Lutheran Daily Devotional 9th January 2023 – No Lie

LUTHERAN DAILY DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Lutheran Daily Devotional 9th January 2023 Monday Message. As you study today’s devotional, remember this; “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 (NLT)

TOPIC: No Lie

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 40:4-5 – Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! You have multiplied, O LORD my God, Your wondrous deeds and Your thoughts toward us; none can compare with You! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

Lutheran Daily Devotional 9th January 2023 MESSAGE

Those who trust in the Lord and do not go astray after lies are blessed. We know that, yet we are often tempted to turn away from the Lord and follow lies, the lies told by the fallen world, by our own sinful desires, and by the devil, who is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44b). The father of lies began his poisonous work in Eden, successfully tempting Eve by asking, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1b). Eve, and Adam with her, listened to the lie and questioned God’s Word. They disobeyed their Creator’s command and shattered their relationships with God, with creation, and with one another.

The father of lies would not enjoy his triumph forever. God promised that the Offspring of the woman would come to defeat the cunning serpent. When the time was right, God sent His Son into the world to be its Savior, “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b). Jesus faced the devil’s temptations, defeating Satan’s lies with the Word of God. The innocent Savior carried our sin in His own body to the cross—our sin of listening to, and following, the lies that so often tempt us. Through His suffering and death, Jesus crushed the power of Eden’s ancient serpent and delivered us from slavery to sin and death.

Saved by grace through faith in Jesus, we remember God’s wondrous deeds. We remember His thoughts and His love toward us, the thoughts and love that led our Lord to take up His cross. With the psalmist, and with all the saints who came before us, we proclaim the wondrous deeds of the Lord. When the apostles were arrested and ordered to stop proclaiming the truth about Jesus and His resurrection, they told the ruling council, “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). The apostles had seen the risen Savior. They couldn’t stop talking about the wondrous deeds of the Lord!

We have seen and heard those wondrous deeds in God’s Word and those deeds are certainly “more than can be told.” Scripture tells us that if everything Jesus did were to be written down, “the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25b). Yet the deeds that were written, the deeds we know, we proclaim. Those deeds were written down “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name” (John 20:31b). That is no lie!

WE PRAY: God and Savior, empower me by Your Spirit to proclaim Your wondrous deeds. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.

Reflection Questions:

1. Lying can lead to terrible consequences. How did Satan deceive mankind with a lie?

2. How has God multiplied His wondrous deeds toward us?

3. We all face temptation daily. How can we combat these temptations when they occur?

Today’s Bible Readings: Job 1-2 Matthew 7

God bless you for reading Lutheran Daily Devotional 9th January 2023 Message. Encourage someone today by sharing this Gospel.