Archive for the ‘Daily Devotional’ Category

Tidings for Tuesday

Tuesday, March 19th, 2024

And He put forth His hand and touched him, saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. Luke 5:13

Museums will make much of the various items they have that were actually used by famous and powerful people. Whether it is the pen that King John used to sign the Magna Carta or the baseball bat that Babe Ruth used to hit his record breaking home runs, there are millions of items that people love to see and handle, just because of who handled them first. Some of us actually own things that are important to us because an ancestor or a famous person touched or used them. But all of those touches fade into insignificance when compared to the people who were touched by the Lord Jesus.

No king, no conqueror, no doctor, no statesman, no sports hero, has ever been as significant as the King of King and Lord of Lords. His touch was such that diseases fled in defeat, including the leprosy that the man in our text had. None other has had such power and authority. At His bidding, miracles occurred. If any of the items that were in the house where Jesus grew up were available today, they would fetch huge prices at auction, and they would be worshipped by some gullible folks, because Jesus would have touched them. But they are just passing things; the real value is in the people who He touched, the bodies that were healed and the souls that were saved. Those souls will endure for all eternity, ours included.

Someone once wondered whether the leper’s faith would have faded if the Lord Jesus had denied his request, if He had responded with ‘I will not’. But such a response would have been impossible. The grace of the Lord Jesus could never have rejected a plea for help from a sincere soul. It’s not that the leper deserved to be healed, any more than you and I deserved to be delivered from the penalty and power of our sins. But the grace of God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, is toward all and upon all that believe. We know that the Lord could have healed the leper without touching him. So why did He touch him? For the same reason that you and I touch people. We touch those who we want to identify with and share with, whether it be a kiss for a spouse, a hug for a child or grandchild, a handshake for a brother or sister in Christ, or even a pat on the shoulder of someone whose efforts we appreciate. The Lord Jesus loved the leper, and conveyed that love in a touch. He appreciated the poor man’s faith, and showed that appreciation in a touch.

Although He does not reach out with a physical touch to us today, the Lord Jesus loves us and appreciates our faith. And He touches our souls through His Word and His presence. -Jim MacIntosh

Meditation for Monday

Monday, March 18th, 2024

And it came to pass, when He was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Luke 5:12

In 1865, a Hungarian doctor named Ignaz Semmelweis died, after many years of being ridiculed by other doctors and health officials. At that time, one in every six women who gave birth in a hospital died from what was called ‘childbed fever’. Doctors in those days – less than 200 years ago – rarely washed their hands. They frequently went from case to case, and even from autopsies to live cases, with filthy hands. Dr. Semmelweis believed that lives could be saved if doctors washed their hands. He began washing his hands in a chlorine solution after seeing each patient. The death rate for new mothers whom he treated dropped from one in six to one in 50. Other doctors shrugged off his success, and laughed at his pleas for them to also wash their hands. Those doctors had no idea how filthy, how contaminating, how very dangerous they were. And so they had no idea how valuable it was to be clean. When it comes to sin, none of us have a full realization how awful it is!

The man in our text knew all about his leprosy, and how bad it was. Not only was he very sick and growing sicker, but he was a social outcast, deprived of everything that had been good in his life. He was shunned and rejected and reviled because of his disease, and he hated everything about it. Leprosy is not sin, but it is a very apt picture or illustration of sin. If you had told that leper that leprosy was in fact sin, he would have hated sin and understood how terrible it is. So if you or I could grasp how like leprosy sin is, we might begin to understand more of the nature of sin, and why God hates it so much. We can become accustomed to sin and at times never notice it. But not so God. Sin is always vile and offensive to Him, in the same way that leprosy is always vile and offensive to a leper. And yet, we fail to see that, like we should.

When we reach Heaven, we will be forever removed from the presence of sin. Nothing that offends God can ever enter there. Then we will understand what purity, holiness, and sinlessness are. With bodies, souls, and spirits untouchable by evil, we will be forever amazed that we could ever tolerate sin during our lifetimes on earth. But we are not there yet. Only by spending time in the presence of our God in meditation and prayer, only by feeding our souls on the holy Word of God, only by immersing ourselves in the company of the Lord’s people, can we know deliverance from the attacks of sin upon us.

The man in our text was full of leprosy, just as we are full of sin. The sin has been forgiven but it is still evil and disgusting, and we should never lose sight of that. – Jim MacIntosh

Lesson for the Lord’s Day

Sunday, March 17th, 2024

And He said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent. And He preached in the synagogues of Galilee. Luke 4:43,44

According to Josephus, the Galilee region at the time of Christ was made up of some 240 towns and villages, with a population nearing three million people. Within this region would be many dozens, if not hundreds, of synagogues. One expert suggests that the preaching tour indicated in our text would have occupied four or five months. Details of the preaching tour are contained in the next several chapters of Luke. The synagogues were used primarily on the Sabbath, with Jesus resorting to open-air preaching in the fields, the mountains, and the seashore throughout the week. The fact that He could enter so many of the synagogues was a tribute to the welcoming spirit of the people of the region, before many of the religious leaders turned against Him. There are places today where the Lord Jesus is welcomed to take the leading place among the worshippers.

Although there was much wrong with the old synagogue system, we can learn a lesson from them as they provide a little illustration of God’s Assemblies. For one thing, these synagogues were community centres, or meeting places, where Jewish worshippers gathered. It was not the building that was important, but the people who gathered there. Does that sound familiar? It should, because we acknowledge that the place where the people gather together is insignificant compared to the importance of the people who have been gathered together. In fact, our Assemblies are composed of people who are gathered together whether they are attending a meeting or not.

In a Jewish synagogue, the Word of God was given the central place. Nothing was as important to the synagogue as its copy of the Torah and other portions of the Scriptures. This should also sound familiar to us. In our Assemblies, the highest authority is the Word of God. No opinions or activities of man can be allowed if they differ from what is written in the Word. And none of the Word of God is to be excluded from what is taught and practiced among us.

Each of those synagogues in Galilee appeared to be independent; what happened in one was not necessarily reflected in another. For example, the people of Nazareth angrily rejected the Lord Jesus while those in the synagogue in Capernaum welcomed Him. Although fellowship and cooperation among our Assemblies is important and precious, it does not supplant the principle that each Assembly is autonomous in its government and in its responsibility to the Lord.

We are not told specifically that the Lord Jesus visited each and every synagogue in Galilee. But we are told that He does not merely visit, but is the very centrepiece, of each Assembly that is gathered to His Name today. As we gather according to His Word, His presence is precious, much more precious than the visiting Preacher that He was to the Galilean synagogues. – Jim MacIntosh

Sermonette for Saturday

Saturday, March 16th, 2024

And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. Luke 5:10

Daniel Towner was a famous writer of music for hymns, including such favourites as ‘At Calvary’ and ‘Only a Sinner Saved by Grace’. In 1887, Towner was attending a testimony meeting that followed an evangelistic service in Brockton, Massachusetts by Dwight L. Moody. A young man rose to speak, to give his testimony, and soon showed that he did not have much grasp of spiritual truths. However, the young man declared, ‘I’m not quite sure, but I’m going to trust, and I’m going to obey’. Towner was struck by the young man’s words, and wrote them down. Later, he send those words to his friend John Sammis, who used them to write the lyrics to the lovely hymn ‘Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey’. It is a similar lesson to the one that the Lord Jesus was teaching those He called to be His disciples.

The miracle of the great draught of fishes had driven Peter to his knees in acknowledgment of his unworthiness to be a follower of Jesus. Just as astonished were his partners, James and John, and probably his brother Andrew, although Andrew is not mentioned in the passage. Jesus declares to them that He is promoting them to a higher profession than that of catching fish in Galilee. The world is to become their fishing zone, and mankind is to be their quarry. And all they have to do – at this point – is to follow Him. In other words, they are to simply trust and obey. Years later, as the disciples, reclassified as the apostles, laboured in spreading the Gospel throughout the world, they would remember Jesus’ words on this occasion. Experts in the catching of Musht and Biny fish in Galilee, these men had no experience at catching men. They knew nothing of preaching, or of witnessing, or of anything else associated with evangelization. That did not matter to Jesus. So it should not matter to them. Nor should it matter to us. The Lord Jesus does not necessarily call those who are qualified, but He does qualify those who He calls.

Naturally speaking, you and I are no more qualified than those fishermen when it comes to serving our Lord. Like Peter, we were just sinners, unworthy of such a high calling. And yet, just as the Lord called lowly fishermen, he calls lowly sinners today to come and join His service. Our former professions and qualifications don’t matter as much as our willingness to serve Him. Serving Christ is not a passive profession; the Lord Jesus has no need for the lazy and indifferent. Just as He will provide us with the qualifications that we need, so He will fill our hands with the tasks that we are to perform.

Trusting and obeying are really all that the Lord Jesus is looking for from us. But they will keep us busy! – Jim MacIntosh

Food for Friday

Friday, March 15th, 2024

And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing; nevertheless at Thy word, I will let down the net. Luke 5:5

I remember as a lad going with my father to catch smelts. In the spring, the smelts would make their way to the estuary of the Waugh River, and the water would be black with them as they would face into the current of the river. To catch the fish, we used a net made of a large hoop at the end of a long sturdy pole. The trick was not to sweep the net up behind them, because they could instantly dash away, but to sweep the net down in front of them, because their only way to escape was by swimming forward. One time, when we arrived, we saw a man using a similar net to ours, but the net itself was very small. As a result, he caught only a dozen or so of the tiny fish. As we waited for the smelt swarm in the river to regroup, we prepared our net. To catch as many smelt as possible, we used a large onion bag on the hoop. My father waited until the fish were densely packed in the river, and swung the net down into the middle of the swarm. The net was so full that he could not lift it, but had to drag it to shore. We had plenty of smelt because, unlike Peter in our text, we used as much net as possible.

The Lord Jesus had instructed Peter to let down his nets. Note the plural. And note the singular response from Peter. He had little confidence that anything would result from the effort, so he was merely going to humour the Preacher by making a token effort. It was almost as though he was telling the Lord, ‘Let me show you why I am the fisherman and You are the Preacher’. This of course was before Peter was fully convinced of Who Jesus of Nazareth was. He was still learning, and so we can excuse him to a certain extent for his lack of faith. But what about us? What is our excuse for failing to put out all of our nets, so to speak, in response to our Lord’s commands? Are we like those of whom the wise man said, ‘Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed’? We have the example of Peter’s experience, we have the record of the Gospels and their accounts of all the miracles of the Lord Jesus; we know what He can perform. So why do we do little more than make a token effort?

Our Lord has assured us of His presence when we meet. In expectation, do we prepare ourselves as thoroughly as we can, and participate as fully as we can? Or do we show up barely on time with little or no preparation, and contribute a token amount? Our Lord has commanded us to go with the Gospel to make disciples. Do we throw ourselves with all of our energies and resources and enthusiasm into Gospel work, and water it with hours of prayer? Or do we show up for most Gospel meetings if there is nothing else going on? Our Lord has commanded us to love each other. Is the welfare, comfort, and blessing of other saints more important than my own? Or do I limit my fellowship to those of my little clique?

If we think about it, we can see why we are not more blessed. One little hesitant net won’t catch many fish. -Jim MacIntosh

Thought for Thursday

Thursday, March 14th, 2024

Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. Luke 5:4

None of us has ever fished in the sea called Galilee, or Gennesaret. But those who used to conduct a commercial fishery there in the time of the Lord Jesus were able to make a living at it. Over the centuries, they learned that the best time to catch fish with their nets was at night as the fish were feeding. And the best places to catch the fish were in the shallows along the shoreline. To a professional fisherman like Simon Peter, the direction from the Preacher made little sense. He and Andrew were cleaning the debris from a fruitless night’s fishing from their nets. They knew there were no fish in the vicinity. They also knew that fish were nowhere near the range where their nets would reach at that time of day. Following the Preacher’s direction could not possibly result in anything worthwhile. Or could it? If this was the Messiah, as He claimed, this could be the test that would prove it. Following a command that made no sense in human terms was a great test for the soon-to-be disciple. We also face such tests.

When the Lord Jesus gave His instructions to Simon Peter, He was going contrary to what most people on and around that sea considered normal. But He was giving instructions, and He was the Son of God. So His instructions were not only to be followed but also to be followed with expectancy. We will find that Peter was rather timid in his response, but he need not have been. A command from Jesus Christ is a command from our Lord, and we should never be hesitant or half-hearted in our response. The longer we are on our Christian pathway, the more we learn that our Lord will never direct or lead us along a path that is not for our very best good. His love for us will not allow Him to do us harm. In fact, His love for us will always lead to our benefit, although it might not seem so at the first. So when our Lord gives us instructions, we are wise to follow them.

Peter usually fished along the shoreline. In most cases, he could see the bottom, and in many places, he could reach the bottom with his feet while his head was above the surface. He was comfortable there, because he knew he could handle whatever happened at those easy depths. Now he was being instructed to go into the depths. He was not as familiar with that part of the sea. He was aware of the greater perils of going out into the deep, where an accident or a storm could threaten both his vessel and his life. He would not know how deep to allow the net to drift. He was moving beyond his comfort zone and beyond his normal capabilities and experience. It would take some courage and some faith for him to follow the order Jesus gave. But that was the only way to blessing.

Are we experiencing blessing in our spiritual life? Maybe we are failing to move past our comfort zone to follow our Lord’s leading. – Jim MacIntosh

Word for Wednesday

Wednesday, March 13th, 2024

And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! For with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. Luke 4:36

A man once responded to a vegetarian’s invitation to join her unhealthy diet by saying, ‘I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to eat soy beans!’ That might be a good response as long as the man was not in shark-infested water, when he would realize that some other creatures would see him a little further down the food chain than them. But there is no question that mankind is the dominant species on our planet, the ones who God placed in charge of His creation. We often assume – but assume wrongly – that we are the highest of all created beings. Although we can’t see them (as far as we know), angels are a higher order of creation. Although they lack physical bodies, they have much more power than us, and they also have a closer relationship with God. Much of that is a mystery to us, but we can accept their higher status. So what about the demons, or evil spirits? These were originally angels, and so would outrank us on the creation scale, although they have no doubt lost much of their power because of the eternal condemnation under which they have been placed. They derive much of their power from the devil, whom they serve. The people in Capernaum were right to be amazed that these evil spirits would submit to the authority of any.

The evil spirit that Jesus cast out was apparently comfortable in the synagogue, which is a strong condemnation of the religious activities there. But he fled before the authority of the ‘Holy One of God’. The evil spirit had no argument, no challenge for the Lord Jesus. There was nothing he could do or say in response to the eviction notice. He was an enemy and the Lord Jesus disposed of him. This example of His power displays Jesus’ authority over all of creation, even to those who do not acknowledge Him as Creator. Scoffers and mockers of our day are becoming ever more bold in their scoffing and mockery. Let us remember that they can continue to scoff and mock only as long as the Lord Jesus allows them to do so. When He issues the eviction order, they will be gone.

The Lord Jesus, in His absolute authority over the evil spirits, is also in absolute authority over all of His enemies, whether of the spirit world or of humanity. With the demons He showed little patience, because the doom of those pathetic creatures is sealed. But with humans He is more patient, knowing that all have the opportunity to repent, because of the amazing grace of God. In His patience, He withholds for a while the wrath and destruction that we all deserve. But only for a while. There are no scoffers and mockers in hell. And those who scoff and mock today will cease when they lift up their eyes being in the torments of hell.

The Lord Who commanded absolute authority over the evil spirits will exercise complete authority over all of humanity. How much better for us to bow to His authority in this day of grace! – Jim MacIntosh

Tidings for Tuesday

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024

And rose up and thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong. Luke 4:29

A large company in need of a good supply of metal parts for one of the machines they produced entered into negotiations with a private company with a small fabrication shop in a small town. The owner of the small shop was looking forward to what would be an excellent piece of business that would enable him to hire a few more workers. However, someone in the town heard rumours of the deal, except that the rumours falsely said the shop would be building materials for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas. This was at a time when fracking was a highly controversial and inflammatory issue in the area. In response to the rumours, some of the people in the town assembled a mob that went to the shop and set fire to it, causing extensive damage. The owner of the shop was broken hearted, not only at the loss and damage, but at the savage way that people he considered neighbours had turned against him. Despite the people’s attempts to apologize for their mistake, the man moved his business to a different town, vowing never to return. He had been treated much like the Lord Jesus in our text today.

How it must have grieved the Lord Jesus to have been so misunderstood and so violently rejected in the town where He had been raised! These folks were his former neighbours, people He had grown up among and worked among as a carpenter. With most of them He would have been on a first-name basis. But when He presented His claim to be the Messiah, they turned against Him in rejection and anger. They even attempted to kill Him in their unreasonable rage. We don’t read of Him ever returning to Nazareth again, although He would never retaliate against those people for their behaviour. He had offered them an opportunity to receive Him and they rejected Him. That was their punishment. And it was a great punishment, as they would later learn, just as those who reject the Gospel today and who attack those who preach it will also learn.

No Christian has the right to deprive anyone else of the opportunity to hear the Gospel, just as the Lord Jesus would not deprive the folks in Nazareth of the opportunity to accept Him. Within reason, we should witness to everyone and anyone. Some Christians have even taken great abuse from those they were trying to reach, and sometimes their willingness to take the abuse has helped to win over their tormentors. But that is the exception. We need to accept as the Lord Jesus did that those who reject the Gospel are often making their final decision for eternity. Sadly, we must leave them with the Lord.

It should cause us grief to see those around us turning against God and His Gospel. But we should not take it personally; it is against God they are acting, and unto God they will have to answer. – Jim MacIntosh

Meditation for Monday

Monday, March 11th, 2024

And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. Luke 4:27

Why was Naaman the only leper to be cleansed of his disease in the days of Elisha the prophet? In our text, the Lord Jesus declares that there were many lepers in Israel in those days. For one, there was Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, who was smitten with leprosy for taking a gift from Naaman. And just two chapters later, in 2 Kings 7, we read of four lepers outside the walls of Samaria during the siege by Ben-hadad and his Syrian army. None of those lepers were healed. So why Naaman? Was he any more deserving of healing than anyone else? Although he was known as an honourable man, he was in fact a Gentile, and could be considered an enemy of Israel. But if we study his account in 2 Kings 5, we will learn of one important thing about Naaman: he was willing to listen to advice. And we know that today, only those who are willing to listen will ever be saved.

Consider Naaman’s willingness to listen when his wife told him about the remark from the little maid from Israel. His frantic wife would probably have grasped at any hope of healing for her husband, but the advice was coming from a captive slave, who would have little reason to want Naaman healed. But Naaman listened. Initially misdirected to the king instead of the prophet, Naaman was willing to change directions when word came to him of the prophet’s willingness to handle his case. And when he was disappointed that Elisha refused to even see him but gave simple directions for his healing, Naaman was persuaded to obey those directions. Someone in Naaman’s position would usually have servants who would never dare challenge their master. But in his wisdom, Naaman had chosen servants who knew that their master would listen to them. They undoubtedly cheered him on as he would be disappointed that the dips in Jordan failed to accomplish anything for the first six times. And he listened. He reminds us today of sinners who come under the influence of the Gospel, and who actually listen to the message and its messengers. These folks usually are saved. But it also reminds us of Christians who are willing to submit to the Word of God and to those who faithfully teach it.

We all know what happens to disobedient Christians. To a certain extent, we are all disobedient at times, but I am referring to those Christians who refuse to follow the simple teaching of the Word of God, and who refuse to heed the words of any who will give them sound spiritual advice. Such Christians never experience deliverance from sinful habits, never achieve peace and harmony with those around them, never see any of their loved ones saved. But we all need to heed. How willing are we to listen? Do we always obey the Word of God? Do we heed the instruction of those who would guide us aright?

Our blessings in Christ are directly proportional to our obedience to Christ. -Jim MacIntosh

Lesson for the Lord’s Day

Sunday, March 10th, 2024

And He began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. Luke 4:21

We have been watching the events involving the Ukraine invasion by Russia carefully, not just because of the sympathy with the Ukrainians and the Christians there. As the Russian bear rattles its sabres and bullies its neighbours, we are reminded of the prominent place that Russia has in the prophecies concerning end-time events. So when we see a mention of Russia in the news, the thought occurs that we might be seeing the start of some of the events that are contained in prophecy. The same thought also comes with every major event that occurs in connection with Israel, including the current war in Gaza. It would certainly be exciting to identify specifically an event that is foretold in the Scriptures. How much more exciting it should have been for the people in the synagogue in Nazareth to hear that the greatest prophecy they knew of was being fulfilled in their very presence!

We know that the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus, refusing to acknowledge Him as the fulfillment of prophecy. Most of them knew Him as the lad who had grown up in the town, the young man who had worked in the carpenter shop, the eager participant at all of the gatherings in the synagogue each sabbath. But they could not see beyond that young man they knew as a neighbour, and they rejected His claim to be their Messiah. But that does not destroy His claim, nor the fact that those people actually saw Scripture being fulfilled. It also does not negate all of the fulfillment of Scripture in the years and the centuries since that time. The disciples watched the unfolding of what the prophets wrote about as they viewed the life, death, and resurrection of their Lord. The early Christians declared their confirmation of Scripture’s fulfillment as a key component of the Gospel that they proclaimed. In the early centuries, Christians could read John’s recording of the letters to the Asian churches and see themselves within the program that God has laid out for this age of grace. Even today, we can recognize around us the evidence of the appearance of Laodicea, as apathy and worldliness grip the Lord’s people in a day of moral decay and rampant godlessness. It may not be as dramatic, but we are seeing the Scripture fulfilled around us.

Much of the Scriptures is taken up with prophecies and their fulfilment. The greatest of them all, of course, is the great program of prophecy throughout the Old Testament concerning the Lord Jesus, followed by the perfect fulfilment of all of those prophecies in the New Testament. Given the perfect record so far, how could we possibly doubt that God will continue to carry out His great programs in the ages to come? All that God has promised for us He will do. All that He has foretold will occur in this world He will perform. There will be no exceptions, alterations, or cancellations.

If we can’t actually see the Scriptures being fulfilled before us, we can be certain that they will be fulfilled. God says so. – Jim MacIntosh