Devotions By Jan

Category Archives: Salvation


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The Dove

Scripture for Today: Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” 

This sweet girl looks to be kissing the dove in her hands.  These meek gentle birds have long been a symbol for peace over the centuries and in many different cultures.  And a dove with an olive branch in its beak especially symbolizes peace.  Noah could finally leave his ark with the dove’s return.  There was peace with God in this new beginning on earth.

Today’s verses are a priestly prayer God gave Moses to share with Aaron and his sons for the Israelites.  It is the Lord that gives blessing and protection.  It is the Lord that gives grace with His very presence, and it is only through His favor that we can experience peace.  Mankind has the best chance at establishing peace with one another when first we have made peace with our Maker.  This happens through Christ’s sacrifice, made while we were still His enemies (Rom.5:10).  Jesus made peace possible with God and it is Jesus that makes peace possible between men.

I so ardently want to see change in our world.  The injustices and the  divisions make peace seem an impossible goal.  And on our own I do not see much hope.  But with His face turned our direction, He can give peace.  This is not the same peace that the world offers, which frankly can be short-lived and imperfect (John 14:27).  His peace calms my heart and my fears.  His peace allows me to reach out to those different from myself.  “The problem is not skin, it’s sin.  The solution is not race, it’s grace.”

Thank you Lord, for being my peace-maker.


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Ultimate Sacrifice

Scripture for Today: Mark 12:33 “To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important that ALL burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Today on this Memorial Day we remember the ultimate sacrifice made by so many soldiers who gave their lives for our freedoms.  If it were not for their willingness to put their lives on the line, we would not be enjoying the rights and privileges that we do.  To honor their sacrifice is only right as we are the beneficiaries of their selfless acts of bravery.

Today’s verse talks about a sacrifice that is living.  This sacrifice puts to death one’s own rights and privileges in honor of the One who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.  Christ died to free us from the penalty of our own sin.  And in response to His incredible sacrifice of love, we give Him all of our heart and strength.  Like David, our sacrifice to Him in return is a broken and contrite heart (Ps. 51:17).  And in loving response to His ultimate sacrifice, our bodies become a living sacrifice, living out His good, pleasing and perfect will (Rom. 12:1-2).

To live for His pleasure and to die to my own selfish desires is a constant battle.  Yet, it is what He asks of me as His child.  He is worthy of any and all sacrifice.  And when I compare my small struggles with what He went through for me, well, there is no comparison!  Because of His ultimate sacrifice of love, He has every right to demand “my soul, my life, my all.”   He has my soul.  He even has my life.  It is that “all” part that can be so difficult sometimes.

Lord, help me to surrender all!


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“Fomite”

Scripture for Today: Matthew 8:3 “Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ He said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.”

There seems to be plenty of new-to-me phrases and words during this time of pandemic.  Fomite is one.  It refers to any inanimate object that can harbor germs and spread illness.  A fomite can be anything: a toy, an electronic device, a counter, a door handle or an elevator button, to name a few.  The fomite harbors the germs for a time, transmitting disease when we touch that object.  There are many creative but impractical ways to avoid directly touching anything.  Or one could just be diligent about hand-washing.

There is touch in  today’s verse.  And although what is touched is not inanimate, it was definitely unclean.  Leprosy was thought to be highly contagious and it was required of those who suffered from it to shout out, “unclean” so others would stay away and not get infected.  This man knelt in front of Jesus and affirmed his belief that the Lord could make him clean if He were willing.  Without any thought of contagion, Jesus reaches out His hand and gives him his healing touch.

I could not live without human touch.  And I could not have any kind of spiritual life without His touch.  Thankfully, God does not wait for me to “clean up my act” before I approach Him on bended knee.  If Jesus were unwilling to touch an unclean heart with His forgiveness, I would be lost.  He is pure and holy and yet He was willing to touch this unclean sinner.  By His touch He quickened to life what was spiritually dead in me.

Lord, how grateful I am for the power of Your cleansing healing touch!

 


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The Great Cross

Scripture for Today:  I Corinthians 1:18  “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

The Great Cross stands proudly in St. Augustine, Florida at 208 feet high.  It is certainly tall, but is only the sixth tallest in the world (the tallest being the Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen in Spain).  What makes it so unusual is the fact that it is so slim.  They had to fill the bottom half with concrete to keep it from falling to hurricane force winds.  Built in 1966 it commemorates the start of Christianity in this land and the city’s founding four hundred years prior.

There is another cross whose greatness exceeds any architectural triumph.  Today on Good Friday, we celebrate a cross where death led to life everlasting.  On that cross was made the ultimate loving sacrifice of the Son of God.  Jesus took on Himself every one of our awful sins and healed those who trust Him from its terrible consequences.  The cross for some people is foolishness.  For others it signifies indignity and failure.  But for those who believe, it is the power by which we are saved.

The cross is polarizing.  There is no middle ground.  Like the two thieves crucified with Jesus, there are only two responses.  I either place my trust in Christ as my substitute, or I remain in my sin.  What power in this cross of Jesus!  His power  snatched me from darkness and placed me in His wonderful light! (I Peter 2:9)  Because of the cross I have hope.  I have life, forgiveness, and healing!  The power of the cross is that it cancels the power of my guilt and shame!

Lord, “simply to Thy cross I cling.”

 

 


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Wash Your Hands!

Scripture for Today: Psalm 26:6 “I shall wash my hands in innocence, and I will go about Your altar, O Lord.”

It is an endearing scene when a raccoon looks to be washing his hands!  Perhaps the raccoon has better hygiene than some humans!  Does he care that his hands (and food) are clean?  One would not think so when seeing him rummage through filthy garbage.  In fact, this little guy has poor eyesight and needs to wet his food in order to “see” it better.  What is so surprising is that even without water they mimic washing in the air!

Today, we are reminded constantly to do what we should have been doing all along; wash our hands.  Today’s verse also speaks of washing the hands, not in water but in innocence.  The hands washed in innocence are contrasted to the hands of the sinners (verse 10).  Their hands are full of bribes and wicked schemes.  But the hands washed in innocence belong to the one whose heart is pure (Psalm 73:13).  And these hands can be innocent because of God’s gift of grace through His Son’s sacrifice.  Once our hands were dirty, but now we are washed by Christ (I Cor. 6:11).

It is only because of His washing that I can approach God’s altar or presence.  My feeble attempts to clean myself up first have no affect.  The stain of sin is too deep and pervasive.  But because of Jesus I can be viewed in God’s eyes as innocent.  He took on Himself all the guilt of my dirty hands.  My hands can now be lifted up in praise, folded together in prayer and open to give and to serve Him.

Thank you Lord, for hands cleansed of wrong doing.