It is called the “green-eyed monster” because this thing has caused resentment, rivalry, fighting, relationship problems and breakups, even wars between countries. But jealousy has two faces. It is not always the bad guy or a monster at all, but a good thing. Jealousy can produce a fiercely protective desire for others, or a deep desire for what is good and right.
Consider God who says, ". . . for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God . . ." (Exodus 34:14). God has no sin in His jealousy. It is there for us, not for Himself.
Sometimes the words of Spurgeon’s devotional readings are perfect. He has a way of getting to my heart as a mouthpiece for God, using words that resonate with what I know is true. Today is one of those days.
Your Lord is very jealous of your love . . . Did He choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did He buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loves you with such a love that He would not stop in heaven without you. He would sooner die than you should perish. He cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and himself.
My heart melts at this jealous love of God. How can anyone resist a love that is so intense, so eager to give Himself for me? Spurgeon adds more.
He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon Him, He is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend — worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, He is displeased, and will chasten us that He may bring us to himself.
God knows that trusting Him is the best thing that can happen to us. He alone can take care of us the right way, and in a way that no other can. When we trust Him, we see amazing answers to prayer, even miracles performed on our behalf. How can I trust anything or anyone else?
He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in Him only, this is true love, but to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret intercourse with Him is grievous to our jealous Lord.
Sometimes I am in a crowd and feel a deep sense of being alone. Billy Graham says this is God crooking His finger at me, bidding me to talk to Him. From this I’ve learned that prayer does not have to be in a secret place or a closet. He is beside me all the time, wanting my attention, knowing what He can do for me if I will just give my heart and my ears to Him.
He is pleased to have us abide in Him, and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself. Many of the trials which He sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from (all else) and fixing them more closely upon Himself. Let this jealousy which would keep us near to Christ be also a comfort to us, for if He loves us so much as to care like this about our love, we may be sure that He will allow nothing to harm us, and will protect us from all our enemies.
The trials of life are just that — His goodness drawing me away from selfishness and worldly things. Imagine what a world without trials would be like. I know I would have nothing to bring me up short, nothing to show me how proud and self-centered I am, nothing to change me or make me humble and able to trust the Lord.
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God, I pray for grace to keep my heart totally yielded and committed to You. Give me that same attitude toward You that desires nothing else but to be taken up with Your love and Your relationship with me. Shut my eyes to all else and keep me focused and dependent on You, remembering that because You are a jealous God, You will do anything to keep me in Your loving care.
Those who think, “This is just a child’s pair of mittens. I’ll do a better job knitting my next sweater” or “No one knows me in this crowd, I’ll behave much better in church” have missed a fundamental truth. It is hinted at in the incident where Jesus ministered to His disciples.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (John 13:14)
While some congregations take this literally and consider foot-washing an ordinance, it seems that Jesus had more in mind. He demonstrated to them and to us that loving others is about being God’s person in ordinary life, no matter where we are.
Jesus humbly did a menial usually reserved for servants. Today’s devotional asks if I can use a towel as Jesus did? Do I see and take opportunities in the ordinary things of life to be a blessing to others? It is the daily stuff that reveals what I will be like in other surroundings. I cannot muster up “better” in the big things if I am not doing my best in the smaller ordinary tasks.
In fact, no Christian can do anything, big or small, as it ought to be done apart from the indwelling power of Jesus Christ. He is our source and resource, our very life. The love He showed to His disciples and wants me to show to others comes from the Vine to the branches. Unless I am abiding in Him and totally relying on Him, there are no inner resources for loving service at any time or place.
Jesus said that what He did was an example. I am supposed to care for others as He did. This is not about feet washing but about treating people with loving consideration. Not only that, the devotional says to watch the kind of people God brings into my life. My response to them will reveal the kind of person I am. If I am constantly running into and being annoyed by rude, thoughtless and arrogant people, maybe God is showing me the need for change in my own life. Am I also rude, thoughtless and arrogant? If that is true, I need forgiveness and cleansing. I also need to learn how to respond to those people as Jesus treats me, even using whatever is at hand to be a blessing. Can I do that? Can I be what He asks?
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:10–12)
Faithful in the little things means that I’m not thinking I will speak for God and teach His truth only when I am in front of a Bible study class, but “it doesn’t matter” in other situations. Ignoring smaller opportunities instead of waiting for bigger ones is like “trying to produce the munitions of war in the trenches.” Waiting for “more important” things to do could find me woefully short of resources should they come along. Besides, I would look and feel like a hypocrite, a pitiful Sunday-only Christian that is only faithful when it suits me.
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God, You are speaking again about continual obedience. It isn’t enough to have a “ministry” that I do each Sunday. You want me to rely on You and Your strength for every moment of every day. My “class” is bigger than the group that comes into the room each week at church. You give me many opportunities. All the people that I meet in other situations also need to know about You.
Sometimes I must open my mouth and tell them. Sometimes You want me to get a towel and wash their feet. Living for You means paying attention all the time and seeing the opportunities all around me. If I’m not polite to rude drivers on the freeway, how can I be polite to needy people on Sunday? I need to rely on You all the time to do whatever You want me to do — on Sunday mornings, but also every moment of every day.
As the oldest person in a seminary class, I was challenged when one of the young students asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was his way of trying to find out why I was taking a masters degree at my age.
The problem with his question is that I’ve never been able to figure out what I want to be. Others have a sense of career or calling, but I never have. When people ask me what I do, I try to pick one of my many activities that might aid our conversation. Since I’ve not had a formal job since marrying my dear hubby, I sometimes quip that I am a “kept” woman.
Spurgeon’s devotional for today is about the calling of God. He uses a passage that describes Jesus’ selection of the twelve disciples.
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:13–15)
The first part of this passage shows that Jesus is sovereign. He called those He wanted to call and they came. Right away He reminds me of what He has been saying to me all week, that my life is in His hands and that I need not be anxious about it. He will tell me what I need to do and to know, and for that, I need to “be with Him.”
Spurgeon says, “Impatient spirits may fret and fume, because they are not called to the highest places in the ministry” but adds that I ought to rejoice that Jesus calls whomever He wills, and if He leaves me to be a “doorkeeper in his house,” I must cheerfully obey and do just that. It is by grace that anyone is permitted to do anything small or great for Him.
Further, the call to Christ’s servants comes from a high place. The mountain in these verses represents staying above all that is in the world. Jesus is above in holiness, zeal, love and power. When He calls someone to service, that person must go up the mountain as it were, seeking to rise to His level by constant communion and total obedience.
This leaves out other things such as any honor a person might seek such as excellence in career, or scholastic eminence, or recognition in other pursuits. Also, the call of God to service is like the experience of Moses who went up into the mountain of God and had communion with the unseen God. Otherwise, there is no power or anything else needed to do the job. This is not a part-time occupation.
Jesus often went apart from others to have deep fellowship with His Father. Those who are called to serve God must also do the same if they are going to bless humanity and heed that call on their lives. The calling of God is not without cost. While it seems a noble thing to be sent into the world to preach and cast out demons, the disciples needed to be clothed with power and able to do the job that He called them to do. That power is perfected only in weakness. Weakness is not much fun.
Not only that, spending time with God is essential to any ordination to a lifework. No one can be a blessing to others until they see and spend time with Jesus. No one can cast out devils or work wonders unless girded with divine energy. All human ability and resources must be abandoned for total dependance on that which Christ alone can give.
I know that I cannot do anything apart from Him. I cannot fight spiritual battles without heavenly weapons, nor speak to others about Jesus without His grace and power. This is not the issue for me today. The issue is the idea of being “called” to something. He says to me that He does the appointing and sending. I cannot come up with my own life plan and then ask Him to give me what I need to carry it out. What I want to be when I grow up is not my call; it is His.
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Father, You warn against selfish ambition. This can apply to any desire to rise above the ordinary and be more than You have asked. I know that I must see Jesus and spend time with You for the power to do anything that each day demands. I must do the same for the direction that doing takes. If You do not call me to a “career path” or a lifetime on one particular track, then I must listen to You every moment of every day simply for Your will for that moment or that day.
As I think about my tendency to not listen very well and do my own thing, I can see Your wisdom in this for me. Without that sense of needing to hear from You almost all the time, I’d not walk as close to You as I should. I’m thankful that You call me up the mountain often, even if You send me back down with rather ordinary tasks that seem to have little significance. I am glad that You know what is best for me and that includes learning how to listen and obey in what seems like a very ordinary life.
Christianity is not a secret society like some service organizations and cults. God actually charges His people to be transparent and without hidden motives or agendas. Yes, we are told to be wise and not “cast our pearls before swine” meaning to keep our mouths shut in front of those who have already openly rejected our message. However, for the most part, we are to freely share the good news of salvation. We are also to be open books regarding all that we believe.
That being said, there is an aspect of Christianity that cannot be seen with human eyes or understanding apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. That is, unless the Spirit unlocks the human heart, the teachings in the Bible are confusing at best and may even sound like total gibberish.
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. (1 Corinthians 2:6–10)
In a secret society, tenets are conveyed from one person to another, human channels. In Christianity, truth is revealed to each one by the Holy Spirit. He might use the words of another Christian, or anyone else for that matter, but all understanding is given by God. Without Him, we don’t “get” it. This is true before salvation and also after we are saved.
Paul wrote to the church at Colosse explaining that he was suffering for the sake of the church. He told his readers (and us) that he “became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Colossians 1:25–26).
God reveals it, but what is this mystery? That word is used at least two dozen times in the New Testament and each time refers to a different aspect of Christian truth; the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the gospel, the mystery of godliness, and so on. What is more important is that God reveals it — but only to those whose hearts are turned toward Him.
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. (Jeremiah 33:3)
Again, this happens first in salvation and becoming a Christian, but it is also true afterwards. As Spurgeon says, “. . . . there are reserved and special things in Christian experience: all the developments of spiritual life are not alike easy of attainment. There are the common frames and feelings of repentance, and faith, and joy, and hope, which are enjoyed by the entire family; but there is an upper realm of rapture, of communion, and conscious union with Christ, which is far from being the common dwelling-place of believers.”
He goes on to describe how John leaned against the bosom of Jesus and how Paul was “taken up to the third heaven.” These intimate times with Jesus happen to believers, usually without any expectation or advance notice! Spurgeon also says that these experiences are for those who are involved in prevailing prayer.
While that may be true, in my experience a special revelation of Jesus Christ is also for those who are totally helpless and without any other resources. He can appear in ways that are too wonderful for words, too precious to describe, too singular and intimate to share with the world.
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God, You reveal the truth of who You are and what You can do to those whose hearts are primed either by prayer or problems. While we may be ready to hear these and other mysteries, it is always up to You how You reveal Yourself in special ways. It could happen when we pray, but it also happens when we need You, even when we least expect You to come alongside and speak or just be here.
Your presence and the revelation of Yourself is a wonder and a great grace. Certainly no one deserves it nor can anyone make it happen. Yet You always know exactly what we need to keep our hearts focused on You. Sometimes that need is answered by Your revelation of a hidden thing. For this I praise and thank You.
Sometimes I read too fast. Speed reading is okay for novels and other lighter fare because I usually get the gist of the story. However, when I clip along at 500 plus words a minute, I can also miss important details.
For instance, the first chapter of Ephesians is filled with long sentences where piles up phrase upon phrase describing all that is ours in Christ Jesus. His descriptions give a similar sensation to that of walking into a candy store. Delights abound. Who can see all that is in those bins? Instead of letting my eyes sweep the store, if I want to find the best treasures, I must carefully look at each bin.
I might not do a speed reading in a candy store, but I must have whipped through parts of that first chapter of Ephesians. I missed something that Spurgeon zeroes in on in today’s devotional reading.
(That you may know) what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. . . . (Ephesians 1:19–20)
I’ve seen this for myself and know that my salvation depends entirely on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If He did not rise from the dead, my sins are not forgiven and I have no hope. I also know that this was done by the power of God. What strikes me this morning is how this power is connected to my prayers for the salvation of others.
I’ve known others who say things like, “Oh he will never be saved. He has no interest in spiritual matters and is far too stubborn.” They think salvation depends on us making the choice, but for this Spurgeon says salvation is totally about divine power. Those who suppose that it happens because of human free will and a willingness to know God are in error. When we see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ.
Sin is such that no one cares about God or is interested in God. Without Christ, we are DEAD in our sin, totally separated from God and spiritual life. We do everything our own way and for ourselves. Conversion does not happen even if the Word is read or heard in a sermon apart from being combined with that life-giving, resurrection power that comes from God through the Holy Spirit.
Not only that, His power is irresistible. Spurgeon says that all the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb. Death itself could not hold Jesus as the “great might” of God worked in Him.
Spurgeon says that it is this same irresistible power God employs to raise sinners to newness of life. No disinterest, sin, total corruption, devils in hell or sinners on earth can stop God’s grace when He intends to convert someone. If God omnipotently says, “Thou shalt,” no one can say, “I will not.”
It was this way for me just as it is for others who believe. The salvation wrought by God through the power which raised Christ from the dead is glorious, honors God and produces dismay in the demonic world. This power is irresistible but also everlasting.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (Romans 6:9)
Those who have genuinely been raised to new life may sin now and then, but they cannot go revert to their old life. “Because he lives we live also.” This is why the Bible says to me . . .
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:3–4)
When I am praying, my human and me-centered focus tends to a burden for the humanness in others. But rather than focus on their sinful state and their spiritual apathy, God speaks sharply to me — their salvation is not going to happen because they can do something about it. Salvation happens only because of the power of God, the power that raised Jesus from the dead.
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Father, I don’t know why these wonderful truths slip by me, or are so easily forgotten. I just know that without You, I can do nothing. My life so easily becomes sidetracked and I do not notice or remember even such important things. This proves again that salvation is of You. Your Word says that when I delight in You, You put the right desires, even the right thoughts in my head. Help me hold these thoughts, particularly when I pray for those that I love. I’m asking You to take initiative and employ Your resurrection power to raise them out of darkness and sin and into the life-giving light of Your Son.
Even though salvation is by grace through faith, and even though no one can be saved through keeping the law of God (unless they keep all of it, and no one can), the law remains instructive. As Paul wrote in the New Testament, God’s commandments show us where we fall short.
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:1–6).
This are the first two commandments. They are closely related. Simply put: no idols created and no idols worshiped. If idolatry is practiced there will be consequences.
As a Christian experiencing the grace of God and a changed heart, I tend to think that since there are no statues of Buddha or any other religious icons or artifacts in my house, that I have no idols. However, the definition of an idol is more than a mere carved image. By reading both verses together, an idol is anything that I bow down to (own, crouch, humbly beseech, make obeisance, do reverence, worship) or serve besides the Lord.
The falling on my face part is rather obvious, but serving is a more telling word. In the original Hebrew, this word is about slavery and bondage. That definition brings to mind all the things that threaten to control me. Some of them are tangible, but most are not like a carving up on a shelf. I’m thinking of other “idols” that threaten the place of God in controlling our lives, things like appetite, desire for comfort, the clock, my to-do list, a need for praise or popularity, the quest to know the answers, workaholic motivations, or even more mundane things like noise, music, television or texting.
Compulsions to do good and be helpful are not in the same category, but the motivation to be appreciated and have others look up to me or think well of me could hold a greater priority than wanting others look to Christ. If that happens, such motivations could fall into the idolatry category.
Someone once said that an idol is whatever you rely on or even think about all the time. The inference is that this thing, whatever it is, becomes a total preoccupation, taking the place of the One who told us to pray to Him without ceasing. Even if my thoughts are concentrated on my own ideas of how to solve problems and overcome obstacles, then my own abilities could be an idol of sorts.
What shakes me the most about these two commands are the consequences for obedience and disobedience. While I cannot be saved or lost by my choices, God does describe His response to those who ignore what He says and to those who obey Him. From this, I’m thinking how my children are affected by the example I set. I also know that grace can override my bad examples. However, idolatry is bad enough without also risking the spiritual lives of my family and their children and their children’s children.
I am far wiser to put God first, to forsake any other object of attention and trust. When it comes down to it, how feeble are any of my other resources. Not only that . . .
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (Revelation 4:11).... Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! (Revelation 5:12)
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Lord, I may not have any carved images, but the gospel writers also warned Christians to keep ourselves from idolatry. They knew that idols can take other forms, or even just be lurking in our motivations and desires. You are my salvation; keep me aware of any temptation to trust anything other than You for any part of my life. Keep me from idols.
Whenever I look at my character and position before God using the evaluation of all that His law says I should be, I get depressed. I know that salvation does not depend on anything I do, yet at times I feel so useless and worthless in the kingdom of God.
Spurgeon says that this despair is a good thing, particularly for those who are not Christians. All need to know that if judged based on the laws of God and His high standard of righteousness, no living person could ever be saved.
I am so blessed to know this is true. Why then be depressed? I live under grace, not law. My thinking is not, “Am I perfect in regard to the rules outlined in the Bible?” but, “Am I perfect in Christ Jesus?” That is a very different matter.
Does that mean that now I am saved by grace that I live by regulations? The Galatians fell into that trap. Paul wrote them and said, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? . . . . Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3)
Paul also told them, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). He wanted them to know the great freedom of living by the Spirit, but they had fallen from grace and were living by rules and the pressure of trying to please God by what they were doing.
The Christian at Colosse apparently had a similar problem. Paul also had to tell them, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7)
I received Christ by faith. My part was confession of sin and repentance. He does the saving and He changes the way I think and act. That has never changed. While I must obey Him, I cannot save myself nor can I live for Him in my own power. My sin should make me sad, but His saving grace should fill me with joy and thanksgiving.
Yet sometimes I ask the wrong questions or think the wrong way. Living for Christ does not mean I am without sin. To say that I am sinless would be lying, so why then do I get so bent out of shape over each mistake? Nor can I think that my faith has to be without doubt. That is not only unrealistic but smacks of pride. The biggest problem with these errors is that I have my mind on myself and my own performance.
Spurgeon says that I always need to consider the object of my faith instead of my faith. When I look at Jesus, then I can say, “There is no failure in him, and therefore I am safe.”
On the other hand, when I look at me, my hope fades in anxious carefulness and worries about being acceptable. Instead, I am always to judge myself by what Christ is rather than at what I am. Satan can easily spoil my peace by reminding me of my sinfulness and imperfections. I need to meet his accusations by faithfully adhering to the gospel, living by its power, not mine.
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Father, Your salvation is perfect and complete. It is never based on my performance. If I pridefully start looking at myself, my self-focus so quickly turns from glee to despair. No matter how well I think I’m doing, my performance falls short and becomes a shameful failure. Jesus is my Savior; in the beginning and all the way through to the end, the Author and Finisher of my faith. Keep my heart and my eyes always turned toward Him.
