Category: Devotionals

Devotionals

A Special Privilege

Loring Schultz

“Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (also called Peter), then Andrew (Peter’s brother), James (son of Zebedee), John (James’s brother), Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon (the zealot), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him). Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: ……Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!” Matthew 10:2-5a, 7-8 (NLT)

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A privilege in itself is special. It is defined as; “a special right, favor, etc. granted to some person or group.” Twelve unsuspecting ordinary men had the right and favor granted to them to be called one of Jesus’s apostles. Together as a group they had the privilege of being part of the biggest movement in the history of the world, the ushering of the Kingdom of God. Who were these men and what were their credentials that Jesus recognized them as being worthy to be part of His team? Their credentials were they were simply ordinary men. We may refer to them today, as ordinary Joe or an average Joe. Nothing spectacular stands out among the average. They mix in unnoticeably within society as one among the millions in the world. Yet, as Christians we understand that there is no one with higher credentials to serve the Lord as the one He chooses.

Examine the lives of each of the apostles. How much do we know about them? Scripture tells us Peter, Andrew, James and John were fisherman. Matthew was a tax collector. Thomas is known for his doubting, and Judas Iscariot most noted for his betrayal of Jesus. We are able to gather some information as to birth place and character of the other apostles, Philip, Bartholomew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, and Thaddaeus, but how much do we know about them. The point being that all these men were just plain old ordinary men in the eyes of the world, but to Jesus who called them they were extraordinary in their service to Him through the authority He gave them. (Mt. 10:1)

Our Lord is looking for ordinary Joes and Janes today to continue the work the apostles started two thousand years ago. If you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus then you are called for a special purpose, a purpose and work only you are called to do. You made not heal the sick, cast out demons, or raise the dead, but you are able to work the works of Him who called you. It is a special privilege.  

Devotionals

Lasting Joy and Peace is found only in the God of Hope

Loring Schultz

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV

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Every human being needs a little joy and peace from time to time. But what happens when the ‘little’ doesn’t last and fades away? There are many things that we escape to in search of joy and peace. Entertainment by way of musical artists, major sporting events, and the theatre provide moments of joy, peace, and relaxation for a few hours if your team wins, or you hear your favorite song. Travelling on vacation to an exotic resort and taking in all the sights of your surroundings may give a sense of awe and pleasure during your stay. And then there is the inexpensive way to find joy and peace in settling down with a good book, or taking a nature walk in God’s creation. All of these will satisfy your desire for joy and peace for a period, but did you know there is a way to experience joy and peace that never fades away.

Paul writing to the church in Rome encouraged them by saying, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Ro. 15:13 NIV) Paul was convinced his readers would be filled with lasting joy and peace as they trusted in God. Paul also knew the Holy Spirit would instill hope in each believer in Christ; hope being the assurance of salvation and not wishful thinking. The assurance of salvation is guaranteed to bring lasting joy and peace in this life for those who accept Christ.

Be careful of the distinction between ‘joy’ and ‘happiness’, and ‘peace’ and ‘inner peace.’ Joy is real contentment that comes through the Holy Spirit in midst of trials and sorrows. Happiness is a joyful pleasure for a moment in masking our sorrow. Inner peace is the true peace we enjoy every day from the Holy Spirit’s presence, and not only for a quiet moment. The Christian’s joy and peace is rooted in the God of hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Have you experienced true lasting joy and inner peace, or are you still in the momentary state of peace and happiness? “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.”

Devotionals

Your own light will not dispel your darkness

Loring Schultz

“Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon fall down in great torment.” Isaiah 50:10-11 NLT

Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

Most people have a favorable opinion of themselves. We tend to see ourselves as basically good with only a few flaws which all of us have. There aren’t too many who would say they are walking in darkness. But if you are a true Christian, you know that you have walked in darkness. Ephesians 5:8 says, “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!” (NLT) Those who have accepted Christ as savior walked in darkness of unforgiven sin and separation from God until they saw the light of Christ dispel their darkness. Paul confirms this in Colossians 1:13 when he says, “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.” (NLT)

The temptation to create your own light, either by acts of self-righteousness denying God, or observing laws of man-made religions, may make you feel good and secure, but it leads to great torment. The prophet Isaiah writing what God revealed to him wrote, “But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon fall down in great torment.” (Is. 50:11 NLT) The Lord God graciously gives us an invitation for salvation by trusting in Him and warning us that any effort to create our own light and fires to illuminate the way to God will end in eternal torment. There is only one way to dispel your darkness, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Eph. 2:8-9 NLT)

It’s time to dispel your favorable opinion of yourself because your own light will not dispel your darkness. But the true light has come as John proclaimed, “The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” (Jn. 1:9, 12 NLT)

Devotionals

You of little faith!

Loring Schultz

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 RSV

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The author of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament explains “faith” in this way, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1 RSV) In other words, it is the divine assurance that what is unseen is actual reality rather than what is hoped for. Jesus after lecturing the disciples about money gives them a slight rebuke while encouraging them not to worry about the future in saying, “O men of little faith?” (Mt. 6:30 RSV) Worrying about future needs unnecessarily would have taken away their focus on what is really important, the kingdom of God. Our Lord wanted them to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” and be assured that their needs would be met in the process.

Many of us today would fall into the same category of needing a rebuke from our Lord not to worry as He exclaims, “You of little faith!” Perhaps it is our natural tendency to see only what is in front of us and surmising the possibility of an unfavorable future. The Lord will not rebuke us for planning and preparing for the future as He has given us skills and gifted us with the means to provide for ourselves, our families, and for others in need. But what the Lord will indeed rebuke us for is making that our number one priority above everything else, especially the kingdom of God. Lack of faith in God providing for us will lead us into a life of self-sufficiency and the anxiety that goes along with it. Our Lord makes it clear it doesn’t need to be that way.

Jesus emphasizes God’s care for the birds of the air and lilies of field in comparison to His disciples and to us. If God cares enough about His smallest of creatures and feeds them, and cares about the beauty of His creation of the fields that He continuing clothes them with lilies, He will provide for us. O that we will seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and not hear the Lord say to us ‘you of little faith’!

Read the account in scripture: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A25-34&version=RSV

Devotionals

Become Something You Have Never Been

Loring Schultz

“Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been.” Oswald Chambers

I recently celebrated a birthday. No, it wasn’t a milestone, but getting close to another milestone as the years go by. To use a sports analogy, I am in the fourth quarter and the clock winding down and out of time outs. Having retired from full time employment at the end of 2022, it has been a weird year for me the last 14 months. The Lord is good and has opened new opportunities for me, this ministry website being one. But at times it is hard to adjust my mind and body to something completely different from what I’ve done for 45 years.  

The devotional I read on the morning of my birthday was Oswald Chambers entitled ‘What’s Next to Do?’ It contained these words, “Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been.” It got me thinking the way I was feeling over the past year was probably natural due to the duration of my employment. And it also got me to realize it was where God wanted me to be for those years, but that time has ended and the game isn’t over, there’s one quarter to go.

Just as God’s will for me included a 45-year career in retailing, He has His will for set me in these milestone years for something that I have never done. Looking over my shoulder at what once was is being disobedient to God who has a new call on my life. The same is true for each one of you no matter what stage of life you are in. When it’s time for God to move you out from where you have been, don’t look back, but look forward to where God wants you to be, and become something you have never been.

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Philippians 3:13-14 NLT

Devotionals

Love Covers Them All

Loring Schultz

“On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:40 ESV

Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash

You may have heard of the ‘Great Commandment.’ You may even be able to quote it. But is it one commandment or two commandments? Jesus, in concluding His answer to the question ‘which is the great commandment in the Law,’ said “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt. 22:40 ESV) Sounds like it is two, but they have a common denominator, ‘love.’

A lawyer of the Pharisees, who was an expert in Mosaic Law, asked Jesus a question as so many others to trap Him in His words. The lawyer asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Mt. 22:36 ESV) The Old Testament Law had the Ten Commandments included in the five books of the Law known as the Torah which also contained additional laws given to Moses for God’s people Israel. At the time Jesus was on the earth in the first century, there were additional laws added to the total of 613 put in place by Rabbis and scholars over the years. Even though most of those were man-made traditions for the Jewish rulers to maintain their positions, Jesus narrowed them all down to two.

In answering the lawyer’s question Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:37-39 ESV) Jesus carefully put the two-part commandment in divine order. The great and ‘first’ commandment is to love God with all your heart, signifying your whole self, body, soul, and mind. Then likewise, you are to love your neighbor as yourself, not advocating self-love, but in concert with the ‘golden rule’ to love others as you would want them to love you.

Our moral duty as human beings on the earth are to love God and to love our neighbor. Jesus makes is so simple for us to understand and so easy to do if we only take the effort to do so. No need to obey 613 commandments. Two simple commands; love God, love your neighbor. If we truly love God, we will be obedient to all moral conduct. Loving our neighbor, even those who block your driveway, will come naturally as God loves them. This two-part great command is all that is needed, for if obeyed all other laws and commands will be follow suit for ‘Love Covers Them All!’

Read: Matthew 22:34-40 ESV – The Great Commandment – But when the – Bible Gateway

Devotionals

This is the message we preach

Loring Schultz

“And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:8b-9 NLT

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The message of salvation we preach today is the same one as Paul instructed us to preach two thousand years ago. It has not changed. In fact, Paul said in his day writing to the churches of Galatia, “Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.” (Gal. 1:8 NLT) The message is simple, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Ro. 10:9 NLT)

In Romans 10, Paul was writing in his deep concern for his Jewish brethren to be saved. Paul himself was a former Jewish scholar and teacher who knew all the traditions and Laws of the Jewish people. He also knew practicing those laws will not get you into heaven outside of Jesus Christ. The first thing Paul needed to establish is the deity of Christ. In using the Greek word, kyrios, for Lord, which is found over 6,000 times in the Septuagint, (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) Paul was affirming Jesus’ deity. Believing in your heart is not just an emotional state of response, but of your intellect and will. Your entire being recognizing Jesus is the Lord God who came down from heaven, died on the cross for sins, was raised from the dead, and is alive today is true belief and you will be saved.

This is the message we preach in 2024. In will be the message preached in 2034, and the one preached 1,000 years from now should the Lord Jesus not return by then. It is the only true message of salvation from the Lord Himself explained in detail with clarity in His Word. “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NLT) This is the message we preach!

Read: Romans 10:8-17 NLT – In fact, it says, “The message is – Bible Gateway

Devotionals

Thank God for your Everyday Problems

Loring Schultz

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” Romans 5:3-4 NLT

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Have you ever had one of those days where everything is going wrong? Your alarm didn’t go off, congested traffic made you late for work, you stepped off a curb into a puddle only to realize in your haste you were wearing two different types of shoes, and the ATM is out of order. How would you react to escalating problems that are piling up all around you with your day just beginning? The way you handle them will determine how the rest of your day will turn out. If handled correctly will also give you a firm foundation in building endurance and character.

Paul writes in Romans, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.” (5:3 NLT) The apostle’s advice is to rejoice in our problems and trials. He is not saying we should rejoice ‘because of them’ but ‘in them.’ Rejoicing in our problems and trials makes us aware that they are there for a purpose. As Christians we know God always has our best interests at heart.

Working through trials in difficult times with the Lord’s help is what is best for us. It develops endurance as Paul noted and that leads to strength in our character. Suffering of any kind for believers in Christ is always beneficial and will produce positive results. When we learn to persevere in our small everyday problems as they mount up and become bigger, we will have the strength of character in the Lord to overcome them. Paul says our character also strengthens our confident hope of salvation. Thank God for your everyday problems, for He sends them to help you develop endurance and strength of character for the bigger problems in the days ahead.

Devotionals

A Place of Undeserved Privilege

Loring Schultz

“Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” Romans 5:2 NLT

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The most coveted championship ring in all sports is the NFL Super Bowl Ring. Depending on the design and the materials used to produce them, they range from $30,000 to $50,000. The winning team orders the standard 150 rings. There are many who are not in uniform and on the field but are on the sidelines and within the organization in various support positions. The distribution of the Super Bowl rings is at the discretion of ownership. Obviously, every player and the coaching staff receives a ring, along with those deemed vital to the team’s success on the field. But there are others receiving a ring who may have a sense of an undeserved privilege in receiving one due to their limited role. Clubs have been known to give rings to the members of the practice squad and even the cheerleaders among others.

 Have you ever felt you have been put in a place of undeserved privilege? Perhaps you received an award with your corporate team members for outstanding accomplishments knowing your input was of a limited nature. Awkwardness surrounds you as you share in the glory with your teammates. No matter how hard you try you cannot shake the undeserved feeling until your team leader says you were brought on to share in this joy. You may have felt undeserved, but your team leader wanted you on the team.

God wants us on His team. He has made it possible by sending Christ to provide the way for us through His death and resurrection. Romans 5:2 says, “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” (NLT) It is by our faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us that we are brought into this place of undeserved privilege. An important note to remember is that everyone God’s team is an undeserved member. God chose us for His team, not for our abilities, but because of His love for us. We now have the undeserved privilege with our teammates to share God’s glory confidently and joyfully with others in need of a ring.  

Devotionals

The Sabbath was made for You, Honor It!

Loring Schultz

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.’” Mark 2:27 NLT

“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.” Isaiah 58:13 NLT

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God has given each of us a gift, a Sabbath day of rest. This day of rest is not only for our physical bodies, but also for spiritual and mental restoration. The Lord God knows the limitations of our bodies for He created us. We can only go so far before we need to be replenished. Six days seems to be the appropriate number. God Himself confirmed this in His example in the creation of the universe, the earth, and every living creature. He rested from all His work on the seventh day. But the eternal God does not need to rest, and we do, so He established a day for us to rejuvenate our minds, souls, spirits, and physical bodies. Jesus concurred with this in Mark 2:27 when he said, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people.” (NLT)

So, the question becomes, what day is your Sabbath day? Most Christians think Sunday is to be our Sabbath day and understandably so. Sunday is the day Jesus’ followers, the church, gather for worship, and that should not change. But is Sunday always your Sabbath? During 45 years in retailing, my Sabbath day was not Sunday. Required to work every Saturday and most Sundays, my Sabbath would be my day off sometime during the week. Fortunately, it was consistent throughout my career with Tuesdays as my regular day off. Tuesday became my Sabbath.

Keeping the Sabbath day is not about following a bunch of rules and regulations of what you can or cannot do. It is a day to refresh ourselves in the Lord our God. It is a day to allow our bodies to recover and to be nourished for the week ahead. It is a day to mark as holy (or separate from the other six days of the week) to engage in spiritual, mental, and physical restorations in the Lord. Keeping the Sabbath, as Isaiah says, isn’t pursing our own interests but enjoying it by honoring it with everything you do whatever day that is.