I hate to waste time. So I use this devotional when I am sitting around waiting for someone, or something. I get email on my Blackberry so I always have some Scripture to encourage me. I use it to keep me going through the day.
You could use this for your devotional time or to supplement it. Whatever works best for you.

All for Jesus,
Fletch

But it begins to set in, “I had a heart attack.”  I’m only 43 years old, I exercise regularly, eat fairly well, I don’t smoke or drink, and my cholesterol levels were good.  But now I have to live with this thing that is going on in my heart.  I should be back to doing normal things in two weeks.  But still, it’s really frustrating.  I sat in my hospital bed a little depressed and decided the best thing I could do was not watch tv but read my Bible.  I know, I’m a pastor and I’m “supposed” to do that kind of stuff.  But seriously, all of us are “supposed” to do it.  The truth is, that reading my Bible did give me relief and comfort.  I truly believe that God speaks to us, comforts us, and guides us through His Word.  So it shouldn’t be surprising that in the middle of a life changing event such as a heart attack, the Scriptures can bring joy to a depressing situation.  God wants to lift our spirits when they are down and one way he does that is by speaking His words of love and grace through the passages of the Bible.

I’ll be taking it easy for a couple of weeks.  But I won’t be slowing down on my Bible reading.  I think I will try to read my Bible slower, thinking deeply and meditating on what God wants to teach me.

I read these verses while I was in the hospital because they were next in my Bible reading plan,

“Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. 
This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life…
When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort…
Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my sojourning. 
I remember your name in the night O Lord, and keep your law. 
This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.” 
                                                                                                      Psalm 119:49-50;52;54-56

By the way, I don’t believe in coincidences.  I believe these were God’s special words to me at that particular time.  “Hope, comfort in affliction, life, blessing” what better words can God give us. 

My encouragement is for you to pick up your Bible, read it slowly, thinking deeply about these special words of grace and love that God is speaking to you.  Charles Spurgeon puts it this way,

 “And may God, in his infinite mercy, when you read your Bibles, pour into your souls the illuminating rays of the Sun of Righteousness, by the agency of the ever-adorable Spirit; then you will read to your profit and to your soul’s salvation.”

 All for Jesus,

Fletch

1. Who God is…
2. Who I am…
3. What I am called to do…

I believe that God wants us to look to the Scriptures and understand how these three fit together.  You can print out this one page devotional chart for your own personal use by clicking here.

How can I get the most out of this devotional?  Read and meditate on each passage of Scripture.  Meditation simply means that you take a few minutes to prayerfully think deeply and ponder what is written.  Jot down some notes, in a journal, as you go along .  Each day has a main theme, so as you go through each passage try to draw out the main theme.   Look at the relationships between who God is, who you are and what God is calling you to do.  Who we are and what God has called us to do should mirror who God is.  Finally, apply the truths to your own life.  Ask the question, “How do these passages identify me and cause me to live differently today as I interact with the world around me?”

• Read and prayerfully meditate on the passages.
• Draw out the main theme.
• Apply it to your life today.

It is critically important that we do not read the Scriptures as a book of “do’s and don’ts”.  God desires that we know Him intimately, that we understand Jesus Christ has come to save us from our sins and redeem us back into a loving relationship with God.  May you read, meditate and bathe yourself in the truth of God so that you walk away transformed by His love and grace.

Here is an example of one day:

Who God is…Ephesians 4:4-6

There is one God and this one God who is a Spirit is over all things.  God is sovereign, God is in control.  God watches over me as my Father.

Who I am…1 Corinthians 12:27

I am a member of the body of Christ.  All believers make up the whole body of Christ, but God has also called me to be an individual member, with specific gifts and living out a specific role He has for me.

What I am Called to Do…Ephesians 4:15-16

I am to be a part of a growing body, the church, the body of Christ.  I am to grow individually, but also corporately with everyone else.  I am to speak the truth in love.

The devotional really is that simple.  But I think you see the progression of Biblical thought.  The beauty of this study is that you can take ten minutes to prayerfully meditate on the passages or an hour, whatever you like.

All for Jesus,

Fletch

He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”  2 Corinthians 5:15

It troubles a lot of people that Christ died to exalt Christ. Boiled down to its essence, 2 Corinthians 5:15 says Christ died for us that we might live for him. In other words, he died for us so that we make much of him. Bluntly, Christ died for Christ.
Now that is true. It’s not a word trick. The very essence of sin is that we have failed to glorify God – which includes failing to glorify his Son (Romans 3:23). But Christ died to bear that sin and to free us from it. So he died to bear the dishonor that we had heaped on him by our sin. He died to turn this around. Christ died for the glory of Christ.
The reason this troubles people is that it sounds vain. It doesn’t seem like a loving thing to do. So it seems to turn the suffering of Christ into the very opposite of what the Bible says it is, namely, the supreme act of love. But in fact it’s both. Christ’s dying for his own glory and his dying to show love are not only both true, they are both the same.
Christ is unique. No one else can act this way and call it love. Christ is the only human in the universe who is also God and therefore infinitely valuable. He is infinitely beautiful in all his moral perfections. He is infinitely wise and just and good and strong. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). To see him and know him is more satisfying than having all that earth can offer.
Those who knew him best spoke this way:
“Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8)
“Christ died that we might live for him” does not mean “that we might help him.” “[God is not] served by human hands, as though he needed anything” (Acts 17:25). Neither is Christ: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). What Christ died for is not that we might help him, but that we might see and savor him as infinitely valuable. He died to wean us from poisonous pleasures and enthrall us with the pleasures of his beauty. In this way we are loved, and he is honored. These are not competing aims. They are one.
Jesus said to his disciples that he had to go away so that he could send the Holy Spirit, the Helper (John 16:7). Then he told them what the Helper would do when he came: “He will glorify me” (John 16:14) Christ died and rose so that we would see and magnify him. This is the greatest help in the world. This is love. The most loving prayer Jesus ever prayed was this: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given to me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (John 17:24). For this Christ died. This is love – suffering to give us everlasting enjoyment, namely himself.

Making resolutions is an act of faith.  God is in the process of “sanctifying” us, which just means He is maturing us in our faith and causing us to be more holy every day.  The fun part is that God wants us to participate in our sanctification through obedience and reliance upon the Holy Spirit.  This is when we get to examine dark areas of our lives and shed the light of Christ on them.  For instance, if you struggle with anger… you need to admit your struggle to God and those you are angry against.  Next you need to ask the Holy Spirit show you why you are angry or lose your temper.  Then you ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength, courage and power to overcome your anger issues.  I want to stress this is not just asking God for “help”, but rather asking God to change your heart to become more Christ-like. 

So go ahead, take a good, deep look into your heart and see which areas you need to resolutely apply the gospel.

Jonathan Edwards put this at the top of his resolutions in 1722, the principle still applies:

“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.”

All for Jesus,

Fletch

1. Read your Bible and fellowship with God.  Even if you are not sure whether anyone cares about you or likes you, God does, more than you can imagine, so hang out with Him.
2. Go to church.  You were created to worship God with other believers.   We get depressed and confused when we are not living out who we were created to be.  So get to a Bible believing church this Sunday.
3. Spend time with family and friends.  Even if you don’t like being around them.  They are your family, love them unconditionally with the love of Christ.
4. Don’t use your credit card.  Do you know who invented the Credit Card? Satan did, in order to ruin your life.  Money already causes way too much stress.  Your friends and family don’t need your expensive gifts that cause you to go into debt.
5. Listen to Christmas hymns more than goofy Christmas music.  Hey, I’ve loved Bruce Springsteen’s rendition of Santa Claus is coming to town ever since I saw it live in ’85 (that’s 1985), but seriously, it’s not pointing me to Christ.  Christmas hymns are rich and deep with theology that proclaims truth.  Listen, sing and enjoy.
6. Get out of the house and do some fun things: tacky light tour, watch “It’s a Wonderful Life”, Christmas pageants, play games with your family, etc.  I DVR’d a couple of classic Christmas shows so our family can watch them over the holidays.
7. Stop being so self-centered.  Take your eyes off your belly button and start looking at Christ and the mission He has for your life.  Remember, you have two main goals in life according to Matt. 22; “Love God and Love Others.”  God will take care of you and your needs, start reaching out and serving those around you and quit waiting for them to come to you.
8. Believe the Gospel. The truth is that your life is a total wreck and completely screwed up because you have rebelled against God, choosing to live life “your way”, and therefore you are hopelessly lost, now and forever.  But the gospel (which literally means “good news”) is that God has not chosen to leave you in your miserable state.  God chose to send His Son Jesus to come to earth as the God-Man, to live a perfect life and to die on the cross to take away your sins.  When you put your faith in Jesus, God puts His Spirit in your heart changing you forever.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is THE ONLY true and lasting answer to your holiday blues.  So go ahead, put your life in the hands of Jesus and celebrate His birthday with joy!

All for Jesus,

Fletch

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

All for Jesus,
The Apostle Paul

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

Jesus is the light of the world.  But why do we need a light?  Because the world is actually a dark place because of sin and satan.  The world we live in can be extremely difficult to navigate through.  Most of the time we don’t even realize how dark it is or what obstacles are out there because we are blind even to the darkness.  We see life through our own eyes which normally give us a self-centered, pleasure seeking, pain avoiding, idol making perspective.  It’s really hard to walk in darkness. You don’t know where you are going or what is before you.  It can be scary, dangerous and frustrating.  But Jesus knows this world, he knows about our skewed perspective on life.  So he tells us he is the light of the world.  He will be our light for us. 

 One of my friends has a flashlight, but it’s not your ordinary flashlight.  It is the size of a mini-mag light, about six inches long, but this light is bright.  It is actually as bright as a car headlight.  We were at a camp where it gets really dark at night but having him shine this light made it look like daylight.  This is what Jesus does when we follow him.  The very presence of Jesus in our life lights up our way.  I see people everyday walking in darkness.  They do things that they are completely blind to see how harmful they are and how contrary their actions are to the way they were created to live.  I’m not trying to be judgmental, I really feel sorry for them.  I pray that God would open their eyes to see Jesus, his love, his mercy, his grace and his forgiveness.  I pray that they would believe in Jesus so they can see where they are going in life and how their life needs to be satisfied by God himself and that they need to be living for His glory and not their own.  Then I look at my own life and how I often choose to walk in the darkness.  I know Jesus is leading me in one direction, but I will choose to walk in a different one.  So then I pray that God will pick me up and put me back on the path to follow Jesus.   May you and I follow Jesus today, the Light of the world, so that we can clearly see where we are going, and that we can clearly see God’s will for us today and how we might glorify Him in all that we say, do and think about.

All for Jesus,

Fletch

The Five Solas of Reformed Theology

Sola Scriptura: The Scripture Alone is the Standard

The doctrine that the Bible alone is the ultimate authority was the “Formal Principle” of the Reformation. In 1521 at the historic interrogation of Luther at the Diet of Worms, he declared his conscience to be captive to the Word of God saying, “Unless I am overcome with testimonies from Scripture or with evident reasons — for I believe neither the Pope nor the Councils, since they have often erred and contradicted one another — I am overcome by the Scripture texts which I have adduced, and my conscience is bound by God’s Word.” Similarly, the Belgic Confession stated, “We believe that [the] holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein…Neither may we consider any writings of men, however holy these men may have been, of equal value with those divine Scriptures nor ought we to consider custom or the great multitude, or antiquity, or succession of times and persons, or councils, decrees or statutes, as of equal value with the truth of God… Therefore, we reject with all our hearts whatsoever does not agree with this infallible rule” (VII).

As the Scripture says,
Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Thy law….I will bow down toward Thy holy temple, And give thanks to Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and Thy truth; For Thou hast magnified Thy word according to all Thy name….You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (Psalm 119:18; Psalm 138:2; II Tim. 3:14-17)

Soli Deo Gloria! For the Glory of God Alone

The Reformation reclaimed the Scriptural teaching of the sovereignty of God over every aspect of the believer’s life. All of life is to be lived to the glory of God. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” This great and all consuming purpose was emphasized by those in the 16th and 17th Centuries who sought to reform the church according to the Word of God. In contrast to the monastic division of life into sacred versus secular perpetuated by Roman Church, the reformers saw all of life to be lived under the Lordship of Christ. Every activity of the Christian is to be sanctified unto the glory of God.

As the Scripture says,
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God; Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (1CO 10:31; 1PE 4:11; REV 1:6; 2PE 3:1; EPH 3:21; REV 7:12; ROM 11:36)

Solo Christo! By Christ’s Work Alone are We Saved

The Reformation called the church back to faith in Christ as the sole mediator between God and man. While the Roman church held that “there is a purgatory and that the souls there detained are helped by the intercessions of the faithful” and that “Saints are to be venerated and invoked;” “that their relics are to be venerated” — the reformers taught that salvation was by Christ’s work alone. As John Calvin said in the Institutes of the Christian Religion, “Christ stepped in, took the punishment upon himself and bore the judgment due to sinners. With his own blood he expiated the sins which made them enemies of God and thereby satisfied him…we look to Christ alone for divine favour and fatherly love!” Likewise the Heidelberg Catechism, Question 30 asks, “Do such then believe in Jesus the only Saviour who seek their salvation and happiness in saints, in themselves, or anywhere else? They do not; for though they boast of him in words yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Saviour: for one of these two things must be true that either Jesus is not a complete Saviour or that they who by a true faith receive this Saviour must find all things in him necessary to their salvation.”

As the Scripture says,
There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time...For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. (1TI 2:5-6; COL 1:13-18)

Sola Gratia: Salvation by Grace Alone

A central cry of the Reformation was salvation by grace. Though the Roman church taught that Mass is a “sacrifice [which] is truly propitiatory” and that by the Mass “God…grant[s] us grace and the gift of penitence, remits our faults and even our enormous sins” — the reformers returned to the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. Our righteous standing before God is imputed to us by grace because of the work of Christ Jesus our Lord. In contrast to the doctrines of self-merit taught by Rome, sola gratia and the accompanying doctrines of grace — total depravity, unconditional election, particular redemption, and perseverance of the saints — were preached by all the reformers throughout the Protestant movement. As the Baptist Confession of 1689 says, “Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did, by the sacrifice of himself in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in their behalf;…their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners.”

As the Scripture says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. (Ephesians 1:3-8)

Sola Fide: Justification by Faith Alone

The “Material Principle” of the Reformation was justification by faith alone. As the Westminster Confession of Faith says, “Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification: yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.”

As the Scripture says,
Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:6-11)

The Five Solas was taken from http://www.fivesolas.com/reform_r.htm

“For because He [Jesus] himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”  Hebrews 2:18. 

I don’t  always think of “suffering” through temptation.  I usually think of temptation as annoying and bothersome, like being outside when the mosquitoes are really bad.  But this verse says that Jesus “suffered” through temptation.  He had to endure it and it was not pleasant.  But we don’t like pain, we crave pleasure, we avoid pain at all costs.  So we give in to temptation because it is more pleasurable (at least in the short run) than suffering and enduring through and not giving into temptation.  But we must see the reality of life in a fallen world, where the battle rages for our souls.  The reality that temptation will always be present (until Jesus comes back) and so we will always be in a constant state of suffering, of enduring and fighting off temptation.  Suffering in this life is inescapable, but thanks be to God who has given us a Savior who not only can empathize with our suffering but gives us the grace and strength to endure it and fight it off.

I John 2:15-17 shows us the Truth:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world– the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does– comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

Ask the Lord to give you strength and grace to suffer and not give into sin just because it seems more pleasurable – for ultimately sin kills and destroys us – only holiness and purity bring life and this is what Jesus has clothed us with.  Pray that God will satisfy you with Jesus and His overwhelming love rather than the passing things of this world.

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” John Piper

All for Jesus,

Fletch