grace – CadreMen Press

He Did Not Know

He Did Not Know by Kirk Hunt

And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

Judges 16:20 NKJV

Samson woke up and engaged with his enemies, but he did not know. As a man of God, he should have known that God’s Spirit and power had left him. His education and experiences should have told him that he was being set up, again, by a betrayer. He ran headlong into a trap and defeat.

Samson’s humiliation (and mutilation), at a minimum, should have impossible or at least more difficult. Instead he has become a byword for wasted potential and squandered opportunity. A man born a Nazarite ignored his upbringing. Intended for greatness in God, he ended humbled in prison.

Samson used God’s power and strength through God’s mercy and grace. God is full of love and tenderness for us, but He is also a God of justice and judgment. God eventually moves against deliberate sin and error. Psalm 103:9 warns us: He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.

So God withdrew from Samson. He allowed Samson to operate without Him. Deliberate sin and disobedience is a way of telling God you do not need Him or you know better. And Samson learned the truth.

We have all sinned and fallen short. After your error, do you repent and try to do better? Do you deliberately sin again and assume God is still with you? You may not know the truth when you start, but you will know at the end.

Think: Do I know the truth of how close I am to God?

Pray: “Lord, forgive my sin. Help me to be Your obedient child and know Your truth.”

This devotional is brought to you courtesy of CadreMen Press. You can purchase a copy of Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals For Gospel Champions from your favorite bookseller or directly from CadreMen Press.

Clothed By God

Clothed By God by Kirk Hunt

Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:21, 24 NKJV

The forbidden fruit had been eaten. Adam and Eve had lost their place in warm, safe Eden. Despite their sin and error, Adam and Eve had not lost Father-God’s love. With His own hand, God expertly tailored clothes then carefully dressed His children. They entered a cold, dangerous world clothed by a loving God.

No matter what you did wrong, Father-God goes right on loving you. You may be living through the consequences of your sin or error, but He has not separated Himself from you. You may be weeping over lost Eden, but the entire time He is personally preparing and equipping you for what comes next.

Just because you are by yourself, God has not left you alone. However empty your hands, God has provided, is providing and will provide for you. His love is too strong to throw you away. His love is too tender to leave you exposed.

He is a God of love, even when He chastises us. He is a God of provision, so His intention for us is never emptiness or lack. Even when he lets us live through some of the consequences of our actions, He is still close by.

His mercy protects us from full justice. We are still sons and daughters because of His grace. A warm coat is a sign of love, no matter how few the colors.

Think: God is close by, providing for me.

Pray: “Lord, thank You for what You provide.”

But Not Destroyed

But Not Destroyed by Kirk Hunt

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed”

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NKJV

God’s people sometimes find themselves flat on the canvas, questioning the value of continuing the contest. We may the sons and daughters of the King, but we are not exempt from life’s hardships. Despite the hurt and pain, we are not destroyed.

Like Job, we wonder why God allows difficulty and hardship into our life. There is a special value in survivors. The mere presence of those who have lived through it can bring comfort and confidence. We all want that kind of weight and gravitas, but no one wants that experience.

One day your testimony, “God brought me through,” will be a valuable guide and comfort to those listening. They will marvel at your scars. They will question why you do not limp, or do not limp worse.

As you speak, remind them that God always cares for us, even in the middle of our worst circumstances. No matter how dark the day, God’s power brings life and His peace defies understanding.

Scars are proof of both survival and more importantly, healing. Men and women are comforted by the truth of survivors. You are proof that no circumstance is always fatally final. Remind them that even when God lets you experience difficulty, He never lets you do so alone.

Think: The experience may be difficult but you are not destroyed.

Pray: “Lord, bring me through, according to Your promise.”

His Compassions Fail Not

His Compassions Fail Not by Kirk Hunt

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV

In recent months I have been concerned by the general lack of compassion I see from my Christian brothers and sisters. Consider God’s compassions toward us, His people. Should we not follow the example of our heavenly Father and Jesus?

The Book of Lamentations was written at or after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity of the nation of Judah. For their great sins and open rebellion, God could have cast away the Jewish nation for good.

Instead, He was faithful to His people. His mercy spared their lives. His grace arranged their eventual restoration. Not for the last time, God proved both His strength and His character to His people.

The capacity for mercy exists only where there is a reservoir of strength. Only a man or woman of strong character can commit an act of grace. When you see displays of mercy and grace, know that the powerful and honorable are nearby.

Are you an adopted son or daughter of Father-God? Then you should have a measure of His strength and your character should be a growing reflection of Him. What acts of mercy or grace prove your heavenly pedigree?

Judah had death and destruction coming, but a loving God gave them mercy and grace instead. Look around you. Do you have enough of His strength to give them mercy? Is your character Christ-like enough to extend His grace?

Think: His compassions fail not. Do mine?

Pray: “Lord, help me to show Your compassions to those around me.”

Evangelize The Strangers And Foreigners

“Evangelize The Strangers And Foreigners” By Kirk Hunt

When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Matthew 25:38-40 NKJV

The word stranger in Scripture almost always translates as foreigner (xenos). God’s people are commanded in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, to treat foreigners with generosity, justice and grace. In this current season, foreigners fleeing war, persecution and enslavement are greeted as villains, not victims.

After killing an Egyptian, Moses fled to Midian. Would you have turned Moses the fugitive away as a threat to national security?

David fled from his father-in-law Saul to Moab and later Philistia. Would you have kept David the persecuted out of the country as a risk to law and order?

Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled from Herod to Egypt. Would you have denied the Holy Family admittance as an economic drain on the country?

The refugees and evacuees are fleeing death and destruction. Where are they going? To the very Christian nations who should be busy evangelizing them.

Who could be more open to the Gospel of Christ than someone desperate to enter a Christian nation? They may be strangers to you, but they are well known to Father-God. Should you not make an effort to minister to the “least of these?”

Think: God help me to remember that refugees and foreigners are open to Your Gospel.

Pray: “Lord, help me to minister to Yours sons and daughters from another land.”

Greater Love

“Greater Love” By Kirk Hunt

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

John 15:12–13 NKJV

Jesus taught, than demonstrated, the pattern of greater love. Determine you love a group of people so much that you are willing to serve them. If your love is great enough, even the threat of death will not stop you from giving your service.

On Memorial Day, Americans celebrate the men and women who died while serving in the armed forces of the nation. Their great sacrifice for America is to be sincerely remembered and deeply appreciated. Still, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for His “nation,” anyone who chooses to accept Him into their heart, sets the greater example.

Jesus first gave up heaven to come to earth. Then He agreed to live as a mere man, so that He would truly understand our lives. Finally, He sacrificed His sinless life as the last and final payment for our sins.

Jesus demonstrated His love for mankind on the Cross. Men and women can freely kneel at the Cross and receive the salvation they so desperately need, from His willing sacrifice. Jesus does not restrict the benefit of His service on race, nation or past behavior.

The only restriction on salvation is your confession of sin and acceptance of Jesus as your Savior. He has already proven His greater love. Have you accepted His love? Do you demonstrate His love in turn?

Think: How am I demonstrating my greater love?

Pray: “Lord, help me to love greatly for Your Name and people.”

Left For Dead

“Left For Dead” By Kirk Hunt

Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

Acts 14:19–20 NKJV

Paul was not attacked by pagans or heathens. The Apostle was stoned to “death” by pious, religious folk. Their contempt and anger for Paul was so great that they did not bother with burying him. They simply dragged his “dead” body outside of the city limits and left him for rot or wild animals.

Paul was nearly murdered for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, by kith and kin, not strangers or foreigners. Of course, Paul once had persecuted Christians in similar manner. The saddest fact is much of the persecution against early Christians came from their own kinsmen, not the pagan Roman invaders.

Too often, modern, Western Christians blame the unchurched for difficulties or resistance in building God’s Kingdom. Religious fratricide is the more likely reason saints and ministries struggle. Outsiders are easier to blame but insiders are the more likely culprits.

Consider how you respond and are responded to, by fellow Christians. Is there upset over differences of style or tradition? How does your disagreement or conflict look to outsiders and unbelievers?

You may not agree with other Christians. Still, there are Biblical ways to work through our differences in grace and love. Certainly, there are Nero-like folk (modern and ancient) who persecute Christians. Make sure, my Gospel brother or sister, that you are not one of them.

Think: Our greatest hindrances are too often religious folk, not the unredeemed.

Pray: “Lord, help me to approach other Christians in Your grace and love.”

Gift Minister

“Gift Minister” By Kirk Hunt

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

1 Peter 4:10 NKJV

You have a gift or gifts. God gave it (or them) to you as part of the “saints of God” package. Use them to minister, as a good steward of God’s grace.

Do not make it complicated or difficult. You have an ability, skill or talent that makes you uniquely valuable and useful, especially to the Kingdom of God. If you are not using it, you are not being a good steward of His gift to you.

You do not get to age out. There is no disability clause. Wherever you are, no matter whom you are with, you have a God-given gift. I pray you are using your gifts to demonstrate the many paths of grace. When God does not send angels, He sends men and women just like you.

In your eyes, your gift may not seem big or flashy. That does not mean that you cannot touch lives or impact souls. Use what He gave. Watch the blessings ripple out, farther and greater than you thought.

All of the gifts God has already given you can be used to build His Kingdom. The gifts you possess can benefit you, yours and others. All it takes is a heart willing to trust Him and a spirit generous enough to pass on His grace to others.

There may be sweat-stained headbands in your future. Your shirt might become tear-soaked. You may even have to put on a bandage or two. When you stand before His throne, such things will testify to your stewardship of His grace.

Think: I should be using my gift(s) to build God’s Kingdom.

Pray: “Lord, help me to use my gift from You to build Your kingdom.”

He First Loved

“He First Loved” By Kirk Hunt

We love Him because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19 NKJV

In prayer, I step out of my mundane living room and into the august grandeur of His presence. Seated on His Throne, His full glory and holiness shines out, promising nothing but perfect justice and impeccable judgment. Instead, He first loved me.

Our infinite and all-powerful God is perfection, holiness and justice. Mankind should have been found guilty in judgment long ago. Instead, He first loved us.

Jesus chose to reconcile man to God in righteousness. Father-God allowed Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross to tear the veil and once again allow us free access to Himself. He acted because He first loved us.

Grace gives gifts we can never earn or be worthy to receive. Mercy blocks the results of our sin, despite the condemnation and judgment we have so richly earned and deserved. After all, He first loved us.

His love is not blind, yet we are precious in His sight. God moved heaven and earth to make provision for us. We should understand he did so because He first loved us.

We should return His love with all our hearts and mind. It should be easy, since He gave the first proof. He first loved us.

This New Year’s Day, consider the eight words of 1 John 4:19. Make your plans understanding how He loves you. Map out your strategies, understanding how much He loves them. Your work should be easy, considering He loved you first.

Think: God reached to me first. How will I respond?

Pray: “Lord, thank you for loving me first.”

Fallout On Sons And Others

“Fallout On Sons And Others” By Kirk Hunt

So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.

Esther 9:14 NKJV

What you do impacts others. What you allow to continue impacts others. Far too often, the fallout of acts of omission or commission falls on our own sons and daughters. Just ask Haman.

Haman’s conspiracy to destroy the Jews ended in the death of his own sons. His plot to loot the wealth of others ended with the plundering of himself and his family. Haman’s cruel, vindictive, destructive strategy was executed on his own family.

God’s people are called to justice and mercy; blessing of friend and foe. Do not limit the implications of Galatians 6:7. What you do, and what you do not do, are seeds you sow. Your harvest is coming.

Mordecai took in an orphan in kindness, mercy and generosity. He reaped a queen who stood for her people when it counted. Haman hatched a murderous conspiracy of genocide. He harvested destruction for himself and his family.

Consider what you are doing or allowing to be done in your name. You are planting a harvest. Scripture promises you will receive what you sow.

Pastor Martin Niemöller would plead with you not to stand by as others do wrong. He would implore you to safeguard others, as your own. Of course, his experiences in the Dachau Concentration Camp probably colored his opinions.

If you are a Christian, then Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan should give you pause in this era of fear and hatred of others. Listen to the testimony of Pastor Niemöller. Read carefully the example of Haman.

Think: Do I extend God’s help and goodness to others?

Pray: “Lord, help me to bless and benefit everyone around me.”