Daily Devotion (Monday, April 6th - Friday, April 10th)

Monday

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood… - Ephesians 6:12

A spiritual battle wages in our world today; and God is looking for men and women who are ready to go into that spiritual battlefield and make a difference.

The battle has been raging since the very beginning, as Satan has tried to keep us apart from God. The apostle Paul described this spiritual struggle when he wrote, "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

The devil has always opposed Christ, and he will oppose those who follow Jesus Christ.

One of Satan's strategies was to try to stop the Messiah from arriving in the first place. Remember in the book of Exodus when Pharaoh commanded all of the Hebrew baby boys to be killed? That was Satan's plan to wipe out the tribe the Messiah would come from. Satan tried again with Haman in the book of Esther and with King Herod who killed all those babies in Bethlehem, intending to stop the arrival of the Messiah.

Well, those plans didn't work, but the battle continued. Certainly the devil was at work when Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. You might have thought that Satan was basically successful when nails went through the hands and feet of Jesus on the cross.

But as the devil hammered home those nails he was hammering home his own defeat, because it was the blood of Christ that redeemed us.

Thank God today for that redemption! Let's be warriors in the battle.


Tuesday

"So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities you did not build; and you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant" (Josh 24:13).

In the world of business we are taught to do whatever it takes to produce a desired outcome. Competitive forces can drive companies to go beyond the limits of ethics and integrity to achieve a desired outcome. Men and women can become work-a-holics as the need for competitive advantage is passed down the various management levels in order to meet sales and marketing goals. This sweat and toil mentality contradicts God's Kingdom Economy.

The Kingdom Economy is found in the above verse in Joshua. When the people of Israel were coming out of Egypt, a place of sweat and toil and slavery, God was trying to teach them a new economy of receiving. Instead of sweat and toil, He wanted them to learn obedience. Now their income would be based on their obedience, not their skill or their sweat and toil.

This new Kingdom Economy meant that there would be times when what you receive from your efforts might be less than the commensurate time invested. Yet, there would also be times when you would receive more compared to your time invested.

Many used to determine whether they would meet with a person based on their perceived return on that investment. We justified that behavior as being a good steward. God says we are to determine if He wants us to meet with that person or be involved with an endeavor based on His leading alone, not based on the perceived outcome. It is His responsibility to bring fruit from the activity.

This will result in a new freedom in your work life. Stay vertical with God and let Him determine your next activity.


Wednesday

Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him." --1 Kings 18:21

The greatest day in your life was the day you asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart and forgive you of your sin.

It was the day that your eternal destiny changed, the day that you passed from darkness to light, the day that you found new purpose and meaning for your life.

But that day was also the day that a very real spiritual war began. Some Christians are shocked to find the Christian life is not a playground but a battleground.

Like it or not, you are in a battle between good and evil, between right and wrong, between God and Satan. It's not optional, and you must choose which side you want to fight on.

As Elijah asked the people up on Mt. Carmel, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him."

I will be honest with you; I never understood the appeal of a half-hearted commitment to Jesus Christ. Neither did Elijah, he followed the Lord with all his heart. On the battlefield, either you advance and let God use you, or you retreat.

It's time to get out of those foxholes. It's time to dust off your clothes, shine up your armor, and sharpen your sword. Because, like it or not, you have been drafted into God's service.

As a child of God you are going to be a soldier. Your choice is whether you will be a good soldier or a bad one.

Elijah had already chosen to be a spiritual soldier, and he was ready for battle. Are you?


Thursday

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).

As we begin to express the life of Christ in our work lives, we need to be aware of another set of Satan's deceptions, namely, the religious spirit.

The religious spirit can best be defined as an agent of Satan assigned to prevent change and maintain the status quo by using religious devices. The religious spirit seeks to distort a genuine move of God through deception, control, and manipulation. This spirit operates out of old religious structures and attempts to maintain the status quo, favoring tradition over a genuine, intimate relationship with God. It influences believers to live the Christian life based on works instead of grace. Similar to the Greek way of thinking, the religious spirit depends on human effort to acquire spiritual knowledge and favor from God.

In the years before the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther's greatest challenge was to root out the religious spirit. He was told by his religious teachers that there were stringent requirements for receiving the favor of God. "Remember Martin, just to pray by yourself is not enough. The church has to pray for you too. Even when the priest has asked that you be forgiven, God will not listen unless you do good works. The more gifts you give to the church and to the poor, the more trips you make to Rome and Jerusalem, the more pleasures you give up, the better will be your chances for heaven. The best and safest way to do all this, and the one that is most God pleasing, is to give up everything and become a monk." The essence of Martin Luther's struggle to win God's favor still resides in many a Christian worker.

The religious spirit nullifies the importance of faith and grace that has been given to us through the work of the Cross. You cannot gain acceptance from God by doing any works. Accept His unconditional love for you today.


Friday

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom 6:11-12).

When Joseph was elevated to be ruler over the entire kingdom of Egypt after years of slavery and imprisonment, some would guess that it didn't really matter that much to him. He thought he was going to get out of prison years earlier when he successfully interpreted the cupbearers dream only to remain there two more years. "Why should this situation prove any different?" he must have thought to himself.

Joseph had come to a place with God where he resigned himself to remain wherever God had chosen to keep him. He had become dead to his circumstances. It does not mean we can't have a longing for better days, but there is a Godly contentment that allows us to remain in any condition with a peace that passes all understanding.

The Bible says we are to live as though we are dead. This does not mean we do not have emotions or dreams. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them (Mark 14:34). That sounds like anxiety, right? yet we know Jesus never sinned. So, we can conclude that we can have concerns and emotions without crossing over into sin. God has given us His Spirit to allow us to operate inside the storms of life without sinning.

Place your faith today into the hands of the One who can calm any storm in life.