Today Daily Devotional ReFrame Ministries

“Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. . . .”
— Isaiah 1:16-17

Justice is an important attribute of God. Justice lies at the heart of God’s character. Because God is just, justice is a hallmark of his kingdom.
In the Old Testament, God’s people Israel were meant to serve as a physical, earthly representation of God’s kingdom that would one day fill the whole earth. As a result, we find countless calls for Israel to be a just nation because God is just. Judges were to rule impartially. Neighbors were to treat each other justly. Foreigners were to be treated justly and fairly always (Exodus 22:21; Deuteronomy 24:17-18).
But Israel failed again and again to exercise justice. That brought God’s discipline on them, and he sent them into exile. However, leading up to and during their exile, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to urge the people to change their ways. Isaiah also delivered songs of hope and praise describing what the kingdom would look like if the children of God would truly embrace justice in the land. (See Isaiah 2:1-5; 4:2-6; 9:2-7; 11:1-12:6.)
The God of the kingdom of heaven is the same God who led Old Testament Israel. His name remains synonymous with justice. And as citizens of God’s kingdom, we too are called not only to act justly but also to love justice.

We bow before you, Lord and King, to praise you for your justice. Empower us by your Spirit to truly love justice and to live by doing justice in this world. Amen.

Since . . . you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above. . . .
— Colossians 3:1

In my work as a campus minister I spend a lot of time with international students. Each year hundreds of students come to our community college from around the world. While some of these students simply come for a Canadian education, many have their hearts set on obtaining Canadian citizenship. The cost for most students is high. Many leave family and friends behind—in some cases for years. And along with having a rigorous academic schedule, many of these students work two or even three part-time jobs. Tired and hungry, they press on, for their hearts are set on graduation, work permits, permanent residency, and eventually citizenship! To set one's heart on something means to desire it more than anything else, regardless of the costs. At the center of setting our hearts “on things above” is desiring a relationship with the triune God and knowing his friendship and favor. Counting ourselves as citizens of God’s kingdom moves us to live God’s way rather than by the way of the world. And dreaming of the day when we will see Jesus face to face and be able to live in perfect joy for eternity—that is what God calls us to set our hearts on.

Heavenly Father, may our hearts burn with a desire to know you better and love you deeper. Claim our deepest affections and cause an ever-deepening homesickness within us until the day you bring us into your kingdom in all its glory. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
— Colossians 3:2

Being born again to live in the kingdom of God calls for a dramatic shift in our thought patterns. God comes to us and says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” But we may wonder, “If we ignore earthly things that need to be taken care of, won’t our lives just become more chaotic? Is God really telling us to quit focusing on the day-to-day matters all around us?”
Setting our minds “on things above” has to do with leaving our old sinful lives behind so that we can put on the new life we are called to live in Christ. Instead of living in “immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed,” we are called to show “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience,” and more. We are to live as the people of God’s kingdom. This means we regularly spend time with God, reading and studying the Bible, praying, worshiping, enjoying fellowship with other believers, learning from Christian thinkers and artists, and more. In this way our earthly lives become increasingly focused on the greater purposes and good that God has in store for us while we live for him in this world. If, however, we spend each day immersed in our old, selfish ways and in the false promises of the world, we will find ourselves drifting away from the full life God wants for us.

Jesus, draw our minds to focus on living for you. Starve out our sinful earthly desires, and bring us to flourish as joy-filled citizens of your eternal kingdom. Amen.

Our old self was crucified with him so that . . . we should no longer be slaves to sin. . . .
— Romans 6:6

Obtaining my Canadian citizenship was easy—well, for me, at least. (It took more effort on my mother’s part!) Being born in Canada qualified me for Canadian citizenship. However, becoming a citizen in the kingdom of heaven is more complicated. To be a citizen in God’s kingdom, we must die and be born again.
In Romans 6 and in other passages, the apostle Paul speaks of being crucified with Christ, dying with Christ, being buried with Christ, and rising with Christ. Jesus teaches that unless we are born again, we will not see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). As Paul explains in Ephesians, we are “to put off [our] old self”—our old sinful nature—and “to be made new . . . to put on the new self, created to be like God in righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). Dying and being born again calls for a radical change in how we think and act. But this is not a transformation we can manage on our own. As Paul puts it, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). God gives us new life through the Spirit, putting the old sinful nature to death. And even before that, the Spirit of God moves us to recognize our sin and our need for new life. So we pray in repentance and ask God for forgiveness, trusting in his power to save us through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, put to death every part of our sinful nature, and bring us to live all of life for the glory of God. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

“The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. . . . It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”
— Daniel 2:44

Long before Jesus came, God gave King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon an amazing, puzzling dream. Deeply troubled by it, the king called on his advisers to tell him both the dream and its meaning! With trembling voices they lamented that the king was asking the impossible (Daniel 2:1-11).
Daniel agreed that mere humans could not meet the king’s demand. But Daniel explained that “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” And Daniel explained that God had revealed the king’s dream and its meaning to him in a vision (see Daniel 2:17-19).
Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that he had dreamt of an amazing statue that was destroyed by “a rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands.” The great statue represented the kingdoms of this world, which rise and fall. But the rock represented the coming kingdom of God and Jesus Christ—and this kingdom would grow to fill the whole earth.
The Bible teaches that God calls all of us to believe in him and become a part of his kingdom. By trusting in Jesus, God’s Son, as our Savior, we can have life to the full. So each of us faces a choice: Will I pledge my life to an earthly kingdom or to the kingdom of God? The way we respond makes all the difference in life.

Sovereign Lord, thank you for sending Jesus to give us full life in your kingdom. May we live for you each day. Amen.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?
— Psalm 42:1-2

Our relationship with God is a journey of seeking and drawing near to him.
Like a deer longing for water, our souls thirst for God’s presence, yearning to meet with the living God.
We grow deeper in our relationship with God through intentional pursuit. We carve out moments in our day to seek the Lord in prayer, worship, and meditation on his Word.
As we spend time in God’s presence, we are transformed by his love and truth. The more we know God, the more we are conformed to his likeness and character. We are gradually “transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The desire to know God intimately is nurtured through obedience and surrender. We yield our lives to him, allowing his Spirit to lead and guide us into deeper communion.
In our pursuit of God, we discover that he delights in revealing himself to us. As we draw near to God, he draws near to us, filling our hearts with joy and peace.

Eternal God, my soul yearns for your presence. Guide me to seek you with all my being. Draw me close in prayer and teach me from your Word. Transform me with your love and truth. I long to know you more and to live for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.