Tag: wonder

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Deuteronomy Devotionals

Taking God for granted

Deuteronomy

One of the main themes we see in these two chapters is the rebellion of the Israelites, refusing to enter the land God had promised them.

As a result, they wandered around in the wilderness until the generation who had rebelled died.

What really is amazing about it all is their complete lack of trust.

Consider.

God had set the Israelites free from slavery through miracle after miracle.

Every day, God provided them food to eat, literally giving them bread from heaven.

Night and day, they could see the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire which represented God’s presence.

And yet they would not trust him. In fact, they utterly rebelled against him.

Sometimes people wonder why God doesn’t make himself more visible to us. If he did, more people would believe in him, right?

But if the history of the Israelites teaches us one thing, it wouldn’t matter.

People still wouldn’t believe. People would still rebel against God.

I still have to ask the question, though.

How could the Israelites fail to trust God after all he had done?

How is it they could rebel against him?

Perhaps the best answer is: they took God for granted.

The pillar of cloud and pillar of fire may have been special at first.

But after a while, they got used to seeing it, not really thinking about what it really meant: that God was with them, leading them, watching over them, and protecting them.

At first the manna was something special. They said in wonder, “What is this?”

But after days of gathering and eating it, the manna too became something much less special. They forgot what it meant: God was miraculously providing their needs.

The result? They lost their gratitude. They lost their wonder of God.

How about you?

Do you take God for granted? Have you lost your gratitude toward God? Have you lost your wonder of God?

At best, losing our gratitude and wonder steals away all our passion toward God.

At worst, it causes us to rebel against him.

When you think about God and all he’s done for you, especially, the cross, do you still have a heart of gratitude and wonder?

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Romans Devotionals

What we take for granted

Romans

I think as a life-long Christian I sometimes take for granted the things that I read in the Bible. It’s almost as if when I read it, I say in my mind (if unconsciously), “But of course.”

I wonder, though, if Paul still retained the wonder of the words he spoke when he wrote his letter to the Romans.

Did he have the same wonder that Peter no doubt had when he was sent to Cornelius and saw the Holy Spirit poured out on Gentile believers (Acts 10-11).

My guess is Paul did.

Think about this for a moment.

Paul was a lifelong Pharisee. A “Hebrew of Hebrews.” (Philippians 3:5).

He was one who all his life thought of the Jews as being above every other race, particularly when it came to a relationship with God.

And yet he said to these Gentile Roman Christians,

Through him (Jesus) we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles, including you who are also called by Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:5-6)

Paul was saying, “This gospel I have received is for all peoples. And wonder of wonders (at least for me, a Jew), that includes you.”

Or as Paul wrote in another letter,

So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands.

At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11-13)

All that, I think, was in Paul’s mind when he wrote his much shortened version of those words in Romans 1.

And so he could say to these Roman Gentiles, “You are loved by God, called as saints. (Romans 1:7)

Paul stood in wonder at all this.

The question is, do we? Or do we just take for granted that God’s gospel, his love and his grace have been extended to us?

Let us never take his grace for granted.

Rather, let us take a step back whenever we read these kinds of words in scriptures…and marvel.

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1 Timothy

The wonder of the gospel

1 Timothy

Christmas is right around the corner, and I think it can be so easy to take for granted what it’s all about. Do we truly wonder at what it really means?

Paul did.

He said,

Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great. (1 Timothy 3:16a)

The mystery of godliness.

So many people in Paul’s time said that the key to godliness was their own self-effort. That it could be found through asceticism or through keeping the law.

Others were saying it was found in these myths and genealogies that they were promoting.

But true godliness does not come through religion or self-improvement. It comes through Jesus Christ and what he did for us.

Paul wrote,

[God] appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (16b)

God came down to this earth as a tiny baby in Jesus Christ.

God who created this world. God, the one who sustains all things by his word alone. The true King of the universe, apart from whom nothing would exist. He came as a helpless child.

Jesus grew up as a carpenter’s son. He knew hardship as a youth with Joseph his father passing away, leaving him to care for the family.

He then left his home to start his ministry, preaching to the people. He showed them who God really is.

He showed them the power of the kingdom, casting out demons, healing the sick, and raising the dead. And yet they crucified him, just a week after declaring him king.

But the Spirit showed him to be the Son of God with power by raising him from the dead.

The angels proclaimed his resurrection to his disciples. He himself appeared to them, and then was taken into glory.

His disciples took this news to the world, and even now, Jesus’ name is preached and believed on throughout the world.

And it is through this gospel, that people are now made righteous before God, their lives transformed by the very power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.

That’s the wonder of the gospel. That’s the wonder of Christmas.

May we, his church, be the pillar and foundation of this truth, proclaiming it to this world that is dying and without hope.

Let us never become calloused and take for granted the glory of this gospel.

How about you? Do you still wonder at this gospel you believe?

Categories
Romans

The One who establishes us

Romans

And so we finish off Romans.

I think it’s been one of the more fun books that I have blogged through. And as we do, we finish up where we started. With a reminder that salvation is ultimately the work of God.

Paul writes,

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God. (Romans 16:25-26)

Here we see the wonder of the gospel. That years before Jesus came, God gave glimpses of what was to come through the prophets.

It was something that was unclear for hundreds of years but found its clarity in Jesus Christ. And now this gospel is clear for all to see that,

all nations might believe and obey him. (Romans 16:26b)

But it’s not a gospel based on our works. Rather, it’s based on the grace of God. He is the one who establishes us in our faith, and in our salvation.

Before time began, he chose us, predestining us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.

Through Jesus, he paid the price for our sin. And through the Spirit, he sanctifies us day by day so that we might become more like Jesus until the day we see him in glory.

That’s the wonder of salvation. Not that we deserved it. Not that we earned it.

But that through his grace, God’s love was poured out on us that we might believe and be transformed into his likeness.

So as Paul said,

To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:27)

Indeed, amen and amen.