DEVOTIONALS
Devotional 1
“All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ they asked.”—Luke 4:22
Have you ever felt completely misunderstood? It’s as if people don’t even pay attention to the things you say or do, and they always seem to confuse your real meaning and purpose. Jesus felt that way when He returned to His hometown, Nazareth, to teach the people there about the Good News. He stood in the temple and read a prophecy from Isaiah to them and then proclaimed that the prophecy had been fulfilled that day in their presence…basically, He had come to free prisoners, give sight to the blind, and release the oppressed. Everyone thought that was great and they began to talk amongst themselves. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked each other, as if missing the whole point of Christ’s message. Never mind the fact that the prophecy He was speaking of was for spiritual freedom and came from the Messiah that they were waiting for. They only saw the natural, ignoring the supernatural. They saw the son of a carpenter rather than the Son of God.
It happened over and over again throughout Christ’s life here on earth. Very few saw Him for who He was and what He brought to a world in need of so much. It must have been a bit frustrating at times to have been misunderstood and misrepresented in so many instances. Sadly, I think that sometimes we kind of overlook who Jesus really is and what He stands for even today. There’s a really cool song out right now by Scarecrow and Tinmen that says in its chorus, “Jesus is God, so don’t you take Him lightly now…”
As humans we tend to look in the natural realm—Hey, that’s what we live in, so of course we do! But Jesus IS God, and we do need to be careful to pay attention to the meaning and purpose of the values and principles He taught. There’s sooooooooo much truth in the things Christ said in the Gospels. Pray and ask Him to reveal the meaning of the Scriptures to you as you read them… He will! But remember, Jesus IS God…don’t take Him lightly… Don’t make the mistake that the people of His homeland did when He tried to explain the fulfillment of the prophecy to them. They saw before them a carpenter’s son… What do you see?
-HK
Devotional 2
“My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.”—Psalm 119:50
Do you ever suffer? Perhaps you’re suffering right now… A great number of things or circumstances can cause you to suffer. You suffer when you’re neglected or rejected. You suffer when things beyond your control cause you pain—or even when you bring the pain upon yourself. You suffer when you are pressured to do something that you just aren’t able to do. You suffer when people or situations come against you and try to harm you or steal your joy. And the list goes on…
The point is, we all suffer at different stages in our lives—and it’s not fun. But you can find comfort in your suffering… The psalmist found that God’s promise preserved His life even in the most difficult times of suffering. What promise was that? We don’t really know for certain what promise David was referring to when he said that, but it was one that preserved his life and kept him going. It had the power to comfort him and give him hope when things seemed really bad. Do you have a promise that you can hold on to when all else seems to fail you? God’s Word is full of such promises! Take a look through the Bible and you’ll see just how many promises there are inside that are just waiting for you to claim them. Perhaps God has given you a personal promise of your very own. That’s great! Keep sight of that promise and remind yourself of it every time you find yourself in a situation of even a small amount of suffering. God is faithful, and His promises are very real. If you allow yourself to lean on His promises when you’re having a hard time dealing with things, you just may find that His promises can become a source of comfort to you just as they were to the psalmist.
-HK
Devotional 3
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”—Ephesians 5:8
Have you ever heard someone say something like, “They are as different as night and day”? By saying that, the person illustrates how extremely different two people—or things—are from each other. Day and night…light and dark…hot and cold…wet and dry…big and small…these are common opposites that we learn as young children. But what would happen if morning came and yet the darkness never left? Would that still be day? Or would it be considered a continuation of the night? Ok, so that sounds a little silly. But can you see how illogical it is also for Christians, who are “children of light”, to continue living in darkness? And yet we sometimes do… We hold on to the sins of our flesh and think nothing of the fact that it is a contradiction to our claim of Christianity.
This verse tells us to live as children of the light rather than the darkness that we once were. Basically, if we’re going to call ourselves Christians (children of the light), we have to live like it. An orange is not an apple…no matter how many times a person may tell you it is. You can tell it’s really an orange by the way it looks, feels, and tastes… Well, you can tell a Christian by the way he or she acts. Light and darkness are opposites…there’s no way to retain them both. Light casts out the dark…and dark covers up the light. Are you a child of the light? If so, are you living like one?
-HK
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