one step: water break

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

The One Step Daily Devotional is intended to provide just one step each day for your journey with God. Every journey requires water breaks. Here is a water break for you.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 explains what our weapons are and how we should fight. Often in life, because we experience difficulties in different forms, it’s hard to determine where the battle should be fought.

When hit with difficulty, is the enemy coming against us, or did we just choose a more difficult path? When sickness hits, are we encountering the fiery darts of the enemy, or are we just living in a broken world plagued with sickness? When we experience pain, hardship, loss, or discouragement, does rebuking the enemy relieve this hardship?

Not knowing how to navigate these questions threatens to place us as disciples of Jesus in a difficult place on one side of a spectrum or the other. On one side, we can find ourselves either calling every difficulty the work of the enemy. On the other side we can find ourselves completely ignoring the enemy and becoming victims of ongoing, unnecessary hardship or oppression. How do we navigate this?

First, verses 5 and 6 provide some insight for us:

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

A little bit of examination of the Greek paints a plain picture from these interesting word choices that tells us that when the enemy comes with a message, we are to take that thought captive and ask Christ what He thinks of it. If it doesn’t measure up to what He says or who He is, we do away with it. Verse 5 and 6 encourage us to involve Christ in the fight! We are asked to battle, but not alone. We must ask Jesus, “Lord, what’s really going on here?”

Second, we have to understand that the attack isn’t always the attack. What do I mean by this? Sometimes the fruit of the attack is sickness. We see Jesus cast out a spirit of infirmity that results in healing (see e.g., Luke 13:10-17). Sometimes, sickness is sickness in a broken world awaiting renewal, and the attack comes in the messages that we receive while vulnerable and hurting.

My wife and I have been going through some attacks. Some of our difficulty may come from this natural world, and some from direct effort of the enemy, but there’s a lot going on right now, and the enemy is sending us messages as often as he can.

When we are vulnerable and hurting, the real attack begins. Whether the sickness, difficulty, loss, or pain comes as a result of the direct work of the enemy or of the fruit of this broken world, the enemy will come and tell us lies about everything including ourselves, others, and God. In this space, we find the real battle. In this space, God has given us weapons. In this space, unchecked, these attacks become strongholds, or defensible towers of the enemy lodged into our soul. We must allow God to build truth into our souls during these times of difficulty by quieting ourselves enough to hear Him.

Today, take a water break.

Maybe today God wants you to take is to take time to hear Him speak to you about times of pain where you received messages from the enemy but didn’t know to submit them to Him. Perhaps there is a difficulty that you are going through right now that God wants to speak to you during, but He’s waiting for you to pause and hear. Maybe it’s time to tear down some strongholds in your life. Perhaps it’s time to pause, worship, and listen.

Consider this prayer today:

Lord, I’m going through/have gone through ________________.

This experience has left me feeling _____________________.

Because of this, I believe that You are/are not __________________, that I am/am not __________________, and that this person in my life is/is not ____________________.

Lord, are these things true?

Lord, what is true about You? What is true about me? What is true about this other person?

I receive Your truth today Lord. Heal my heart and my soul; I can’t heal it myself.

Not sure how to fill the blanks? Ask the Holy Spirit to help you.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

one step: Matthew 22.1

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

Have you ever jumped on a dance floor at a wedding, attempting to get the party started only to open your eyes after that sweet dance solo and see that you were, well, solo? It’s embarrassing and frightening to find yourself in this kind of public place of rejection. Thankfully, though I’ve torn up many dance floors in a past life, I did not experience this embarrassment. In the time of Jesus, the rejection to the king’s invitation in this parable went deeper than embarrassment.

The king in this parable of Jesus sent two invitations. According to the culture, this was not unique. It was customary to invite selected guests to a wedding feast. Per the proper manners of the time, an invitation was not to be rejected, especially one from the king. Because of the food prep, and the unpredictability of its readiness, a second invitation would be sent notifying the invitees that the party was ready.*

What was unique in this story was the lack of response from the invitees, their complete disregard for such a prestigious honor, and their unconcern for retaliation at their shameful treatment and murder of the king’s messengers. When the listeners of the parable heard Jesus say, “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city,” they would have thought this right and appropriate.* Such a response of the king had merit.

How often do we see things that God does in Scripture and think, “that wasn’t very nice?” This parable reminds us: the invitation of God into His family awaits all. The unfathomable reality is not that people reap the consequences to their rejection of His invitation and the maltreatment of His messengers. The reality that makes no sense is that any would reject the invitation in the first place.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remember all that He has done to bring you into His family. Perhaps He is inviting you to extend that invitation to someone else. Maybe today God is asking you to join the family; the invitation isn’t enough - it must be accepted.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 546–550, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 22:1–7).) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 21.7

 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

This parable of Jesus documents something unique: audience participation. Unlike many parables that even the disciples didn’t understand, the crowd and the religious leaders seemed to be understanding Jesus and the point He was making about the Kingdom of God. We see this as the crowd responds correctly to Jesus’ question, and later we see, “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.”

The judgement of God seems harsh to some. The idea that one day God will judge the lives and acts of us all does not sit well. Why do such a thing? Why judge people at all?

In Jesus’ context, it was not uncommon for a landowner to hire tenants to care for the owner’s land.* The land owner and the tenants were partners, and the tenants had certain financial responsibilities. Similarly, the land owner had certain responsibilities of involvement that ensured his position of ownership.* The tenants in the story of Jesus did the unthinkable, betraying their responsibilities, beating and murdering the land owner’s representatives which included and ended with the murder of the land owner’s own son. It was easy for the crowd to know what was just in this story.

How often do we see justice clearly from the outside? We see the actions of others and say, “that’s evil.” Do we see our own actions this way? Do we see clearly enough to allow God to be the judge? Do we see humanity through the eyes of God?

If we saw the mishandling of the son of God, the mistreatment of those God has entrusted with His creation, and the many times God patiently reached out through the prophets, we may see as clearly as God that justice must come.

God has entrusted us with His Kingdom. We have certain responsibilities as tenants of His Kingdom. We fail, and He knows it. He patiently and kindly sends His messengers. He has graciously even sent His only Son. How will we respond?

The religious leaders of that day learned from Jesus that His Kingdom would be entrusted to others: you and me. What will we do with this responsibility? Will we remember the mistakes of those who went before us? Will we recall the justice of the Lord? Will we receive His representatives well?

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remember that you are just the tenant, entrusted to care for what belongs to God. Perhaps today God wants you to repent and change your ways. Perhaps He’s sent representatives to speak to you and wants you to receive them. Maybe it’s time to see yourself in His story.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 538–545, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 21:33–46).) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 21.6

And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.

Worship songs are dangerous. The words we sing in worship are not simple poetry for the expression of the soul. They are communication to the God of the Universe, our Heavenly Father. At times, these songs cry out for help. At other times, they attempt to recognize the glory and majesty of our King. Still other times, these songs come as promises to our Father with lyrics such as, “I will.”

Conventional religious practices make it easy to fall into the same habit that the son in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 21 displays. Without realizing it, we can believe that we are faithfully following Christ when really we are telling God one thing in religious services, but living out something very different. In worship songs or even in prayers of desperation, we tell God that we will do something, and then we do not. Because we come back to the gathering of the saints the next week, and we give some money, and we sing the songs again, we believe that we are fulfilling our religious duty because we are. But what of our duty as sons and daughters?

In the times of Jesus, the Mediterranean culture placed great weight on honoring and obeying one’s father especially while still living in his home.* As the parable of Jesus goes, for one son to say that he would do something per the father’s request and not do it was clear disobedience. His duty was to obey and honor his father.

For those who have placed their trust and belief in Jesus, we are sons and daughters of God. Our duty as children includes honoring and obeying Him. Even if you find yourself in the place of the son who said he would not obey but then decided to, you can make the right decision today.

The message of John the Baptist is clear: repent (change the way you are at the fabric of your being) by understanding that you are a son and daughter. Live like it. Your Father loves you very much and has wonderful things for those who believe and walk in His ways.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to repent, allowing God to transform your being. Perhaps today God wants you to do the last thing (or things) that He asked you to do, but you never did. Maybe today God wants you to repent for your initial denial of His will even if you ended up doing it. Perhaps God wants you to know and receive in your heart that He is you Father and you are His child. Maybe God wants you to bring a new honesty to your worship.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 535–538, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 21:28–32) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 21.5

And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Jesus stood right in the middle of the space between recognized authorities. The Roman empire and the high priests and their officials stood as authorities in the area. The Romans held authority because of their military backing, and the high priests held authority because of the nature of their schooling.* Rabbinic schools viewed authority as coming from some outside source. Everything spoken had to come from somewhere credible (like another Rabbi), so citation of arguments was key.

When Jesus appeared on the scene, He came neither with military might nor with a defense of citations of previous teachers. The question of the elders of the people implies that they recognized that Jesus spoke and acted from a place of authority, but knew it was “other.”* Their question, however, was not asked for enlightenment; it was asked for entrapment.*

Questions can be asked for a lot of reasons. I think back over my own life at the various situational contexts of when I asked, “God, what is happening?”

When times were so exciting that I could fly, I asked, “God, what is happening?” The smile on my face and the thrill in my heart was really saying through my question, “This is so amazing it’s overwhelming!”

When times were so tough that I want to run away, I asked, “God what is happening?” The heaviness and desperation in my soul was really saying, “God, this is not as it should be and I want you to do something about it.”

When I have been at peace, desiring to find God’s hand working in, through, around, or despite the circumstances in my life, I asked, “God what is happening?” In this moment, I meant it, and many times I learned something rich.

What did the high priests and leaders really want to know when they asked Jesus, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Jesus did not answer their question not because He had no answer nor because He was trying to avoid confrontation. Had they asked with the right heart, Jesus would have answered.* They were trying to set a political trap for Him.

Jesus responds to honest questions from honest learners.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to identify the real questions behind the questions you have been asking God. Perhaps God has been answering your real questions all along, but the step He wants you to take is to change your heart so that you can hear. Maybe God wants to help you with the hurt that lies beneath your questions, but He needs your direct honesty first.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 532–535, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 21:23–27) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).