Author: Christian Hile

Luke 22

Our passage starts on a Thursday when the Passover meal would be eaten. We see some interesting things happen within the vicinity of this day. First, Judas is possessed by Satan. He is one of two people in the bible that is possessed by Satan himself. The other person is the future Antichrist. The next thing we see is a plot starts to form to kill Jesus. While all of this is happening, Jesus sends Peter and John to go make preparations for the Passover meal, which Jesus fervently desired to share with His friends.

During this weeklong feast of Unleavened Bread, the mood should be remembering and celebrating the great things God did bringing His people out of Egypt. This is not so for Jesus. In these last few days, Jesus would deal with betrayal, isolation, and denial.

Let’s start with betrayal. There is not much more pain that can be felt from a friend than being stabbed in the back. When we look at Matthew’s gospel, Judas not only plotted to have Jesus killed, but he did it for 30 shekels of silver. His greed was greater than his love for his friend and teacher of at least three years.

Not only was Judas leading the chief priests, captains, and elders to Jesus, but the other eleven were sleeping in Jesus’ greatest need of prayer. When we compare the Gospel of Matthew, this was not just one occurrence, this happened three times on Jesus’ last night with His friends. He asked them to pray but they slept instead. They isolated Jesus in his last night of prayer and then scattered after He was arrested.

Lastly, Jesus was denied by one of His closest disciples, Peter. Betrayal hurts, but so does denial. Imagine pouring so much into a friendship that you spend three straight years together through thick and thin. These men were bonded by hardship, sleepless nights, and impact moments (essentially miracles upon miracles). The pain Jesus must have felt to know one of His closest disciples would not just deny being an acquaintance but would deny even knowing Him. Peter denied the friendship, the closeness, and the bond that they experienced. Don’t think that Peter is such a bad guy, you and I would do the same thing if we were in that situation.

Jesus wasn’t just plagued by physical suffering in His last days, but was also dealing with the pain of betrayal, isolation, and denial from his closest friends. Let’s look at the strength of Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prays, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” His prayer shows strength in time of suffering. Jesus recognizes the pain, but His love for you was of more importance in the garden. He submitted to the Father’s will so that He could have relationship with you. He was obedient where we are not. Put your trust in Him today.

Joshua 1

The book of Joshua starts with some sad news on the banks of the Jordan river outside of the promised land. The leader of the people, Moses, was now dead and it was time for God to raise up the next leader. Moses struck the rock in Kadesh and because he did not hallow God in the eyes of the children of Israel, he would not enter the promised land (Num. 20:12). Moses is a type of the Law. The Law is a good teacher for us to see our sin, but it will net get us into heaven. Joshua is a type of Christ who leads us to the promised land.

God speaks directly with Joshua as He did with Moses. In verse 3 He states, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.” In verse 5 God states, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” God will keep His promises. Using Paul’s words (Rom. 3:4), “Let God be true and every man a liar.” God doesn’t just make promises with His people, but he also makes commands for them. Let’s look at a couple.

In verse 2 the first command is to arise and to cross the Jordan. The second command is a major theme in the book of Joshua: be strong and courageous. The third command God gives to Joshua is to keep the law and to not turn to the right or left. This command is extended. God says that the book of the law should not leave their lips and they should be meditating on it day and night. God concludes this section of commands by telling Joshua to not be afraid nor dismayed. Let’s look at some promises that aid Joshua in keeping these commands.

God tells Joshua that He will never leave him nor forsake him. This is the key promise. Joshua could go and conquer in Canaan because God would not leave them nor forsake them. Joshua could be strong and courageous because God would not leave them nor forsake them. Joshua could keep the law while having a relationship with God because he knew God would not leave them nor forsake them. God tells Joshua that his obedience to the law would lead him to success. God’s law has a good and wise design, so it should not surprise us to hear that if you keep his commands things will go well for you. This is not to say that there were not times when Joshua faced suffering and pain, but there is a blessing when you keep God’s commands. And no, don’t think this is prosperity gospel. You must do some gymnastics to interpret this as a promise for financial blessing.

As you read through the Bible yourself, look for specific promises that you should take hold of and commands you need to keep! Be strong and courageous!

Romans 8

This chapter in Romans is one that I always come back to when I need a refresh of who I am in Christ. I even have a 3×5 index card on my desk to always remind myself that I am a son. It is easy, at least for me, to lose sight of this truth. For me, the time when I need a refresher on my identity in Christ, is when I wind up feeling like just a servant or a tool that God is using. It is important to have that word “just” in the previous sentence. Why? Because I am a servant of the King and I am a tool that He uses, but I’m not “just” those things. Satan will use mostly true statements to tell blatant lies against my identity.

The first 11 verses of Romans chapter 8 talk about being free from the power of sin and no longer walking in the flesh but in the Spirit. Paul mentions that if the Spirit is not in you, you are not Christ’s. That is the bad news. The good news is that if the Spirit is within you, and you know He is by seeing the effects of Him (righteousness and the death of your flesh), then you are His. Notice that the effects are not what save you, but what show you are saved.

Let’s keep going. If I know I am saved by the presence of the Holy Spirit, what does the Holy Spirit show? Let’s look at verse 14. Paul states, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” So, let’s keep tracking. I can have confidence of my salvation because I’m filled with the Holy Spirit. I can have confidence I am filled with the Holy Spirit by seeing the effects of Him in my life. I can have confidence I am a son because I am led by the Holy Spirit.

Let’s go a step further. Verses 16 and 17 show us some more Truth that we ought to cling to. Paul claims, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Lastly, I can have confidence of my inheritance in heaven because I am His son. I hope you see the importance of your identity in Christ. We used some simple reasoning to track some very important Truths about our position in Christ.

Nehemiah 9

My wife and I have grown up and now live together in northern Virginia. If you have spent more than a week in our stomping grounds, you will understand how bipolar the weather can be. Last weekend we were running in 80-degree weather and then Monday I was hunting turkeys while getting snowed on. The one thing I do love about this time of year is we start to get a taste of those summer nights. You know what I’m talking about. 75 degrees, windows down, and country music blaring down back roads. It’s on these drives that I enter the throne room and get to work with the Lord. A quarter of the drive I’m thinking about scripture, a quarter I am confessing sin & worshipping, and the other half of my attention is spent trying to stay on the road (Neh. 9:3).

We need to understand the context of what’s going on here. Nehemiah heard about his people who entered back into their land. He was grieved and asked to return to Jerusalem to put things in order. They rebuild the wall and in chapter 8 are revived by the Word of God. The people are now becoming obedient to God’s law because they are devoted to Him.

It is interesting what happens when you truly confess sin and receive God’s forgiveness. I’m not talking about the moment you prayed the sinner’s prayer and were saved. I’m talking about the Tuesday evening when you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and you get on your knees and ask God to forgive you of your sin. What happens is you feel this overwhelming sense of God’s mercy on you. When you reflect on your life you see God’s mercy all over the place. From childhood to adulthood to parenting to grandparenting, God’s mercy is in every season of your life.

When you understand God’s justice system, you understand that God using Babylon to judge Judah was His mercy. He was cleansing the idolatry from the land of Israel and still had a plan for them instead of completely wiping them out. Nehemiah goes back through the major events in the history of God using Israel and if you look carefully, you will see a pattern. God works, Israel is amazed, Israel forgets, Israel sins, God warns & judges, Israel repents, God works and then the cycle starts over again. What do we notice about God through all of this? He is a patient, forgiving, & long-suffering God. Read the latter half of Nehemiah 9:17 with me, “But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.” Make that last verse personal. Through your whole life of ups and downs in your relationship with God you have been the one changing. Not him. He has not forsaken you. Let that Truth sink in. I don’t know what your thing is, but maybe you need to go on a windows down long country road drive and approach the throne of grace with confidence. Don’t delay. Read God’s Word, confess sin, and worship Him today.

Jonah 4

I remember one summer my mom signed me up for vacation bible school at our small country church on the top of the mountain. We had water balloon fights, we ate pita and hummus, and one 100 degree day we did a smelly object lesson… Our bible teacher turned the back corner of the basement into the “belly of a whale”. I mean canned tuna in a small country church in the middle of the summer with no A.C. The devotion was real.

What I don’t remember from that VBS was getting to chapter 4 in the story of Jonah. This is where we really see Jonah’s heart towards the Ninevites. This is where we see the reason for Jonah running when God called him. Jonah knew that God was a merciful, loving, gracious God. Good. But him knowing that God would relent of the destruction of the city in response to their repentance is what caused Jonah to flee to Tarshish.

You see Moses and Jonah had completely opposite worries when God called them to be prophets. Moses didn’t feel adequate. He was worried that he wasn’t going to be effective because of his speech impediment. Jonah was worried that he was going to be too effective and God would relent of the judgment he would bring on the people.

Jonah wanted justice at whatever the cost! He hated the Assyrians for what they had done to Israel and wanted God to judge them, not to spare them. Don’t get me wrong, we need justice in our society. The common adage is true, “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.” We need men and women who do what is right even if it isn’t popular in our culture or society. Just as importantly, though, we should be praying and sharing the mercy, grace, and lovingkindness of Jesus Christ. If there is one person that knows a thing about injustice He is Jesus Christ, who took all the sin of humanity without doing anything to deserve the punishment.

Did Jonah want God to be just when dealing with him or just with Nineveh? Do you want God to be just when dealing with you or just with your enemies? I think the answer would be just with my enemies. We all want God to be forgiving when dealing with us. We constantly seek justice when we are wronged without realizing the infinite mercy God has for us. Our society wants justice so bad we don’t even let umpires call balls and strikes anymore because it is an injustice. We ought to be just people while acting with love and forgiveness even for those who are the hardest to love and forgive.

Psalm 90

This psalm is attributed to Moses as a prayer. Scholars believe that this was likely written as a prayer during the wilderness wandering. Imagine Moses is seeing God judge people all around him and at some point, he would even receive his own judgment; being denied entry into the promised land.

The beginning of this psalm shows Moses’ grand view of God. He is the dwelling place of all generations as Moses says. God is the author of life and death. He was who He was even before He ever created. God is infinite and eternal. He is not bound by space and time as we are. How can 1,000 years to us be like a day in the past to God? He is outside of time. For us to have time there had to be a starting point. For there to be a starting point, there had to be an outside cause. That outside cause is Yahweh.

Moses then compares the grandeur of God to the simpleness of man. Read verse 10,

“The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”

Our lives are but a vapor as James would say in his epistle. When we realize how short life is, how just and amazing our God is, and how our iniquity is before His face; we should have a healthy fear of God. Thank you Jesus for nailing my public and private sin to that cross 2,000 years ago.

God teach us to number our days. Maybe when we learn to number our days, we will live with a, “If God will’s it” attitude (James 4:15). Maybe we will wake out of our slumber. Maybe our life would be marked by Romans 13:11-14 (NKJV),

“11And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

When we really learn to number our days, God gives us some urgency. If you find out you are terminally ill, you try and do all that you can with your time left. What if I told you that your days are numbered, and it motivated you to do all that you could for God. It wouldn’t be so embarrassing to tell the grocery clerk that Jesus loves them and wants a relationship with them. Clinging to the job and keeping your mouth sealed from talking about Jesus doesn’t make much sense anymore. Let the shortness of your life motivate you to live for Jesus today, not later. Don’t keep pushing it off, get in the game.

Ecclesiastes 3

Soloman starts this chapter of scripture off with the idea that there is a time or a season for everything. What he is trying to say is that life is so monotonous. We go from one thing to the next and then back around again in this monotonous circle. There is real wisdom in trying to understand what season you are in so you aren’t “kicking against the goads” if you will. Sometimes God directs us into something difficult and it’s our time of weeping, mourning, or tearing down. Use discernment as you are in the different times of life seeking to understand what God is trying to teach you, instead of always asking for the next season of life.

In verse 11, Soloman writes, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.”

God has put eternity in the hearts of men. There is something more than just the monotonous seasons of life that we experience under the sun. There is more than just laboring and enjoying the here and now. We should live in the present; honoring, glorifying, and thanking God for everything; without forgetting about the eternity that He has put in our hearts.

I am thankful for the second part of verse 11. I’m glad that I don’t always understand what God is doing. That shows me He is a big God. If I could pinpoint everything God was doing all the time and could “read” His moves like I do a silly rom com with my wife, is He really a God deserving of my worship? I’m glad I can’t find out the work God is doing from beginning to end. This makes us reliant on Him through His miraculous and providential hand. It makes my faith grow because I know the foundation of His throne is righteousness and justice (Ps. 97).

Sometimes life just feels like a constant cycle of seasons that ends in 80 years when we return to dust. There is far more than just toiling and enjoying the fruit of your labor. God has put eternity in the hearts of men. God’s work endures forever. He doesn’t leave something unfinished. He is the captain of your salvation and the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 2 & 12). Would you place your trust in Christ and rest in the fact that there is nothing more you need to add to His work, but to simply receive the grace He is offering to you? After you do this, live for eternity and keep looking up. He is coming back soon.

Jeremiah 31

Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet”. His heart was utterly broke by the sin and idolatry of God’s chosen people as a whole. He was broken by the lack of repentance of his people and the judgment that Judah and Israel endured. It is important to remember that Jeremiah had a front row seat to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the ransacking that followed.

With this context, Jeremiah 31 has an extremely uplifting mood and would be quite encouraging to the people of Israel as a whole. Within the first few verses of this chapter, God declares that there will be rest, singing, dancing, rebuilding, and enjoyment of God’s everlasting, loyal love. God then speaks about a great gathering of the people back to Israel. Ezekiel gives us even greater context when he adds that the nation will be one nation and will never be divided again (Ezekiel 37:21-22). God started this work in 1948 when Israel became a nation again. We need to pray that Israel’s heart would be softened and their eyes would be opened to Jesus the Messiah. The Bible prophecies in Romans that there will be a day when all of Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26).

Just how will all Israel be saved? The answer is in the end of Jeremiah 31. The law will be put in their minds and written on their hearts. Through a personal relationship with God. No longer will neighbors teach neighbors, they will have an intimate relationship with God by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. The sacrificial system covered God’s wrath, but the death of Jesus satisfied God’s wrath to the point that He will no longer remember the believer’s sin.

The Gospel is first for the Jew and then for the gentile. Israel, as a principle, has rejected Jesus, so God is using the gentile Church to provoke Israel to jealousy (Romans 11:11). God’s heart is for all people (both jew and gentile) to be reconciled by coming to the knowledge of the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.

So what do we do? Be reconciled to God by our One Mediator. Represent Christ to Israel. Pray for Israel and the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122). Pray that the scales would be removed from their eyes before the end comes. Read Romans 9-11.

John 14

Jesus loves you.

Within this chapter, we see a few different ways that Jesus displays His love to us, undeserving sinners. Before we dive in, I want to note a key verse. In verses 9-11, Jesus gently rebukes Philip for not fully understanding Jesus’ nature yet. Philip had not yet seen the love of Jesus displayed on the cross or the power that came from the resurrection. Philip didn’t fully understand that the Father was in Jesus and Jesus in the father. This oneness is exactly what Jesus prayed the Church would have with one another (John 17).

The love of God is not accepting and affirming of all the decisions we make. It is God’s love that rebukes, corrects, and disciplines when we fall into a sinful lifestyle. How can that be loving? He created you and wants what is best for you. His best for you is a relationship with God where you are growing more and more into the image of His Son. So, that means He is actively correcting us when we act in a way that is contrary to the absolute truth we find in God’s Word. This brings us to some key points of how God loves according to John 14.

The first point is that Jesus provided a way to bridge the gap between God and man (John 14:6). Sometimes man will want to be inclusive because we tend to want to be nice and not hurt other’s feelings. We will hear phrases like, “all religions lead to heaven”, “be more open-minded, you are too closed off”, or “If God really loves, then He wouldn’t be so exclusive”. The truth of this passage is that the path to God, and salvation, is very exclusive. It is God’s love that He even provides a way to take care of the sin that separates us from Him. We shouldn’t ask so many questions about how God bridged the gap, instead we should be in awe and amazement that He bridged the gap between man and Himself.

The second point is that Jesus loves us by giving us a Helper and a Comforter who indwells believers (John 14:16,26). This is an amazing gift and blessing that every believer experiences. Elsewhere in the NT, we see that the Holy Spirit is what seals us and is the guarantee (or deposit) of our salvation. The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin, give us gifts to edify the Church, and bless us with the fruit of the Spirit.

The last point of Jesus displaying His love to us in this passage, is the truth that He is preparing a place for us and is coming back (John 14:28). God will not just leave us as orphans. He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell Christians and to come upon them with power to serve. He will come back.

So, what is our response to His love? What do you take away from this chapter? Read verse 21 with me, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” It is quite simple. You love God by loving His Word, rightly dividing it, and staying obedient.

Psalm 89

God made a covenant with David that there would be a King who would come from his lineage. We see in Jeremiah and in Isaiah that God will bring a branch or a root forth from Jesse. God made a promise and then fulfilled that promise when He sent His own son, Jesus. When God made a covenant to David, He made an unconditional covenant. He didn’t say I will establish your throne forever if… He said I will establish your throne forever.

In verse 30-32 the psalmist writes, “But if his descendants forsake my instructions and fail to obey my regulations, if they do not obey my decrees and fail to keep my commands, then I will punish their sin with the rod, and their disobedience with beating.” It’s easy for us to read that and think, “So much for God keeping His promise.”

Israel was judged for their wrongdoing because God is just. God was being a loving God when He brought Babylon down to send Judah into exile. He was using Babylon to clear the idolatry from His wife, Israel. There must be payment for sin, it’s just a matter of who pays it, you or Jesus. In the Old Testament, souls were saved by trusting in the coming Messiah. In the Church Age, souls are saved by trusting in the Messiah that has already come.

Jesus paid the cost in full for our sin on the cross. In Hebrews, we read that He died once, for all. The work has already been done. Now does that mean we should keep on sinning so that grace may abound? Absolutely not! God still chastens and disciplines believers for their sin, but He does not require additional retribution (Romans 8:1). Jesus already paid the cost. It’s easy to associate God’s chastening and disciplining with His judgment, but it is His love.

Read verses 33-34, “But I will never stop loving him nor fail to keep my promise to him. No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.” God loves you so much that he will discipline and chasten you so that you will be perfect and mature, lacking nothing. He does it from His lovingkindness. Praise God that He kept His promise to David. If He kept His promise to David, then we can trust His promise to every believer. That He is going to prepare a place for you and will come back to take you to that place. Amen!