Category Archives: Devotion

THE WALK OF FAITH

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“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together.”         Genesis 22:6 NIV

 

Abraham and Isaac had a tender walk together up to the top of the mountain. Abraham was bound to be hurting, his heart suffering a piercing pain as though a knife had been thrust into his soul. He would have been preoccupied, in deep, intense thought. As they walked along together, drawing closer to the place of sacrifice, Isaac would have sensed that something was bearing ever so heavily upon his father. Isaac asked where they were going to get a lamb for the sacrifice. Abraham again showed his great trust in the Lord by simply saying that the Lord Himself would provide the lamb for the offering. Abraham knew that the Lord could raise Isaac from the dead if need be. But Abraham also knew that the Lord could stop him and provide a lamb if He so willed. These two beliefs were flooding Abraham’s mind. He had no idea what the Lord was going to do, but he trusted Him. He believed that the Lord would do whatever was necessary to fulfil His promises. What is it that stirs us to sacrifice our lives to the Lord, to make an absolute surrender to Him? Trust! Believing that He has the power to raise us up and use us. And He does! He does have the power to take our lives, raise them up, and use them for His glory throughout the whole world. Will we trust Him?

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, we trust You to take our lives and use them for Your glory.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, we declare, even in processing our surrender, that You have power to raise us up and use us for Your glory throughout the whole world. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 23:23-39

 

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TRUST

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He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”        Genesis 22:5 NIV

 

Absolute surrender means trusting the Lord and His power to raise up and use the sacrifice. Abraham trusted the Lord and trusted every Word the Lord had said. Abraham believed that God would raise up Isaac from the dead, if need be. An astonishing belief, nevertheless, it is exactly what Scripture says. Abraham instructed the servants to wait at the bottom of the mountain while he and Isaac went to the top and worshipped. He then said that both he and Isaac would return. Abraham was not lying to the men, he believed they both would return. Hebrews tells us what Abraham was thinking: God would raise Isaac from the dead, if need be (Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham knew the Lord’s promise was true. His son would live and give rise to nations of people and to the promised seed, the Saviour of the world. Therefore, the Lord would raise Isaac from the dead, if need be, to fulfil His promise. Abraham’s trust in the Lord had grown so much that he believed that the Lord would resurrect Isaac. Abraham was learning what total surrender meant. He was casting himself completely upon the Lord and His promise. Let’s keep in mind, Abraham had never seen any person raised from the dead. But the thought crossed his mind, and he gave great thought to the idea. He believed that the Lord would raise Isaac to fulfil His promise. What faith! What great belief in the Lord, His promises and His power! Abraham was surrendering to God all the way through this experience.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, we trust Your promises and power in the process of surrender.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, thank You that as we process our absolute surrender to You, we, like Abraham can trust You, Your promises and His power. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 23:1-22

 

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THINKING AND OBEYING

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“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.”        Genesis 22:3 NIV

 

This fact of thinking things through is of extreme importance. While Abraham was thinking through the sacrifice, he was obeying the Lord, and while he was obeying the Lord, he was thinking through the sacrifice. Not understanding the problem did not keep Abraham from obeying the Lord. Abraham was committed to obeying the Lord whether he understood the problem or not. Abraham arose early to begin making preparations. He himself saddled the donkey and cut the wood. He had hundreds of workers, but he did it all himself. Why? He probably did what many of us do when we face problems. He sought solitude in physical work while he thought through the sacrifice and problem. The journey to Moriah took three days. Abraham had three days to think through the sacrifice. Imagine! Three days to either rationalize his way out of the sacrifice or to more deeply surrender himself to the Lord’s command. The sacrifice of our lives to the Lord, making an absolute surrender, demands thought, the deepest and most serious thought possible. Any person who hears God’s call to absolute surrender, to sacrifice their life totally to the Lord must know what they are doing. They must think through the Lord’s call, just what it means to totally sacrifice their life to the Lord. What it means to give up their life, to make an absolute surrender to the Lord. (See Luke 9:23).

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord as we process our absolute surrender, we choose to obey You.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, as we process our surrender, we are reminded that we never can prove the delights of Your love, until all on the altar we lay. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 22:34-46

 

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THINKING THROUGH

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“Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.”            Genesis 22:3 NIV

 

Absolute surrender means thinking through the sacrifice. The Lord’s instructions had pierced Abraham’s heart, cut him to the core. He was hurting within, suffering the most severe pain imaginable. His thoughts were bound to be bouncing around wondering, questioning: How could the Lord tell me to offer my son as a sacrifice? Is this not against His law that forbids murder (Genesis 9:5-6)? How can I sacrifice my own son, the son of my heart and of my life? Would I not rather die myself than him? Why would the Lord want such a thing? Why, O Lord, why? What about the promise? Lord, you promised and gave Your Word that Isaac was the promised son, that he was to be the father of nations, that through his descendants the promised seed would come, the Saviour of the World? If I sacrifice Isaac, how can all this happen? How can you fulfil your promise? How can I ever face Sarah again, or for that matter, face anyone? And what about my testimony before the world? What are the unbelievers going to think—all those who know me? What kind of testimony will this be to them? Lord, sacrificing Isaac does not match Your promise. I cannot reconcile all this in my mind. How can You fulfil Your promise if I do this thing? How could you ask me to sacrifice Isaac? Abraham’s inability to resolve the problem did not keep him from obeying the Lord. What is keeping us from obeying the Lord?

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Trust and obey for there is no other way.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, we never can prove the delights of Your love until all on the altar we lay. For the favour You show and the joy You bestow, are for those who will trust and obey. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 22:15-33

 

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KNOWING YOUR OWN HEART

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Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”        Genesis 22:2 NIV

 

The Lord did not test Abraham that Abraham might prove himself to the Lord. The Lord knew Abraham’s heart. For the Lord knows all things. But Abraham needed to know his own heart, and all future believers needed a picture of what absolute surrender to the Lord means, a testimony that a person can love the Lord supremely. We can make an absolute surrender and sacrifice of ourselves to the Lord, and discover that the Lord can take care of us, no matter what may confront us. Thus the testing of Abraham took place in order to show and teach several things to both Abraham and succeeding generations. Abraham demonstrated that a person can know the Lord personally. A person can actually have a personal relationship with the Lord. This is shown by the name used for the Lord – Ha ‘Elohim (Genesis 22:1). The Hebrew name here stresses the personal, true LORD. It was the personal, true LORD (Ha ‘Elohim) who spoke to Abraham, not just the Lord (Elohim, the general name used for God). Abraham demonstrated that a person can love the Lord supremely. A person can love the Lord before all else, even before their son or daughter. Abraham demonstrated that a person can glorify the Lord above all else by obeying the Lord’s Word just as it is given, no matter the cost. Abraham demonstrated that a person can be completely surrendered to God and discover one’s own heart.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

All to Jesus I surrender, make me, Saviour, wholly Thine.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

All to Jesus I surrender, make me, Saviour, wholly Thine; Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, truly know that Thou art mine. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 22:1-14

 

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ABSOLUTE SURRENDER

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Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”         Genesis 22:2 NIV

 

The Lord God asked Abraham to do a most difficult thing. To offer his son as a sacrifice to the Lord, the son whom he loved ever so dearly. We need to take note of how the Lord stressed Abraham’s love for his son, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love.” Abraham was given Isaac in his old age. He had been hoping for the promised son for decades, and he had all his dreams wrapped up in him. Why would the Lord demand such a thing from Abraham? Very simply, He was putting Abraham to the supreme test of life, the absolute sacrifice and surrender of himself to the Lord. Step by step the Lord led him to the point of absolute surrender. How? He led Abraham to absolute surrender by taking the most precious thing in his life and leading him to surrender that thing as an offering, as a sacrifice to Him. It was Abraham’s heart, his willingness, his spiritual surrender that the Lord was after, not Isaac’s life. The Lord always has to use the language and the things of our environment if He wishes His message to be communicated and understood. In Abraham’s day the sacrifice of human beings was the supreme act of worship by some of the religions, for example Canaanite religions. When the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham knew exactly what the Lord was saying to him. Abraham knew that the Lord was after the absolute surrender of his heart, his will, his spirit.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

All to Jesus I surrender, worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me, Jesus.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow, worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me, Jesus, take me now. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 21:28-46

 

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THE SUPREME TEST

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Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.          Genesis 22:1 NIV

 

The Lord tests Abraham, putting him in a severe crisis. Let us be reminded, this was not the only major test or crisis Abraham had to face. The Lord has brought Abraham through four very definite crises, each of which was a real exercise of his soul, a real strain upon his heart. First of all, he was called to leave all of his relatives in Ur of the Chaldees. He was just to leave the whole group. That was a real test for Abraham. He didn’t do it very well at the beginning, but, nevertheless, the break finally came. Then there was the test that came with Lot, his nephew. Abraham loved Lot, he wouldn’t have been carrying Lot around with him if he hadn’t. But the time came when they had to separate, and Lot went down to Sodom. Then there was the test with the son of Hagar, Ishmael. Abraham just cried out to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” He loved Ishmael, he hated to be separated from him. Now Abraham comes to this supreme test, the fourth great crisis in his life! He is asked to give up Isaac. Abraham does not quite understand all the details for the very simple reason that God has told him, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called’. Abraham believed God would raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19), but as far as Abraham is concerned, he is willing to go through with the sacrifice. The challenge of absolute surrender!

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, one of the greatest challenges we face is when You call for absolute surrender of our lives, which can only happen when our hearts are totally Yours. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 21:17-22

 

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WORSHIP

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“Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.”          Genesis 21:33 NIV

 

Building good relationships means acknowledging the Lord and our need for His help in building relationships with people. After Abimelech and his military chief left, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. This was a small bush or tree that grows well in desert areas. Its leaves often provide shade to desert travellers. Abraham then worshipped the Lord, calling upon the name of the eternal, everlasting LORD. Abraham, was stressing how the Lord took care of him eternally. How the Lord had brought about a permanent, everlasting covenant for him with Abimelech. How much he needed the Lord’s help to keep this covenant and to live as he should for the remaining years of his life. We all need the help of our Lord in building good relationships with others. We need His help to build relationships that last and do not end. Relationships that endure and do not give up, that live in peace and not argument. We need His help in showing the love of Christ and not hatred, seeking to build up and not destroy. How do we secure the Lord’s help? By doing what Abraham did. Calling upon the name of the Lord, the eternal, everlasting Lord. Ask Him, through the power and ministry of His indwelling Holy Spirit to help us build and maintain good relationships. As Paul declared in 1 Thessalonians 3:12, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Holy Spirit, through Your power touch our relationship with Your love.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Holy Spirit, as You spread the love of Jesus abroad in our hearts, let that same love touch all of our relationships. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 20:17-34

 

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OUR COMMITMENT

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“So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there.”           Genesis 21:31 NIV

 

Building good relationships means consecrating and remembering one’s commitment. Abraham named the place where the covenant was sealed Beersheba. Abraham was memorializing his commitment by naming the place where the commitment was made. The commitment was of critical importance, and Abraham wanted to keep it ever before his mind. Every time he thought or heard of the place Beersheba, he would remember his commitment and renew it before the Lord. May we be reminded each time we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion, of our Lord’s commitment to us and our commitment to Him. In building good relationships, it is absolutely essential for us to remember our commitment to our Lord and others. When we make a commitment, it is made before the Lord as well as before others. We give our word that we will keep the commitment; therefore, we must remember our commitment and do what we promised. The Scriptures are very clear: “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.” (Deuteronomy 23:21); “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37). When we fail to abide by our commitment, it creates mistrust, breaking down our relationship with others. Praise the Lord that He never fails to keep His commitment to us.

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, as You are committed to us, may we keep our commitments.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Lord, we praise You that You are ever faithful and keep Your commitment to us. May we be as diligent in keeping our commitments to others. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

Matthew 20:1-16

 

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GIVING AND SHARING

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Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?” He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”    Genesis 21:28-30 NIV

 

Building good relationships means giving and sharing with one another. Abimelech had already made a gift to Abraham when he returned Sarah and gave him a herd of oxen and sheep. He had also given Abraham the right to live wherever he wished within Philistine territory. Now, to seal the good relationship between them, Abraham made a large gift of sheep and oxen to Abimelech. They then made a covenant between themselves, perhaps sacrificing several of the animals. But this was not all. Abraham made a very special gift of seven female lambs to Abimelech. He made a special gift to help overcome the dispute that had arisen over the well. Abraham reached out beyond what the covenant relationship called for. He made a very special gift to establish their relationship more firmly. Giving and sharing always binds people together. As the Lord has been so giving and sharing His Son with us, let us do the same. We are reminded of these words of Paul to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:17-18), “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

 

PRAYER THOUGHT

Lord, as You are so giving and generous, may we be the same.

 

PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, You have given and shared Your only begotten Son with us, through Your Holy Spirit lead us to be giving and sharing in the same way. AMEN

 

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)

1 Timothy 1:8-11

 

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