Today Daily Devotional Podcast

NEW WINESKINS

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-25T06:00:00+00:00

—Mark 2:22As we read through the gospels, a disturbing revelation comes to light. The religious people of Jesus’ day were totally missing a new thing God was doing by sending his Son into the world. One religious group—the Pharisees—were much disciplined. They fasted twice a week, tithed a tenth of their goods, and faithfully read God’s Word and prayed. Yet as the heavens poured out new wine by sending God’s Son into the world, the religious leaders did not embrace him. What happened? Could we make that same mistake today?In today’s verses Jesus is asked why his disciples do not fast. He replies, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?” The purpose of fasting was to deny and humble oneself before God, seeking his mercy and help from danger and from the influence of sin. It drew people closer to God and helped them focus on living for the Lord. But fasting was not necessary for Jesus’ followers while he was with them; they were living every day in God’s presence.The Pharisees were diligent about spiritual disciplines, but their hearts were not connected with God. And, yes, we can make that same mistake today. God continues to do new things on the earth. Are we so used to doing things a certain way that we have lost contact with the Lord of the universe? Do we recognize Jesus as he shows up in our world?

THE BURNING LAMP

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-24T06:00:00+00:00

—Luke 3:16Fire can be terrifying or comforting. It can be destructive and deadly if it gets out of control, or it can be a great source of warmth, heat, and light.John the Baptist was known for his fire; he burned for God, bringing the light of God’s Word into a dark, troubled time and urging people to repent as he prepared the way for Jesus’ coming. Jesus said of him, “John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light” (John 5:35).What caused John to be set ablaze? He was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth (Luke 1:15), lived a life of self-denial, and spent time in the wilderness, where his relationship with God grew.People were impressed with John, but he pointed them to “one who was more powerful”—that is, Jesus, who is actually “the light of the world” (John 8:12). John prophesied this about Jesus: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”God’s will is for all his followers to have a burning spiritual passion for him. The question is whether or not we will yield ourselves to him so that he can fill us with that kind of passion for him. As the fire of God enters into us, people and nations will be changed.

CHOOSING A MASTER

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-23T06:00:00+00:00

Jesus challenges us to think hard about who our master is. Is God our Master, or is money our master? We cannot serve both, says Jesus.How do these masters operate in our lives?God is loving, selfless, and generous. When God is our Master, he speaks words of life so that we do not have to worry. God, our Creator, cares for the birds of the air and clothes even the grass of the field.Money, on the other hand, says, “If you have enough material possessions, then you will be secure and able to deal with any problem that comes up in your life.” Money calls us to be selfish and do whatever it takes to get ahead. It claims that the person with the most toys wins.Money and the power of riches (and the people taken in by them) threaten us by saying, “If you do not bow down to me, you will not get what you need or want.” Money is a greedy, selfish, deceiving spirit who wants to steal and destroy.When God is our Master, we know we are in good hands. We can live from a place of generosity, knowing that God’s kingdom is recession-free. Even as trials come, we stand in faith as Job did, knowing our Redeemer lives (Job 19:25)!

ENGAGING WITH JESUS

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-22T06:00:00+00:00

How do we engage with Jesus? Do we invite him for dinner to have an intellectual conversation, or do we come weeping, seeking forgiveness, and trying to honor him?Luke shares a story of two people who want to meet with Jesus. One is Simon the Pharisee, who is spiritually interested and wants to learn more about Jesus. The other is a woman who weeps at Jesus’ feet, wipes his feet with her hair, kisses them and pours perfume on them. Simon is a good moral citizen, and the woman is someone who has “lived a sinful life.” Simon approaches Jesus in an intellectual way over a meal; the woman expresses the deepest cry of her heart as she seeks freedom from her sin.Simon is surprised that Jesus would accept this treatment from a sinner, yet we find that Jesus honors the woman. She receives forgiveness of sins, but we hear of no change in the spiritual condition of Simon.Do we seek Jesus to affirm our own thinking and gain personal peace, or do we radically pursue him, asking for forgiveness and offering our best efforts in service to him?Which sins do you tend to notice more—your own or those of others? Are you someone who knows how much you need to be forgiven? Give thanks today for God’s mercy—and for the grace to be merciful.

BREAKFAST WITH JESUS

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-21T06:00:00+00:00

—John 21:12Have you made a mistake in the past that continues to stand out as a painful memory? Does that event continue to define you? What does God think of your past offenses?Peter failed miserably by denying that he even knew his friend Jesus. The event was marked by a rooster crowing, Jesus looking at Peter, and Peter weeping bitter tears of remorse (Luke 22:60-62).Now Peter and Jesus meet again. How will Jesus treat someone who abandoned him in his darkest hour? Will Jesus be angry and want to punish Peter? Does Jesus ignore him? No. As the disciples are fishing, they see Jesus on the shore. He calls to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answer. He says, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” Jesus has not given up on them. Jesus remains faithful and blesses them with a miraculous catch of fish.Then Jesus invites them to “come and have breakfast,” a warm gesture of friendship and hospitality.Next comes the crucial part of the story: Jesus addresses Peter’s denial by asking him three times, “Do you love me?” Jesus does not ignore the past; he addresses it. And the denials are canceled out by Peter’s new statements of love for Jesus.Regardless of what you have done in your past, Jesus calls you to come and follow him too. Will you come, so you too can be forgiven?

CONNECTING WITH OUR FATHER

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-20T06:00:00+00:00

We can have a father, and perhaps even be involved with the family business, and yet have no heart connection with him. This can happen for various reasons.We can also be robbed of intimacy with our heavenly Father. For some reason we are unable or unwilling to receive love and acceptance from him.Jesus shares a story of a farm family to illustrate this tragedy: “There was a man who had two sons.” The first son closed his heart to his father and wanted to be independent. He boldly said, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” The rebellious son saw his father for what he could get from him. Then the son moved away and searched for love in all the wrong places. This son came to his senses when all his resources dried up. Lonely and hungry, he returned home to his father.The other son was obedient. He lived with and worked for his father, and yet his heart was far from him. He saw his father as a master for whom he needed to work. He said, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.” His stubbornness became clear when he would not even celebrate with family and friends. At the end of the story, this son was still sadly outside his father’s house.Are you living at home with the Father, or are you living as if you are Fatherless?

THE POWER OF PROMISES

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-19T06:00:00+00:00

—Matthew 26:35When I was dating Helen, on the day after her birthday I asked her this all-important question: “Will you marry me?” Her response was to laugh and laugh, but finally she re-sponded with, “Yes!” Then I began to wrestle with the thought, “I love her today, but how do I know I will be able to love her 10 or 20 years from now?”We see this kind of fickleness in Peter. Peter says to Jesus before he is arrested, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Peter makes this promise to Jesus, but later that same night he denies even knowing Jesus. Later, when he realizes what he has done, Peter goes outside and weeps bitterly.Peter weeps bitter tears because he has broken a promise with his best friend. This is a breakdown of relationship and community. At this point Peter is probably also wrestling with his identity. Who is Peter? Is he the Peter who says he will never disown Jesus, or is he the Peter who blatantly disowns him when questioned? I love Helen still today because of a promise, a covenant, we made with each other. Our promise is rooted in Jesus, the great promise-keeper, and this anchor gives us identity and creates a rich, joy- and peace-filled community of life.

ABIDING IN THE VINE

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-18T06:00:00+00:00

If you want to make your life count, Jesus wisely explains how. He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”The challenge is to be devoted to living in and for Jesus, in a way like a branch is attached to a vine and depends on it for life. This takes our whole heart.How can we accomplish this? Only by the power of Christ himself. He makes that clear when he says, “Apart from me you can do nothing” in the way of bearing fruit. And he adds, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16).In the verses of our Scripture today, the words “fruit” or “fruitful” occur seven times. God’s primary concern is not our comfort or happiness, but that we bear fruit. We need to let the gardener prune the self-centeredness and selfishness out of our lives so that we can truly remain in Jesus and bear fruit for his kingdom—“fruit that will last.” Then others will enjoy God’s goodness and be drawn to him also.Christ is our lifeline, and he calls us to abide in him. Rather than living our own way, we grow to live his way, and he supplies all we need in order to do that. It’s the only way to truly live—forever.

FRIENDS OF GOD

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-17T06:00:00+00:00

We generally live up to expectations and titles. If we expect our teenagers to live irresponsibly, there is a good chance they will live up to that expectation. On the other hand, if we expect them to be responsible young adults, then they will seek to fulfill that expectation.Jesus models expectations for us with his disciples. He tells them, “I no longer call you servants.” That was a major change of understanding for his disciples. The role of a servant was to be obedient to commands from the master and to give attention to the task at hand. But Jesus changed the expectation by saying, “Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”Friends experience an intimate, personal relationship with one another. To be a friend of God means to have access to the very heart of God. To know what the Master is doing and to have access to his heart is a tremendous privilege.As we live and work within this relationship, our perspective changes because we are able to see through our Master’s eyes, and our heart beats in tune with his. We work with the Lord and have this incredible anchor that gives us stability through any and every situation that comes our way in life. What a tremendous blessing!

SELF-DENIAL

feeds@reframe-media.com (ReFrame Media | Back to God Ministries Intl.) — 2013-05-16T06:00:00+00:00

Believers in Christ face the challenge of being desensitized to the filth in the world around them. The line between what is holy and unholy often becomes unclear. In the midst of the corruption and sin in our world, how can we be re-sensitized to live holy lives for the Lord?Jesus explains, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves…”And what does it mean to deny ourselves? It means putting to death our sinful nature and putting on the spiritual nature of new life in Christ (Ephesians 4:14-5:20). We cannot do this on our own, but all of this is made possible because Jesus came to live among us, fully human, and to die in our place so that we can be freed from the slavery of sin and the curse of death.In Christ we are called to put sinful ways behind us—all immorality and impurity such as hatred, discord, jealousy, envy, rage, selfish ambition, greed, drunkenness, brawling, gossip, slander, and any kind of malice. Instead, we are to walk “in step with the Spirit” of God, bearing good spiritual fruit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance [patience], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-25).Jesus is our example. He gave up his whole life for our sake, so that we might live. Will we give up our old, corrupt nature to live the full life God wants us to enjoy? In Christ we can!