Category: Daily Devotional

“But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him.” Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭32‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As this great scene unfolded on the Mount of Transfiguration, it is amazing that the 3 disciples had fallen asleep. Many hours earlier they had begun this journey with Jesus excited that He had chosen them. And clearly, as we learn later from their own desires, they had many thoughts about personal greatness. They were thinking of the glory they would have as leaders in this great work Jesus was beginning. And with those thoughts of self glory they drifted off to sleep. But it says here, “when they were awake they saw HIS glory.” One of the important lessons they had to learn, and all believers must learn is: All the glory belongs to Jesus. Any time we began to focus on the glory of the creature, we will be incapable of beholding the glory of Christ. Over and over this has happened in church history where individuals and even whole denominations have focused more on the glory of man than the glory of Christ. Prominent religious leaders are glorified. Gifted individuals are constantly glorified. Many glorify their personal theology and doctrines. And of course, this entire world is wrapped up in the glory of the creature, rather than the Creator. But all of this causes people to fall into spiritual slumber. By God’s grace, let us awake from all such slumber so we truly can behold the glory of Jesus Christ.

“And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭20:28‬ ‭KJV‬‬. The idolatrous nations who came against Israel always had ‘gods’ for specific places and situations. At this time they believed Israel’s God was like their idols in this regard. They thought His power was limited to the hills. But soon they discovered that He is also the God of the valleys! Many today, even professing believers, think similar things. They believe God is a ‘fair weather’ God. They think it’s fine to trust Him when things are good but when challenges come they rely on themselves. But may we realize that our God is the only True and Living God and there is none like Him! He is the God of the good times and the bad. He is God when we’re on the sunlit mountain and He’s God when we pass through the dark valley. How thankful we should be that we have an all time, everywhere God! He’s not just our God on Sunday or at church. He is God all the time in everything we ever face. What a wonderful God He is!

“And he (Elijah) said…”and I, even I only, am left…” (But then God said) “Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal…” ”1 Kings‬ ‭19:14‬ &18 ‭KJV. In this passage the prophet Elijah had come to a very low place in his life. He had stood boldly for God and trusted Him in extraordinary circumstances. And of course, God was always faithful. But now it seemed he was all alone. Now he looked around, as the Psalmist described, and it looked like there was no one to help him. He truly felt like he was all alone. This has always been a strategy of satan against God’s children. In some way or another he tries to make us feel alone. We can be in a crowded place and feel alone. There are believers who come week after week to church and yet they feel alone. But as Elijah soon discovered, God’s children are never alone. God has assured us that He still has a remnant. He has a people, a spiritual family in this world. And even more, we have the promise of God that He will be with us. Jesus said to those who trust Him, “I will never leave you or forsake you. I will be with you always, even to the end of the earth”. Let us rejoice with the songwriter: “I’ve heard the voice of my Savior, Telling me still to fight on, He promised never to leave me, Never to leave me alone.”

“And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.” Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭32‬ ‭KJV. One of the amazing things in this passage is, all of these events so far have taken place during the storm. Only when the lessons of the storm were over did Jesus calm the storm. Oftentimes we have questions about why we face the storms of life. We wonder why they last so long. But for God’s children, every storm we face is for a reason. Our Heavenly Father has promised to use all things for our good, and that includes the storms. But there are lessons we learn in the storm that we could not learn elsewhere. Here the disciples recognized their need of help, in the storm. They witnessed as Jesus walked on the water, proving that He is the Master of the storm. They heard His words of comfort and assurance in the storm. Peter experienced a tremendous miracle in the storm. And it was in the storm, that Peter realized how important it was to keep his focus upon Jesus. They all witnessed Jesus’ power to save, even in the storm. And finally, when the lessons were learned, the storm ceased. Each time we face a storm in our lives, let us understand, it will end at the proper time. But by God’s grace, let us be humble to learn the lessons God has for us.

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him…” Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Peter was beginning to sink, he did the one thing that every soul should learn to do. He cried out to Jesus for help. He wasn’t worried that he might appear weak to others. He wasn’t concerned about his pride and self sufficiency. All that mattered at this moment was, he was going down and Jesus was the only One Who could save Him. And thank God, Jesus never fails a humble soul who will cry out to Him for help. As soon as Peter’s cry was made, the strong hand of Jesus reached down to save him. How many times in our lives we have faced storms when our faith has wavered also. We could not understand. We tried to make it on our own. But finally, we listened to that still small voice reminding us, “Jesus is the only answer. So cry out to Jesus. Ask Him to save and rescue you. Ask Him to lift you up above the storm”. And every time we have cried out to Jesus, He has rescued us. At times, we’ve been so weak and helpless that we felt like we were sinking also. But then that strong and mighty hand reached down! Hallelujah! As the songwriter described, what a joy it was “When He reached down His hand to me!” By God’s grace, let us always believe that Jesus is able to save and rescue a sinking soul.

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭30‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Peter walked on the water going to Jesus, his faith was strong because his focus was upon Jesus. Even though the storm was raging around him, he was keeping his eyes on Jesus and continuing his miraculous walk of faith. But then, he became distracted and took his eyes off of Jesus. Then, he began to look away from his Strength and look at the terrible storm that was against him. As a result of this, he began to doubt and fear crept in. And as Peter became focused on the storm, he began to sink. But let us consider, nothing about his outward circumstances had changed. The same storm that he was walking on moments earlier is now engulfing him. And certainly we know that Jesus had not changed. But what changed was Peter’s focus. Rather than keeping his eyes on Jesus, he allowed himself to get distracted by outward circumstances. May this be a lesson to us, that we need to always keep our focus on Jesus Christ. To get distracted by the things coming against us is to cause our faith to become weak and be overcome by circumstances. By God’s grace, let us fix our eyes of faith on Jesus, and then we will walk in victory.

“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke‬ ‭9:23‬ ‭KJV‬‬. For most people in religion, these sound like very hard words. Many religious leaders today foolishly deny that they are meant for all believers. But consider the goodness of Christ in giving us these words. He is telling us that we were created to walk in fellowship with Him. Any other pursuit in life will end in misery and ultimately destruction. For a person to ‘deny himself’ means to deny our human tendency towards sin, selfishness and misery. It is to deny that self pleasing attitude within us which will lead us on the broad way to eternal destruction. But to come after Christ and follow Him means to live as we were created to live. It is to live in joy and peace. It is to live with contentment in our hearts and to enjoy this great salvation that Christ has provided for us. Thank God, that He Who knows the hearts of all men, knows we need to hear and understand these words. So let us come after Him and follow with gladness in our hearts. By God’s grace, let us do as the songwriter said, “I will follow Him with rejoicing!”

“And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭KJV‬‬. When Peter realized it was Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the storm, his faith was emboldened. And so strong was his faith in that moment, that he asks Jesus to let him share in this great miracle of walking on the water. And let us realize, when Jesus came to them, the storm did not immediately stop. It was not a calm sea which Peter stepped on to. Rather, it was a raging sea with waves crashing and wind howling. And yet, Peter was so focused upon Jesus that He began walking on that stormy sea, to come to Jesus. In other words, Jesus did not take away the storm and make everything comfortable and easy. Instead, He gave His trusting servant power to rise above the storm! While many people criticize Peter for his impulsiveness and later wavering in his faith, the fact is, he did what no other man has ever done. He walked on the stormy sea with Jesus! Let us learn from this, that when our eyes are on Jesus and our faith is in Him alone, there is no storm we cannot rise above.

“And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.” Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭25‬ ‭KJV‬‬. After feeding the multitudes, Jesus had sent His disciples away, to take their ship to the other side of the sea. They were doing what Jesus said to do. But as they went, they encountered a great storm. It was nighttime and their vessel was tossed with the waves. They were fearful because they had no power over their ship in such terrible conditions. And yet, here in these same conditions comes Jesus, walking on the water to them. This great miracle proved the divine power and authority that Jesus has over all of His creation. But also, it reveals to us that He has power over all the storms of our lives. Thank God, He is still the Master of the storm! It also reminds us that He is a present help in our time of need. His presence is very real even when everything seems dark and the storms are raging around us. Every child of God is going to experience some storms in life. They come even when we are walking in obedience. We don’t usually understand the purpose of these difficult times, but we trust our Lord, Who is still the Master of the storm. And we know that He is with us even as we go through them. By God’s grace, let us have the faith to continue trusting Jesus, even in the storms of life. There is never a storm we face that is beyond His control.

“The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.” Psalm‬ ‭146:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬. These words assure our hearts of the Sovereign reign of God over all of this world and universe. Many people misunderstood and therefore fear because they see and hear of things happening that seem to be out of control. To them it looks as if evil has the upper hand. They lose hope because in their eyes evil men are in control. They forget that God has made man with only a certain degree of freedom in which to make his own choices. And when those choices are evil, there will be consequences. Both men and nations will reap what they sow. But let us never think that any of this is beyond God’s Sovereign rule. He has such infinite power, wisdom and foreknowledge that He can still work all of these things for His glory and for the good of those who love Him. How could we have rest in our soul or real peace as God’s children if we were not certain that our God reigns? We ought to thank God for this knowledge, that He Who created and sustains this world, does forever reign over it. And that same Sovereign God is the One Who loves us, guides us and watches over our lives. Let us praise our Sovereign God.