DAILY DEVOTIONAL – February 28, 2020

“Step On Out.” 

Prayer:  Almighty God, You have put the assurance of salvation in our hearts through faith in Jesus our Risen Lord.  By Your power and grace Father, help us to walk ever faithfully in all things.  Amen.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 (New Living Translation)

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

⁵ Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

⁶ Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

Devotional – “Step On Out.”

When I say that I have faith in Jesus Christ, I am saying that I am absolutely certain that He is the Lord and is my Savior and that through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, He has most assuredly saved me from sin and death by grace through faith.

When I say that I have faith in Christ, I do not mean that I am hedging my bet that there is a God or that I have concluded that I would rather bet for God and be wrong than bet against God and be right.  Faith is not a stop-gap for what we cannot explain or understand. Faith is the only lens through which truth can be seen and the only pathway through which true knowledge can be attained.  This truth is reiterated many places in Scripture:

Romans 1:17 says, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.”

Hebrews 11:6, “whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists.”

1 Corinthians 2:5 says that faith rests “not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

The Bible defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 as, “the assurance of things hoped for and the certainty of things unseen.”  Faith is assurance and faith is certainty.  That being said, faith is at the same time not without risk.

Had Noah not risked his reputation and his entire livelihood believing that the Lord would indeed bring a flood, he and his family would have perished with the rest of the unbelieving world.

Had Abraham not risked everything by leaving everything he knew behind, even risking the life of his own son Isaac, He never would have realized the fullness of God’s promise and blessing by faith.

Had Moses not risked his own life standing up to Pharaoh and risked the lives of his own family and the Israelites themselves by taking off into the wilderness, then they never would have crossed the Red Sea and escaped slavery.

Had the disciples not risked their own lives, they would have never seen the miraculous ministry of Christ nor witnessed the glory of His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven.

Peter risked his life by stepping out of the boat in order to come to Jesus who was calling him in the midst of a life-threatening storm.  Had Peter not risked it all he would have never walked on water.  Peter did walk on water, and Peter also succumbed to the fear of risk and fell into the waves, but Christ was there to pull him up and Peter’s faith was strengthened by it.

Too often I think many want to believe that having faith in Christ means that there is no danger or risk in life.  If Scripture teaches us anything, it is the opposite.  Jesus promises us that because we no longer belong to this world, having been saved and reborn as children of God, we will absolutely have trouble.  To live by faith in this world is to be constantly at risk because it is a world that by nature hates God and wants nothing to do with Him or His people.  Although our temporary comfort and blessings in this life may be at risk as we walk by faith, even though this temporary life itself may be put at risk living by faith, we ultimately lose nothing but only gain eternity.  As the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:8, “I count everything as rubbish that I may gain Christ.”

The truth of Jesus Christ and the assurance and certainty of salvation that we have through faith should have an impact on the way we live our lives as well.  I have seen not just a few Christians and not just a few churches deprive themselves of the joy, excitement and enthusiasm of walking by faith in Christ because they fear risking loss.  Friends, let me assure you, there is no “risk” of loss in following Jesus…you are assured to lose all things.

When you know the depth of the riches of God’s love for you in Christ, when by faith we catch just a glimpse of the unimaginable glory that has been given to us in Jesus for all of eternity…you will inevitably lose all of what you once held dear because nothing is worth comparing to worth of knowing Christ our Lord.

It is this assurance of faith that allows us in our faith walk to take risks, to step out in faith, for faith, and in service to our Lord, because we know that He has already given us all things and that He has promised to care for us.  Even when we stumble in the brokenness of our faith and suffer the loss of risk, Jesus is ever faithful to pick us up and set us back on our feet.

Thanks for joining me today in another time of devotion in God’s Word, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow.  Amen.