4-minute Devotions - the Podcast Pastor Terry Nightingale

“Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Gen 15: 13 – 14).
400 years is a long time. I have problems waiting 20 minutes for an overdue doctor’s appointment but 400 years! God waited that long for His purposes to be completed. Why would God allow His people to be servants (enslaved and oppressed as the CSB puts it) for so many years?
The writer of Genesis tells us a little more in the next couple of verses: “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (v 15 – 16).
God was not in a rush for the descendants of Abraham (then, Abram) to enter their Promised Land because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete”. Basically, Abram, your kids and grandkids and great grandkids etc are going have to wait because the Amorites haven’t finished sinning yet! Why would God be content with such a slow-moving timetable?
And what have the Amorites got to do with anything?
The Exodus narrative is a key theme of the Bible. The story of Moses leading God’s people out of enslavement (when the 400 years was eventually up), is told and re-told many times throughout the Scriptures. The Lord often referred to himself as “…the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves (Lev 26: 13).
Centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah reminded God’s people of that truth (in 7: 21) as did Hosea: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hos 11: 1).
When Matthew describes the Christmas narrative of Joseph, Mary and their newborn, Jesus, fleeing to Egypt to escape the clutches of a jealous king Herod, and their eventual return to Israel, the same Hosea reference to the Exodus story is quoted, suggesting Jesus as a fulfillment to it.
A grown-up Jesus miraculously met with Moses on the Mount of transfiguration and our Lord eventually became the Passover lamb. The meal before the Exodus evolved into a meal of bread and wine signifying for all time Christ’s death for our sins on the cross.
God seemed shockingly patient with the Amorites as they continued to sin before Him for hundreds of years, whilst His people quietly formed themselves into a nation, waiting for his salvation.
Time ambled on through centuries and millennia, occasionally marking an instant of God’s presence or intervention (e.g. Esther being raised to Queen “at such a time as this” to save God’s people from annihilation), God patience always waiting for the perfect moment for the next step of His plan: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5: 6)
God is infinitely patient because He knows His timing of all things. He sees all the circumstances, knows when the variables will fall into place, and like Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, “…is never late, nor is he early, (but) he arrives precisely when he means to”. 

When was the last time you had a day when you felt like something of you was coming apart? Unravelling. It had taken every effort to keep things together throughout the ordeal and now you are scrambling to work out how to put your brain and heart back in order.
When David wrote Psalm 23, the great king and war hero likened himself to a sheep! I have to admit - not the first animal I would think of to try to describe the man. Surely a bear or a lion – the very creatures he had once defeated in face-to-face combat (see 1 Sam 17: 34 – 36).
But the once shepherd, in prayer before Almighty God, saw himself as a sheep. With His Lord as the shepherd. Probably because the battle-hardened soldier king knows what it feels like to have your strength sapped from your very core.
And with that in mind he wrote this…
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
 He restores my soul…” (Ps 23: 1 – 3)
The rest of the psalm talks about enemies and dark valleys but here at the beginning, David has found peace. We don’t know the specific context of Psalm 23, but David experienced enough traumatic adventures during one lifetime to last several. And if this psalm is anything to go by, there must have been at least some occasions when David found the Lord putting him back together, Restoring his soul.
Can we glean anything from these few lines to help us in such times?
First of all, David declares “I shall not want”. This is a bold statement of faith. Whatever the enemy may throw at me, The Lord will give me everything I need. I need not fear that I am going through this on my own. My Father in Heaven and great provider, knows what I need before I ask him, as Jesus taught in Matt 6: 8. And He is with me.
David then describes the Lord, making him lie down in green pastures. I don’t believe that the Lord forces us to do anything (even though He could). But David has learned to sense the promptings of the Spirit and discern his leading to the point where he knows the green pasture is where he is meant to be.
In this place of peace, the sun is warm and there is plenty to eat. He can feed on God’s Word as well as the food God provides and he might even catch up on some well-needed sleep.
The Lord then leads David beside still or quiet waters. Jesus once described the Holy Spirit as water in John 7. We are told he “said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (John 7: 37 – 39).
There is obviously a difference between quiet waters and a river, but the point is there is an invitation to drink. Just as David was led beside quiet waters to drink.  To drink of the Lord. To drink of His Holy Spirit.
No wonder he found his soul restored. 

​“When he (Jesus) came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matt 8: 1 – 3).
“Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them” (Luke 4: 40).
If you have been Christian for a while, you will know that there are times when the healings or miracles don’t happen. There can be good reasons, for example, James writes that we can “ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives” (James 4: 3). For as long as I can remember, I have preached that we can’t claim a healing as a guarantee, but when we ask, we come to the One who hears us, loves us and wants the best for us. He is the One who healed back then and can still heal today.
But somehow, I feel I am missing something when I teach that way. I feel like I am making excuses for God. The bottom line is that Jesus was constantly willing to heal and there were times when the gospel writers noticed that every person asking Jesus for healing received it. He also encouraged His disciples (on several occasions) to ask, assuring them they will receive what they have asked for.
Much has been written (and preached) on this subject and depending on your church or denomination’s theological perspective, conclusions will be formed, ranging from an acceptance of suffering instead of praying for the healing, to an expectation of miracles on a regular basis. And anything in between.
Where does the Bible sit on this? A small devotion like this one cannot do justice to that question, but one thing that strikes me is Matthew’s observation that when Jesus was asked if He was willing to heal the leper (make him “clean”), which would also have restored him to his community, He responded in a heartbeat, “I am willing; be clean”. Without hesitation Jesus ministered love and power to those who asked.
Jesus was willing, and on numerous occasions the gospel writers noted his compassion. When we come to the Lord in prayer, we come to the One who is moved with compassion and willing to help.
Jesus’ words and actions always mirrored the heart of the Father. To encourage us to be bold in our asking, he even appealed to our desire as human parents to give the best for our kids. So how much will our Heavenly Father want to give to us? “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt 7: 9 – 11).
I still don’t understand why some people don’t receive the miracle they are praying for, but I do believe we come to the One who loves us, is full of compassion and is willing to step in and help us.
In a heartbeat. 

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt 7: 13 – 14).
I used to think that this was about people becoming Christians and not pursuing other religions. I think it includes that interpretation, but I also believe there is more to it.
One of the amazing things about God is that when He created human beings – when he created us – he gave us the power of choice. We are not robots. That’s why Genesis 3, the story of Adam and Eve, and their decision to disobey God is such a shocking story.
Why would God create people with the choice to reject Him?
I guess the simple answer, is that He wants love to be genuine. If we are to put Him first, to pursue Him and do His will, it must be because we have chosen that from a heart of love and gratitude.
The choice laid before us in these two verses is the broad way or the narrow way. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”
Narrow can feel like a negative word, can’t it? It has negative connotations. We talk about some people being narrow-minded or having a narrow point of view.
And so, many have concluded that Christianity is therefore a religion of restrictions. You can’t do this; you can’t do that. No smoking, no gambling, no drinking; no movies, no having fun of any kind!
And this verse, they say, proves it!!
I am so glad that these words come at the end of the Sermon on the Mount and not the beginning. Earlier in the sermon, in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus said to his audience, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Later He talked about doing things “in secret” where only the Father sees but where the Father loves to reward them. And then Jesus encouraged His listeners to pray to the Father directly asking Him for all of their needs and be participants in His growing Kingdom (as they pray “your kingdom come”). Jesus has been wonderfully drawing them (and us as we read it today) into a love relationship with the Father.
This is not a religion of restrictions, but a Kingdom of love and purpose and blessing. We are not being forced to sit in a prison of misery; we are being invited by the creator of the universe to join Him in His work of healing and salvation around the world.
The road that leads to destruction is broad because there are an infinite number of ways to reject God and put ourselves first. The road to life is narrow because there is simply one path: a relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. Yet that one path leads to infinite possibilities of what life with Him can look like.
Sadly, many do not see it. Many just want to do what they want to do with their life. 

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13: 8 – 10).
The famous Ten Commandments contained four that related to the Israelites’ relationship with God and six that spoke of how they should treat each other. Jesus summed them up when he answered a question from a religious teacher about which of the commandments might be the most important.
Jesus simply said, “‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12: 29 – 31).
Paul reiterates all of this in his letter to the Romans. If we do not set out to hurt or harm another but choose rather to love the person who has wronged us, we have fulfilled the law that commands us to not murder.
If we honour others above ourselves, seeking to give recognition of a job well done, instead of taking it, we turn our jealousy and covetousness into love, fulfilling the command not to steal.
The Ten Commandments carved on stone tablets were always meant to be carried in human hearts. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah,
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jer 31: 33).
The writer to the Hebrews picks this up, reminding us that we have direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place through the blood of Jesus and that therefore, we can draw near to God, know that our sins are forgiven, hold on to His promises and “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10: 24).
As children of God, we have all the resources of Heaven available to us to fulfill the law. Not by self-righteous acts of religious activity but by genuine love, for our neighbour and for each other. By good deeds inspired by the cross. By pouring out on the world around us the same love the Father has lavished on us.
As Paul writes, both the acts of love and the people that love in Christ’s name, take the law once carved in stone and infuse it into living and breathing human souls, who, in turn share it with each other as co-members of Christ’s body and radiate it out to a dying world.
Christ has fulfilled the law. Love continues that work.

“Keeping a close watch on (Jesus), they (the teachers of the law and the chief priests) sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So, the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
He saw through their duplicity and said to them, “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent” (Luke 20: 20 – 26).
In today’s story, those trying to trap Jesus into saying something that might harm His ministry heard him say, “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
Jesus used the opportunity to remind the “spies” that everything belongs to God. Lifting the story into our day, when we give something to Him, like our time, our love, or our money, we are simply returning to Him what He already owns. What He has already shared with us.
We give Him our time because he has given us a lifetime. We love Him because He first loved us. And we give him portions of our possessions and wealth because he gave us the ability to earn them.
Is there anything we can give to God that He didn’t already give to us? Let me suggest two things. First, our thanks. God has no reason to say, “thank you” to us, but 1 Thess 5: 18 reminds us to give to him “thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” God doesn’t force us to express gratitude, but it is certainly His will. What parent wouldn’t find joy seeing appreciation in the excited heart of her child? In comparison, there is so much that we can thank the Lord for. Perhaps our excited and grateful hearts bring joy to our Father in Heaven in a similar way.
Second, thanks must surely lead to worship. “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness” (Ps 29: 2). Again, God doesn’t give us worship, but we can certainly pour ours out to Him.
“…give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Caesar may have given the Israelites in Jesus’ day some level of peace, a road system and trade networks but God gave them life, His Word and His Son. Oh, and He created Caesar.
Everything comes back to a generous and loving God. How can we ever live a day without a “thank you” on our lips and love in our hearts?