Today Daily Devotional

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

— 1 Peter 2:9

A World War II veteran told me that he had never experienced complete darkness until he was on a ship in the Pacific Ocean during the war. There were no stars at night, and the ship’s lights were off so that no enemies could see it.

When it is pitch dark, you can’t see your hand in front of your face. You have no idea what lies ahead of you or what might be near you. You have no idea of the risks you could face with every move. That is a compelling picture of being lost in sin.

If Jesus had not come into our world, we would still be lost in the darkness of sin. We would have remained in hopeless blindness. But Jesus is “the light of the world.” He is the one who comes to us in our darkness and leads us into his glorious light. He shows us the way out of hopeless darkness and continues to guide us by the light of God’s mercy. “Whoever follows me,” he promised, “will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Into the darkness a light has shined. That light is the light of life and the light of the world. Do not walk in darkness; follow Jesus’ radiant light.

Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world. Yet many people walk in darkness. Help us all to seek and to see your light. Help us to walk in your light faithfully, that we may live with you always. Amen.

Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

— Galatians 5:1

Pharaoh was the most powerful man in the world at the time of the Exodus, when God freed his people from slavery in Egypt. Pharaoh reigned over the prosperous civilization of the Nile. He had huge temples built in honor of his gods. His gravesite is still visible today in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor. Yet Pharaoh was unable to stop God from liberating his people. Through Moses, who had no army or political standing in the Egyptian court, God freed his people from slavery.

Today God frees us from slavery too. Until we are saved through Jesus, we are slaves to sin. We are subjects of the world’s great powers; we are at the mercy of Satan. We have grown accustomed to our addictions. We need liberation. Moses showed Pharaoh that God had more power than all of the Egyptian gods combined. The gods of the Nile, of the cattle, of the harvest, and so on were all shown to be powerless in comparison to the God of Israel.

Today false gods inhabit power structures as well. There are political powers, economic powers, military powers, familial powers, and corporate powers that oppress people. Yet God is stronger than all of them. Jesus, God’s Son, delivers us from all these powers, and he has already freed us from their grip, paying the price of sin and canceling the power of death for our sake.

Lord Jesus, help us to trust in you to deliver us. Free us from the oppressive powers we face today. Strengthen us to follow you. Amen.

“Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

— Matthew 11:29

Did God rest after creating the world because he was tired? No. When God rested, he set up a pattern for his people to follow so that they could take time to rest and to worship him (see Exodus 20:8-11). Finding our rest in God provides peace, as God intends for us all.

God wants his people to be able to live in a good, peaceful place where they can rest—that is, where they can flourish and have full life. God brought his people Israel out of slavery for that purpose. But Israel rebelled and failed to believe that God could provide that for them. So they did not inherit God’s promised rest even though God eventually brought them to the land he had promised them (Numbers 13-14; Judges 2; Hebrews 3:7-4:11).

Later God sent Jesus to show the way. Jesus knew that God could overcome any enemy that tried to prevent him from living God’s way and entering God’s promised rest. Jesus lived faithfully, trusting in all of God’s promises. And he finished the work God had sent him to do.

We all work, and we all need rest. But none of us can do the job that will bring us eternal rest. Jesus has done that for us, however—so now all we need to do is follow him. We can rest and find peace in God through the work that Jesus has completed on our behalf.

Dear God, forgive us when we fail to believe and trust that you will bring us into your rest. We cannot find the way to full life on our own. Help us to follow the Savior, Jesus. Amen.

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

— Matthew 4:10

It’s easy for us to be tempted. There are temptations everywhere—within our hearts and coming at us from all sides. Satan provides a master class on temptation in Genesis 3. He begins by suggesting that God is keeping us from enjoying something good. “Did God really say you can’t eat anything in this garden? Poor soul.” And when we feel we are missing out on something, the devil adds, “You can do this. Nothing bad will happen.” Then the thing we want looks good, and we think it will do us good. And we say, “Yes, that’s what I want. I’ll try it. It won’t hurt.”

But it doesn’t work out that way. Right and wrong are really built into the universe. Just as God created limits for the waters and times for light and dark, he also created limits for our moral behavior. The first command—don’t eat the fruit of that one tree, was the initial moral law testing our parents’ obedience. That has since been expanded into God’s law for his people, summarized in Exodus 20, Micah 6:8, Matthew 22:37-40, and other passages. And we are tempted to break all of it. We dishonor God and hurt people. We lust, we envy, we get angry over trivialities. And yielding to these can lead into adultery, theft, and violence.

Thank God that Jesus resisted all of Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4:1-11). He represents us in all his perfection before God’s throne.

Father, thank you for sending Jesus and for crediting us with his perfection. Through his finished work we can stand before you. Amen.

Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

— Colossians 2:15

We can tell from the story in Genesis 3 that a conflict was already going on behind the scenes when Adam and Eve sinned. As Revelation 12:7 describes it, “War broke out in heaven.” The devil, or Satan, rebelled against God and was thrown out with his rebellious followers. And they have been trying ever since to rule the world in their way, battling against God and trying to drag us humans along with them.

The serpent who tempted Adam and Eve to sin is described in Revelation 12:9 as “that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” He tempted God’s children, created in God’s image, to disobey the Lord, and we caused a lot of grief for our Father.

But the devil and his destructive forces are really no match for God. God sent his own Son, Jesus, to be born as a human being. And Jesus’ mission was to rescue his siblings from the mess they got into when they fell into sin. He laid down his own life to pay the price for human sin. As he did that, he disarmed the devil’s “powers and authorities . . . triumphing over them by the cross.” Then Jesus rose again, victorious over death, so that we can have eternal life with him (1 Corinthians 15:55-56)!

We still face battles with temptations today. What do you struggle with? Alcohol, greed, porn, abuse, power? These and more create spiritual battles. Call on Jesus, who won the battle for us.

Lord Jesus, help us to share in your victory over evil today. Amen.

If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

— 2 Corinthians 5:17

God loves, reasons, and creates. So do his children, made in his image and likeness. But instead of honoring the good, doing the right, and creating the lovely, we fell into sin (Genesis 3). As a result, we despise, pervert, and destroy our world and our relationships. Though we are still able to do some good (by the grace of God), it is painfully obvious that we do not live up to our created potential. We willfully do wrong, hurt others, and destroy.

It is hard to imagine the disappointment and heartbreak God must have felt when we first turned against him. God might well have destroyed humanity and started over. And in a way he did make a new start. God sent his Son, Jesus, to bear his image without falling into sin; Jesus was fully human, like us in every way (see John 1:14; 3:16-18; Hebrews 2:17; 4:15). He loves and thinks and creates as a human made in God’s image should. He hit the restart button on human nature.

The miracle of salvation through Jesus is that we can become part of the new creation and the new world he creates. We can become part of God’s family again. With the new life he makes possible for us, Jesus saves!

Dear Jesus, thank you for being the first responder for all of creation. You have given us a new start. Help us to live faithfully in your name. Amen.

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”

— Revelation 22:12-13

The closing words of Revelation 22 provide a fitting conclusion to our study of Jesus’ letters to the churches—and all of this applies to his worldwide church today.

The churches in Revelation 2-3 were praised according to their faithfulness, and they were challenged to continue in spite of opposition and persecution to the point of death.

Here Jesus blesses his followers and urges them to await his glorious return. “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”

The Revelation of Jesus Christ has been given to supply the church with courage and hope, grounded in the One who is the Son of God. He gave his lifeblood as payment for our sin, and he is the Son of Man who sits at the right hand of God the Father, reigning over the church and ruling over all the kings of the earth. Jesus is Lord over all. Nothing has happened or will happen apart from his rule. The church, by faith in Jesus Christ, will gather at the banquet of the kingdom and will live forever with him in the new heaven and new earth.

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Lord Jesus, thank you for your letters to the churches, encouraging us and giving us hope, calling us to repent, serve, and stand strong in you. Guide us into your future for your church today. Amen.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.”

— Revelation 3:20

Knock, knock jokes can be fun and amusing—and yet some can induce groans. But Jesus’ knock at the door in his letter to Laodicea was no joke.

As we have learned, the Laodiceans were so bad off that Jesus threatened to spit them out of his mouth. But he also graciously knocks, wanting to provide forgiveness and to join with his followers in the banquet prepared for everyone in God’s eternal kingdom.

This invitation has continued throughout history. Believers who respond are sinners saved by God’s amazing grace, restored and revived through Jesus. He is at the right hand of God the Father, who is, and was, and always will be. We can find comfort in this today and tomorrow and forever.

As Jesus explained, he rebukes and disciplines those whom he loves. When you sense his love toward you, he is knocking at your door, calling for repentance and offering real, full life. Do not wait or be slow to remember. Repent and obey.

The repentant person is met by the presence of Jesus, “the Amen, the faithful and true witness,” standing at the door of their heart, awaiting their response. When his call is received by a repentant heart, Jesus promises to come in and eat with that person, enjoying the kingdom banquet. The scene is that of victory, salvation, and full life with the Lord of lords and King of kings. No joke!

Loving Savior, thank you for coming not only to invite me to your banquet but also to lay down your life to pay for my sin. Help me to live faithfully for you. Amen.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

— Hebrews 13:5

Stock market values can make people wealthy or poor. Money is not a good god; it cannot love you, nor can it give you eternal life. The one true God, however, has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” The church in Laodicea had a big problem. Because their lukewarm attitude caused a less than effective ministry, Jesus warned them that he was about to spit them out of his mouth. They had bank accounts filled with money, tempting their eyes to turn from Jesus toward only themselves. But that made them “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” in Jesus’ eyes.

Jesus did not shut the door on them, but he offered wise financial advice. He advised them to find true wealth in him, and to obtain the pure, white garments of his righteousness rather than the black-wool garments that Laodicea was famous for. And they should invest in the eye medicine of his insight, rather than the medicinal balm their region was known for. Money itself is not the problem, but trusting in money instead of Jesus will bring ruin (see 1 Timothy 6:10). Following the way of Laodicea puts the church at great spiritual risk. Let us thank God that he never leaves us but is always ready to discipline us in love.

Lord and God, rich in grace and mercy, shield us from trusting in money and wealth. Turn our eyes to Jesus, and fill us with your glory and grace. Amen.

“ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

— Revelation 3:15-16

Jesus’ letter to the church at Laodicea is striking. He has nothing positive to say about this church. But he does graciously warn them and call them to repentance, saying, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.” Here Jesus names himself the “Amen,” which means, “So be it” or, in other words, “This is the truth.” Jesus is the true One, and what he says is trustworthy and true. When he speaks, so be it. He is “the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” Jesus rebukes the Laodicean church for its ineffective ministry. The cold mountain water of Colossae, 10 miles away, and the hot mineral water of Hierapolis, six miles away, both served people well. Cold water refreshes, and hot water heals. But Laodicea did not have a natural water source, so when either the cold or hot water made it to them, it was lukewarm and not beneficial. Jesus uses this local situation to describe the ministry of the church. It neither refreshed nor healed; it was putrid. Jesus wished for this church to be either refreshing or therapeutic so that their ministry would be effective. These words were harsh but needed. The Spirit calls us to search our hearts too. Does Jesus’ rebuke apply to us in our churches today? Have we become lukewarm? Do we rely on wealth instead of the Lord?

Lord Jesus, fill us with your Spirit of truth. Forgive and renew us, we pray. Amen.