Tim Hetzner – Daily Devotions

Jesus Is the Way

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

A minister writes: ‘Between the human race and God stands a barrier called sin. If we are going to be reconciled with a perfect God, that barrier has to be dealt with. We cannot go around it or over it. Sin demands a payment. Jesus came specifically to make that payment. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death to pay for everything we’ve ever done in the past, present, and future. If your home is on fire, you had better call a firefighter and not a policeman. If you break a leg, you had better call a doctor and not a firefighter. If your home is broken into, you had better call a policeman and not a doctor. If you are drowning, you had better call a lifeguard, not a plumber. If, as a sinful human being, you want to come to a righteous God, you had better get in touch with the Savior, because He is the only one who can help.’

Jesus did not merely say, ‘Come to me, and I’ll show you the way.’ He said, ‘I am the way.’ He is the way to forgiveness. He is the way to peace and joy. He is the way to fulfillment in life. And He is as close to you today as a prayer. Here it is…

Prayer

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Not Justice but Mercy and Grace

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1)

There is a story about a man who had his picture taken. When he saw it, he said to the photographer, ‘This picture doesn’t do me justice!’ The photographer looked at him, smiled, and said, ‘With a face like yours, you don’t need justice; you need mercy and grace!’

Seriously, that’s the situation we are all in. The reason God extends mercy and grace to us is because Jesus fulfilled all the demands of God’s justice for us at the cross. Some people think that God’s grace (unmerited favor) atones for all your sins up until the moment you make Christ your Savior. But from then on, you have to earn it and prove yourself worthy of it by your performance, like a joint effort. So instead of trusting alone in Christ’s performance on the cross, they trust also in their own performance.

Here is the problem: there are three ways to sin – commission, omission, and disposition. If you commit one of these sins every day, that’s over one thousand sins a year. And if going to heaven depends on your remembering and repenting of each of them, what if you forget? Don’t worry; God has you covered! ‘If anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father – [it is] Jesus Christ [the all] righteous [upright, just, Who conforms to the Father’s will in every purpose, thought, and action]’ (v. 1). Only one person measures up to God’s standards: Jesus! And when you place your trust in Him, you are unconditionally loved and accepted by God.

Prayer

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Do Not Rush to Judgment

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1)

This happened when Chuck Swindoll was speaking in California: ‘A gentleman came to him and said, “I have waited so long for this week, I am going to eat up everything you have to say.” Swindoll thanked him. Sunday night…the man started nodding [off]. Swindoll figured that he’d had a long drive and was probably tired. It happened each night until the conference ended. As a preacher…it didn’t feel good to see someone sleeping on him.

‘On Friday morning, the lady who was sitting next to him came to Swindoll and said, “I want to thank you for the ministry this week. Oh, and by the way, I am sorry about my husband sleeping on you…He has terminal cancer, and the doctors have just given him a couple of weeks to live. When we talked about what he wanted to do before he died, he said, ‘I want to go hear Chuck Swindoll.’ But you see, Dr Swindoll, the doctors gave him medicine to keep away the pain, and the medicine makes him sleep. I wanted to apologize to you that he has been sleeping, but I wanted you to know you made this the best week of the last part of his life.” Swindoll later said he could have crawled under a rock, because he had made a judgment and without any investigation, he reacted.’

Why did Jesus say, Do not judge, or you too will be judged.? Because there may be circumstances and factors at work in a person’s life that you don’t understand. So instead of judging them, extend to them the same grace God has extended to you.

Prayer

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Knowing When to Be Quiet

“A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak.” (Ecclesiastes 3:7)

Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth US president, was known as a reserved man who spoke very little. One day when a reporter attempted to interview him, the conversation went like this: Reporter: ‘Do you wish to say anything about the war threat in Europe?’ Coolidge: ‘No.’ Reporter: ‘Do you have anything to say about the strike in the clothing factories?’ Coolidge: ‘No.’ Reporter: ‘Do you have anything to say about the League of Nations?’ Coolidge: ‘No.’ Reporter: ‘Would you care to comment on the farm production problem?’ Coolidge: ‘No.’ As the reporter was leaving the room, Coolidge unexpectedly called him back and said with a smile, ‘Don’t quote me!’

The Bible says, ‘For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven…A time to be quiet and a time to speak’ (vv. 1, 7). Never allow yourself to be pressured into saying something you don’t want to say or get drawn in when you don’t feel like talking. Silence is not a lack of communication; it’s a form of communication and can be a very effective one! Proverbs 29:11 says, ‘A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards’. One thing is for sure, what you don’t say today, you won’t have to explain or apologize for tomorrow.

If your tendency is to speak without thinking, or when you have nothing constructive to add, weigh the situation carefully and ask God for wisdom before deciding if you should speak or be quiet. Remember: ‘Even dunces who keep quiet are thought to be wise; as long as they keep their mouths shut’ (Proverbs 17:28).

Prayer

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When Someone Lets You Down

“Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

When William Gladstone was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Britain, he requested that the Treasury send him certain statistics upon which he might base his budget proposals. Unfortunately, the statistician made a mistake, and Gladstone was so certain of this man’s reputation for accuracy that he didn’t take the time to verify his figures. As a result, Gladstone went before the House of Commons and gave a speech based on the incorrect information given to him. His speech was no sooner published than the inaccuracies were exposed, and he became the brunt of terrible public ridicule.

When the chancellor sent for the statistician who had given him the inaccurate information, the man arrived full of fear and shame, certain he was going to be fired. Instead, Gladstone said, ‘I know how much you must be disturbed over what has happened, so I have sent for you to put you at ease. For a long time, you have been engaged in handling the intricacies of the national accounts, and this is the first mistake that you have made. I want to congratulate you and express to you my keen appreciation.’

Can you imagine the sense of relief, gratitude, and hope the man felt that day as he walked out of Gladstone’s office? It takes a Christlike person to extend mercy, to listen as well as talk, and to think before jumping into action. So instead of retaliating in anger today, pray, ‘Take control of what I say, O LORD, and guard my lips.’ When you begin to pray that way – and really mean it –it indicates that you’re growing in grace.

Prayer

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When God Opens the Door – Part Two

“A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” (1 Corinthians 16:9)

The New Living Translation states Paul’s words this way: ‘There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me.’ In doing the will of God, you should anticipate opposition from those who are not privy to what God has shared with you or instructed you to do. Indeed, if you are accepted and applauded wherever you go, you should re-examine either the assignment you believe God has given you or the way in which you are carrying it out.

You say, ‘But didn’t Jesus say that His yoke was “easy”?’ Yes, and He was talking about a comfortable-fitting yoke around the neck of a hardworking ox that ploughed from morning until night. The work was hard, but the yoke was comfortable. That means when God calls you to do something difficult, He will provide you with the grace and resources to do it.

You say, ‘But Satan is attacking me.’ Attack is a sign of respect; it means you represent a threat to the kingdom of darkness. And as you get closer to your God-given goal, expect Satan’s attack to intensify. But there is good news. The intensity of the attack is an indicator of the blessing God has for you on the other side of the attack.

And one more thought. Your greatest rewards will not come in this life but in the life to come. And that’s good because they won’t just be temporal, they will be eternal. The hymnist wrote: ‘To him that overcometh a crown of life shall be; He with the King of glory shall reign eternally.’

Prayer

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When God Opens the Door – Part One

“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” (Revelation 3:8)

In seeking to know God’s will, there are two things you should never do. First, when the door is closed, get impatient and force it open. Second, create your own door. To succeed in what God has called you to do, follow the ‘open door policy’. The Bible describes it this way: ‘To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, ‘He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens’: ‘I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name’”’ (vv. 7-8 NKJV).

Who does God open doors for?

1) People who ‘have a little strength’. So, your mistakes don’t disqualify you, as long as you’re willing to learn from them. And your inadequacies don’t limit God if you allow them to make you more dependent on Him.

2) People who ‘have kept My word’. The people God opens doors for are governed by this guiding principle: ‘Whatever God’s Word says about it, that’s what I’m going to think, believe, and do.’ If it’s not on God’s blueprint, don’t build it. If it’s not in God’s recipe book, don’t mix it in.

3) People who ‘have not denied My name’. Regardless of rejection or ridicule, these people speak boldly about the things they value most in life, including their relationship with Jesus. If you want God to open doors for you, live by these principles each day.

Prayer

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Let Him Comfort You

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4)

God can make you comfortable in the most uncomfortable places. He can pull you out of situations you thought you would be stuck in forever. He can give you peace, even in the midst of trauma. Before your life is over, you will live, love and experience loss. Losing some things will actually help you to appreciate the things you still have. It’s the taste of failure that makes success so sweet. How can you celebrate victory unless you’ve known defeat? You’ll live each day not knowing what tomorrow holds, but knowing that God holds all your tomorrows. They’re not in the hands of your boss, your broker, your spouse, or anybody else. Nor are they in your hands to manipulate and control. No, all your tomorrows are in God’s hands!

So whatever you do; get to know Him, because you’ll need Him. And He’ll be there for you. He’ll be there when everybody and everything else has gone. He’ll be there for you in the dark places. His promise to you is, ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning’ (Psalm 30:5). However long the night, morning always comes and with it His joy. Just think, no matter how dark the night, you have always lived to see the morning. Right? Somehow, His grace has protected you, provided for you, secured you, calmed and comforted you, and brought you through. Times and seasons change, but not God. He’s always ‘the God of all comfort’, and He’s watching over you today!

Prayer

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Be Present in the Moment

“This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

One author writes: ‘One of the strategies I employ is to block enough time so that I’m not thinking of what I have to do next. I find it best to wait until I can invest more than a few minutes in being with someone so that the person is not frustrated with my divided attention and tight schedule.’

If you keep robbing your loved ones of time, there may come a day when they have no time for you. Ask yourself, ‘Is this person worth more to me than the plan, project, problem, or pressure I’m dealing with?’ Learn to enjoy the moment and focus on the person you’re with. Ask open-ended questions that encourage them to answer with more than a yes or no. Listen carefully and ask additional questions. This helps people feel you are engaging with them and caring about their replies. Yes, your thoughts may flit into the future for a few seconds, but instantly push them back into the present by rejecting those concerns. You can attend to them later. Concentrate, concentrate, concentrate. There is great pleasure in doing this after you get used to it.

The poet wrote, ‘I wished to live deliberately…and not, when I came to die, discover I had not lived.’ To make sure that doesn’t happen to you, heed Solomon’s words: ‘People should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labour, for these are gifts from God’ (Ecclesiastes 3:13). If you have to do with less in order to enjoy the people you love more, do it; you will never regret it!

Prayer

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Find a Mentor – Part Four

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15)

The mentors you choose must be available to you. Jesus told those He mentored, ‘No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you’ (v. 15). You need time with your mentor, asking and learning from questions and answers.

Dr. John Maxwell writes: ‘The greatest piece of advice I can give in the area of availability is that when you are looking for a mentor, don’t shoot too high too soon. If you are considering going into politics for the first time, you don’t need the advice of the president of the United States. If you are a high school student thinking about learning to play the cello, you don’t need to be mentored by Yo-Yo Ma. If you’re just starting your career, don’t expect to get extensive mentoring time from the CEO of your organization. Why shouldn’t I? You may be thinking. First of all, if you’re just starting out, nearly all of your questions can be answered by someone two or three levels ahead of you (not ten). Their answers will be fresh because they will have recently dealt with the issues you’re dealing with. Second, CEOs need to be spending their time answering the questions of the people who are on the verge of learning at their level. I’m not saying you should never go to the top. I’m saying spend the majority of your time being mentored by people who are available, willing, and suited for the stage of your career.’

Prayer

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