Archive for the ‘Daily Devotional’ Category

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 1 John 1:4

Does anybody ever write to you? And when they do, what is the purpose of their writing? People write to me for various reasons. Some want to pass on information that they want me to know. Some write a greeting on a birthday or anniversary. Some write to invite me to an event of some kind. Some write to urge me to invest in their projects. Others write to warn me of one or another sort of hazard (in their opinion). Yet others write to criticize, correct, or reproach me for a real or imagined fault. With all of those reasons for writing, and most of them either a negative or a nuisance, isn’t it wonderful to encounter somebody whose primary purpose in writing is that our joy will be full?

John’s words in our text remind us how much his heart was like that of his Lord. He is almost echoing the words of the Lord Jesus in John 15:11: ‘These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full’. This is one of God’s great purposes for us, that we would be filled with joy. It is true that our joy will be filled when we arrive in Heaven, but that is not what Jesus was talking about or what John was writing about. They would never have spoken or written about our joy being full if it wasn’t possible here and now. So here is the secret to being filled with joy: learn what the Lord Jesus spoke and what John and other Bible writers wrote, and apply them in our lives. Obedience to the Word of God – and we have to know it before we can obey it – will fill us with joy.

The world certainly is not filled with joy! The news reports are filled with disasters, disputes, and disappointments. The world’s search for fun finds only temporary and destructive pleasures. Every aspect of life around us is a mad rush to selfish fulfillment, greed, and lust. And yet, in all this negativity and sorrow, there is for the child of God the prospect of a life filled with joy. Why would we not seize this prospect and appreciate what our Lord offers us? -Jim MacIntosh

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. 1 John 1:1

1 John is one of only two epistles in our New Testament that does not have an introductory greeting; the other is Hebrews. Just as he does in his Gospel, the apostle John begins this epistle by speaking about the Word, opening with a little sermon instead of a greeting. John has something extremely important to get across to his readers, so that he rushes right into the subject without pausing for greetings. All of the other epistles are important messages too, so what was so important about this one? John wastes no time in telling us what is so important: the reality of the incarnation of Jesus Christ!

Bible experts tell us that John wrote this first epistle to counter two dangerous false doctrines that were spreading at that time. The doctrine of gnosticism taught that those who were spiritual had a special experiential knowledge that surpassed that of normal Christians. The doctrine of docetism says all matter is evil, that God would not have anything to do with matter, and therefore it is incorrect to say that Jesus became flesh. They claimed that He only seemed to become flesh. Nobody knew better than John how wrong those false doctrines were. And his epistle gives Christians of his day, and of our day as well, a solid anchor by which to refute those errors. John had four solid personal proofs that the Word of life had come in the flesh. He was with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry, he had heard and seen Jesus throughout his entire earthly ministry, he had carefully studied the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and he had actually touched the Lord in the years before Calvary and in the days after the resurrection. So those early Christians could be confident that the false doctrines were wrong. And so can we.

There is a very real sense of awe in our text. Almost 60 years have passed since Calvary, and John still seems amazed at his part in the events of Christ’s ministry. He seems to be saying ‘We were actually there! We heard Him! We saw Him! We watched everything that He did! And He actually allowed us to touch Him and be with Him!’ If John never lost that sense of awe that the Word would become flesh and dwell amongst us (John 1:14), then neither should we. We cannot say that we had the same personal physical experience that John did. But we can certainly take John’s word for it. And John is not speaking just for himself; he uses the pronoun ‘we’, to indicate the other apostles and the other Christians who had actually seen and been with Jesus.

You and I don’t encounter gnosticism and docetism so much these days. But there is plenty of false doctrine around us that is just as bad. We have the evil doctrines of the cults, the tinkling cymbals of religion, the rank denials of the atheists, and the pervasive apathy of those who consider Christ and His Gospel irrelevant to them. We know better than that, because we know the Word of life. – Jim MacIntosh

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

We grow in several different ways during our lives. The most obvious type of growth is physical, as babies develop into adolescents and as adolescents mature into teens and then into adults. Look around and you will see by the great variety of shapes and sizes of people that we do not grow at a uniform rate or to a uniform size. This lack of uniformity is also evident in the many other ways in which we grow. Generally accompanying physical growth are emotional, knowledge, and social growth. These are all important to the development of each of us as a person, as are other types of growth that sometimes does not happen in some people. For us as Christians, growing in grace is an important part of our development into useful and profitable children of God.

Simply put, growing in grace means becoming more like our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our role model for development in every aspect of our Christian life. We are to desire to be like Him in His commitment to His Father’s will and his dedication to serve and save others. ‘For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich’ (2 Corinthians 8:9). Another term that means very much the same as growing in grace is sanctification. This is a big word that means set apart or dedicated to our Master’s use. Again, the Lord Jesus is the perfect example of sanctification, and we grow in grace by following and imitating Him.

How do we grow in grace? Our text has the answer to that – growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Where do we get this knowledge? From His Word. We often gain inspiration by reading biographies of great men and women. It’s the same with reading the biographies of the Lord Jesus, as contained in the Gospels. The more we read these, the more we learn of Him. And the more we know of Him, the more grace we grow into. And it’s not just the Gospels; every portion of the Scriptures teach us about Christ!

Growing in grace does not mean receiving more grace from God. His grace is infinite, so we cannot receive more of His grace. But we can allow His grace to have more of us. And that is the type of growth that every one of us as Christians should desire. – Jim MacIntosh

And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you. 2 Peter 3:15

One of the most amazing things about our Bibles is its harmony. The Holy Spirit used some 39 men, over a period of about 1,500 years, to pen the 66 books that are included in the Canon of Scripture. Those writers included such diverse characters as kings, high government officials, fiery prophets, humble prophets, shepherds, fishermen, tax collectors, and military generals. Across that great span of time and through that tremendous variety of authors, most would assume that the message would change with the times and with the minds of the penmen. But the writers were not writing on their own, they were under divine direction, recording an eternal message that has not, will not, and can not ever change. Their writings must agree, and they do. That is why we can trust the Scriptures, and those who wrote them. Today’s text is an example of how each portion of the Scriptures agrees with each other portion. And even its writers agree with and endorse each other.

You would assume from Peter’s affectionate reference to Paul in our text that these men were very much of one mind. But this affectionate reference comes from the pen of a man who had been publicly challenged and rebuked before a council of leading brethren. Paul had called out Peter publicly for his partiality in refusing to eat with Gentiles when some of the legalistic Jews had come to visit in Antioch. This was a huge issue at the time, an issue that threatened to split the Christians into two opposing camps of doctrine. Paul did not mince words, as he reported later: ‘But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed’ (Galatians 2:11). We never read of Peter defending himself against Paul’s rebuke, so we must assume that he bore the rebuke with good grace. And our text reminds us that Peter certainly never held a grudge against Paul. He was submissive, not to Paul, but to the Word of God that Paul presented. It is that same spirit that will build harmony in the Lord’s people today.

When two people disagree on the Scriptures, it means that one of those two people is wrong, or else they are both wrong. The approach to resolving such disagreements is often to bring the two opposing parties to a compromise. The devil likes this approach, because compromise always leads to a distortion, and even a contradiction, in what the Word of God actually says. Some of these disagreements actually don’t matter because they have no bearing on doctrine or our Christian behaviour and exercise. In these cases, we simply agree to disagree agreeably. But in Scriptural issues that really matter, it is important that brethren agree. It is even more important that their agreement be with the  Word of God rather than with each other. That way, truth is preserved and error is avoided. And Christians will be able to appreciate each other, just like Peter and Paul did.

If our fellowship is based on what the Bible teaches, we will enjoy the same fellowship with each other as we do with our Lord. – Jim MacIntosh

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 2 Peter 3:13,14

The new master of the manor had invited all of his many tenants to come to a great supper that he had prepared for them. Never before had such an event been held, and the tenants were in joyful awe at such an opportunity. Some of them arrived for the feast in their working clothes, which were all they had. A few were able to dress in clothing with at least a little neatness and colour. And there was one old man who arrived in an old moth-eaten suit that he had mended and cleaned very carefully. Some of his neighbours joked that he still fell a little short of the fine clothes of the master and his family. The old man agreed with them with a smile, but added, ‘I did the best I could with what I had!’ Good for him! And I think it’s that same attitude that Peter is looking for as he urges Christians to keep their eternal destination in mind.

We are confident that we will all be provided with an appropriate ‘wedding garment’ when we are called to attend that great Marriage Supper of the Lamb. None of earth’s cheap trappings will be in evidence at that splendid and glorious event, which will be the portal to our destination of the new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. None of earth’s garbage conversations will be there, either, nor any of the petty differences that have plagued the unity of the Lord’s people over the centuries. The temporary things that occupy so much of our time and energy and resources now will be forever put aside as we take up the glorious never-ending theme of our Saviour’s amazing grace: ‘That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus’ (Ephesians 2:7). But as our text points out, there is something that we can do to get ready for that great event.

Peter urges us to diligence in three things: peace, spotlessness, and blamelessness. Peace is difficult because so many of us have our own ideas of what is right and wrong. But if we submit our opinions to the Word of God, we can have peace with those who do likewise. Spotlessness is also difficult, because we live in a filthy world. Again, only the Word of God can preserve us from that filth. Our blamelessness is also dependent on our submission to the Word of God and to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

As the old man said, we do the best we can with what we have. If we can say that with a clear conscience, we will do well. -Jim MacIntosh

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? 2 Peter 3:11

We watched the children working so hard with their little pails and shovels, building a wonderful castle in the damp red sand of that beautiful beach. They were enjoying their project, and took great pains to do an excellent job. When they had finished, we stood and admired their work, because it was well worth admiring. Then we ran up the beach, and up the roadway to the cottage for lunch. It was not until mid-afternoon that we returned to the beach, and the children scampered on ahead, to see their sand castle again. But we heard their cries of dismay when they arrived. When we joined them, we saw the cause of their dismay; the waves of the incoming tide were beginning to wash away their beautiful creation. Within minutes, those waves had restored that sand castle to a flat and unbroken sandy surface. Sadly, the children shook their heads and declared that their morning labours had all been a waste of time. All they had left were the memories. It’s a good lesson in priorities for us, as we build our possessions and stake our territory in this world that will shortly be dissolved.

In the previous verse, Peter speaks of the coming destruction of creation as we know it: ‘the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.’ Now, we know that this great event is some time off. We must first experience the Rapture of the saints, and the earth must experience the Great Tribulation and the Millenium, the thousand year reign of Christ. But if we look around at the homes we have built, the possessions we have obtained, the communities in which we enjoy life, we tend to see them as permanent. We even make careful plans as to who will receive the things we have after we die. It’s hard to imagine them all being destroyed. That’s because our lives have become so tied to this world’s possessions that we have lost our perspective as citizens of God’s eternity. Our behaviour is that of the citizens of this world instead of the holy conversation and godliness that is appropriate to our real home.

The Lord Jesus has promised to prepare mansions in His Father’s house for us (John 14:1-3). If we could grasp how much more glorious those mansions are than our earthly homes, we would devote more effort toward the former than the latter. The Lord Jesus has also promised great rewards for service to Himself (Mark 10:29-30). If we could grasp how much more lucrative those rewards are than the wages of this world, we would devote more effort to the former than the latter. The Lord Jesus has promised us pleasures forevermore at His right hand (Psalm 16:11). If we could grasp how much greater are the delights of Heaven than this world’s tinsel toys, we would devote more effort toward the former than the latter.

Our lives will be greatly changed when we get the priorities of eternity in view. – Jim MacIntosh

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

We were having supper at the home of a young and relatively inexperienced Christian couple, when the name of Methuselah came up in the conversation. Willing to accept the Bible’s record of the great age to which that man lived, Dave asked me if I knew why God would have allowed anyone to live for 969 years. I told him I did know the answer, and pointed out the meaning of Methuselah’s name: ‘when he dies, it will come’. What happened when Methuselah died? The great flood! Because of God’s holiness, He must destroy that ancient and violently sinful civilization. And yet, because of His grace, He gave them the longest possible time in which to repent, the age of the oldest man who ever lived. The Bible is filled with examples of God’s longsuffering nature, His desire that sinful mankind would repent. God must judge sin if He is to maintain His holiness, but He is never in a hurry to do so. How wondrous is His grace!

It is true that God showed grace toward the antediluvian world, not only in giving them such a great space of time in which to repent, but in giving them an ark of safety that they could have used. It is true that God showed grace toward the Egyptians in giving them ten plagues during which to repent of their enslavement and persecution of the children of Israel. It is true that God showed grace during the many failings of the Israelites through their wilderness journey and in their promised land. But there is a little phrase in our text that indicates that God’s grace is directed toward a very special people. The words ‘to usward’ indicate that this great promise of longsuffering is directed toward you and me. Modern-language versions of the Bible incorrectly replace ‘usward’ with ‘you’. But ‘you’ could refer to anyone, while ‘usward’ refers to the ‘beloved’ who Peter is addressing in the previous verse. The ‘beloved’ are the dear Christians to whom Peter is writing: the dear suffering saints of His day, and the dear saints of our day. You and me.

Most of us can trace God’s longsuffering in our own experiences. In my own case, I was raised with a knowledge of the Gospel from as far back as I can remember in my childhood. Yet, the Lord had patience with me during years of neglect until I yielded to the Spirit’s strivings and trusted Christ at age 12. Thank God for His longsuffeng. As we review our Christian experience from salvation’s day until now, we can also see God’s great patience despite our stubbornness to yield to His will and His Word. We have often failed God in our foolishness, but never has He failed or deserted us.

Perhaps John Newton said it best in his lovely old hymn: ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me’. – Jim MacIntosh

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 3:8

To a man with his hand on a hot stove, a minute is a very long time. But to a man speaking with a beautiful woman, a minute is a very short time. The minutes, hours, and days of our lives change in how we perceive them, depending on many factors. Looking back over the summer on a frosty fall morning, that summer seems to have been far too short. But looking back over the winter on a snowy March day, that winter seems to have been so very long. As we age, we look at the dwindling number of years we have left to live, and wish we could slow them down and make them last longer. But there is no way that you or I can make a second last longer, let alone a year. A watch’s second hand keeps moving at the same pace, and the pages keep flipping off the calendar with monthly regularity, regardless of anything that we do. Regardless of our perspectives, we are enslaved by time. But God is not. And we can take great comfort in that.

As he writes today’s text, Peter no doubt has in mind the words of Psalm 90:4: ‘For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night’. When Moses wrote that Psalm, he knew more about God than perhaps anybody else in the Old Testament, certainly more than you and I know about God today, even with our completed canon of Scripture. This great man of God had been in face-to-face conversation with God in the mountain. And the best Moses can do is to relate God’s perspective of time to an encapsulated version of ours. And while it is accurate, this perspective is not complete, because it fails to take in the reality that the God of eternity dwells simultaneously in the past, the present, and the future. We can’t understand that. But it is still precious to us.

Regardless of how well we plan for it, we can only guess what tomorrow will be like. But God is already in tomorrow, and knows its every moment and event. No event can ever take God by surprise or find Him unprepared. Because of this, we can trust our tomorrow to God. God is also in the next year, the next century, and the next millennium, which is why prophecy in the Bible is so accurate, and why we can trust not only our tomorrow but also our eternity to God. Keep in mind, that God not only has full knowledge of the future, but He also has determined that that future will be. And His Word tells us that our tomorrow is in His hands and our eternity is in His presence.

The last line of that great Psalm 23 is magnificent in its promise: I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Remember, God is already in the forever, awaiting our arrival. – Jim MacIntosh

And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 2 Peter 3:4

In 2002, Mark Steyn, a columnist for the National Post, wrote the following in a satirical article: ‘With enough oil for a century and a half, the planet awash in cut-price minerals, and less global famine, starvation and malnutrition than ever before, the end of the world has had to be rescheduled. The latest estimated time of arrival for the apocalypse is 2032.’ Without realizing it, Steyn’s mockery of God’s purposes for the ages was a perfect fulfillment of the words of our text today. Some 23 years later, Steyn might well rewrite the same tongue-in-cheek piece of foolishness. In his eyes and in his mind, nothing has really changed. As a secularist, he fails to see the signs that Christians find so glaringly obvious in our world today. Don’t get me wrong, I am not setting dates here for the Rapture to occur. You and I both know that this great event could occur before you have time to finish reading this message, or it could occur hundreds of years from now. But I don’t think it’s far off, and neither do you.

Just like the people Peter was writing about in our text, Steyn didn’t see anything different from what has always happened. His secular eyes see only the advancement of women’s rights in the laws that now allow women to abort their babies right up to and including the birth of the child. But Christians see this as a major part of the great rise in violence and bloodshed that will accompany the last days. Steyn would also see the collapse of public morality and the unchecked promotion and exaltation of homosexuality as a human rights advancement and a sign of ‘progress’. But Christians see these things as evidence that the deceivers are causing our world to wax worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13). Steyn would see nothing out of the ordinary in the chaotic events of the middle east or of the arrogant militancy of Russia. But Christians see in these things the lines being drawn that could well foreshadow the great battles of the end times as revealed in the book of Ezekiel.

The ungodly see no reason to suspect that the day of God’s judgment is drawing any closer. But to the readers of the Word of God, the Lord is actively working out His purposes and we are living in a day when we can eagerly anticipate His swift return for His people. Perhaps today! -Jim MacIntosh

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts. 2 Peter 3:3

We are getting perilously close to a time of terrible judgment in our nation. How do we know this? Because when God judges nations, He follows a specific pattern. And we in our land have entered into the final stage of God’s pattern for judgment. Our text identifies it as the last days, or the day of the scoffers.

The first stage of judgment is God recognizing that a nation has given itself over totally to sinfulness. We see this pattern in God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 that his descendants would inhabit the land that he was living in as a stranger and wanderer. Those descendants would be used by God to punish the Amorites for their sinfulness. But it would take awhile, because the sinfulness of the Amorites had not reached God’s breaking point: ‘But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full’ (Genesis 15:16). The word translated ‘full’ carries the meaning of friendliness or friendship. This refers to the open embracing of sinfulness by a nation. This goes beyond merely allowing or condoning sinfulness, but accepting it as the common and acceptable form of behaviour. Do you see how this can apply to our nation today? We saw what happened in Genesis 19, when Sodom and Gomorrah were entirely given over to their abominable lifestyles; God’s judgment was swift and total. Their cup of iniquity was full and overflowing, just as we can see around us today.

God’s pattern of judgment also identifies the rising up of scoffers, those who deny God and mock His Word. Those scoffers are all around us today. They mock God by rejecting the Biblical record of creation, substituting for it the nonsense of evolution. They mock God by rejecting His declaration of the sanctity of life  by endorsing the wholesale slaughter of unborn children. They mock God by passing laws that not only allow but encourage and embrace the open practice of homosexuality, which God has declared as an abomination. They mock God by promoting satanic New Age doctrines and practices that make a mockery of the Word of God. And these are just the most prominent of the scoffers. There is an entire society out there today that rejects any notion of God as being relevant to them and their lives.

Before executing judgment, God always sends messengers to warn of destruction, as He did with Sodom, with the Amorites, and with the Israelites down through their history of idolatry and departure as recorded in the Old Testament. It is when the scoffers reject the messengers that God moves in judgment. Watch for them, the messengers are coming. Will it be before the Rapture? Maybe. – Jim MacIntosh