December 2021 – Church, Discipleship, and Missions

The Atoning Work of Christ: Year One Day 364 Devotional

Passage: Isaiah 42:13-53:12
Psalm and Proverbs: Proverbs 25

Isaiah 53:5-6

But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To ^[fall on Him.

The atoning work of Christ has many aspects, but the most fundamental is this: He died for our sins. He suffered the penalty of sin in our place. Any theory of the atonement that denies that point denies the work of Christ and is not true to the biblical witness.

Father, save our churches from a false gospel of nationalism that keeps us from having the true gospel.

Proverbs 25:15 (NASB)

Through patience a ruler may be persuaded,
And a gentle tongue breaks bone.

Christ: Year One Day 363 Devotional

Passage: Isaiah 51:1-52:12
Psalm and Proverbs: Proverbs 24:23-34

Isaiah 51:3-5

Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her ruins.
And He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and the sound of a melody.

⁴“Pay attention to Me, My people,
And listen to Me, My nation;
For a law will go out from Me,
And I will bring My justice as a light of the peoples.
⁵My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And they will wait expectantly for My arm.

Photo by Ave Calvar Martinez on Pexels.com

God has set Christ as both a light to draw the nations to God and as the judge over all. In this, we, the Church, should rejoice and give thanks. We should actively go and share the light while also warning of judgment to come. We should rejoice that the Good News is for all people groups.

Father, save our churches from a false gospel of nationalism that keeps us from having the true gospel.

Proverbs 24:29 (NASB)

Do not say, “I shall do the same to him as he has done to me;
I will repay the person according to his work.”

For All Nations: Year One Day 362 Devotional

Passage: Isaiah 49-50
Psalm and Proverbs: Proverbs 24:1-22

Isaiah 49:5-7

And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
And My God is My strength),
He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the protected ones of Israel;
I will also make You a light of the nations
So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
Says to the despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”

The gospel is not America first. The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ, and it is for all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages. Churches that cease to have God’s vision for the gospel will soon cease to be true churches.

Father, save our churches from a false gospel of nationalism that keeps us from having the true gospel.

Proverbs 24:5-6 (NASB)

A wise man is strong,
And a person of knowledge increases power.
For by wise guidance you will wage war,
And in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

Judgment Begins in the House of God: Year One Day 361 Devotional

Passage: Isaiah 48
Psalm and Proverbs: Proverbs 23

Isaiah 48:9-11

For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
¹⁰Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
¹¹For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And I will not give My glory to another.

People will react in one of two ways to the idea of God’s wrath or judgment on His people. Either they will disdain the idea and ask how a loving God could do that, or they will become exasperated and ask how a just God could not have already carried it out.

God has his reasons for the delay. For the sake of His name, He does not want to cut off His people. He will use affliction to refine His church just as He used it to refine Israel. We must be responsive, or in other words, obedient to His work in the church. We should expose and confess sin and practice church discipline where appropriate. We must seek to be as pure as possible while still loving and caring for sinners.

Father, help us not to resist Your refining work. May we become holy for Your glory.

Proverbs 23:17 (NASB)

Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the fear of the Lord always.

Not Forsaken: Year One Day 360 Devotional

Passage: Isaiah 46-47
Psalm and Proverbs: Proverbs 22:22-23

Isaiah 46:3-4

“Listen to Me, house of Jacob,
And all the remnant of the house of Israel,
You who have been carried by Me from birth
And have been carried from the womb;
⁴Even to your old age I will be the same,
And even to your graying years I will carry you!
I have done it, and I will bear you;
And I will carry you and I will save you.

As God pronounced the fall of Babylon, he reminded Israel of His love for them. He had not forsaken them but had been with and was accomplishing His purpose for them.

As His people, we may feel abandoned at times or think He is cruel as we feel the heat of refining flames. He never abandons His children, and He is good no matter our circumstances in this fleeting moment. He carries us as children. He is with us to our old age.

Father, thank You for the comfort of Your word. Thank You that you never abandon or forsake us.

Proverbs 22:22-23 (NASB)

Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor crush the needy at the gate;
For the Lord will plead their case
And take the life of those who rob them