June 21 Edify Devotional

Today’s Devotional Theme      Close Than You Think   Daily Scripture Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”   Encouragement  Right now, right where you are, our Heavenly Father is so close to you. To some reading this it may be very challenging to accept God as Father, simply because your earthly father was not a good daddy and his example was reflected upon The Heavenly Father. Let me encourage you right now that God, the Creator and everlasting Father, is close to you and He longs to embrace you in the rejection, neglect, and pain that you wrestle with. Apply God’s Word In Psalm 34:18 we discover that our Great God is near to those who have broken hearts, contrite spirits. This applies to hearts repentant from sin and hearts that are broken with pain. Our Heavenly Father is right there with you, right now, right in the middle of that pain. Together, let’s activate this scripture in our lives today by accepting the invitation that He is near to us and saves us. Receive Him in right now with all of the healing love that He has to give and more. Don’t let the earthly rejections and neglects hold you captive anymore. Receive your healing from The Father who never fails or disappoints.   Come into His Presence My Heavenly Father, I open my heart to You now and ask that You would come in and flood me with Your healing love. I give to You the wounds caused by my earthly parents and I rejoice that You never fail or disappoint. Today I choose to accept the invitation that you are near to me and You want to save me. I love You, Daddy. In Jesus Name, amen. Jarrod Herald Pastor Email Jarrod

Victory Christian Center 18180 US Highway 150 Bloomington, Illinois 61705 309.663.7233 www.VictoryPeople.org www.Facebook.com/VictoryPeople.org

June 20 Edify Devotional

Today’s Devotional Theme      The Water or Jesus?   Daily Scripture John 5:5-7 “Now a certain man was there [at the pool of Bethesda] who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’” Encouragement  There’s an old Jewish belief or legend, alluded to here in John, that a pool of water that is “moving” – for example is spring-fed – has healing power. I’m reminded of a hot spring in far northern Nevada that a friend and I used to jump in. We’d alternately jump in the hot spring – the water was too warm to stay in for longer than a minute – and an unheated swimming pool a few feet away to chill down, then right back into the hot water. I’m not sure how much healing that water held, but the back and forth between water temperatures at least 50 degrees different was certainly invigorating! Apply God’s Word The infirm man has waited in vain and frustration for someone to put him in the water. Notice Jesus ignores the stirred-up water when he asks the man if he wants to be made well. He simply says, in verse 7, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk,” and that’s what the man does – pure and simple. Later in the temple, Jesus in verse 14 warns the man to “sin no more.” He gave many of those He healed and set free a similar warning. Also see the affinity between the healing water of the pool of Bethesda and Jesus as the source of “living water” that brings everlasting life (John 4:14, during His conversation with the Samaritan woman). I’m convinced that Jesus, through His Spirit, still heals – both through doctors and suddenly, miraculously. The question often comes up, “Why does God heal some, while others, also walking with God, die?” Honestly, I have no answer. But it doesn’t sully my faith. God is sovereign. He is not to be “explained” but to be obeyed. Come into His Presence Father God, Jehovah Rapha, our healer, we thank you for your many benefits, not the least of which is your healing, whether through the marvelous immune system You’ve endowed us with or through Your direct intervention in our lives. I am grateful beyond words. In Jesus’ name, amen. Mark Bacon Teacher & Mentor Email Mark

Victory Christian Center 18180 US Highway 150 Bloomington, Illinois 61705 309.663.7233 www.VictoryPeople.org www.Facebook.com/VictoryPeople.org

June 19 Edify Devotional

Today’s Devotional Theme      Unconditional Trust   Daily Scripture Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.” Encouragement  I recall friends from years ago whose hope and trust in God was evidently based on God’s treating them ok – that is, “ok” in their definition, not God’s. But when some calamity befell them (and let’s face it, calamities befall us Christians as well as non-Christians), they walked away. Almost like stepping from His kingdom scene into a 3-dimensional hologram of a depraved world teeming with demons and out of bounds to God. In my nearly 40 years of coming to know God, I’ve been tempted to step back into the quagmire a few times. Thankfully, God’s Spirit has restrained me every time. I think of an old song with a line, “Where you going to run to, sinner-man?” Although it took him a while – like it does most of us – David realized that wherever he went, God would still be there, whether or not he chose to embrace Him: Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in hell, you are there!” Apply God’s Word In today’s scripture, Job tells God and his “helpful” friends that his trust in God is unconditional. His disasters stretch my fertile imagination almost beyond anything I can think of. Yet Job declares that, no matter what has or will happen to him, he will hope and put his trust in God. I’m seeing a friend and his family walk through a fiery trial right now. But I get no inkling that he is thinking about turning his back on God. That’s a difference between having our feet tightly rooted in God’s soil and having one foot planted on kingdom ground and the other in the world. That “best of both worlds” – a double-best that many believers try to live but doesn’t really exist – is potentially a ticket back into this sin-besmirched world. After nearly 4 decades, I still have vivid memories of the mess I’d made of my life before I came to Jesus Christ. I’m unshakably convinced that if I stepped back into that hologram I mentioned above, my life would quickly become the unlivable mess it used to be – and worse. Come into His Presence Our Father in Heaven, I thank You for keeping us like a tree that survives droughts, fires, and lightning strikes and grows and thrives even when conditions are ill-suited for survival, let alone growth. In Jesus’ name, amen. Mark Bacon Teacher & Mentor Email Mark

Victory Christian Center 18180 US Highway 150 Bloomington, Illinois 61705 309.663.7233 www.VictoryPeople.org www.Facebook.com/VictoryPeople.org

June 18 Edify Devotional

Today’s Devotional Theme      Our Faithful High Priest   Daily Scripture Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Encouragement  Most of us, when we hear the word “healing,” flash on physical healing. But healing takes many forms – emotional as well as physical. Healing can also include financial, marital – you name it. We need one kind of healing as much as any other. I need some measure of God’s healing every day for some weakness, whether it’s a feeling of sadness, a disagreement with my wife, or, as always, sin. Whenever our son or daughter has a setback – on the job or an unexpected expense – we hurt with our kids. And loving our neighbor as ourselves, as Jesus commanded in Matthew 22:39; and as Paul reminded us in several of his letters, encompasses sympathizing with our neighbor’s weaknesses. Note the Hebrew concept of neighbor goes way beyond the person living next door. It includes not only near neighbors and friends but also our fellow worshipers at church and, yes, non-believers we know or work with. Apply God’s Word The book of Hebrews tells us clearly that Jesus is the final High Priest, following the 1,500 year old line of high priests instituted by the instruction (Torah) Moses brought down from the mountain. But Jesus was a vastly better High Priest than any of his predecessors from Aaron’s line. He Himself made the last sacrifice – on the cross for our sins and those of the whole world. That sacrifice was propitiatory, made to fulfill God’s plan to substitute His Son as a sacrifice on the altar so we believers could have our sins forgiven, forgotten, so that we might have free access to God in prayer and revelation, and so that we can be assured of eternal life with Him. Wow, that’s a long-sentence dose of theology, isn’t it? The Greek word for sympathize – our word comes directly from the Greek – means to share the feelings of someone else who experiences the same kinds of weaknesses that we do. Jesus “felt” the same weaknesses we do – He just didn’t give into them! God’s forgiving our sins through His Son is a manifestation of His unending grace in every avenue of our lives. Come into His Presence Lord God, I’m so glad that the one-for-all sacrifice of your Son has taken the place of the yearly sacrifices of the ancient priests. I’m grateful that Jesus willingly took the place of the regular sacrifices the Hebrews were commanded to make, and so much more that Jesus’ death and resurrection was an infinitely more effective undertaking than the bulls and goats the Hebrews sacrificed. In Jesus’ name, amen. Mark Bacon Teacher & Mentor Email Mark

Victory Christian Center 18180 US Highway 150 Bloomington, Illinois 61705 309.663.7233 www.VictoryPeople.org www.Facebook.com/VictoryPeople.org

June 17 Edify Devotional

Today’s Devotional Theme      Peter and Prophecy   Daily Scripture 2 Peter 2:19-21 “[W]e have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Encouragement  The planet Venus has long been known as the morning star as it leads the sun into a new dawn. It was a welcome sight to the children of Israel, because it meant the blackness of night would soon give way to the first rays of sunlight heralding a new day. However, Venus, the third brightest light in the heavens (after the sun and moon), can’t seem to make up its mind. Sometimes it shows up in the evening instead of the morning, following the sun as the sky darkens into dusk. Anyway, the apostle Peter likens the words of the prophets to a “morning star” that rises – in our heart instead of the sky. The morning star can also refer to Jesus the Messiah, Who would lead Peter and his fellow believers into a safe and light-filled place, away from the looming military might of a Roman Empire gearing up to put down a rebellion of fractious Jews in the late 60s AD. Apply God’s Word On the eve of the rebellion that precipitated the siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the second temple by the new Emperor Vespasian’s son Titus, Peter reminds those of Asia Minor and beyond that the words of prophecy were a light shining in the darkness of the Jews’ hearts as they lived in dread of the Roman army amassing around them. Peter wants his audience to hold on to the hope – the promise – that Jesus represents the fulfillment or confirmation of prophecy. The writer also reminds them and us that although the prophets were men (and women) like you and me, the words they spoke came at the behest of the Holy Spirit. They were by no means words concocted in the minds of people. True prophets were conduits of God’s word to man – for our spiritual growth. Take for example the scripture, 2 Timothy 3:16. We looked at this scripture in previous devotions, and for our encouragement to hold fast to the sure hope and promises of God that we read in today’s scripture. Come into His Presence Lord God, we rejoice that especially when we’re lost in a dark valley in our lives, Your sure words switch on a floodlight by which we can find our way out and climb up into the warm sunlight of a new day. In Jesus’ Name, amen. Mark Bacon Teacher & Mentor Email Mark

Victory Christian Center 18180 US Highway 150 Bloomington, Illinois 61705 309.663.7233 www.VictoryPeople.org www.Facebook.com/VictoryPeople.org

June 16 Edify Devotional

Today’s Devotional Theme      Benefits of Scripture - Part 2   Daily Scripture 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Encouragement  All scripture! Not just the parts we like best. I certainly can’t list Leviticus among my favorite books. Reading all those laws the Jews had to hold to is, to say the least, tedious for most of us. Beneficial? Really! If nothing else, those arcane, sometimes seemingly silly laws give us perspective on how Jesus, by fulfilling the law – Matthew 5:17 – made living a Godly life infinitely easier for believers from the first century onward than it was for the ancient Jews. So, like food that many of us don’t relish (turnip greens or rutabagas, anyone?), some scripture aimed at a near Eastern society thousands of years ago hardly rings true to us today. For that reason, maybe we should get out our commentaries now and then and bend our hand to the plow, plowing through those chapters full of names, territories assigned to the twelve tribes (for example Ezekiel 48), and genealogies of Bible characters. In this devotion, however, we’ll look at the 3 words “reproof,” “correction,” and “instruction” in today’s scripture. Apply God’s Word First, a comment on “all scripture is given…” A few translations like the old English Revised Version, translate it this way: “all scripture given by God is…” See the enormous difference in meaning? This version says in effect that not all scripture is God-breathed! Although technically the Greek might allow the RV interpretation, it flies in the face of other scriptures and goes against the grain of the whole word of God. “Reproof” in today’s scripture means chastisement or even punishment for misbehavior. “Restoration to an upright state in God’s eyes” represents the 5-syllable, 50-cent Greek word translated correction in today’s verse. And the word rendered as “instruction” carries a whiff of child or pupil being schooled in some area – in this instance, in righteousness or how to hold onto that upright state that correction brings. Altogether, Paul’s words to Timothy served as a reminder to his young disciple and a set of guidelines for Timothy to convey to individuals and churches he oversaw. And they are just as pertinent to our lives today. Come into His Presence Father God, we thank you for Your word to soak in, meditate on, incorporate into our character as Christians, and to pass on as instruction to those we may disciple. In Jesus’ Name, amen. Mark Bacon Teacher & Mentor Email Mark

Victory Christian Center 18180 US Highway 150 Bloomington, Illinois 61705 309.663.7233 www.VictoryPeople.org www.Facebook.com/VictoryPeople.org

June 15 Edify Devotional

Today’s Devotional Theme      Benefits of Scripture   Daily Scripture 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Encouragement  The word “profitable” in today’s scripture can also be translated “beneficial” or “advantageous.” The meaning is that the profitable thing will lead to greater well-being or will put us ahead in some way. Surely we all want to feel better, make more money, perhaps achieve greater recognition, rear well-behaved, God-centered kids... the list could go on and on. Today’s scripture holds a wonderful promise. The Bible we hold in our hands (all scripture) is beneficial. But it’s only beneficial if we read and apply it. I’d suggest setting aside 15 minutes a day – longer if you can muster the time – to read and meditate on a particular passage. Let it soak in. Paul goes on to remind Timothy about four benefits of scripture. Today we’ll look at how the Bible provides “doctrine” and how doctrine makes sure our steps as we walk with God. Apply God’s Word A comment on the word “inspiration”: the Greek behind this word literally means “breathed out by God.” Some translations put it as “God-breathed”- a more emotional way to express it than “by inspiration.” Now what about doctrine? The dictionary meaning of doctrine is that it’s a “specific principle or an organized group of related principles describing or fleshing out a particular discipline.” So much for Webster! The word for “doctrine” is better translated “teaching” or “instruction.” The Bible is our teacher or instructor. Besides all the fascinating historical background between its covers, it’s a manual that gives us instruction that we can and must apply to our lives every day as we go upward in our walk with God. Come into His Presence Lord God, our great Instructor, I thank You for breathing out a detailed set of instructions by which to live our lives for You. Yes, Your word is a lamp for our feet and a light that shines on the path ahead! I thank You for appointing writers who breathed in Your instructions and put them on paper for us. In Jesus’ Name, amen. Mark Bacon Teacher & Mentor Email Mark

Victory Christian Center 18180 US Highway 150 Bloomington, Illinois 61705 309.663.7233 www.VictoryPeople.org www.Facebook.com/VictoryPeople.org