Devotionals – Daily PBJ

PBJ : Pastor Brian Jones

I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a teacher of His Word, Senior Pastor at Calvary Bible Church of Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti, Michigan. I am a husband and father of three.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Bible, as well as Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, and Doctor of Ministry degrees.

Luke 11

March 21, 2023

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Read Luke 11.

Does God really answer prayer? Going by what Jesus said here in Luke 11:1-13, not only does God answer prayer, he is waiting to bless us by answering our prayers.

So, why don’t we get more answers to prayer?

One reason is that we pray very differently than Jesus told us to pray.

Verses 1-4 record what is called “The Lord’s Prayer” but should be called “The Lord’s Guide to Prayer.” Jesus was not telling us to pray this prayer in these words but rather to let the themes he touched on be the things that we talk to God about. Namely:

That more and more people would come to worship him and stand in awe of his holiness and greatness (“hallowed by thy name”).
That his kingdom would finally arrive finishing the redemption of his people and giving us a place to finally be the society he created us to be (“your kingdom come”).
That he would provide for our daily needs, not make all our dreams come true (“give us each day our daily bread”).
That he would make us holy just as he has declared us to be (“forgive us our sins… and lead us not into temptation”).
That he would give us the grace to resolve the relationships we have broken by our sins (“for we also forgive everyone who sins against us”).

Jesus’ healing ministry shows us that God does care about our physical problems, but how often is our praying dominated by praying for ourselves and others to have physical healing? Do we ever pray for each other to avoid sin? Do we take time to worship God for who he is and ask him to save more people so that they can worship him?

These are the things Jesus told us to pray for, so let’s let his instructions mold our own talks with God each day.

Luke 10

March 20, 2023

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Read Luke 10.

Joy is a major theme of the Bible. It isn’t emphasized a lot by preachers like me because it isn’t hard doctrine. Yet it is a theme that is interwoven throughout the Old and New Testaments and is described throughout scripture as an outgrowth of walking with God (for instance, “The fruit of the Spirit is… joy” (Gal 5:22).

In this chapter of Luke, Jesus prayed “full of joy through the Holy Spirit” (v. 21a) for God’s plan to bless the simple with salvation instead of those who believe themselves to be sophisticated (v. 21b). But in the same context, he cautioned the 72 disciples about the source of their joy. After a successful short-term missions trip, they “returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’” Their joy, it seems, stemmed from their success using the spiritual power Christ had delegated to them. Power can cause pride so our Lord warned them about Satan’s fall (v. 18) and encouraged them not to find their joy in power but instead to “rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (v. 20b).

Our Lord Jesus Christ rescued us from an eternity of misery apart from God. He rescued us from the darkness of living apart from God and his truth. He adopted us into his family and conferred on us all the rights and privileges of sonship, even treating us as if we were as righteous as Jesus is even though we are not. He gave us spiritual power to accomplish anything and everything he calls us to do for his kingdom work. It is his grace and mercy to us and the promises he has made to us about the future that really matter. These are the things God wants us to rejoice about, not what we have done or can do or will do. Whenever the source of joy is about us, we are in danger of pride; whenever it is about God, we have joy as a blessing.

God wants you to have joy and the source of that joy is him and all that he has done for us and will do for us. I hope you live today in that joy, rejoicing in God’s grace and goodness to us.

Luke 9

March 17, 2023

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Read Luke 9.

This chapter began with Jesus sending out the Twelve to give the gospel and to do miraculous works to authenticate their message (vv. 1-2). Jesus told them to take nothing so that they would learn to rely on God’s provision for everything (vv. 3-6).

God did provide for them and he used them powerfully to serve Jesus (v. 10). But they did not completely learn the lesson. When food was needed for a large crowd, the Apostles wanted Jesus to send the crowds away (v. 12). Jesus challenged their thinking and commanded them to feed the crowds themselves which they protested (vv. 13-14). Christ showed them once again that he had the power to meet every need they had in ministry. But the implication is that, if they’d had trusted him, they could have fed the crowd themselves through his power (vv. 16-17).

When we’re serving God, we can trust him to meet every need we have. He has more than enough power–infinite power, in fact–to meet every need we have and then some. The question is not whether or not God can provide. The question is whether or not we look to him in faith to provide for our needs or if we conclude in unbelief that it cannot be done with the present resources.

Luke 8

March 16, 2023

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Read Luke 8.

Why is it that only a few people respond to the gospel message and are saved?

Jesus answered that question in the parable of the soils here in Luke 8:4-15 and the illustration of a light on a stand in verses 16-18.

The parable of the soils teaches that people don’t respond to the gospel because of problems in their hearts. Sometimes the devil distracts them before the word can be planted in their hearts (v. 12). Sometimes their response is superficial not genuine (v. 13). Sometimes the distractions that come from living in this world (v. 14). Only the heart that is prepared can truly receive the word (v. 15).

The gospel is God’s word. The problem of unbelief is clearly not with God’s word. God scatters his word widely so that it falls on all kinds of hearts (vv 5, 11). He puts his word high on stand like a lamp (vv. 16-17) so that the light goes all over the place. The word of God is not defective. It is not hidden or sterile. It is neither hard to find nor expensive to acquire.

Given the pervasiveness of God’s word, we need to be careful listeners according to verse 18. That verse goes on to say, “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” The more you listen to God’s word, respond to and obey it, the more truth God sends into your life.

On the other hand, when you don’t receive God’s word, you don’t stay in one spot spiritually. Instead, Jesus said, “even what they think they have will be taken from them.” Your grasp of truth weakens when you don’t apply God’s word in your life.

How’s your response to God’s word? Are you eager to receive it, believe it, and obey it? Or are you distracted by other things. If your spiritual life is not moving forward, it is going backward. Ask God to give you a responsive heart to his word so that you can grow in your faith and knowledge of God.

Luke 7

March 15, 2023

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Read Luke 7.

Jesus has gone public now and has been attracting more and more attention in his area. That attention continued as he performed miracles such as healing the dying (vv. 1-10) and raising the dead (vv. 11-17). His message was right but his actions were not what John the Baptist expected so when John–in prison–heard about Jesus actions, he sent some disciples of his to ask Jesus to identify himself (vv. 18-27).

After reassuring John through his disciples (vv. 21-23), Jesus began to probe what the people who followed Jesus thought of John the Baptist (vv. 24-27). After asking some probing questions to get people to think about the meaning of John’s life and ministry in verses 24-26, Jesus affirmed that John was a prophet, but he was a prophet plus more (prophet+) in verse 26b. According to Jesus in verse 27, John was, in fact, the forerunner prophesied in the Old Testament to Messiah.

But then Jesus raised the importance of John even further but with a twist. According to Jesus, John was the greatest mortal man who ever lived (v. 28a). That’s quite an assessment to make about anyone, but especially coming from Jesus. But then Jesus said something even more intriguing: “…yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he [John].” The most insignificant person who arrives in God’s kingdom is greater than the greatest man whoever lived in human history, according to Jesus. Why is that true?

The answer is that John–great as he was–was a sinner but the “least in the kingdom of heaven” is not a sinner. Sinners are not allowed into the kingdom of heaven, so there are no sinners there. Consequently everyone who is there is a better person than John.

The Kingdom of God must be an empty place, then, because I and everyone I know is a sinner.

That’s where Jesus comes in and why he came into the world. Jesus the man lived the sinless life that would qualify a person to enter the kingdom of God. He was able to do that as a man because he was also God. As God, he didn’t need to earn his way into the kingdom of God; it already belongs to him. So, in the great act theologians call imputation, God gave sinners access to his kingdom based on the perfect life of Christ. He imputed–credited–Christ’s righteousness to those who believe him for it.

On the opposite side of that coin, he also credited to Jesus the guilt for human sin which Jesus paid for through his death on the cross. For those who believe this message, God imputes your guilt to Christ who paid it in full and imputes Christ’s righteousness to you. That’s how you get into the kingdom of God. When you get there, God will transform you completely so that you never want to or will sin again. Thus, you will be a better human being than John the Baptist, the greatest man who ever lived.

This is an important truth for our salvation. It is one that everyone must humble himself to believe. Even the most morally upright person must admit his sin and need of salvation. But many people are too proud for that so Luke told us in verse 29 that those who knew they were sinners were getting into the kingdom while those who were really religious, according to verse 30, were missing out on what God has done.

Don’t let that be you! Don’t let your pride keep you from an eternity in God’s presence and in his kingdom.

Also, know that if you have trusted Christ, God treats you as perfect now, even though you aren’t yet. God treats you as better than John the Baptist already because he gives you credit for Christ’s perfection.

So don’t let your sins and failures discourage you. Keep growing in your faith and trusting God to change you and know that God is not counting those sins against you any more. You’re on his side now because of Jesus, so you can feel secure and forgiven while you grow to become like him.

Luke 6

March 14, 2023

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Read Luke 6.

On the seventh day of the creation week the Bible tells us that God rested. This means that he ceased from the act of creating. It was unnecessary for him to “rest” in the sense of recovering and renewing his energy and strength because he is all-powerful. But he set aside a day to cease from labor and even set that day apart to teach us to rest.

Rest is about renewing yourself and spiritual renewal through worship is a key part of resting. By the time Jesus lived, however, the Sabbath had become more about what was forbidden than about the blessing of taking time off to rest your body and renew your spirit. That’s what Jesus faced here in Luke 6. The Pharisees were so legalistic about the Sabbath that they didn’t want anyone to do much of anything; even picking up a snack off the grain fields was sin in their minds (vv. 1-2). Likewise, they were miffed when Jesus healed a man.

The Pharisees, and everyone else who knew this man, should have been happy for him. He recovered the use of one of the most useful parts of his body. What better day to be renewed from an injury or a disability than the Sabbath–a day God set aside for renewal?

As Jesus answered the objections of the legalists about the Sabbath, he both asserted his authority over the Sabbath day (v. 5) and reminded the people that the Sabbath is supposed to be about what is good not about putting people in bondage (v. 9).

But the Pharisees measured a person’s spirituality based on how well he kept a long list of manmade rules, so Jesus’ actions on the Sabbath threatened their approach to spirituality.

This is an important thing to keep in mind whenever you encounter someone who thinks that pleasing God is about some manmade rule to measure spirituality. Who is more spiritual–a person who reads one verse a day or someone who reads one book of the Bible per day?

If we measure by the sheer volume of material, the one who reads a whole book of the Bible each day is the truly spiritual person. But remember from James 1:22 that the person who merely reads the Bible without applying it is self-deceived.

One verse of Scripture that is truly considered and applied by a believer is far better than one book of the Bible read only to impress yourself, God, or someone else with how spiritual you are.

God wants us to keep his commands but not so that we can impress others or oppress them by pointing out their failures or sub-standard performance compared to us. God does not give us his commands to judge our performance; he gives his commands to transform us.

Whenever we judge others for their lack of performance, we are indicting ourselves as legalists. Don’t measure your walk with God by performance metrics; seek to walk with God, putting his words into practice out of love for him and a desire to grow (see verses 46-49 here in Luke 6).

Luke 5

March 13, 2023

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Read Luke 5.

Anyone who watches us closely enough and critically enough will be able to detect at least some of our sins. We don’t spend all our time sinning but the desire to sin never goes away fully and, with the right circumstances and stimulus, our corrupted human nature is ready to pounce like a cat on the red dot of a laser pointer.

Yet, despite how thoroughly sin inhabits us, we live our lives mostly oblivious to our own sins, failures, and weaknesses. If you’ve ever had someone confront you for sinning against them and you didn’t realize or think about what you had done as sinful until they brought it up, you understand what I mean. We are well aware, usually, of the sins of others but often quite blind to our own.

It is interesting, isn’t it, the when Isaiah saw his vision of the Lord and his holiness in Isaiah 6, he became acutely aware of his own sinfulness. The same type of thing happened to Peter here in Luke 5:8. But neither Isaiah nor Peter was confronted directly by God about his sin. Isaiah saw the Lord on a throne highly exalted with angels calling “holy, holy, holy.” Peter saw Jesus miraculously fill his nets with fish. They did not hear a list of God’s moral attributes or a lecture about their own sins; they saw God’s power in action. That was enough to make them aware of their own sinfulness. Peter even begged Jesus to leave him alone (v. 8) because he recognized that the power of God was at work in Jesus (v. 9).

Fortunately for Peter, Jesus already knew how sinful Peter was and loved him anyway. Jesus even called Peter to follow him (v. 10b) and learn how to “fish for people.” Jesus did this not because Peter’s sins weren’t as bad as he said or that he was confident the Peter would grow out of them. Jesus did it because the same divine power that brought the fish to the net would redeem Peter from his sins and change him to become someone who could serve God well.

The same goes for you and me. Jesus came looking for sinners to redeem so that he could transform us into holy men and women of God. So, let’s follow him and let him transform our lives.

Luke 4

March 10, 2023

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Read Luke 4.

Before Jesus began his public ministry in verse 14, it was appropriate for him to win a private victory. Specifically, in order to preach righteousness to others, Jesus, as a man, had to practice righteousness first himself. That is one reason for his temptation in the wilderness in verses 1-13.

Although Jesus was fully human, his virgin conception kept him from receiving a fallen nature like the rest of us humans have. He did not have any inward pull toward sin like you and I have.

Therefore, Satan had to get creative in tempting him. First, Satan tempted him with food when he had been fasting (vv. 2-3). There is nothing sinful about eating food, so the temptation focused on Jesus using his divine power to create food. Again, there is nothing wrong with that; he used his divine power to create food when he fed the 5000. So this first temptation is hard to figure out; what exactly was the sin that Satan was trying to get Jesus to commit?

The answer is revealed in Jesus’ response to Satan in verse 4, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 and the context for that passage was how God provided manna for his people in the desert. In Deuteronomy 8:1 Moses instructed the people to “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.” In other words, receiving God’s promises was tied to obeying his commands. In Deuteronomy 8:2-3 Moses said, “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” This was all a reminder to Israel that the most important thing they needed to do was obey God. If people obey God’s word, they do so because they are trusting God–trusting him to keep his promises and to provide what they need. Moses was reminding the people in Deuteronomy 8:1-3 that God provided for them in the desert so they should obey his word and trust him to care for and provide for them in the future.

Back to Jesus, then, and Luke 4.

Luke 4:1 told us that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit” and that he “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” It was God’s will, then, for him to be there. He was sent there by divine appointment without any preparation. The desert is not a place where food grows naturally so if Jesus were to survive his time out there, God would have to provide for him.

The devil’s temptation, then, subtly suggests that God the Father and the Holy Spirit had abandoned him. So, Satan suggested, Jesus should use his powers as the Son of God to provide for himself. Jesus’ reply was that obedience was more necessary for human flourishing than food and that if he obeyed and waited, God would provide for him.

The temptation to sin, then, was a temptation to operate outside of submission to God the father and act independently of his own will.

This is what we do, really, every time we sin. When we sin, we believe the lie spoken by our sin natures, the devil, and the world around us. That lie is that obedience to God’s way is stupid because we can’t trust God to keep his promises, so we need to seek our own gain, our own pleasure, our own solutions to the problems in our lives, or whatever else.

So, where are you facing this kind of temptation today? Has God left you waiting somewhere, longing for something that you think he should have provided by now?

Don’t turn away from obedience for the false promise of sin. Just as Jesus resisted abusing his divine power by exercising it out of God’s will, live within God’s moral will yourself through obedience and wait for him to deliver and provide for you.

Luke 3

March 9, 2023

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Read Luke 3.

Luke chapter 3 begins with some historical context. It told us that John the Baptist began his ministry during “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (v. 1). Then it goes on to list some other leaders. These leaders can be classified this way. When John’s ministry began there was:

One world leader: Tiberius Caesar (v. 1a).

Four regional leaders:

Pontius Pilate of Judea
Herod of Galilee
Philip
Lysanias

Two religious leaders:

Annas
Caiaphas

Luke’s purpose in listing these men was to establish the life and ministry of John, and then, of course, Jesus, in human history.

But Luke may have had another purpose in mind when he listed these leaders. Despite the many layers of government and religious authorities over God’s people, God’s word did not come to any of them. Instead, verse 2 says, “the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” And that message was to get ready because “the Lord” is coming (v. 4).

When God began his kingdom program, he did not give his word to the politically powerful or even the religiously significant. Instead, he began speaking to a man out in the desert. Through him and through Jesus Christ, who did most of his preaching in small towns outside of Jerusalem (and Rome), God began to send his “salvation” (v. 6).

Does God need a President of the United States? Does he need a majority in the two houses of congress? Is his will subject to which legal ideology controls the court system?

No. In fact, God’s ways and will are done outside of human politics and inside of human hearts (vv. 7-8) through the power of his word (v. 2).

There is value in voting and in using politics to communicate what is righteous and sinful and to preserve whatever freedoms we can. But government cannot make people love God or find God’s love, righteousness, and forgiveness in Christ. Only the gospel, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can do that. Put your faith there, not in politicians. Put more energy into the spread of God’s word than in the election of a candidate or in getting legislation passed.

Luke 2

March 8, 2023

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Read Luke 2.

Joseph and Mary each received a dramatic, miraculous announcement about the conception of Jesus. They had angels celebrating his birth and shepherds and wise men showing up out of nowhere to see him. When they took him to the temple for the rite of circumcision, two people appeared to thank God for Jesus and prophesy about him. Although Luke did not record it, Matthew told us that Joseph and Mary received divine guidance to protect Jesus from the murderous intentions of Herod the Great.

So their family life started off very dramatically, to say the least. God was working through them and for them like he never had before for anyone. No wonder “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (v. 19) and “his mother treasured all these things in her heart” (v. 51).

Those statements about Mary were not at all the point of Luke 2, of course. The point of this chapter is to record the birth of Jesus and all the signs that affirmed God’s plan and God’s word about him.

But these two statements about Mary cast light on an important side truth: remember to remember God’s work in your life. Walking by faith is often difficult.

Mary and Joseph experienced this as people whispered about her pregnancy. Simeon prophesied that the days ahead would be painful, too, when he told Mary, “a sword will pierce your own soul too” in verse 35.

One thing that gets us through the hard days in our walk with God is remembering God’s work in the past. God’s work does not–will not–be miraculous and dramatic for you like it was for Joseph and Mary. But God’s answers to prayer, his leading in your life through providence, the encouragement of other believers just at the right time are just a few examples of God’s work in your life. Treasure them up in your heart as Mary did! Remember them and tell your kids and your friends about them. They will help you keep walking by faith in the dark days of the Christian life.

Luke 1

March 7, 2023

Read Luke 1.

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Zechariah and Elizabeth were quite a couple. Verse 6 told us that they “were righteous in the sight of God.” In other words, they were both people who did right, who loved what was right. The next phrase in verse 6 modified the description of their righteousness when it said, “observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” Their religion was not for show; it came from careful, diligent hearts.

If you were the Lord, these are the kinds of people you’d want to be parents in Israel. Since they were righteous themselves and kept the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly, they would certainly instruct their children in God’s word and show them what it looked like to live a righteous life.

Yet verse 7 says, “But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.” They never had the opportunity to be parents and their advanced age meant they’d given up on the dream of having children long before (see 18). I wonder how often each of them prayed, asking God for a child and wondering why he would give children to all their neighbors and extended family members, but not to them.

The answer is that God DID want them to have a child–one very important, unique child: John the Baptist.

His conception and birth were precious gifts of God to this couple. But God’s purpose was not just for them to have the joy of becoming parents. In addition to that, Elizabeth’s conception was a precious gift to all of God’s people for the work that he would do for the Lord (vv. 16-17).

Zechariah and Elizabeth may have wanted many children but the one and only son they did get was exactly the kind of child they would have wanted. Their faith and their patience was ultimately rewarded by God.

How often do we give up praying and asking God for good, righteous things because we don’t believe God will give them to us?

Even if what we want and pray for is not God’s will for us ultimately, isn’t it glorifying to him that we want and pray for the salvation of someone we love?

Isn’t it honoring to God when we pray for any request from godly motives, even if God does not seem to want to grant it?

God’s ways often make very little sense to us but they make perfect sense to him, especially when viewed from his eternal and perfect perspective.

So trust him, even when you pray for years with no change. God is doing something so trust him to use you and your life in the appropriate place at his appropriate time.

James 5

March 6, 2023

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Read James 5.

We live in a free society. Freedom makes it possible to make a living and even become wealthy through innovation, making quality products and/or delivering quality service. A business owner usually will employ other people but he or she must pay them wages that both the owner and the worker have agreed are fair. If a business owner refuses to pay wages in our society, employees have several ways to seek justice.

When James was writing this chapter, however, workers were much more vulnerable to exploitation. Owners could enslave others or cheat workers out of their wages. James 5:1-6 condemns the wealthy who made their wealth by cheating others.

Notice, though, that James speaks as if the judgment of these wealthy people has already happened. Verse 1 says they should “weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.” Verse 2 says, “Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.” This description of coming judgment continued in the rest of the verses in the present tense, as if it were already happening.

But verse 7 reveals to us that the judgment described in verses 1-6 hadn’t happened yet but would happen when Jesus returns. Verse 7 says, “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming.” The implication is that if these believers were being exploited by others, they should look to God in faith because he will settle in justice at the coming of Christ. The patience James counsels us to have is compared in the rest of verse 7 to the kind of paticence a farmer must have while he waits for his crops to grow. The point is that we must trust God–and keep trusting him–until he returns just like a farmer keeps trusting that the crops will grow and ripen.

Are you discouraged because someone has wronged you? The Bible repeatedly tells us not to seek revenge but to trust the Lord to make things right. Sometimes he uses repentance and restoration to make things right (see verse 19-20). But in many cases, we have to wait for the judgment day for justice to come.

Whether we are rich or poor, owner or worker, we need to remember that at the end of this age we will stand before Christ in judgment. If we’re in Christ by faith we will escape the eternal judgment of hell by his grace and through his death on the cross for us.

But all of us will answer to God for everything we do, think, and say. Because we love God we want God to be pleased with our lives. The coming judgment of God should motivate us to make godly, righteous choices while in this life so that we will be rewarded in the next life.

Do you have any unreconciled relationships? Any sins you should confess to someone you’ve wronged (v. 20)? You and I will answer to God for everything we’ve done with our lives. Isn’t it best to do the righteous thing in this life now, even if it is hard and wounds our pride?

Let the coming interview you will have with the Lord guide what you do today, what you say today, and how you treat others today. Let the coming of Christ guide you toward a righteous life for his glory.