Online Devotions: boldness in Christ

Showing posts with label boldness in Christ. Show all posts

Sunday, June 17, 2018

When Jesus Got In Satan's Face

June 17 (Matthew 4:10)

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” (ESV)

We often read the temptation of Jesus as a story about the power of knowing Scripture and using it to fight temptations in our own lives. This is a perfectly good way to read the story, and indeed Jesus does use Scripture to combat Satan. Yet if Jesus really is God, the second person of the Trinity and the Lord of all, then there is another way to see this interaction between Him and Satan.

Picture it. There is Jesus, exhausted in His humanity from forty days of fasting, and the smiling, oily, manipulating tempter approaches, challenging His identity as the Son of God by suggesting He turn stones into bread. Jesus fills His lungs with hot, desert air and replies that man doesn’t live by bread alone (verses 3-4). Satan tries again (verses 5-7) by suggesting He throw Himself off the top of the temple in Jerusalem. This time there is fire in Jesus’s eyes when answers, “Don’t tempt the Lord your God!” Remember, He is not only a human quoting Scripture, He is also talking about Himself. He is God and He is the Lord. It is as if He is saying, “Back off, if you know what’s good for you,” for tempting God is exactly what the devil is doing. And then the tempter shows his hand. He wants to be God himself and commands Jesus to worship him. This time there is thunder in His voice and lightning flashing from His dark eyes. “Get out of here, Satan! YOU will worship ME!”

This is not a story about a super nice guy at church who has a Bible verse ready for all occasions. This is the story of your big brother stepping in between you and your enemy and getting in that enemy’s face. And the natural response of any child, and we are all children before God, is to say, “I want to be just like Him when I grow up!”

Jesus, I do want to be just like You. I want to be strong in the face of weakness and steadfast in the face of temptation. Make the words of Scripture become my own flesh and help me to stand boldly against all that comes my way, just as You did. Amen.

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Can You Live Your Faith By Hiding It?

July 16 (Matthew 25:25)

[S]o I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours. (ESV)

In one of his standup routines, comedian George Carlin talked about how he plots an exit path on an airplane in case of an emergency. He said he identifies the people he can step on, knock over, and push out of the way so he can get out and help others. The humor, of course, comes from the absurdity of doing something bad just to have the opportunity to do something good, yet how many of us live life this way?

Perhaps you have found a way to serve God with the talents He has given you. As time goes by, however, you find that you must keep quiet about certain issues or lend your support to that which is not Christian just to be able to do what you had thought was so good. At what point do you become like the comedian, participating in that which is wrong in an attempt to do what is right? When do you become like the man in the parable of the talents that Jesus told, effectively burying your gifts and your calling in the ground?

Each moment of every day, you face a choice to do one thing or to do another. Stop turning your life into a chess game in which you are trying to determine what to do right now by looking twelve moves into the future. Do what God is calling to you at this moment and let Him worry about the next move. Jesus Himself said not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has its own decisions for you to make. Do what is right and what is right in front of you right now.

Father, help me to live my faith out loud, not as a show, but as a light and witness because I cannot see anything else with my eyes fixed unwaveringly on You. Help me to cease being afraid of my passion for You unleashed, but rather help me to yield fully to it. In the mighty name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Live Boldly In Christ

May 7 (Isaiah 50:7-8)

But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. (ESV)

It is foolish to court trouble, but it is also cowardly and, dare I say it, unchristian to flee from it in fear. You follow the Lord. You have acknowledged before God and men that Jesus is your savior. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. That is a powerful biography, and it is yours. So what does it mean?

For one thing, it means God is your helper and you will not be disgraced. You can set your face like flint and be bold. In fact, you can say to your troubles and fears, your obstacles and difficulties, “Bring it on!” It means that you can face anything…anything…in complete confidence that you have the strength you need and it is not your own, but that of the Lord your God.

There are advantages in this life to following Jesus, you know. The Christian life is not just about what happens in eternity. Oh, you may be persecuted for it and suffer more mightily than those who revel in their sin, but unlike them, you have genuine power and a true reason for boldness. So get out there and live like the son or daughter of the living God that you actually are!

Lord, I have lived too timidly. Worse yet, I have sometimes confused timidity with humility and gentleness and mistakenly believed it was what You wanted. Forgive me. Help me to go forth boldly, contend with all that opposes me, and do all in the strength of Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.