Thursday Devotional

He Is the Builder

“It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear the royal honor.” Zechariah 6:13

Christ himself is the builder of his spiritual temple, and he has built it on the mountains of his unchangeable affection, his omnipotent grace, and his infallible truthfulness.

But as it was in Solomon’s temple, so in this: the materials need to be made ready. There are the “cedars of Lebanon,” but they are not framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord’s house in Paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry, they must then be hewn and squared.

All this is Christ’s own work. Each individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for his place in the temple—but Christ’s own hand performs the preparation work. Afflictions cannot sanctify, except as they are used by him to this end. Our prayers and efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of Jesus, who fashions our hearts aright.

As in the building of Solomon’s temple, “neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built,” because all was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy. So is it with the temple which Jesus builds: the being made ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made right here—all that Christ will do beforehand. And when he has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of death, and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in the temple of our Lord.

Beneath his eye and care
The edifice shall rise
Majestic, strong, and fair,
And shine above the skies.

–Isaac Watts, “Hymn #1149”

Adapted from Morning and Evening.

Monday’s Devotional

Names of Jesus Found in the Bible

Similar to a earlier devotions, today I want you to meditate on these Scriptures and explore Jesus through a few of the names God reveals through his Word:

. . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Hebrews 2:10

“. . . the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” Romans 9:5

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” Hebrews 4:14

“And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22-23

How do these verses about Jesus affect and intersect with your life today?

This post is adapted from Pastor Bill’s book, Disciple.

Thursday Devotional

God’s Love for You Doesn’t Change

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” John 15:9

As the Father loves the Son, in the same manner Jesus loves his people. What is that divine method? He loved him without beginning, and thus Jesus loves his members. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). You can trace the beginning of human affection; you can easily find the beginning of your love to Christ, but his love to us is a stream whose source is hidden in eternity. God the Father loves Jesus without any change. Christian, take this for your comfort, that there is no change in Jesus Christ’s love to those who rest in him.

Yesterday you were on the mountaintop, and you said, “He loves me,” today you are in the valley of humiliation, but he loves you still the same. On the hill, you heard his voice, which spoke so sweetly with the turtle-notes of love; and now on the sea, or even in the sea, when all his waves and billows go over you, his heart is faithful to his ancient choice. The Father loves the Son without any end, and thus does the Son love his people.

Saint, you need not fear the loosing of the silver cord, for his love for you will never cease. Rest confident that even down to the grave Christ will go with you, and that up again from it he will be your guide to the celestial hills. Moreover, the Father loves the Son without any measure, and the same immeasurable love the Son bestows upon his chosen ones. The whole heart of Christ is dedicated to his people. He “loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:2). His is a love which surpasses knowledge. Ah! We have indeed an immutable Savior, a precious Savior, one who loves without measure, without change, without beginning, and without end, even as the Father loves him!

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Adapted from Morning and Evening.

Wednesday Devotional

 

 Worthless to Worshiped

 When I was a kid, I used to love collecting baseball trading cards. A buddy of mine had the same  hobby and managed to collect several old cards that we assumed were worthless. One day we took  our collections down to a local trading card store. As my buddy went through some of his old cards,  one of the employees suddenly grabbed one, wide-eyed. “You actually have this?” he exclaimed.  “Do you have any idea how much this card is worth? This is a vintage edition!”

In that moment, his perception of that card’s value changed completely. Once a cheap throwaway, the card was now a prized possession to be treated with the utmost care. It suddenly had great worth in his eyes.

His Immeasurable Worth

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote that knowing Jesus was of “surpassing worth” (Phil. 3:8). Jesus promised us that God desires to give his children his very kingdom (Luke 12:32) and then went even further to give us the ultimate treasure of himself as a sacrifice in our place (Eph. 5:2). When a God so unimaginably good presents himself to us, gives himself so completely for us, proves himself to be immeasurably valuable—how could we possibly desire anything else?

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1 

So where is that Psalm 42 man or woman? Where is that overwhelming desire directed for you? Whom or what does your soul pant for?

We reflect what we revere—and we live most of our lives in cosmic treason, busying ourselves with the worship of things of much lesser value than our Creator. Our careers, our possessions, our relationships, and our status take center stage of our heart’s desire, and our lives reflect the pursuit of those desires.

Take Stock

A quick way to spot the idols in your life is to ask yourself a few short questions:

• Anger – What thing or things, when taken away from you, cause you to come unglued?
• Fear – What paralyzes you with anxiety?
• Sadness – What makes you feel like life is just not worth living?

C.S. Lewis wrote that “we are far too easily pleased” by the offerings of our world when God is continually offering us the richness of a relationship with him—something of infinite value.

Know His Worth and Know His Truth

You see, to prize something, we have to know what it’s worth. And God is so good and so loving that he rescues us out of slavery to our own lesser idols so that we can see his boundless worth. In response, we are invited to enjoy and worship him forever.

Know that God has promised to give you a new heart that is capable of seeing and treasuring him for all that he is. Know that he is inviting you into the incomparable treasure of knowing and worshiping him. So run to him today and give him the whole of your heart daily—he’s eager to give you the joy of knowing that he’s worth it.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.

Ezekiel 36:26

Tim Gaydos is the lead pastor of the Downtown Seattle church.

Daily Devotion for Tuesday

 

Be Strengthened by Grace

 

“Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus . . .” 2 Timothy 2:1

Christ has grace without measure in himself, but he has not kept it for himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the pipes, so has Christ emptied out his grace for his people. “Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” He seems only to have in order to dispense to us. He stands like the fountain, always flowing, but only running in order to supply the empty pitchers and the thirsty lips which draw near to it.

Like a tree, he bears sweet fruit, not to hang on boughs, but to be gathered by those who need. Grace, whether its work be to pardon, to cleanse, to preserve, to strengthen, to enlighten, to quicken, or to restore, is ever to be had from him freely and without price—nor is there one form of the work of grace which he has not bestowed upon his people.

As the blood of the body, though flowing from the heart, belongs equally to every member, so the influences of grace are the inheritance of every saint united to the Lamb—and herein there is a sweet communion between Christ and his church, inasmuch as they both receive the same grace. Christ is the head upon which the oil is first poured, but the same oil runs to the very skirts of the garments, so that the meanest saint has an unction of the same costly moisture as that which fell upon the head.

This is true communion: when the sap of grace flows from the stem to the branch, and when it is perceived that the stem itself is sustained by the very nourishment which feeds the branch.

As we day by day receive grace from Jesus, and more constantly recognize it as coming from him, we shall behold him in communion with us, and enjoy the felicity of communion with him. Let us make daily use of our riches, and ever repair to him as to our own Lord in covenant, taking from him the supply of all we need with as much boldness as men take money from their own purse.

Adapted from Morning and Evening.

My Summer Reading List…Hopefully

 So Summer is almost officially here which means that we have more times on our hands, right? Haha,not the case for everybody but I do have a short list of some books that I look forward to reading this Summer.

First, is “Arise” written by Clayton and Ellen Kershaw. Clayton Kershaw is a Major League pitcer for the Los Angeles Dodger’s who is living out his faith in Jesus Christ playing baseball. In his book he shares stories of how he and his wife, Ellen, love to spend the offseason in countries aroudn the World helping to share the love of Christ and spreading the news of the Gospel. They are involved with missions and orphanges around the globe. As an avid fan of baseball, this is one book that I am truly looking forward too!

Second, is “The Explicit Gospel” by Pastor Matt Chandler. I enjoy listening to Matt Chandler, so when he published this book it was a no brainer that I wanted to read it! Just because a person attends church on a weekly basis does not mean that they are being exposed to the gospel message.

Third, is “You Lost Me” by David Kinnaman, who is the author of “unChristian.” In this book, Kinnaman looks at why so many young Christians leave the church and never come back. He takes an inside look at the droputs, the disconnects and the reconnects that happen all across our churches… weekly.

I am also looking forward to reading through “Radical” by David Platt with some of my students as well! I wish I was one of those people that can read more than one book in a week, but unfortunalety, it takes my brain a little while to process what I read. My wife is amazing when it comes to reading, she can read what seems like five or six books on her Nook in about a week! (Maybe I should just get her to read these books for me and tell me what they are about!) But let me challenge you that no matter how fast or slow you may read, allow yourself to read through at least one book this summer.