February 15, 2016: Jesus Changes People

Luke 3:15-20

John’s task was to “prepare the way.” Jesus’ task was to be “the way.” John’s task was to call people to repentance, to change on the outside. Jesus’ task was to invite people to relationship with God and to change on the inside.

A little girl had been naughty. Her exasperated mother finally told her to sit in the corner until her father came home. The little girl stomped over to the corner, folded her arms defiantly across her chest, pouted angrily, and refused to sit down. At this point her mother came over and literally forced her to sit. When the father arrived home he asked his daughter what she was doing in the corner. She replied, “On the outside I’m sitting, but on the inside I’m still standing.”

We can relate to that. On the outside we can make changes, but until we are changed on the inside it makes little difference. Jesus changes people from the inside out. That’s what excited John the Baptist! That’s why John called Jesus “the One more powerful.” That’s why John pointed away from himself to Jesus, the one sent from God to set people free from self-centered living. Jesus is still in the business of transforming lives from the inside out. Open your heart to the master and he will shape you into the beautiful person he knows you can be.

Prayer: Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today. Come in to stay. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Today’s devotional was written by Anthony Vis, a retired pastor in the RCA. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org. 

February 13, 2016: Simeon and Anna

Luke 2:22-38

…salvation…which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples (vv. 30-31).

In his Gospel, Luke will later show Jesus reaching out to “all sorts and conditions of men,” to use a phrase from the Book of Common Prayer. However, first he wants to introduce two more Jewish people, Simeon and Anna. They are old, like Zechariah and Elizabeth, and like them they are steeped in the old faith of Israel, harkening back to God’s ancient promises.

But so far from being stuck in the past, these two are now looking to the future. Mary’s son, Jesus, has been born, and it is the baby Jesus that Simeon and Anna encounter on this unforgettable day.

God has given them the spirit of prophecy, both to see and to say what is really happening. God’s people have long been awaiting the “consolation of Israel” and the “redemption of Jerusalem,” and now here he is! More than that, he will be “a light for revelation to the gentiles” as well as “glory to your people Israel.”

The great hope for the nations, for the people of every kind and background whom Luke will be describing, is in this child alone. How indebted we all are to God’s Old Testament preparation for his coming.

Prayer: Thank you for this light from the past that still illuminates the path ahead of us.

Today’s devotional was written by Michael Wilcock, a retired pastor in the Church of England. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

February 12, 2016: Finding God in Unexpected Places

Luke 2:1-7

And she gave birth to her firstborn son (v. 7)…

I wonder how Mary felt when she looked at her newborn child the way mothers do—studying every hair on his little head, every crease on his wrinkled face. I wonder if she understood the enormity of what had happened. The promised Messiah had been born at last, and there he was, cradled in her arms.

God’s handiwork is nowhere more difficult to see than when it occurs in your own life. Our own lives are too familiar, too common, to sense the mystery of God pulsing through them. But Mary knew that God had acted in her life, and there in the manger was the proof of it.

Mary understood that God is at work in unexpected places. And from Mary you can learn that God is at work in the most unexpected place of all—your life. Your marriage. Your job. Your family. Your church.
“She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger…” Would you ever have expected to find God in a manger—a feed box for animals? No. But you’d never expect to find God in your own life, either. Yet that is where God is.

God acts in the lives of real people. Like Mary. Like you. And Christmas is the proof of it.

Prayer: Lord, be in my life.

Today’s devotional was written by Lou Lotz, the pastoral leader of Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visitwww.woh.org.

February 10, 2016: A Theophilus Near You

Luke 1

I too decided . . . to write an orderly account for you (v. 3).

Luke’s Gospel is special in many ways, not the least of which is that it is the only book of the Bible written by a gentile with obvious concerns for gentiles. Right at the outset Luke introduces us to a friend named Theophilus whom he knows and will carry along in his heart as he writes. Luke also tells us why he writes—so that Theophilus “may know the truth concerning the things about which [he] has been instructed” (v. 4). Somewhere, somehow, a gentile named Theophilus, whose name means Lover of God, came to know and love the Lord, and now Luke intends to contribute to his spiritual well-being by both informing and deepening that love.

Do you have a “Theophilus” in your life to love toward the Lord? Throughout history God has used basic kindness and concern for those outside the faith to effect a change of heart. I want you to give serious consideration to connecting with a Theophilus near you. C. S. Lewis is reported to have said, “If I had one piece of advice to give young people it would be to do all that they can to live near their friends.” As you read these devotionals, consider a friend with whom you might share them. If you do not, then who will?

Prayer: Make us available, Lord, to a Theophilus in our lives.

Today’s devotional was written by Tim Brown, president and Henry Bast professor of preaching at Western Theological Seminary. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visit www.woh.org.

Lent Devotions

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April 22: The End of the Gospel

Posted: 21 Apr 2014 06:59 AM PDT

Read: Mark 16:1-8

And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them . . . (v. 8 ESV)

The oldest and most accurate copies of Mark end with verse 8, which says that when the women who came to the garden on Easter morning found Jesus’ grave empty, they “went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

It’s an odd way to end a gospel, and people have been offering explanations and alternative conclusions ever since. But the basic facts are clear in Mark’s account. Jesus of Nazareth, the same man who was crucified, died, and was buried, rose again from the dead. His tomb was found to be empty on Easter morning. These facts powerfully declared that Jesus was the Son of God, as the apostle Paul would write in his letter to the Romans (Romans 1:4).

Here’s a thought. Maybe Mark’s ending is really just the beginning. Maybe we are supposed to supply the gospel’s succeeding chapters, as we go out into all the world with the good news that Jesus is alive, that he has conquered sin and the grave.

So what are we waiting for? The story isn’t finished yet. There’s still more to be written! –David Bast

Prayer: Lord Jesus, come and finish your work of salvation!

Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/.

Lent Devotions

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April 21: Freedom

Posted: 20 Apr 2014 07:08 PM PDT

Read: Romans 6:5-11

Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. (v. 9)

When I was a student a popular folk song called Abraham, Martin and John referred to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy. It was a sad song, with a haunting refrain:
Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people but
It seems the good, they die young . . .
Abraham, Martin and John.

Why doesn’t Jesus fit this song? He was a good man who died young. So why don’t we sing sad songs about him? After all, we call the day the stock market crashed “Black Monday.” Why do we call the day Jesus died “Good Friday”?

Because we know how it all turned out. New Testament scholar Marcus Borg has observed that if there hadn’t been an Easter Sunday, there would be no Good Friday. He means that if Jesus had not risen from the dead, no one would have bothered to remember the story of his death. Crucifixions weren’t memorable, but a resurrection certainly was! So we know that death was not the end for Jesus. By his resurrection Jesus truly has “freed a lot of people.” United to him in faith, we have died to sin’s penalty and are alive to God, free to live for him. –David Bast

Prayer: Help me die to sin and live to you.

Words of Hope is an international media ministry, founded and owned by classes of the RCA, dedicated to building the church in the hard places. The Words of Hope devotional encourages readers to grow spiritually through daily Bible readings and prayer. To subscribe, please visit: woh.org/word/devotionals/.