Tim Hetzner – Daily Devotions

Getting Beyond It

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“Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh …. The second son he named Ephraim.” (Genesis 41:51-52)

When you experience tragedy or loss, unless you get help, you can shut down emotionally and remain stuck. And when you focus on the pain of the past, you risk forfeiting the blessing God has for you in the future. If anyone had reason to give in to despair and quit, it was Joseph. Those who should have loved him resented and betrayed him. He was slandered, lied about, and falsely imprisoned. How did he survive it? Four times in Genesis 39, the Bible says, “The LORD was with Joseph.”

Having a sense of God’s presence will sustain you through things that would otherwise destroy you. Joseph knew it was in forgiving and forgetting rather than holding on to resentment that he was setting himself free and positioning himself to fulfil his divine destiny. How do we know this? Because of what he named his two sons. “Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: ‘For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.’ And the name of the second he called Ephraim: ‘For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”’

Who enabled Joseph to forget the pain inflicted on him by his family? God! What enabled him to overcome the injustices inflicted upon him by others? A daily sense of God’s presence. And today, God’s presence will do that for you too. His promise to you is, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned…For I am the LORD your God” (Isaiah 43:2-3).

Prayer

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Only Jesus Can Satisfy Your Soul

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“Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

When you’re in the desert without water, there comes a point at which you start seeing mirages and believing things that are not real. And when your soul continues to be parched and dry, you start reaching for things that are not real and cannot satisfy it. Jesus didn’t bring up this woman’s past to embarrass her. He referenced it for one reason only — to let her know that He could heal the wounds of her past and give her hope for a better future. And He did. Not only did He transform her, but she also became the first person to introduce the Gospel to Samaria!!!

Perhaps you think you’re beyond hope and redemption. David wasn’t, and he committed adultery and covered it up with murder. Peter wasn’t, and he denied Jesus. Thomas wasn’t, even though he is still remembered as a doubter. Paul wasn’t, and he killed Christians before he became one. Your unfulfilled desires and your unquenched thirst are a plus, not a minus, if you let them drive you to the feet of Jesus. Here is His promise: “The water that I shall give…will become…a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (v. 14).

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Understanding Righteousness

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“But now a righteousness from God, apart from Law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” (Romans 3:21)

You will go to heaven because you trusted in Christ’s righteousness, not your own. You say, “But isn’t doing the right things important?” Absolutely. Your salvation depends on trusting in Christ’s performance, not your own. Satan knows this, and he will try to drive you back to performance-based Christian living. And when you fail, as you assuredly will, he will condemn you and tell you that you don’t measure up and, therefore, you are unworthy of God’s love and acceptance. Notice what condemnation does:

1) It robs you of confidence before God. You are unable to claim His promises because you feel unworthy. Thirty-one times in Scripture, it says that we are “in Christ.” That’s one for every day of the month. So, each day, remind yourself that you are “in Christ,” and because He is worthy, you are accepted.

2) It makes you irritable and unpleasant to be around. Addiction counselors describe this as being “squirrelly” or uneasy in your own skin. As a result, you begin to put out what you feel on the inside.

What’s the answer? Paul gives it to us: “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight…But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed…even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe” (vv. 20-22).

Bottom line: righteousness is credited to your account through faith, not works. Today you are loved and accepted “in Christ.”

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When God Shows Up

“The God we serve is able to save us from it. But even if he does not …” (Daniel 3:17-18)

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s 90-foot golden god, he threatened them with a fiery furnace. Here is what they told him: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not…we do not serve your gods” (vv. 17-18).

When does God show up? When you say, “God is able to deliver me, but if not, I’m going to serve Him anyway.” It’s wonderful when God provides what we need. Yet, the faith that truly pleases God says, “But if not, I’m going to trust God anyway.” Peter writes: “There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

And one more thought: the Bible does not say that the three Hebrew children saw the fourth man who was with them in the fire; it says that Nebuchadnezzar did, and he described Him as “the Son of God” (Daniel 3:25). So even when you don’t know it, your faith, your life, and testimony are impacting those around you and bringing glory to God.

Prayer

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Glean – Store Up – And Share

“They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food.” (Genesis 41:35)

Notice what Joseph told Pharaoh: “Collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years…gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up…Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine…that the land may not perish” (vv. 34-36).

There are two important lessons for us in this story.

1) Don’t let your bad times eat up your good ones. And what is the best way to do that? By standing on the Word of God during times of discouragement and difficulty. “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 NKJV).

2) Don’t just enjoy your good times. Glean from them the wisdom, strength, strategies, relationships, and resources that will sustain you in the bad times. Paul writes, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character” (Romans 5:3-4).

But when God blesses you, don’t just store it up – share it with others. Practice the law of reciprocity that Jesus taught: “Give, and it will be given to you…For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38). What you cling to for selfish purposes, you will eventually lose. But when you give to bless others, God has promised to reward you both now and in eternity.

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There Is No Time To Give Up

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Solomon says there is “a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” (vv. 2-8 NKJV).

That’s a total of 28 different “times.” But notice what Solomon does not give us – a time to give up! As long as you stay on the battlefield, God can turn your situation around and give you victory. If you’re worried today about your marriage, your children, your health, your finances, your job, and your future, here is a promise you can stand on: “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17 NKJV). God didn’t say that a weapon wouldn’t be formed against you, but He said it wouldn’t prosper. So don’t give up!

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God Cares About The Details Of Your Life

“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)

If you want to know how incomprehensively big God is, listen to this: “My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens” (Isaiah 48:13). Could such a God care about your daily troubles and woes? Yes. “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7).

God values sparrows – more than you know. He feeds them and supplies them with trees and twigs for nests and other sparrows to mate with. He cares so much about them that He keeps a running inventory. How about you? “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” That’s less work for God with some of us.



When you care about someone, you observe details. When a baby is born, what do parents do when they see the tiny fingers and toes for the first time? They count them. For years later, every time that child comes home, if they are missing one of those 10 fingers or toes, the parents notice. Even inadequate parents do this. Jesus was saying, “God doesn’t only number your fingers and toes. He loves you so much He numbers the hairs on your head. He notices their quantity. He notices their color.”

Proverbs 16:31 tells us, “Grey hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness.” The cross proves how much God loves you and how much you mean to Him, including the details of your life.

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What It Takes To Do The Will of God

“‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.” (Acts 9:6)

Paul’s life changed forever when he asked the question, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Note how God answered his question: “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (v. 6). Discovering God’s will takes place in steps.

Step 1 is awareness. You cannot change direction if you’re unaware you’re heading in the wrong direction, so spend some time thinking about where you’re presently heading. If it’s not where you need to go, then write down the steps you must take to go where you want to go, to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Make them as concrete as you possibly can. Will they absolutely be the right steps? Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But you won’t know for sure until you start moving forwards.

Step 2 is action. You can’t win if you don’t begin! Take initiative. Do something specific each day that will move you one step closer to your goal. Then, continue to do it every day.

Step 3 is accountability. Few things will inspire you to see your goals through like accountability. One way you can do that is to share your goals. When you tell people what you plan to do, you feel pressure to keep working at it. Give those people permission to ask you about your progress. It’s like giving yourself a deadline so that you keep moving towards it. Writing things down gives you another form of accountability.

Do you want to do God’s will? Then start with these steps.

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In Spite Of The Odds, Believe God

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5)

Gideon’s army of 32,000 men is enormously outnumbered by the Midianites when God tells him, “You have too many men.” He instructs Gideon to release anyone who is afraid, and Gideon loses two-thirds of his army. Now he has only 10,000 men. Again the Lord says, “There are still too many men,” and reduces Gideon’s army to 300 men. At that moment, the odds had to be a million to one. And it even gets better! God directs Gideon to attack the Midianites with trumpets and pitchers. Now for the real kicker: Israel wins!

Why did God do it like that? Because if Gideon had attacked with 32,000 men and won, the Israelites would have thought that God didn’t provide much help, and God would have received limited credit. But God is worthy of more. God desires and deserves complete credit. And when 300 men defeat a massive army with trumpets and pitchers, God receives all the glory (see Judges 7).

Why? The reason is a victory like that overcomes all odds. Too frequently, our prayers revolve around requesting God to increase our odds of winning. We would like everything in our favor. But maybe God wants the odds to oppose us so we can encounter a miracle of divine proportions. Faith is trusting God no matter how hopeless the odds are. Our impossible circumstances are chances to experience a new height of God’s glory.

Are you facing a situation that, humanly speaking, is beyond your ability to cope with it? Read this: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).

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You Will Be Rewarded For It

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

In 1857, David Livingstone gave this speech at Cambridge University: “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. … Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.”

When you serve the Lord, you always get back more than you give up. And if you get back more than you give up, have you really sacrificed anything at all? “Then Peter began to say to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’ Then Jesus answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the Gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life”’ (Mark 10:28-30). The only regrets you will have at the end of your life will be that you didn’t seek and serve God more and seek and serve Him sooner.

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