Tag: mat5

The Bottom Line!

The Gospel has a way of upsetting the applecart of false religion. On his third missionary journey, Paul is in Ephesus, the home of the Greek goddess Artemis. Today’s reading clearly shows the true nature of false religion. 

In Acts 19:23-24, we see that false religion is the backbone of the Ephesian economy. Demetrius, a silversmith, employs many local craftsmen who manufacture shrines and related trinkets of Artemis. The Gospel is disrupting the false god super-market, and revenue is rapidly declining. Demetrius organizes an emergency meeting of the silversmith’s guild and says in Acts 19:25-26, “…Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business.” (NLT) In other words, false religion admittedly traffics in the souls of people. Demetrius gets to the bottom line; the Gospel has exposed that Artemis is a fraud. (Acts 19:27)

It is easy for this account in Acts to seem distant from our current day or for false religion to be relegated to far-flung regions only missionaries visit. But false religion of this nature can be everywhere the Gospel of Jesus Christ is compromised and commercialized. Even Christianity, in many (not all) contexts, has become compromised into a business, a machine that constantly needs feeding with revenue from the latest “Christian” marketing gimmicks. The Apostles had none of this, yet the Scriptures say it was the testimony of many that the Gospel had turned the world upside down! Imagine doing that with no shiny “anything.”

I am reminded of the simplicity of Jesus’ words—words that get to the bottom line: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, KJV)

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Acts 18:19-19:41

The Judge Shall Be Judged!

It is easy to judge someone, isn’t it? It is so easy to quickly assess, conclude, and condemn. It is often not shocking enough to us how easy it is to do this. On top of that, it is sobering how justified we can feel in our judgments. It is as if we know what is in the heart of the one we judge. We also have no problem applying our standard to these situations, though often, we hold ourselves to something less than that standard. How easy it is to be a hypocrite!

As I read the Sermon on the Mount this morning, this section stood out to me. “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:1–5, ESV) 

It takes great humility to effectively reach out and help a fellow believer without falling prey to pride, assumption, and self-righteousness. Before judging someone, we should have first come to a place of conviction and repentance for failures much larger in our lives—that are convenient to overlook—before attempting to point out that speck in someone else’s life. Imagine if we all practiced our Christianity this way; what effect it would have on the kingdom of Heaven! May we all remember what Jesus said at the beginning of His sermon: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:7, KJV)

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Matthew 5-7.

The Holy Reset!

As I meditated on today’s reading, the thought that stood out was how God had to reset everything for His people. Their sinful idolatry, for which they have been exiled, corrupted everything! Nothing about their society functioned according to the model God gave them upon coming out of Egypt. Everything was locked up in utter dysfunction.

Starting with their worship, Israel hired foreigners to take charge of the sanctuary (Ezekiel 44:8), a charge given to the Levites alone. In this vision, Ezekiel sees God reset and change many things about the priesthood and worship. God resets, rearranges, and reappoints even the land around the Temple. He puts borders and limits on the city and what the prince is allowed to have, as the religious and political elite have eaten up the land and homes of many of the people (Ezekiel 45:6–8). God even reset the most basic of Israel’s commerce by resetting the measure of the ephah and shekel. Yes, God’s people even managed to corrupt the basics of the basics of their economy. God also reset the tax structure. (Ezekiel 45:9–17) Sin had caused every aspect of Israel’s society to become so corrupt and dysfunctional that God had to do a holy reset!

This reminds me of what sin has done to many civilizations in history and is doing to our society today. From killing our children to willful confusion on what is a boy and what is a girl, to the dysfunction of our economy with its inflation and disparity between the ruling class and the peasants, to the religious landscape in which there is very little true knowledge of God remaining, our sin has devastated us. 

So what can the righteous do? A lot, actually! Those who know the Lord their God must not remain silent (Daniel 11:32). Christians possess a light that pierces the darkness (Matthew 5:16). Our holy difference must be magnified in our culture (2 Corinthians 6:17–7:1). On top of this, the very gates of hell cannot prevent the church (Matthew 16:18). 

So, is there hope? Yes! It begins with a holy reset in our lives as believers—that we can pray for—and, by God’s grace, find very effective in our lives and the culture of our day. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16, NLT)

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Ezekiel 44-45.

A Righteous Wall!

I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one. (Ezekiel 22:30, NLT) Interestingly, Jerusalem’s biggest threat was not another nation; regardless of how powerful that nation might be, her biggest threat was her sin. At the same time, Jerusalem’s protection was not in her city walls or the alliances and treaties she made with powerful nations but in a wall of righteousness. This wall of righteousness was broken down due to her sin, and they are left exposed to the judgment of God. 

But God was not interested in “taking advantage” of this breach, as an enemy would. He sought someone who might stand in the middle of the brokenness, someone who might rebuild it, but God found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 22:31, ESV)

What a powerful reminder of the effect of righteous people in a wicked world—those willing to stand in the gap of brokenness and not cave to the iniquity and sinful culture around them—who stand opposed in a society that agrees to do wickedly. The biggest threat in our day is not the wicked who do so wickedly; it is the salt that is not salty (Matthew 5:13) and the hidden light (Matthew 5:14-16). While this kind of “standing in the gap” is not popular and is often targeted with persecution, popularity is not our calling. Raising a banner of righteousness is our calling, that many may be spared the destruction of sin and the judgment of God. 

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Ezekiel 22-23.

Show & Tell!

Today, we find ourselves in the Book of Ezekiel. In our text, Ezekiel, the human penman of this book, is thirty years old. He was twenty-five when he was taken captive and brought to Babylon under the first siege of Nebuchadnezzar. His prophetic ministry lasted for 22 years. He was a contemporary of Daniel.

The prophecy before us came to Ezekiel in the thirteenth year, also the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. This prophecy marks the beginning of the second stage of the Babylonian captivity; it is a show-and-tell prophecy of a coming siege (There were three sieges). Ezekiel is to build a model showing this siege against Jerusalem. And then God commands him to do something interesting. “Then lie on your left side… 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. … And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side…Forty days I assign you, a day for each year…And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege. (Ezekiel 4:4–8, ESV) In other words, God required Ezekiel to live out his message to the people. 

What a thought, living out the message one preaches! This reminds me of something Jesus said. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16, KJV) Yes, Christians, we are to show and tell the Gospel. If someone looks at our lives, what message are we sending them? 

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Ezekiel 1-4.