings to the church at Colosse through Paul’s letter to them (Colossians 4:14). Yet, near the end of Paul’s life, he wrote that “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10).

Are you hanging on to something that is holding you back from full commitment to the Lord? Is there anything that is pulling you back to your former life and preventing you from living the abundant life Jesus promises? Take seriously Paul’s charge to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). Break down the sacred pillars of your former life and “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” to the will of God (Romans 12:2)!

Daily Devotional

Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 165/260: Micah

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Read Micah 7:14-20

The Magnitude Of God’s Mercy

Most are familiar with Paul’s inspired words in Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” There is not one person alive on this earth today who can claim sinless perfection. Perhaps, however, there are not enough people that understand what sin really does to a person. Isaiah declared that “your iniquities have separated you from your God” (Isaiah 59:2). That fact should devastate all sober-minded people.

Yet, despite our sin, there is good news. God, in His infinite grace and mercy, provides for us an avenue by which we can be pardoned of our sins and escape the consequences of our less-than-holy behaviors. The apostle Peter informed the Jews gathered for Pentecost what they needed to do: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). In another passage, Peter said, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

Repentance and submission to God’s command to be immersed—Biblical conversion—is the path to God’s grace and mercy. Jeremiah foretold of the day that God “will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). When one repents, turning from sin and to God, and submits to His Word, God forgives.

The scale of God’s mercy is expansive. David proclaimed, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). If one travels north and keeps walking when he gets all the way to the top of the globe, then north becomes south, doesn’t it? But if one walks east and keeps walking, and keeps walking, and keeps walking, he never reaches the west. God has put our sins in the west and we walk east away from them and they get further and further behind us!

Micah marvels at the magnitude of God’s mercy. “Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19). What a glorious, merciful God we serve!

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Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 164/260: Micah

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Read Micah 6:1-8

What Is Good?

Kindness is one of the hallmarks of the Christian faith. Kindness is the result of love for one’s fellow man. “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law….Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8, 10).

There is no debate on the responsibility of the child of God to be kind and to do good to those around him. While our primary responsibility in this regard is to those with whom we share spiritual fellowship within God’s family, it extends beyond that. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10).

Consider Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. The victim, a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, was attacked, robbed, and left for dead. A priest and a Levite, both among the supposed religious elite at the time, saw the victim and chose to do nothing. They both “passed by on the other side.” It was a Samaritan, a man who likely would have been ignored by the victim himself, who took care of the victim’s needs with no thought of repayment. He “showed mercy on him.” The Lord’s message was simple: “Go and do likewise.”

Mercy is so very important, yet we must never assume that showing kindness and compassion to another individual fulfills our obligation to God. We must “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). We must “walk in the light as He is in the light” in order to enjoy the cleansing effects of His blood (1 John 1:7). A part of seeking God’s righteousness and walking in His light is showing mercy on those who are around us, but it is only a part.

Read Micah 6:8 again and note the three things the prophet calls good: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Treat others with fairness. Extend mercy to them when they fall short. But don’t forget that third part: “walk humbly with your God.”

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Monday through Friday with People of Faith: Day 163/260: Micah

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Read Micah 4

The Church in God’s Eternal Plan

There are many in the religious world who see the church as a “plan B” instituted by God when the Jews rejected Jesus. There is ample evidence, however, that God had planned for the church all along. It was no mere afterthought but was a part of God’s eternal purpose (Ephesians 3:10). The fourth chapter of Micah’s prophecy conclusively demonstrates that the church, which is the kingdom, was planned long before Jesus took “the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7).

There are multiple prophecies of the coming kingdom in the Scriptures. In addition to Micah, one can also look to Isaiah 2:2-4 and Daniel 2:44. Jesus equates the terms kingdom and church in Matthew 16:13-18, when He promised to build His church and give the keys of the kingdom to the apostles.

Notice some of the characteristics of the Lord’s church, as foretold by Micah. First, the Lord’s church would be superior to all earthly kingdoms. This is seen in the figurative language of the first verse, with the mountains and hills representing the world powers. “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills” (Micah 4:1).

Second, the Lord’s church would be made up of many peoples; it would not be limited to a certain race or ethnicity. “And peoples shall flow to it” (Micah 4:1).

Third, its growth would come from teaching, not conquest. Kingdoms of the world exert physical power over other kingdoms, but the Lord’s kingdom would be one of reasoning and learning. Micah says, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths” (Micah 4:2), and “Neither shall they learn war anymore” (Micah 4:3).

Every earthly kingdom that has risen to power will eventually fall, but the Lord’s kingdom will never be conquered. “For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever” (Micah 4:5).

Are you a citizen of His marvelous kingdom?