Loving Jesus Style

  Wonders Planned Long Ago Scripture: Isaiah 25:1 (NIV) “Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.” Devotion: Isaiah 25 opens with a song. It follows chapters of judgment, where the prophet has described the shaking of the earth and the fall of proud cities. Yet here, in the midst of that darkness, the prophet lifts his voice in praise. Worship is not reserved for easy seasons; it rises from those who have seen God’s hand in both judgment and mercy. “Lord, you are my God.” The personal note matters. Isaiah does not merely acknowledge that God exists, or that He rules the nations. He speaks as one in covenant, claiming the Lord as his own. This is the language of the faithful remnant, and it is the language Christ has opened to all who trust in Him. The God who thunders over the nations is the God to whom we may say, “my God.” “I will exalt you and praise your name.” No...

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:5 (NIV) "But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry." Devotion: Paul writes these words from a Roman prison, with his execution drawing near. They are the counsel of a dying pastor to a younger one, carrying the weight of a man who has run the race and is about to lay down his sword. That he gives them to Timothy, and through Timothy to the church in every age, reminds us that ministry is a stewardship passed from one generation to the next. "But you." The contrast is deliberate. In the verses just before, Paul warns that people will gather teachers to suit their own desires and turn away from sound doctrine. The times will be unfaithful, but the minister is not to be swept along. Whatever the climate around him, he must stand firm. "Keep your head in all situations." Sober-mindedness is the first call. The minister must not be carried...

  Scripture: Galatians 5:25 (NIV) "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Devotion: Paul's sentence is brief, but it carries the whole logic of the Christian life: an indicative followed by an imperative. "Since we live by the Spirit" is the statement of fact; "let us keep in step with the Spirit" is the call that flows from it. Scripture consistently grounds our obedience in what God has already done, never the other way around. Consider first the indicative. We live by the Spirit. This is not a status we hope to attain but the present condition of every believer. Apart from Christ, we were dead in trespasses and sins, and the Spirit made us alive, bringing us to repentance and faith. Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born of the Spirit. Our new life is His gift, real and undeserved. Now consider the imperative. The word Paul chooses for "keep in step" is a milit...

Scripture: Galatians 2:20 (NIV) "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Devotion Few verses in Scripture compress so much of the gospel into so few words. Here Paul gives us not merely a doctrine to affirm but a testimony to share: the Christian life begins with a death. "I have been crucified with Christ." The verb is in the perfect tense, describing a past event with abiding consequences. Paul is not speaking of a goal he is striving toward but of a reality already accomplished. When Christ died, all who are united to Him by faith died with Him. The old self, bound to sin and condemned under the law, has been put to death. Our union with Christ is not a metaphor to be admired from a distance; it is the ground of our standing before God. "And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Paul does not...

Scripture: Galatians 5:1 (NIV) "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Devotion: We live in an age that talks constantly about freedom yet rarely defines it. The world tells us freedom means autonomy: the liberty to follow every impulse, to answer to no one, to author our own meaning. Paul's understanding could hardly be more different. Notice first the grammar of the verse. Freedom is not something we achieve; Christ accomplished it. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." The work is finished, the chains are broken, and He alone takes the initiative. We did not negotiate our release, nor did we earn it by moral effort. The Reformers rightly insisted that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and Paul's letter to the Galatians is the great charter of that conviction. Notice also the purpose clause: it is for freed...

Scripture: Philippians 3:14 (NIV) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Devotion: Paul loved the image of a runner. Here he pictures a man in the final stretch, leaning forward, every muscle straining toward the finish line. He describes his Christian life this way: a race run with all his strength, not a leisurely stroll. We should understand this verse in the context in which it occurs. Immediately before this, Paul regards all his religious qualifications as "garbage" in order that he might "gain Christ and be found in him" (verses 8–9). The reference to winning a prize does not mean that it is about how one earns salvation; rather, he goes on to say, "to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (verse 12). The race starts by grace, since Christ first laid hold of Paul. That is why Paul can run so hard. He is not running to be accepted. He runs because he has been...