A. Little Devotional

*This is the third post of a four-part Christmas series.

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called wonderful, counselor, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

Much of my life I have heard that I act just like my dad. It doesn’t help that we have the same middle name. As I’ve gotten older, I laugh because now I’ve started to see the similarities in our mannerisms. To make matters worse, I then named my son after me, and he’s had to endure people saying we look just alike all of his life. Now that he’s a grown man, I’m sure he sees his resemblance to me. Lots of fathers and sons go through this, but this verse presents a unique case.

Isaiah didn’t write that Jesus would be similar to his Father in His looks and His behavior. He said that Jesus IS God. He called Jesus mighty God and everlasting Father. He used these attributes that describe God to describe Jesus because Jesus is God. Throughout scripture we are reminded that Jesus is God. Isaiah said He was to be called Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23). John called Jesus the Word and said that the Word was with God and the Word was God (John 1:1). Jesus Himself even said that He and the Father are One (John 10:30). How cool is it that God Himself came and dwelt among us in the Person of His Son all those years ago? Even now God still exists as a triune being – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As Isaiah said, He’s mighty and everlasting. He existed before time began, and will forevermore, all three parts of Him.

There will always be great father-son combinations, like me and my dad, or me and my son. But God and Jesus are the G.O.A.T. Father-Son combo. They are literally One and the same.

*This is the second post of a four-part Christmas series.

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called wonderful, COUNSELOR, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

Counseling and therapy have often gotten a bad rap, especially from men. We tend to think that we don’t need to talk through our problems with anyone, especially not a stranger. We also tend to think that no help can be given to us from someone who has no idea what we’re going through. While I don’t agree with most of these thoughts, I do understand them. And I have felt like people don’t really know what I’ve been through. That’s why I love the fact that we can go to Jesus with all of our problems. He is the ultimate Counselor.

In Hebrews 4:15, the writer reassures us that we serve a High Priest (Jesus) who sympathizes with our weaknesses because while He was on earth He was tempted in every way. Jesus knows how we we feel because He’s been here and faced the same struggles we face. All throughout the gospels we can see where Jesus felt temptation (Mark 1:12-13), frustration (Luke 9:41), sadness and grief (John 11:35), anxiety (Luke 22:41-42) and even abandonment (Matthew 27:46). Some married guys might argue, “yeah but He wasn’t married so He doesn’t know my pain.” Well, to that I’d say His Dad actually invented marriage, so I’m pretty sure He has the inside track on that as well.

With Christ we don’t have to worry about if we’re talking to someone who knows what we’re feeling. He knows. So talk to Him about whatever is troubling you. He’ll listen. He’ll comfort. He’ll advise. Counselors do that.

*This is the first post of a four-part Christmas series.

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called WONDERFUL, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

It’s the time of year again where we celebrate the birth of our Savior. So, in the next four weeks, I will be doing a deep dive into one of the most popular scriptures of the Bible – Isaiah 9:6. Isaiah offers arguably the most complete prophecy concerning Jesus in the Old Testament, which always amazes me considering he was prophesying over 700 years before Christ was born. The book of Isaiah covers the birth, life and death of Jesus. And this verse is one of the most quoted.

In Isaiah 9, Isaiah prophesies about the birth of Jesus. In verse 6, he uses several adjectives to describe Jesus. The first that he uses is WONDERFUL. The Hebrew word used here that translates into the English word wonderful is pele. When I looked this word up, I noted two definitions. The first says that pele means “an astonishing, hard to understand thing.” The second definition says pele describes “a great work as an act of intercession.” As I think about what the birth of Jesus means to me and everyone in the world, I don’t think Isaiah could’ve selected a more appropriate word to begin his list of adjectives.

I will never understand the grace of God, in that He sent His only Son to die for a world that truly didn’t deserve such an act. As Paul says in Romans 5:8, “…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The world was mired in sin and had no hope of redemption. And God knew long before He sent His Son that we would need saving (Isaiah 46:9-10). So Jesus was born, lived and died in the greatest act of intercession the world has ever known. And now salvation is available to all who confess and believe in Him (Romans 10:9).

It’s so hard to describe what God did for us. As Isaiah said, the birth of Jesus, and Jesus Himself, is wonderful.

“He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?'” Luke 10:26 NKJV

One of the most popular parables in the Bible is The Good Samaritan. Jesus uses this story to illustrate how we are to treat one another, i.e. loving our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). He’s also defining the word “neighbor” for His audience.

While this is a very valuable parable and teaching, we must also pay attention to His initial response. This passage (Luke 10:25-37) opens with a lawyer testing Jesus (as they often did) by asking Him about the way to gain eternal life. Jesus asked him two simple questions: what is written in the Law? & what is your understanding of it? As we are to emulate Jesus in our lives, I think these two questions should always be in the forefront of our minds. In this day and age, we frequently wrestle with the various issues of life, and we spend countless amounts of time debating over them and/or being confused by them. We’d save a great deal of time by starting with asking ourselves those two questions. In their answers lies the wisdom of the Lord.

So next time you’re wondering about an issue in your life (e.g. should I watch this movie, should I apologize, is what I’m doing a sin, etc.), put W.W.J.D. in action and ask yourself:

What does the Word say? What is my understanding of it?

*This is the fourth part in a four-part series on commonly misused scriptures.

“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.” Malachi 3:8

This scripture is perhaps the most often misused scripture that I encounter. It’s often recited as a prelude to the offering at many churches. I’ve seen pastors and ministers use it as a way to “strongly encourage” congregants to give, some going so far as to attach the curses from the subsequent verses in the chapter to congregants’ perceived disobedience for not tithing. While other ministers are more subtle in their approach, the fact remains that tithing is actually a practice under Mosaic Law. And we have been freed from the Law (Gal. 3:24-25, Rom. 6:14, II Cor. 3:14-16).

In Deuteronomy, Moses lays out the Law for the Israelites. In chapter 14, he offers an explicit system for giving that was based on the tithe. Failure to adhere to tithing was penalized pretty severely (Lev. 5:14-16, 27:31-32). But remember, the reason Jesus came was because none of us can be saved by the Law. As He said in Matthew 5:17, He came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. His death completely fulfilled the Law, freeing us from it, and it sealed a new covenant. The new covenant justifies us by grace through faith.

But does all this mean we are free from GIVING? Nope! We are still to give under the new covenant. (II Cor. 9:7, Heb. 13:16). God still wants us to give, but He wants us to give freely, without compulsion. The 10% required of the tithe is a great benchmark to utilize. Even Abram used this standard before the Law required it (Gen. 14:17-20). If you can give 10% or more, do it. If you can’t, give what you can. God wants you to give according to your means and your heart. And most importantly, God wants you to understand that you are righteous through the death of His Son, not through your obedience to the Law.

As with all of the scriptures I shared in this series, please do your own research and let the Spirit guide your understanding. Be blessed.

*This is the third part in a four-part series on commonly misused scriptures.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV

This scripture used to cause quite the quandary for me. Because as I understood it, I could literally do anything as long as I prayed hard enough about it. But I found it wouldn’t work out right for me sometimes. For example, I am not very tall, nor very skinny. But I have always wanted to dunk a basketball. Try as I might, I could never get high enough to jam on a regulation goal. And of course at this point I’ve given up on that dream. Fortunately, I now understand the meaning of this verse and the promise that it contains. Unfortunately (for my hoop dreams), it’s not connected to slamming a basketball.

When Paul wrote Philippians, he did so from a Roman prison. Despite his circumstances though, Paul wrote this letter with a tone of gratitude and encouragement for the believers in Philippi. In the last chapter (4) of this letter, Paul told the people to rejoice in the Lord, and to allow His peace to keep their hearts and minds. He also thanked the Philippians for being concerned for him while he was in prison. Though, as Paul relays, he didn’t want them worrying about him, for he was always content in whatever situations he found himself. He had experienced both plenty and lack, success and suffering, and had learned that he could always find joy and peace as long as he had God. That’s the “anything” that he speaks of. And it applies to us too. Regardless of our situations, we can be full of joy and peace. It may get hard, especially in very trying times, but we can do anything when we rely not on our own strength, but on the unfailing strength of the Lord.

*This is the second part in a four-part series on commonly misused scriptures.

“Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”  James 2:17

Often I’ve heard this scripture misused with regards to the term “works.” It seems to be a common belief that James meant we must follow-up our prayers to God with some sort of action that supports our request. I’m not disagreeing with that belief entirely, as often times in the Bible people of God had to pray and then get moving. After all, David would not have slain Goliath if he had not actually gone out and slain Goliath. I’m referring to how we misuse this particular scripture in other situations. For example, someone wants to change jobs. They pray for a new opportunity. Then they go and apply for a job elsewhere. If asked what motivated that decision, they respond with “I prayed and you know faith without works is dead.” The scripture is indeed true, but that type of action is not what James was referring to.

The entire book of James reads like the New Testament version of Proverbs. In it, James offers practical insight on living a life of faith. In chapter 2, James speaks on how believers should treat one another. He begins with speaking on not showing partiality towards the rich at the expense of the poor (v. 1-13), then he speaks on faith and works. James says that our faith is dead if it’s not demonstrated by our works. As he says, even the demons believe in God, but theirs is a dead faith because they have no works (v. 19). Faith is made alive when we show it by serving God and others, by doing good works. As Martin Luther said, “faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone.” We are justified by our faith and our works (v. 24). And a true, living faith will always produce works.

*This is the first in a four-part series on commonly misused scriptures.

“Judge not, that you be not judged.”  Matthew 7:1 NKJV 

One of the most commonly misused scriptures in the Bible is Matthew 7:1. Some like to stop at this verse of the passage without continuing on to understand or relay what the entire passage is saying. This is likely due to the fact that a life free of judgment is a very attractive prospect for many, especially in the culture of “tolerance” that we’re currently living in. Additionally, false doctrines spread the Tupac-ian message that “only God can judge me.”  But that’s just not true.

If you read Matthew 7:1-5, you will see that Jesus isn’t telling us not to judge one another. He’s telling us that we should not judge hypocritically. We cannot judge the behaviors of our brothers and sisters if we ourselves are guilty of the same sins. In verse 5, He instructs us to remove the plank from our own eye AND THEN remove the speck from our brother’s eye. Jesus does not absolve us of the responsibility of judging one another. He just wants us to do it right.

Jesus doesn’t contradict Himself. The Bible doesn’t contradict itself. Jesus says in John 7:24 that we are to judge righteously. Proverbs 31:9 admonishes us to judge righteously. Several other passages direct us to judge one another, but they tell us to do so in love and righteousness. And that’s exactly what Jesus is telling us in Matthew 7.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” I Peter 2:9-10

I remember growing up and always hearing that my brother and I were gonna grow up to be preachers. I remember one of our church members even referred to me as “little preacher.” This was usually a “prophecy” that was bestowed upon any young men and women who showed even a little bit of excitement about being at church. And it wasn’t a bad thing, but it did bring with it a weird bit of pressure. They had me wondering if maybe I had missed a memo from God about my ministry future. As I’ve grown older, I realize that as Christians we are all called to various types of ministry, not just preaching. I also realize, interestingly enough, that we are all our own priests.

In the Old Testament (and New Testament prior to Jesus’ death), the priests were charged with caring for the temple. Another of their main responsibilities was serving as an earthly mediator between men and God. They offered sacrifices on the altar of God to atone for the sins of the believers in their purview. This all changed when with the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The Bible says that the veil of the temple was torn in two (Mark 15:38). This represented a shift in how believers access God. Our high priest/mediator in Heaven is Jesus, while here on earth we no longer need a mediator. We have access to God thru Jesus (which is why we pray “in Jesus’ name”). We are the temple that we should care for (I Corinthians 3:16), and we are to offer sacrifices to God upon the altar of our hearts. Even our very lives are to be sacrificed to Him (Romans 12:1). So, Sister Rogers had it partially right. She should’ve called me “little priest.”

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”  Ephesians 6:11 ESV

I must confess that my wardrobe choices have drastically changed since I began working from home every day because of the pandemic. I usually wear suits and ties to work, particularly when I’m attending meetings or presentations. But now my attire is of two basic categories – daytime pajamas and nighttime pajamas. Even when I have an online meeting for which I must have my camera on, I will wear a dressy shirt up top, but still have on sweats or basketball shorts on the bottom. Adjusting to the new dress code has certainly been a silver lining in this whole ordeal.

However, one attire decision that has not changed is putting on my armor everyday. When writing to the Ephesians, Paul reminded the believers that they (and we) do not ultimately war against men. Our true adversaries are principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness (Eph. 6:12). We are constantly in spiritual battle. Because of this, we cannot expect to fight effectively with man-made weapons or attire. Everyday we should get dressed for spiritual battle by putting on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Only then can we stand against the regular, daily, seemingly nonstop attacks of the enemy. Only then can we persevere and overcome. So while I may be dressing a lot more casually for work these days, I’m always “dressed to the nines” in my spiritual threads.