John 15:4

Verse of the Day: John 15:4

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” – John 15:4 

If we have a branch on an apple tree, healthy and vibrant, during the right time we will see fruit on it.  However, if we cut the branch off the tree and take it home because we want to grow fresh apples, we will be disappointed.  You see, the branch does not, on its own, have what it takes to produce fruit.

It is the same with us.  We must abide in Christ and let Him work through us, and then we bear fruit.  It is not what we do, but what we allow God to do through us.  Paul said basically the same thing to the Philippians.  “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13.

God will never leave us alone.  He has a work for each one of us to do.  However, what we need is to submit to Him and He will do it through us.  He will take us where He wants us, give us the words to say and the strength to fulfill it.  We must be in a constant attitude of prayer, always ready to hear what He has to say and follow His lead.  Then we will bear much fruit and glorify God in the process.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Jeremiah 23:5

Verse of the Day Devotion: Jeremiah 23:5

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.” –  Jeremiah 23:5 

This verse speaks of the coming of the promised Messiah.  Isaiah speaks similarly when he said, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7

Both Jeremiah and Isaiah are telling those who will listen that the righteous one will be coming, from God, who will ultimately establish the eternal kingdom, bringing righteousness and justice to the land.  Daniel gave specifics regarding the timing here, “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.” Daniel 9:25. I will not go into the mathematics regarding His coming except to say that these are weeks of years; one week being 7 years. Therefore, it was not a secret, for the Lord made it clear to the Jews when, how and why He was coming.  When? Sixty-nine weeks of years after the decree to rebuild the Jerusalem. How? Through the Son of God, the Messiah. Why? To bring about the atonement for our sins through the death of the Messiah.

Unfortunately, most of the Jews at the time of Christ’s coming did not understand these prophecies.  It laid out the time of His coming, but they looked for what they expected, and not what the prophets said.  It was laid out so clearly here, “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” Daniel 9:24. My guess is that either they lost the initiative to continue counting the days, or they had their own idea of what the Messiah would do, and Jesus did not meet their expectations. What a shame. So, this is what we celebrate during the Christmas season.  It has to do with the gift God gave us in His Son, the promised Messiah, who would sacrifice Himself for us all.  Let us not forget this when we celebrate Christmas, because this is the true meaning of this blessed holiday season.  There is nothing wrong with sharing gifts or decorating with lights and trees.  However, let’s make these secondary and remind our children, friends and family of what Christ did for us and the eternal rewards He made available to us, if we simply believe and live it out.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Isaiah 11:1

Verse of the Day Devotion Isaiah 11:1 

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” – Isaiah 11:1  

Up to Christmas day, I will be looking at the different prophesies which foresee the coming of the promised Messiah, Jesus the Christ.  He came here in order to offer the means of salvation for all.  An important idea to remember is that God knows everything and forgets nothing.  “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,” Isaiah 46:9-10.

Chapter 11 speaks of the emergence of a ruler from the line of David endowed by God with authority to bring about a righteous reign to His people.  It is the Messianic hope first expressed earlier in chapter 7.  “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. Our focus verse speaks of a towering forest that was laid to waste by the mighty Assyrian army.  However, out of this destruction comes a contrasting picture of the renewal of the house of David and of his kingdom. For from this destruction, a root that is regarded as dead, a sprout will come from it. And this unimpressive green shoot that will sprout from the stump of Jesse is a person from the Davidic royal line of Jesse, apparently the same Davidic son mentioned in chapter 9. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7.

This sprout, which is from the Davidic line, will be abundantly blessed in His life by the Father.  “As the Spirit of God rested on his servant David in the past, so the divine Spirit will dwell or rest on this new Davidic Branch, enabling God to use him in a special way.” Isaiah 11:2.  In 2 Samuel we read some of the last words of King David, which includes the following, “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.” 2 Samuel 23:2.  Therefore, what is said is the same Spirit that was on David would also be on this new ruler.

Now, we read in Matthew the following.  “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the regions of Galilee, and came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:22-23.  When Herod died, an Angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph while they were in Egypt to tell them to go back to Israel.  But then later, as we see above, Herod’s son took over and therefore the Angel came again and this time for them to go to Galilee.  So they went and resided in Nazareth in Galilee.  Nazareth was a small town, probably with a population of around 400, where most were farmers.  This was a humble work, and thus He was seen as no one of notoriety.

In fact, when Nathanael learned that Jesus came from Nazareth, he said, “And Nathanael said to him, can any good thing come out of Nazareth?  Philip said to him, come and see.” John 1:46.  And this humility is expressed by Paul when he said, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 4:5-8. This is shown in our focus verse where He paints a similar picture regarding who is the subject of this chapter; by the image of a slender twig or shoot, sprouting up from the root of a decayed and fallen tree. This points to what Paul said, that He came in the form of a bondservant and remained humble in the service He came to fulfil.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.