Pastor Gary's OYB Devotion Archive for February 6

JESUS ALWAYS GETS IT RIGHT!

From: February 6, 2024

“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34 ESV).

Many have pointed to this verse to say that Jesus got it wrong. For the generation to which Jesus spoke has passed and the end has not yet come. Even C.S. Lewis, the normally staunch defender of Scripture, despaired over this verse. Yet, let us lean on the verse before it and the one after it to help with our understanding.

First, the verse after it says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Jesus doesn’t seem uncertain here. In fact, he seems very certain. He says we can trust His Word more than we can trust the universe’s existence. So, I’m sure Jesus didn’t get it wrong. We might understand it wrongly, but He didn’t get it wrong.

Second, the verse before it says, “When you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates” (Matt. 24:33). Jesus said that those who would see “all these things” would be the “generation” that would live to see His coming. Jesus was not speaking of the first century generation in his hearing, but of the one that would be alive when “all these things” come to pass.

Now, certainly some of the things, like the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, did happen during the generation that heard Christ’s words. So, one might say that “this generation” referred to two fulfillments. The first being a foreshadowing sign and the second, yet to come.

However we work this out (and we could all be wrong in our interpretation), we must never despair that Jesus got it wrong. Jesus always gets it right!

PRAYER: Dear Father, we trust Your Word. Help us with our understanding. Give us insight by Your Holy Spirit as we study and meditate on Your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.

PUT ON YOUR NEW CLOTHES OF JOY

From: February 6, 2023

“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11 NLT).

When we receive God’s comfort, He not only wipes away our tears, He strengthens our weak knees and sagging spirits, so that our “mourning is turned into dancing.” This comfort flows to us in such abundance as to produce an overflow, a surplus that is meant for sharing with others. Imagine the drastic transformation of the disciples on Easter morning and you get a sense of this comfort that moved them from discouragement to delight.

The Lord Jesus has not only redeemed us from sin and death, He has purchased for us a new spiritual wardrobe. Yet, we must put off our old clothes of mourning and put on the new. How? Ask. Ask not only for help removing the old sadness, the old discouragement, the old clothes. Sure, ask for that. But especially ask for the new clothing. Reach into the Holy Spirit’s closet and put on joy! It’s there for the taking and for the wearing for those who would walk in the Spirit.

Have you taken off the old mourning clothes and put on your new clothes of joy today?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give You our grief and mourning and You replace it with joy and dancing. For in You is all joy. Death is defeated. Sin’s chains are broken. We are adopted as God’s children in Your name. Your joy is now ours! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord’s instructions” (Exodus 24:4 NLT).

From: February 6, 2022

GOD SPOKE AND MEN WROTE

The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses under God’s inspiration. This is how the Bible came to be: God spoke and men wrote. Paradoxically both fully human and fully divine. The Bible contains sixty-six books written by over forty God-inspired human authors of various cultures and backgrounds, over a period of 1600 years in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to form one book. There’s no other book like it!

The apostle Paul said, “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16). The apostle Peter wrote, “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). So, the Bible came to be as it began: God spoke and men wrote.

But what of its relevance and authority today? Jesus answered, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). And He also said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matt. 24:35).

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for Your Word. It is food to our souls and light for our path. We love Your Word. As we read it today we ask that You would apply it to our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, so that we are transformed in our thinking. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord” (Exodus 24:4 NKJV).

From: February 6, 2020

HOW THE BIBLE CAME TO BE

The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses under God’s inspiration. This is how the Bible came to be: God spoke and men wrote. Paradoxically both fully human and fully divine. The Bible contains sixty-six books written by over forty God-inspired human authors of various cultures and backgrounds, over a period of 1600 years in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to form one book. There’s no other book like it!

The apostle Paul said, “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16). The apostle Peter wrote, “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). So, the Bible came to be as it began: God spoke and men wrote.

But what of its relevance and authority today? Jesus answered, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matt. 24:35).

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for Your Word. It is food to our souls and light for our path. We love Your Word. As we read it today we ask that You would apply it to our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, so that we are transformed in our thinking. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11 NLT).

From: February 6, 2019

HAVE YOU PUT ON THE NEW CLOTHES OF JOY?

When we receive God’s comfort, He not only wipes away our tears, He strengthens our weak knees and sagging spirits, so that our “mourning is turned into dancing.” This comfort flows to us in such abundance as to produce an overflow, a surplus that is meant for sharing with others. Imagine the drastic transformation of the disciples on Easter morning and you get a sense of this comfort that moved them from discouragement to delight.

Have you taken off the old mourning clothes and put on the new clothes of joy?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, we give You our grief and mourning and You replace it with joy and dancing. For in You is all joy. Death is defeated. Sin’s chains are broken. We are adopted as God’s children in Your name. We shall “go out leaping as calves from the stall” (Mal. 4:2). In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor” (Exodus 23:14 NLT).

From: February 6, 2018

The Lord commanded that three annual festivals be celebrated in His honor. These festivals were:

1) The Feast of Passover

2) The Feast of Pentecost

3) The Feast of Tabernacles

The Lord may have had other reasons for commanding these festivals, but several reasons seem apparent:

1) To perpetuate remembrance of what God had done.

2) To keep them faithful to the Lord

3) To put seasons of rest and celebration in the annual calendar

4) To offer instruction, as the appropriate Scripture was read at each festival.

5) To renew their corporate identity as they came from all over Israel to the Temple to celebrate together.

6) To pass on the spiritual legacy of God’s people to the next generation.

“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him” (Exodus 23:20-21 NKJV).

From: February 6, 2017

Who is this “Angel?”

The word in the Hebrew means “messenger.” So, some say it refers to Moses. Others suggest it was the archangel Michael. Some Jewish scholars say it refers to the Hebrew Scriptures. But let us consider the clues given in the Lord’s description of this unidentified “Angel.”

Clues to the identity of the “Angel:”

1) Masculine singular pronouns “He” and “Him” are used.

2) He goes before the Israelites to “keep” them.

3) He goes before them to lead (“bring”) them to a …

4) A place He has prepared for them.

5) They were to beware and obey His voice.

6) The Lord’s “name is in Him.”

I believe this “Angel” is the second person of the Trinity, the preincarnate Christ, the Son of God. It was Christ who kept and brought the Israelites through the wilderness, giving them manna to eat and water to drink. It was Christ who prepared the Promised Land for them. It was Christ who had the “NAME” and nature of the Lord “in” Him. No angel or man would have all these attributes. Yet, they did not obey His voice, but provoked Him, so that most of that adult generation died in the wilderness without seeing the Promised Land.

“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34 ESV)

From: February 6, 2016

Many have pointed to this verse to say that Jesus got it wrong. Even C.S. Lewis, the normally staunch defender of the faith, despaired over this verse. Yet, I lean on the verse before it and the one after it to help with my understanding.
First, the verse after it (Matt. 24:35) says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Jesus doesn’t seem uncertain here. In fact, he seems very certain. He says we can trust His Word more than we can trust the universe’s existence. So, I’m sure Jesus didn’t get it wrong. We might understand it wrongly, but He didn’t get it wrong.
Second, the verse before it (Matt. 24:33) says, “When you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.” Jesus said that those who would see “all these things” would be the “generation” that would live to see His coming. Jesus was not speaking of the first century generation in his hearing, but of the one that would be alive when “all these things” come to pass.
Now, certainly some of the things, like the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, did happen during the generation that heard Christ’s words. So, one might say that “this generation” referred to two fulfillments. The first being a foreshadowing sign and the second, yet to come.
However we work this out (we could all be wrong in our interpretations), we must never despair that Jesus got it wrong. Jesus always gets it right!

“And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord” (Exodus 24:4 NKJV)

From: February 6, 2015

How the Bible came to be: God spoke and men wrote. Paradoxically both fully human and fully divine. Sixty-six books written by over 40 God-inspired human authors of various cultures and backgrounds, over a period of 1600 years in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to form one book, the Bible, God’s Word. There’s no other book like it. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of God never will!

“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11 NLT)

From: February 6, 2014

When we receive God’s comfort, He not only wipes away our tears, He strengthens our weak knees and sagging spirits, so that our “mourning is turned into dancing.” This comfort flows to us in such abundance as to produce an overflow, a surplus that we can share with others. Imagine the drastic transformation of the disciples on Easter morn and you get a sense of this comfort that moved them from discouragement to delight.