Today Daily Devotional

“I am among you as one who serves.”

— Luke 22:27

When I began attending a university, I was amazed at a group of seniors (one of them my future sister-in-law) who invited the university president to come to a dorm apartment for a meal they had prepared. I was even more amazed that, important as he was, the president said yes. But the thing I’ll never forget is that when the meal was over, the president insisted he be the one to wash the dishes.This was an “old school” president whom I had never seen apart from his dress suit and tie, but he set aside his suitcoat, rolled up his crisp white dress sleeves, borrowed an apron, and scraped lasagna bits into the garbage. He scrubbed every dish in that sudsy water and gave us all a picture of how a servant-leader acts.God himself, greater than any university president, chief executive, or other leader, became “one who serves.” In Jesus, God-in-flesh got down on his knees, took the posture of a slave, and held in his hands the feet of his followers, who would betray, reject, and abandon him. He served them, washing their feet (John 13).Jesus also served us by going to the cross and laying down his own life to save ours. By his shed blood we are freed from the debt and the curse of sin.In Jesus’ teaching to his disciples, we can hear his call to us, in effect: “Do you understand what I have done for you? . . . Now go in my name and serve others.”

Humble King, we worship you. You have shown us what real leadership is. Make us servants like you, we pray. Amen.

I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne. . . .

— Revelation 5:6

A large painting in my living room takes up half a wall. It portrays a lion and a lamb lying down together. My mom painted it in 1973, back when she had two baby boys and would soon have a pair of girls too.I often notice the posture of those two animals my mom painted. The lion looks submissive to the lamb, and the lamb’s little leg rests atop the lion’s mighty forepaw. The lion looks squarely at the lamb, while the lamb looks straight at the viewer.I think this painting captures something of how Scripture portrays Jesus. Jesus is called both a lion and a lamb in our Bible passage for today. But one image is clearly dominant. Jesus is called “Lion” only once. But there are several references to Jesus as “the Lamb” (and more in other Bible passages). The picture of “the Lamb” is the one we most need to see about Jesus.For God’s Old Testament people, the sacrifice of a lamb signaled redemption for their sin and guilt. The innocent substitute died in the place of the guilty. When John the Baptist pointed out Jesus to others, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).On the cross, our salvation was not accomplished by muscle or teeth or claws. It was accomplished through the shed blood of a perfect and gentle sacrifice.

O Lamb of God, we love you. Wash us in your precious blood, Lord Jesus. Thank you for your sacrifice once for all to pay the debt of our sin. In your name, Amen.

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. . . .”

— John 6:35

In a book titled The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, David Meyers wrote: “We buy more, but enjoy it less. We have more food and less nutrition; fancier houses, but broken homes. We have added years to life, not life to years.”Enter Jesus, the one who was born in Bethlehem (“house of bread”) and was laid in a manger (a food trough for animals). (See Luke 2:4-7.) Jesus’ life gave this message: “You are hungry. I am bread. I can satisfy you with myself.”Are we feeding on Jesus? He is the bread of life for gnawing, hungry souls.In 1860, two explorers—Robert Burke and William Wills— set out to cross Australia. They died on their way back, however, after using up all their supplies and trying to survive on nardoo, a clover-like plant.They thought nardoo could save them. But apparently they failed to prepare it properly, and an enzyme in it gave them a vitamin deficiency. They ate bowlfuls of nardoo each day, but they grew weaker and thinner and died.Let’s look at the menu of our lives. Our jobs, resumes, social calendars, entertainment options, phones, and even ministries can seem to fill a hunger, but without Jesus it all ends in emptiness. Isaiah 55:2 asks, “Why spend your money on what is not bread?” Only Jesus, the bread of life, can satisfy the hunger of our souls.

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us yourself as the bread of life we need every day. Fill us, we pray, and help us to trust you for all our needs. In your name, Amen.

“The deliverer will come. . . .”;

He . . . shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death . . .

— Romans 11:26; Hebrews 2:14

My son David, at age 3, found a picture that captivated him. He’d bend over it on the floor and look, and look. The picture was of a wood carving from an old altar in Europe. The carving showed Jesus kicking down the gate of death.One night during a storm, the power went out. The boys had been in bed for a while, but now there was no nightlight. It was dark. Scary dark. I checked on them, listening outside the door. I heard David singing. He apparently knew only two phrases and kept singing them over and over: “I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it. . . .”I listened a bit and then opened the door to go in. But before I got far, David sat upright in his bed and said, “Show me the picture, Mommy— the kickin’-down- the-door picture.” He had obviously been thinking about the Jesus carving as he lay in that dark place. And I think that image of Jesus—the deliverer kicking down the door of death and mightier than any of our fears—prompted David to sing his song in the night.David preached a sermon to my heart. When we are in a dark and scary place, we can still sing songs if we remember Jesus—who he is and what powers he has overcome in his saving love for us.

Jesus, thank you for delivering us from sin and death—and from every dark fear. Be our song in the night. Amen.

. . . Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. . . .

— Matthew 1:1

Ever since humanity fell into sin, God promised that someone would come and put it right.God promised Eve a snake-crusher (Genesis 3:15). He promised Abraham a line of descendants who would bless the nations (Genesis 12:3). God promised his people a prophet who would come from among them, and to whom they should listen (Deuteronomy 18:15-18). He promised David a descendant whose throne would “be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-16). God also declared that this person would be “a priest forever” (Psalm 110:4), mediating for the people.That ultimate promised one also had a unique anointing. The people’s prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with oil, but the promised one would be anointed with the Holy Spirit, and God himself would do the anointing. This Spirit-drenched person would be the “Anointed One” (mashiach in Hebrew, christos in Greek).Luke describes Jesus’ having the Holy Spirit descend on him at his baptism and then serving “in the power of the Spirit” wherever he went. And in his sermon at Nazareth, his hometown, Jesus preached from Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me. . . .” Jesus is crystal clear, and he says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”He is the Messiah! Amen!

Jesus, Messiah, all God’s promises point to you. Our waiting and searching end in you. Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live. . . .”

— John 11:25

I don’t know about you, but I tend to think of resurrection as an abstract or distant thing—as if it is only about Easter Sunday or a date on the end-times calendar.But, no—and more profoundly— Resurrection is a name for Jesus! “I am the resurrection . . .” he said. Resurrection is a “right now” reality in the unique person of Jesus Christ.It’s the same with life. Life is not mainly about having a beating heart and brain waves. Nor is it something we get or make or buy or achieve. Life is a name for Jesus. “I am . . . the life . . .” he said. And in a prayer to his Father, Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).When we reject a relationship with the Life himself and say “No thanks” to Jesus, then, essentially we are like dead people walking (see Ephesians 2:1-5). Rejecting Jesus is like staying in a tomb.Sin is a tomb. Self is a tomb. Unforgiveness is a tomb. Pornography is a tomb. Fear, perfectionism, pride, envy . . .— tombs are everywhere!Hear the voice of the One whose name is the Resurrection and the Life: “Come out!” That tomb is no place for you. Why look for life among the dead? (See Luke 24:5.)Anyone who looks to Jesus will live. Eternity starts today!

Lord Jesus, who is like you? Thank you for being “the resurrection and the life” to all who believe in you. Amen.

He will be called . . . Prince of Peace.

— Isaiah 9:6

Here Jesus is named “Prince of Peace.” What is peace?Two artists, the story goes, are asked to paint pictures depicting peace.One artist paints a tranquil scene—a calm lake surrounded by rolling green hills and with towering trees mirrored in the water. The blue sky is still— and, well, peaceful.The other painter brushes onto the canvas a rocky ravine, with dark, ominous, jutting-out rocks. Over the top of the rockface rushes a powerful waterfall, splashing and roaring. Spray and mist everywhere!Yet on one of the crags, near the bottom of the gorge, stands a slender young tree. And there, on a tenuous branch overhanging the water, glistening with the spray from the waterfall, rests a bird’s nest. And in that nest a small bird is sleeping.This second illustration is a picture of Christ’s peace!Jesus makes clear that peace in this world is not the absence of trouble. It is not mainly about tranquil, relaxing scenes. Jesus’ peace means that even while the waters foam and surge about us, even amid storms of anxiety and struggle, we have a rock! A firm place to nest.In this world we will have trouble, Jesus said. But take courage, and be at rest. Jesus has overcome the world!

Thank you, Jesus, for giving us your peace, which is not like the world’s. In you we can find rest and refuge even amid the dangers, storms, and troubles of life. Amen.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

— John 8:12

With a tour group I went into a deep cave in New Mexico, and our guide turned off all the lights. The darkness was paralyzing; I immediately felt vulnerable.Darkness in a cave is one thing. Darkness in life is worse. We may face shadows of a dark past: abuse, ugly words, abandonment. A deep cavern of guilt from our sins and mistakes may fill us with doubt, disappointment, and long nights of anxiety.Darkness is real—and scary. But there’s at least one thing darkness is not. It is not a winner. If we go into a deep cave and turn off the lights, it will be so dark that you can’t see your hand in front of your face. But if we strike a match or switch on a light, all that darkness— football fields of it!—cannot overpower that one light. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).Jesus calls himself “the light of the world.” In his death on the cross, he took on darkness and descended into caverns of guilt, forsakenness, abuse, and the worst that sin could offer— for us. He took on sin’s pain and its cost for us so that we won’t have to. And with his rising, we receive what Isaiah foretold: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2).Why stay in the dark? The light is here. Let’s walk in him today!

Lord, thank you for being our light. Only you can overpower the darkness in this world and in our lives. Shine, Jesus, shine! Amen.

God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. . . .

— Philippians 2:9-10

There are a lot of big names out there: Zuckerberg, Apple, Xi, Trump, Oprah, AI. Does our world rise or fall with these names?Or how about some names closer to home: Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's, ALS, Down Syndrome? Or what about labels that society might apply to us: divorced, disabled, addicted, infertile, fired, foreclosed, forgotten, paroled? Do any of these have the power to make or break us?No. Our reading today proclaims that no name, whether it carries princely power or brings us problems or roadblocks, is greater than Jesus— not even light years close.None of those names went down low, “taking the very nature of a servant” and “becoming obedient to death” to raise us up. None of those died on a cross to give us new life.Jesus is the only One whom God gave the name greater than any other name. He is the only One we should bow to. We can take him more seriously than any other name or label, for he himself is God, and he rules over all things.This month, let’s reflect on the various names of Jesus and what they show us about him. Each one reveals something marvelous and matchless about Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom every knee and power and threat will bow, “to the glory of God the Father.” We are in his hands, and he puts all things in their place.

Thank you, Jesus, for all you have done to give us new life and faith in the power of your name. May we honor your name above every name. Amen.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.

— Psalm 96:11

Psalm 96 invites us to hear the greatness of God resounding everywhere and in everyone. We began our devotions this month with this psalm, and it seems fitting to close our reflections on “Resonance” by focusing on this psalm again.Throughout this month we have been personally invited to respond to God’s voice ringing out to us. Our prayer has been that the good news of Jesus will resonate deeply in our hearts and that we will respond in faith and trust.We have also seen how the good news resounds within the church, the community of Jesus’ followers. None of us walks this journey alone. It is often in fellowship with others that we most clearly encounter the voice of God and the living presence of Christ.In addition, we have been invited to notice God’s greatness reverberating through all creation. Our God reigns! All around us in God’s world we can witness creation itself declaring the glory and majesty of its Maker—the heavens rejoicing, the seas roaring, the fields exulting in praise.My prayer is that the words of Psalm 96 ring true for you today. May your life ring out joyfully because you have genuinely encountered the love and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ. And may your voice join with the resounding song of creation, proclaiming that the Lord is great and “most worthy of praise.”

Great and glorious God, we join with all creation to praise you today. May your love, faithfulness, and goodness resonate throughout the whole world. Amen.