Tim Hetzner – Daily Devotions

Commit To Personal Growth

“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (1 Timothy 4:15)

Paul had a succession plan for his ministry. That’s why he mentored Timothy and instructed him, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” The words “that your progress may be evident to all” mean that growth is measurable. Question: as you look back over the last few years of your life, in what areas have you grown? Before you go on, take a moment, and think carefully about how you answer that question.

In childhood, our bodies automatically grow. But some of us bring into adulthood a subconscious trust that spiritual, emotional, and mental growth follow a comparable pattern. We think that as time goes by, we inevitably improve. We’re like cartoon character Charlie Brown in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip, who once said, “I think I’ve discovered the secret of life – you just hang around until you get used to it.”

The problem is that you don’t get better by just living; you must be intentional about it. No one improves by chance. Personal growth doesn’t simply take place on its own. And when you’re finished with your formal education, you must take full ownership of the growth process because no one else will see to it for you.

The ultimate growth manual is your Bible. It’s “living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12). Everything you need to know — and everything that’s required for you to grow — can be found in its pages. So, open your Bible. Dig into it. Read it. Meditate on it. Apply its principles to your life, and you will be amazed at how you grow.

Prayer

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Son, Come Home!

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. The older brother became angry and refused to go in.” (Luke 15:25, 28)

The parable of The Prodigal Son is about two boys and their father’s love for each. The younger one dishonored his father and ended up in a pigpen. When he returned home, he had lost everything – except his father’s love. So no matter who you are or what you have done, God loves you and wants you in His family. Jesus made an amazing statement: “When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (v. 20).

Ancient Hebrew culture thought running was an undignified act for older men. Men wore long flowing robes, and had to pull them up around their waist to run, exposing their undergarments. But the father didn’t care about what people thought; he cared about his wayward son.

Unfortunately, his older brother didn’t feel that way. Do you understand why a lot of younger brothers are still out in the pigpen and don’t want to enter the church? Because they’re afraid older brothers will hit them with the mean hand of judgement instead of touching them with the welcoming hand of love. The older brother desires punishment, but the father provides pardon. The older brother requires guilt, but the father gives grace. The older brother wants revenge, but the father wants reconciliation.

Here is the good news: no matter how low you have fallen, know that as soon as you return, you will discover your Heavenly Father facing you, extending open arms and a loving heart towards you.

Prayer

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We All Need Atonement

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” (Luke 18:13)

Jesus said: “Two men went up to the temple to pray — one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other” (vv. 10-14).

The difference between these two men is that the Pharisee was guilty of sins of the spirit, and the tax collector was guilty of the sins of the flesh. Pride shut the door of heaven to the Pharisee, and humility opened the door of heaven to the tax collector. The Pharisee said he was innocent but went home guilty. The tax collector acknowledged he was guilty and went home innocent.

Notice, he doesn’t use the usual word for mercy. The word used here dates back to the Hebrew word kippur, which means “atonement,” as in Yom Kippur, which means “the Day of Atonement.” The word atonement means “to cover.” What the tax collector said was, “God, I’m admitting what you already know is true about me. I am a sinful man with a sinful heart. God, will you cover me?” That’s all God needed to hear from him to save him – and that’s all God needs to hear from you too.

Prayer

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God Is At Work!

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)

The experiences you had before you had Christ come into your life, including things you regret, can be redeemed, and put to good use. Before Paul met Christ on the Damascus road, his life had been dedicated to the study of Old Testament law. “I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault” (vv. 5-6). Looking back, Paul may have considered his years of study as a Pharisee to be wasted. But God had prepared him to show the Jews how Christ was the fulfilment of the Old Testament Scriptures he knew so well.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that God doesn’t begin working in our lives until the day we come to know Christ as Savior. Scripture says that He “foreknew” us, meaning He chose and prepared us long before we ever met Him (see Romans 8:29-30). David says that God wrote out all the days of his life before they ever came to pass (see Psalm 139:16), and that’s true for you. God is at work in your life in ways you’re unaware of. Even when you’re unable to notice Him at work, He is always active in you, causing His good pleasure. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Faith changes the question “Is God at work?” into a declarative statement of faith: “God is at work!”

Prayer

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Knowing The Counterfeit From The Genuine

“And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)

In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul reveals four ways in which Satan works like a master counterfeiter.

First, he supplies a counterfeit savior: “For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” So though there are cults that preach Jesus, they do not preach the Christ of Christianity.

Second, Satan presents counterfeit servants: “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ…So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (vv. 13, 15).

Third, Satan brings counterfeit saints: Paul identifies these false brethren as those who seem like your brother or sister on the outside but are secretly your enemy on the inside (see Galatians 2:4).

Fourth, Satan offers us a counterfeit salvation: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8 ESV). It’s not necessarily that Christians pretend to be children of the devil, but instead that the ungodly frequently appear to be righteous.

God can distinguish a sinner from a saint, and you’re going to discover both inside the church just as you will outside it. And that’s a good thing because constant exposure to Bible preaching and teaching is what changes people. Jesus never claimed that the church was perfect, and neither should we. Our awareness of these truths shouldn’t make us self-righteous and judgmental. Rather, it should make us paramedics of God’s grace and mercy and cause us to be more fully committed to Christ.

Prayer

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Throw Out Your Fears

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

When you were young and said a bad word, your parents may have threatened to wash your mouth out with soap. Well, if fear is a dirty word, then faith in God’s unconditional love for you is like soap! Too many put the cart before the horse. We believe that God accepts us based on the degree of our love for Him rather than on the degree of His love for us.

The Bible says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (v. 19). God’s love for you is not based upon your performance but Christ’s performance on your behalf. When you put your trust in Christ, God sees you “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17) from that moment forward. Do you want to know how God sees you at this moment and every other moment? “As He [Jesus] is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17).

Does that mean you can disobey God and get away with it? Not a chance! “For whom the LORD loves, He chastens…Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:6, 11). But God’s correction is not rejection! It’s proof of His unconditional, unlimited, unwavering, undeserved, and unearned love for you.

God doesn’t love you more on those days when you’re victorious and less on those days when you’re defeated. His love for you doesn’t vary or vacillate. Knowing that truth will boost your faith and take your fear down a notch!

Prayer

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Determine To Finish Strong

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)

Following God means finishing what He has called you to do. Not everyone who starts out well finishes well. Occasionally, we’re shocked and saddened to learn that a leader has been brought down by a moral or a financial problem. Paul writes, “Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you” (Colossians 4:14). Later, he writes, “Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10).

There are three forces arrayed against you, and they never let up: the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world will try to pour you into its mold, your fleshly nature will try to drag you down, and the devil will use every trick in the book to defeat you. Paul was aware of these three forces when he said, “My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24). So, make up your mind to complete the assignment God has given you and enjoy every minute of it.

How can you finish strong? “By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises” (2 Peter 1:3-5).

Prayer

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You Are Commanded To Love

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Love is not an emotion, because you cannot command someone to feel a certain way. Loving someone is a choice that manifests itself in your attitudes and actions towards that person. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (vv. 34-35).

C.S. Lewis tells of how he came to view others’ faults differently: “There is someone I love, even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept, though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive, though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is me…If I can love myself without approving of all I do, I can also love others without approving of all they do.”

And what Jesus commands you to do, He empowers you to do: “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).

Prayer

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Show Compassion To Everyone — Part Two

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:14)

Jesus demonstrated compassion wherever He went. He taught that we must care for “the least” among us (Matthew 25:40). The New Testament church continued His “brand” by doing away with racism and lots of other “isms.” “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female…you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Following Christ means showing compassion to everyone, whether you like them or not.

You’re called to practice compassion where you work and where you live. Jean Henri Dunant couldn’t endure the sound of soldiers crying on a battlefield after they had been wounded, so this Swiss philanthropist said he would dedicate his life to helping them in Jesus’ name. As a result, he started the Red Cross in the 1860s.

Every time you see it, you see a thumbprint of Jesus. A Lutheran pastor in Germany named Theodor Fliedner taught a group of mainly peasant women to nurse the ill. This led to a development of hospitals all over Europe and inspired Florence Nightingale to give her life to tend to the sick.

Father Damien, a Belgian priest, worked in Hawaii in the 19th century and established a place where lepers could be loved and tended to. Each week, he would tell them, “God loves you lepers.” And then, one week, he stood up and said, “God loves us lepers.” He died from leprosy.

Jesus said of every unwarranted act of kindness shown towards someone, including those who don’t deserve it, “you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).

Prayer

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Show Compassion To Everyone — Part One

“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.” (Luke 14:13)

Luke writes, “It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely” (v. 1). That day He turned one of their most prized religious traditions on its ear by saying, “Whenever you give a banquet, invite people who are poor, who have disabilities, who are limping, and people who are blind; and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (vv. 13-14).

Anything defective was considered by the Pharisees as unsuitable to reflect the perfect holiness of God. Consequently, they allowed nothing malformed within the boundaries of the temple. Furthermore, since they believed the temple had been degraded by Rome, they believed they could honor God by treating their homes as small temples. For Jesus to tell this well-known Pharisee to intentionally invite malformed, defective human beings into his holy little temple was a deliberate slap in the face. Jesus was instructing him to place on his guest list people whose defects offended him.

Jesus’ compassion came from His love for all individuals and His pain when anyone is devalued. In Scripture, we are never told that Jesus had compassion for someone because they deserved it but because they were in need. Don’t miss the point Jesus made. He promised that you will be blessed in this life and rewarded in the next one when you show kindness and compassion to those who “cannot repay you.” Keep this in mind when you’re tempted to overlook someone because they have a particular problem you don’t like.

Prayer

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