Seven Days of Devotion
- “Remember Humility”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): God says for us to come to him like little children, depending on him to provide for all our needs. He knows what we need better than we do. Little children can’t provide for themselves. They are dependent upon their parents to take care of all their needs. In the same way God wants us to put aside our pride in our abilities and accomplishments and depend on the plan He has for our lives. This dependence will bring more fulfillment than anything we can accomplish on our own. If we continue depending on our wisdom, we will miss the truth for the purpose of our lives. At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way. (Luke 10:21, NLT).
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): Have you ever wondered why sometimes it feels so hard to accomplish goals you set for yourself? Whether it is in your career or school or a talent? When I look back, I see that my heart wasn’t in the right place, and I was doing what I thought was right in my own wisdom. It was what I thought I needed to do in order to better myself, and I never took the time to ask God or wait to hear from him. I got tired of waiting and pursued what I thought was the right thing for me to do. I never actually spent time sitting at the Lord’s feet. Communication is a two way street and essential to understanding what He wants us to do. If we expect to hear from God, we have to get plugged in through daily time in his Word, prayer and Christian fellowship. I was so busy with life it was a struggle to make it through the day. We have a lot of legitimate excuses as to why we don’t take the time to communicate with God on a daily basis, but then we wonder if we are on the right path.
Don’t you sometimes wish you could just go back to being a child? Things seemed a lot easier when you relied on someone else to provide for you and make the hard decisions; you just had to do what you were told. Well, most of the time! That is actually what GOD wants us to do, and how much easier our life really can be when we give him control. Then Jesus said, “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28, NLT). When we let him make the big decisions and do what he tells us, we can rest because the burden is removed from us. We have the easy job, obey and let our Father do the rest. We just have to humbly submit control to God and be obedient and sensitive to His leading. We can’t be sensitive to His leading if we are not daily in communication with Him.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): When you cooperate with God, you will feel at peace and know you are right where God wants you. No longer are you struggling. For me it is a daily adventure. I find myself asking, “What will God do next?” However, I want to heed God’s warning, because I know I am susceptible to pride when things are going well. I may think I don’t need to rely on God as much because I’ve got it together. God has warned us, when we feel we are on top is when we need to be the most cautious of our prideful sin nature. We can very easily forget who got us to this position in the first place. We can start thinking highly of ourselves and become impressed with our accomplishments. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations and decrees that I am giving you today. (Deuteronomy 8:11, NLT). Over and over again the Bible expresses how God sets Himself against the proud. Our pride puts glory on us, not God. I make a big mess of my life without Him. He is not concerned with our position; He is more concerned if we are taking the time to sit at His feet.
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Matthew 18:1-5; Jeremiah 17:7-10
Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673
All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.
NLT = New Living Translation.
MONDAY
“Once you step out in faith, will you stay out?”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4) Abraham stepped out in faith at the calling of the Lord to go to a place he had never seen before. When he arrived at the place God was giving him, we see this: The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7) However, at the same time we also see this: Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. (Genesis 12:10)
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): If God called you to go somewhere, and after stepping out in faith you arrive at the place only to find there’s a severe famine, would you quit? Would you turn around and go back home? Abraham could have. He could have looked around at such a great famine and thought, “God must be crazy, this place isn’t any good. Let’s go home.” But he didn’t. He didn’t give up. He wasn’t supposed to go to Egypt, which was a mistake on his part, but he didn’t quit and go back home. He stepped out in faith and stayed out in faith, and God fulfilled His promise that the entire world would be blessed through Abraham. If this happens to you, what will your response be? Once you step out in faith to follow Jesus Christ, will you stay out? While you’re walking in faith, if there’s a financial famine in your family, will you quit or will you continue in faith? If someone in your family gets sick, will you remain in faith, or will you turn back?
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Stepping out in faith is difficult; staying out in faith is even harder. Doing so, however, will bring blessings from God. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)
Cultivating (Additional Reading): 2 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 4:13
TUESDAY
“Time in the Garden”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15)
My father loved lilacs. Our backyard in upstate New York is still dotted with the different varieties of lilacs that he had cultivated over the years. He had single blooms, double blooms, white, lavender and deep purple blooms. For a few weeks each spring every bush became a glorious lawn bouquet. It didn’t take much for his love to transfer to me. Years of sticking my nose in all those different blossoms has developed my lilac discernment so that I can distinguish a slightly different aroma in each selection. Still, they all emit that distinctive something that brings me back to the sweetly scented and carefree days of my childhood. Such a finely honed sense of smell is not easily fooled by room fresheners and candles that claim to be lilac scented. None are capable of carrying me back to the days of my past like a real bloom can. The same is true of all our senses. Once we learn to distinguish the real thing, whether it’s the taste of sugar, or the sound of our mother’s voice, we are not easily fooled by imitations that try to trick that sense. When we turn our lives over to God and set out to follow Jesus, a whole new set of senses are awakened. We taste the sweet joy of sins forgiven and feel His touch bringing us peace. Through the Holy Spirit we hear God’s voice and see His hand in our lives. Once we have developed those spiritual senses and experienced the delight they bring, we can begin to detect a substitute and learn to turn away. Jesus put it this way when he said: “…the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. A stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” (John: 10:4- 5, KJV) A finely developed ear will listen for that familiar still, small voice in the midst of a roaring tumult.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): Because we have learned to depend on our instinctive, fleshly senses throughout life, an inner battle develops when the two sets of senses clash. Thomas struggled with the news of Jesus’ resurrection. He could not move past what he had experienced with his own eyes and ears. He said: “…Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25, NKJV) He required the stimulation of his physical senses before he would believe the story he was hearing. Jesus provided him with the proof he required, and then said, “…Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet believed.” (John 20:29, NKJV) He was telling Thomas to trust those spiritual prompts, when everything he was used to trusting would deny their validity. We all need to hear that message today as well.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): If you have spiritual ears to hear, step out by faith towards God’s voice. The more you learn to trust His leading over your own thoughts and reasoning, the more your spirit led senses can develop. Time spent in the gardens of prayer, Scripture, journaling and fellowship will sharpen those newly developed senses. Eventually you will grow to discern the fragrance of fellowship with your Creator to the point that you can willingly love God the way that He loves you, sacrificially and extravagantly.
Cultivating (Additional Reading): I Peter 1:6-9
WEDNESDAY
“The Calvary Way”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. (Romans 6:3-5) My family attended the funeral of a loved one this weekend. As the casket was rolled into the sanctuary, I thought, "That's me in that box." As Christ followers, we are to consider ourselves dead with Christ. For just like Abraham, in our walk with the Lord He daily calls us to lay down our fleshly preferences, feelings and understandings and consider ourselves dead to our flesh. We are then truly free to live for Christ, when we are no longer concerned for our physical life. When we are fleshly minded, we are afraid to do battle, so the enemy has control over us with fear. But when the perfect love of God casts out fear, we are free to give our life in service to Him in all things (1John 4:18). He directs our life, for God is Spirit, and the sons of God are directed by His Spirit (Romans 8:14). We can be fleshly minded and quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), or we can be spiritually minded and put to death our flesh. Would you rather be dead to your flesh, which is going to die anyway, and therefore alive to Christ (Romans 6:11)? Or do you prefer to live in your flesh, dead in your sins, and therefore dead to Christ and eternal life (Ephesians 2:1-3)? Now or later, we will face death.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): Jesus knew that He was going to face the shameful death of a cross (John 12:23-28). He willingly went to die on Calvary as a sinless sacrifice for our sins. We are called to take up our cross and follow Him, and to be willing to lay down our lives in response to His flawless love for us (Luke 14:27). He held nothing back. This is also the moment by moment call in our lives, as the Redeemed (Galatians 3:14). Are we living for our own understanding and preferences, according to our flesh? Or are we standing in faith that the Lord will cause us to bear fruit in all things when we are willing to simply obey His leading instead of our own (Romans 7:4)? Who are you going to listen to, your flesh or the Spirit (Galatians 5:17)? We are called to eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (1Timothy 6:12). Jesus has shown us the way. It is through faith in Christ, putting to death our flesh, that we experience life abundantly.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:12-14) This is a clarion call for all who know the transforming power of the Word of God. Abraham was commended for taking action according to his faith in willingly and obediently laying down Isaac (Hebrews 11:17). The example of Abraham shows us the faithful action caused by a relationship founded on the Lord's perfect love for us. Thank God for the gift of His Spirit through the death of Christ, that we might be like Abraham and know freedom from our flesh and live a life that pleases God; a life of humility and submission, of ready repentance and obedience. In considering our flesh dead, we are free to experience the fullness of life in the Spirit. Our Heavenly Father has promised to refine us and make us into the image of His resurrected Son (Romans 8:29). The way to eternal life is through following Christ: laying down our physical lives, even unto the death of our preferences, our flesh, our understanding of things and just 'the way we are.' No longer are we called to be who we were before we knew the love of Christ. No, it is His love that compels us to allow His transforming work of death and resurrection in our lives to make us into His image. Prayer: Thank you Lord, for your perfect love. May we know You more through your Word, to be willing to follow You and walk in Your ways. Because of Your love, we submit to You. Like Jesus, we are living to die, and dying that we might live to serve You in holiness and reverence, for your glory, for this is the Calvary Way.
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Colossians 3:1-17; Psalm 16
THURSDAY
- “Here I Am”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Abraham was a man of flesh, just as we his descendants are, too. He learned to walk beyond his five natural senses and follow the voice of God through years of supernatural directions. He failed a time or two (Genesis 12:10-20; Genesis 16), but he stayed the course. He always returned to the God he loved. God would call, and Abraham would say, “Here I am.”
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): The example of Abraham’s journey through life speaks to me of his growing relationship with God and therefore, his growing faith and trust. This all comes to fruition on the top of a mountain in the region of Moriah. It was there that Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son by Sarah, his beloved Isaac. He must have remembered well what God had already spoken concerning Isaac. For when Sarah wanted Hagar, the Egyptian woman who had born Abraham a son, gone, Abraham was distressed. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant, Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” (Genesis 21:12-13) When Abraham was walking up to that mountain to obey God, don’t you think he was remembering that God had promised him descendants through Isaac? I am sure he did some of his own reasoning at that point, thinking that God was either going to allow the sacrifice and then raise Isaac from the dead, or stop it at some point. How else could descendants come from Isaac? We know Abraham was obedient, even if he could not possibly understand. He went, he stayed, and he followed through with what he had been told to do. On the mountain of God’s choosing, Abraham bound his son and laid him on the wooden altar which he had just built. Then the moment came that he had to take the knife that he brought for this very purpose. His trust in God’s faithfulness must have been welling up to the point that he was able to lift his arm in preparation for the greatest sacrifice he could offer. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:11-12) Then we find that God had already prepared a ram, caught in a thicket nearby, for the sacrifice.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Something else stands out and reveals Abraham’s thinking. He said these words to the three servants that had gone with him on the journey to the region of Moriah: “He said to his servants, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5) Notice that Abraham said ‘we’ will come back to you. He fully expected to return as he left, with Isaac. That is where Abraham’s courage and faith stood, believing that he would return with his son. He knew God, His faithfulness and that He would fulfill His Word. God had already given Abraham the faith for the moment, a moment in which Abraham could no longer rely on his senses. Surely, nothing God was asking made any sense in the natural. This was all about faith and trust in what he, Abraham, had no control over. Of course, he could have refused. God did not force Abraham to do anything. He doesn’t force us, either. It was purely an issue of the heart of Abraham and his love and trust in his Father. God equipped Abraham for this test of faith, just as He equips us for anything He asks us to do. Therefore, we never need to fear going where God says to go, and staying where He has placed us. We are given all we need to finish the assignment at the destination of God’s choice. There our faith and trust will be tested and growth in our relationship with God will take place. Be as our father Abraham, and when God calls, respond with, “Here I am.”
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Hebrews 11:1; Romans 4:17
FRIDAY
“Burnt Offerings”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” (Genesis 22:1-2) Imagine having this conversation with God today. I suspect it might go something like this:
“Abraham!”
Silence
“Abraham!”
“God is that you? If it is you God, send me a sign!”
(As Abraham speaks a bolt of lightning comes out of the sky and knocks him off his feet.)
“Okay God I know it’s you!”
“Abraham, I want you to sacrifice your son as a burnt offering on the mountain I will show you.”
“What is a burnt offering?”
“Read Genesis 22, it will explain it.”
“God, you’re kidding aren’t you? You didn’t really take me serious when I said I wanted to give him back did you? I was joking. Besides if I sacrifice my son, I’ll be arrested, you know it’s against the law! I’d be locked up for the rest of my life.”
“I’m serious, Abraham.”
“But God I love him! You don’t really want to take him from me do you?”
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): It is almost inconceivable to us that Abraham would be willing to make such a sacrifice without at least questioning why. Yet, we know he was obedient. He willingly offered his beloved son’s life to be sacrificed to the Lord. Perhaps you cringed the first time you read these verses. If God asked such a thing of Abraham, couldn’t He ask the same of you? But you can relax. We can be reassured that God would not be likely to ask us to physically lay our children on an altar to be sacrificed in such a manner. The time and the context in which these verses were written tells us that there would be no reason for us to make such an offering today. Like us, Abraham lived in a world wrought with sin. Adam and Eve had already committed the original sin, but remember Moses had not yet delivered the Ten Commandments. Burnt offerings were the only means man had to atone for his sin. Without the written law, Abraham was not challenged with the moral or legal ramifications of his actions. Today, we have the law to give us moral and legal guidance, and Christ followers have even greater comfort in the knowledge that Jesus’ blood atoned for our sins (John 3:16).
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): God does not ask us to lay our children on a physical altar today, but we are called to lay them on His spiritual altar. God asks us to trust Him with the plan for their lives when we dedicate our children to Him, knowing His love is perfect. As we watch them grow, no matter how we raise them, they may fall into sin or make decisions that don’t make sense to us. They may live Godly lives but choose careers or lifestyles that endanger their lives. But, like Abraham, in spite of our fears, we must remember that no matter how much we love them, God loves them more. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:10-12) We can trust God with whatever we love the most. His ways and His plans are perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4).
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Genesis 22:15-18; Psalm 18:30
SATURDAY
“It Really Is That Simple”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:1-2) The call was clear: Abram (later called Abraham) was to go. The promise was equally clear: God would bless him. The Bible doesn’t record any dialogue in which Abraham questioned God regarding the details. It simply says, “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him…” (Genesis 12:4). His faith engendered trust, which caused him to move out in obedience to God’s calling. After many years of following God’s leading (and yes, sometimes stumbling), his faith was put to the ultimate test when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to Him (Genesis 22:2). It must have made no sense to Abraham: sacrifice the son that God had promised and provided against all odds? What about the descendants, more numerous than the dust of the earth, that God had promised (Genesis 13:16)? Again, Abraham did not question God, he simply obeyed. Some call that blind faith. I think simple (plain, uncomplicated) faith is a more accurate description.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): God never intended our faith in Him to be complicated and difficult. He simply asks us to believe He will work out all the details (Proverbs 3:5-6). The details move us into greater levels of faith and trust. In His wisdom, God knows that faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted. He knows that testing strengthens our faith and trust in Him as we submit to His authority and, in so doing, we experience His goodness and His faithfulness. Know that God will test you. Know that He will not test you beyond your limits (I Corinthians 10:13). Know that when you stumble, He will hold you (Psalm 37:24). Know that the promise that awaits you is greater than any trial you may encounter. Know that whatever He asks you to surrender to Him will be worth the glory that He has waiting for you.
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Does it seem like God makes no sense at times in your journey of faith? Do you have a hard time understanding the how, what and why of what He is working in your life? Remember the simple faith that impelled Abraham to step out in complete trust and obedience to the God Who called him. Christ follower, the same God that called Abraham is the same God that calls you. Remember that the same God Who calls you promises to go with you and never leave nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
Cultivating (Additional Reading): Hebrews 11:6; Hebrews 13:20-21
THE WEEKLY WORD WITH MARK BALMER
Can be found here:
http://theweeklywordmarkbalmer.blogspot.com/
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