December 29-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Proverbs 2:6, For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Observe what it is saying.
The writer of Proverbs taught that true spiritual knowledge is the result of a visitation of heavenly wisdom. It is a kind of baptism of the Spirit of Truth that comes to God-fearing men and women. This wisdom is always associated with righteousness and humility; it is never found apart from godliness and true holiness of life. We need to learn and declare again the ministry of wisdom from above. It is apparent that we cannot know God by the logic of reason. Through reason we can only know about God. The deeper mysteries of God remain hidden to us until we have received illumination from above. We were created with a capacity to know spiritual things—that potential died when Adam and Eve sinned. Thus, “dead in sin” is a description of that part of our being in which we should be able to know God in conscious awareness. Christ’s atoning death enabled our Lord and Savior to take God the Father with one hand and man with the other and introduce us. Jesus enables us to find God very quickly! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 33).
Relate it to your life.
I do not have to go searching for God because Jesus has brought Him to me.
Do something.
Thank You, Father, that You provided a way—the only way—to bring sinful people back into a right relationship with You. That one way is through faith in Jesus Christ. Thank You, Lord, that You did not leave us lost and hopeless. Amen.
December 30-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Philippians 2:6-7, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Observe what it is saying.
We can surely know this, at least: that the Incarnation required no compromise of deity. Let us always remember that when God became incarnate, there was no compromise on God’s part…. But the holy God who is God, and all else not God, our Father who art in heaven, could never compromise Himself. The Incarnation, the Word made flesh, was accomplished without any compromise of the holy Deity. The living God did not degrade Himself by this condescension. He did not in any sense make Himself to be less than God. He remained ever God and everything else remained not God. The gulf still existed even after Jesus Christ had become man and had dwelt among us. Instead of God degrading Himself when He became man, by the act of Incarnation He elevated mankind to Himself…. Thus, we do not degrade God but we elevate man—and that is the wonder of redemption! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 34).
Relate it to your life.
The best self-help plan I can ever participate in is found in a surrendered life in Jesus Christ.
Do something.
Lord, You are so powerful that You could humble Yourself, yet remain the majestic God. Thank You, Father, that because Jesus came down to me, I can be raised up to be with You. Amen.
December 31-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Observe what it is saying.
There is a great deal of discussion now taking place about the lack of spiritual power in our Christian churches. What about the New Testament patterns? The apostolic method was to provide a foundation of good, sound biblical reasons for following the Savior, for our willingness to let the Spirit of God display the great Christian virtues in our lives. That is why we come in faith and rejoicing to the eternal verity of Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever!” This proclamation gives significance to every other section of teaching and exhortation in the letter to the Hebrews. In this verse is truth that is morally and spiritually dynamic if we will exercise the faith and the will to demonstrate it in our needy world. I think this fact, this truth that Jesus Christ wants to be known in His church as the ever-living, never-changing Lord of all, could bring back again the power and testimony of the early church! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 35).
Relate it to your life.
When we elevate Jesus in our hearts to the lofty position from which He reigns, we will experience unleashed power in our lives and churches.
Do something.
Lord, I pray for my pastor and my church, that they will comprehend anew the truth that You are ever-living and never-changing. Amen.
January 1-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Colossians 1:15-16, The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Observe what it is saying.
It is the truth that God has never done anything apart from Jesus Christ. The stars in their courses, the frogs that croak beside the lake, the angels in heaven above, and men on earth below all came out of the channel we call the eternal Word. While we are busy presenting Jesus as Lord and Savior, it is true that we have all received out of His fullness. Now, some time ago I wrote in an editorial concerning Jesus Christ that there can be no Savior-hood without Lordship. This was not original with me because I believe that the Bible plainly teaches that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior; that He is Lord before He is Savior; and that if He is not Lord, He is not Savior. I repeat: when we present this Word, this eternal Word who was made flesh to dwell among us, as Lord and Savior, we present Him also in His other offices—Creator, Sustainer, and Benefactor. (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 36).
Relate it to your life.
As I begin this New Year, I need to understand that Jesus cannot be my Savior unless He is my Lord!
Do something.
Wonderful Jesus, forgive me for the ways in which I have looked to You as Savior and not as Lord. I submit myself to You today and give You full reign of my life. Amen.
January 2-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Romans 8:34, Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Observe what it is saying.
Even among those who acknowledge the deity of Christ there is often a failure to recognize His manhood. We are quick to assert that when He walked the earth He was God with men, but we overlook a truth equally as important, that where He sits now on His mediatorial throne He is Man with God. The teaching of the New Testament is that now, at this very moment, there is a Man in heaven appearing in the presence of God for us. He is as certainly a man as was Adam or Moses or Paul. He is a man glorified, but His glorification did not dehumanize Him. Today He is a real man, of the race of mankind, bearing our lineaments and dimensions, a visible and audible man whom any other man would recognize instantly as one of us. But more than this, He is heir of all things, Lord of all worlds, Head of the church and the Firstborn of the new creation. He is the way to God, the life of the believer, the hope of Israel, and the high priest of every true worshiper. He holds the keys of death and hell and stands as advocate and surety for everyone who believes on Him in truth. (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 37).
Relate it to your life.
I am being prayed for by Jesus Himself!
Do something.
Father, not only do I have the assurance of my salvation, but I also know that You intercede for me as a man who has experienced life on this earth. Thank You for being both God with men and man with God. Amen.
January 3-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Acts 5:31, God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.
Observe what it is saying.
What a gracious thing for us that Jesus Christ never thinks about what we have been. He always thinks about what we are going to be! The Savior who is our Lord cares absolutely nothing about your moral case history. He forgives it and starts from there as though you had been born one minute before. The woman of Samaria met our Lord at the well and we ask, “Why was Jesus willing to reveal so much more about Himself in this setting than He did in other encounters during His ministry?” You and I would never have chosen this woman with such a shadow lying across her life, but Jesus is the Christ of God, and He could sense the potential within her innermost being. He gave her the secret of His Messiahship and the secret of the nature of God. Her frankness and her humility appealed to the Savior as they talked of humanity’s need and the true worship of God by the Spirit of God. In Jesus’ day, His critics said in scorn: “This man receives sinners!” They were right—and He lived and died and rose again to prove it. The blessed part is this: He is still receiving sinners! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 38).
Relate it to your life.
Jesus joyously welcomes me regardless of my past when I wholeheartedly turn to Him.
Do something.
Lord, I have many family, friends, and coworkers who need You as their Savior. Please bring them into Your family soon. Amen.
Write out the Scripture.
Proverbs 2:6, For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Observe what it is saying.
The writer of Proverbs taught that true spiritual knowledge is the result of a visitation of heavenly wisdom. It is a kind of baptism of the Spirit of Truth that comes to God-fearing men and women. This wisdom is always associated with righteousness and humility; it is never found apart from godliness and true holiness of life. We need to learn and declare again the ministry of wisdom from above. It is apparent that we cannot know God by the logic of reason. Through reason we can only know about God. The deeper mysteries of God remain hidden to us until we have received illumination from above. We were created with a capacity to know spiritual things—that potential died when Adam and Eve sinned. Thus, “dead in sin” is a description of that part of our being in which we should be able to know God in conscious awareness. Christ’s atoning death enabled our Lord and Savior to take God the Father with one hand and man with the other and introduce us. Jesus enables us to find God very quickly! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 33).
Relate it to your life.
I do not have to go searching for God because Jesus has brought Him to me.
Do something.
Thank You, Father, that You provided a way—the only way—to bring sinful people back into a right relationship with You. That one way is through faith in Jesus Christ. Thank You, Lord, that You did not leave us lost and hopeless. Amen.
December 30-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Philippians 2:6-7, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Observe what it is saying.
We can surely know this, at least: that the Incarnation required no compromise of deity. Let us always remember that when God became incarnate, there was no compromise on God’s part…. But the holy God who is God, and all else not God, our Father who art in heaven, could never compromise Himself. The Incarnation, the Word made flesh, was accomplished without any compromise of the holy Deity. The living God did not degrade Himself by this condescension. He did not in any sense make Himself to be less than God. He remained ever God and everything else remained not God. The gulf still existed even after Jesus Christ had become man and had dwelt among us. Instead of God degrading Himself when He became man, by the act of Incarnation He elevated mankind to Himself…. Thus, we do not degrade God but we elevate man—and that is the wonder of redemption! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 34).
Relate it to your life.
The best self-help plan I can ever participate in is found in a surrendered life in Jesus Christ.
Do something.
Lord, You are so powerful that You could humble Yourself, yet remain the majestic God. Thank You, Father, that because Jesus came down to me, I can be raised up to be with You. Amen.
December 31-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Observe what it is saying.
There is a great deal of discussion now taking place about the lack of spiritual power in our Christian churches. What about the New Testament patterns? The apostolic method was to provide a foundation of good, sound biblical reasons for following the Savior, for our willingness to let the Spirit of God display the great Christian virtues in our lives. That is why we come in faith and rejoicing to the eternal verity of Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever!” This proclamation gives significance to every other section of teaching and exhortation in the letter to the Hebrews. In this verse is truth that is morally and spiritually dynamic if we will exercise the faith and the will to demonstrate it in our needy world. I think this fact, this truth that Jesus Christ wants to be known in His church as the ever-living, never-changing Lord of all, could bring back again the power and testimony of the early church! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 35).
Relate it to your life.
When we elevate Jesus in our hearts to the lofty position from which He reigns, we will experience unleashed power in our lives and churches.
Do something.
Lord, I pray for my pastor and my church, that they will comprehend anew the truth that You are ever-living and never-changing. Amen.
January 1-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Colossians 1:15-16, The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Observe what it is saying.
It is the truth that God has never done anything apart from Jesus Christ. The stars in their courses, the frogs that croak beside the lake, the angels in heaven above, and men on earth below all came out of the channel we call the eternal Word. While we are busy presenting Jesus as Lord and Savior, it is true that we have all received out of His fullness. Now, some time ago I wrote in an editorial concerning Jesus Christ that there can be no Savior-hood without Lordship. This was not original with me because I believe that the Bible plainly teaches that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior; that He is Lord before He is Savior; and that if He is not Lord, He is not Savior. I repeat: when we present this Word, this eternal Word who was made flesh to dwell among us, as Lord and Savior, we present Him also in His other offices—Creator, Sustainer, and Benefactor. (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 36).
Relate it to your life.
As I begin this New Year, I need to understand that Jesus cannot be my Savior unless He is my Lord!
Do something.
Wonderful Jesus, forgive me for the ways in which I have looked to You as Savior and not as Lord. I submit myself to You today and give You full reign of my life. Amen.
January 2-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Romans 8:34, Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Observe what it is saying.
Even among those who acknowledge the deity of Christ there is often a failure to recognize His manhood. We are quick to assert that when He walked the earth He was God with men, but we overlook a truth equally as important, that where He sits now on His mediatorial throne He is Man with God. The teaching of the New Testament is that now, at this very moment, there is a Man in heaven appearing in the presence of God for us. He is as certainly a man as was Adam or Moses or Paul. He is a man glorified, but His glorification did not dehumanize Him. Today He is a real man, of the race of mankind, bearing our lineaments and dimensions, a visible and audible man whom any other man would recognize instantly as one of us. But more than this, He is heir of all things, Lord of all worlds, Head of the church and the Firstborn of the new creation. He is the way to God, the life of the believer, the hope of Israel, and the high priest of every true worshiper. He holds the keys of death and hell and stands as advocate and surety for everyone who believes on Him in truth. (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 37).
Relate it to your life.
I am being prayed for by Jesus Himself!
Do something.
Father, not only do I have the assurance of my salvation, but I also know that You intercede for me as a man who has experienced life on this earth. Thank You for being both God with men and man with God. Amen.
January 3-The Son of God
Write out the Scripture.
Acts 5:31, God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.
Observe what it is saying.
What a gracious thing for us that Jesus Christ never thinks about what we have been. He always thinks about what we are going to be! The Savior who is our Lord cares absolutely nothing about your moral case history. He forgives it and starts from there as though you had been born one minute before. The woman of Samaria met our Lord at the well and we ask, “Why was Jesus willing to reveal so much more about Himself in this setting than He did in other encounters during His ministry?” You and I would never have chosen this woman with such a shadow lying across her life, but Jesus is the Christ of God, and He could sense the potential within her innermost being. He gave her the secret of His Messiahship and the secret of the nature of God. Her frankness and her humility appealed to the Savior as they talked of humanity’s need and the true worship of God by the Spirit of God. In Jesus’ day, His critics said in scorn: “This man receives sinners!” They were right—and He lived and died and rose again to prove it. The blessed part is this: He is still receiving sinners! (A. W. Tozer on the Son of God: A 365-Day Devotional, p. 38).
Relate it to your life.
Jesus joyously welcomes me regardless of my past when I wholeheartedly turn to Him.
Do something.
Lord, I have many family, friends, and coworkers who need You as their Savior. Please bring them into Your family soon. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotionals