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Daily devotional

September 7 - Love does not envy

“Love does not envy.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4 Scripture reading: Philippians 2:3-8 Paul returns to negatives. Here he says that love does not e...

Daily devotional

September 6 - Love is kind

“Love is patient and kind.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4 Scripture reading: Ephesians 2:1-10; Titus 3:4-8 Kindness flows out of patience. Kindness i...

Daily devotional

September 5 - Love is patient

“Love is patient.” - 1 Corinthians 13:3 Scripture Reading: Exodus 34:5-7; James 1:19-21 Having addressed the necessity of love, Paul now d...

Daily devotional

September 4 - Nothing without love (II)

“And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not lo...

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Daily devotional

September 3 - Nothing without love (I)

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” - 1 Corinthians 13:1 Scripture reading: Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Corinthians 13:1 Paul now shows the Corinthians the “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). He starts in 13:1 with the gift that they thought was one of the greatest: tongues. Tongues are known languages in the Bible (Acts 2:6, 10). Corinth was an isthmus connecting the Greek mainland with the Peloponnesian peninsula. Because of this, there was much sea traffic and a diversity of cultures. Speaking multiple languages was highly valued. But Paul says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love…” Paul isn’t speaking literally here, as if to teach that angels have their own language and they could speak it. He’s using hyperbole. He’s essentially saying, “even if I spoke in the most exalted languages imaginable, the tongues of angels, but have not love, what does that make me? Does that make me a great blessing to others? No! Without love it just makes me a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. It makes others want to put in earplugs, or get away from me.” So too, you might be very gifted at something, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t love others. People won’t want to listen to you or be near you. Are you more concerned with using your gifts, or with loving others? Focus on loving others as Christ first loved you, and your gifts will naturally be a blessing to them. Jesus did nothing without love and we’ve been supremely blessed in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-14). Suggestions for prayer Thank God for His love for you in Christ. Thank God for every spiritual blessing that you have in Christ. Pray that the Spirit would produce Christ-like love in you so that others are blessed through your gifts for the glory of God. Rev. Brian Cochran is ordained in the United Reformed Churches in North America and has served as the pastor of Redeemer Reformation Church in Regina, SK, for 14 years. This month he starts a new call to Grace URC in Torrance, CA. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

September 2 - A more excellent way: Love

“But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” - 1 Corinthians 12:31 Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians 12: 1-31 The Corinthians coveted certain gifts that they deemed to be of higher spiritual and social status. Thus, Paul exhorts them to earnestly desire the “higher/greater” gifts. Paul is speaking in an ironic way. He knows they desire “greater” gifts. But now he’s going to redefine what is “greater” (“And I will show you a still more excellent way,” v. 31). It’s as if Paul has them on the edge of their seat, eagerly awaiting his answer. It’s like when my kids ask me for a treat and sometimes I say, “You want a treat? I have a treat for you…here’s a nice sweet Gala apple!...fruit is like God’s candy that’s good for us!” They usually aren’t impressed. But I’m trying to teach them to eat healthy sweets and to desire something better. In a similar way, Paul is like a loving father who is teaching what’s best for them and the whole church, and what’s ultimately sweet and satisfying. It’s the way of love. Love is the more excellent way. No matter how gifted you are, if you don’t love, your gifts amount to nothing (13:2-3). This is why Jesus is so great. Jesus was the most gifted person who ever lived, AND He was the most loving person who ever lived, even loving us to the point of death on a cross, in order to reconcile us to God. Let us then in gratitude use our gifts to serve the body of Christ in love. Suggestions for prayer Thank God for His love towards you in Christ. Pray for the Spirit to give you the fruit of love so that you serve others with your gifts, not for what you can get from them, but in order to love them as Christ first loved you. Rev. Brian Cochran is ordained in the United Reformed Churches in North America and has served as the pastor of Redeemer Reformation Church in Regina, SK, for 14 years. This month he starts a new call to Grace URC in Torrance, CA. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

September 1 - Introduction to the love chapter of the Bible

This month we will consider one of the most well-known chapters of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13, sometimes referred to as “the love chapter of the Bible.” But Paul’s description of love isn’t a “feel-good” passage about love and how we can all walk in love if we just try hard enough. I don’t know about you, but as Paul holds up the mirror of love, I don’t always see myself in it. That makes me feel guilty. And that’s because love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10) and one of the uses of the law is to expose our sin. That’s what Paul is doing here. The verbs he uses to describe love are a rebuke of the behaviour of the members of the Corinthian church (read the whole letter and see!). So too, this passage rebukes our lack of love. But the point isn’t merely to make us feel guilty and leave us to wallow in our guilt. The point is to drive us to Christ in the Gospel. Thanks be to God that we see Christ perfectly reflected in this mirror of love! As we’ll see, this passage ultimately reveals the love of Christ in our redemption. But as those who are united with Christ, through faith, this passage also reveals the kind of love that Christ works in us by His Spirit. Indeed, this month, may the Spirit grow us in Christ’s image for the glory of God and the good of our neighbour! On Sundays, we will meditate on Psalm 100 as a preparation for corporate worship. Make a joyful noise to the Lord “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!” - Psalm 100:1 Scripture Reading: Psalm 100:1-5 This opening imperative calls us to exuberance in worship. More literally it says, “Shout to Yahweh/The LORD.” The idea here is that of a glad shout that loyal subjects give to their king when he appears before them. It’s similar to what happens in sports as fans shout for joy when their team appears on the field. This Psalm calls us to that kind of joy in our hearts when we gather together for worship on the Lord’s Day. May we not be outdone by sports fans! May we have more excitement for the worship of God than anything else in creation! John Stott comments that “if God is king, what can our worship be but joyful? Away with funereal faces and doleful dirges! Joy, gladness, and singing are to be the accompaniment of worship.” And this call to worship is not just for the Jews or one particular people group. It’s a call to all the earth, for God is the Great King over all the earth. He made it all. And therefore, all the earth owes him allegiance and joyful praise. In the words of Charles Spurgeon, “Never will the world be in its proper condition until with one unanimous shout it adores the only God.” And so, let each of us respond to God’s call to worship this day. Let us worship our Triune God with thanksgiving in our hearts. And let us do so with exuberance! Let us make a joyful noise to the LORD! Suggestions for prayer Pray that God would give you and all with whom you gather for worship today a joyful exuberance in worship. He is worthy of it! Rev. Brian Cochran is ordained in the United Reformed Churches in North America and has served as the pastor of Redeemer Reformation Church in Regina, SK, for 14 years. This month he starts a new call to Grace URC in Torrance, CA. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 31 - Farwell

“I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.” - Colossians 1:18 Scripture reading: Colossians 4:7-18 Paul began his letter by assuring the Colossians that he always thanked God when he prayed for them. Paul was indeed a man of much prayer. And yet, as great an apostle that Paul was, he was only a man. Apostles and pastors are beset with weaknesses like everybody else. Apostles and pastors have sins that need to be put to death like everybody else. And Apostles and pastors are as prone to discouragement as everybody else. Therefore, Paul concludes his letter by readily admitting that he needs Christ’s sustaining grace every bit as much as they do, which is why he now appeals to them to remember him as he has remembered them. This last section of Paul’s letter to the Colossians shows us that the fellowship of the gospel is supported by a mutual care for one another. Office-bearers must care for their congregation. But the congregation must likewise care for them. Throughout this passage, Paul is pressing home the fact we as believers really are interdependent on one another. Christ has woven our lives together in order that we might offer mutual support to one another. As we follow in the example of Epaphras, struggling on one another’s behalf in our prayers, we, too, shall come to stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God for bringing us together in the bond of the Spirit. Pray that our congregations would be marked by mutual care and support for one another. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 30 - A new humanity: The Christian in the world

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. . . Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.” - Colossians 4:2,5 Scripture reading: Colossians 4:2-6 As the Apostle begins to wrap up his letter to the Colossians, perhaps you noticed how Paul ends his letter where he began – namely with the necessity of prayer. Paul recognizes that while most of his readers are not going to be ministers, they are going to be engaging in a whole manner of activities in the world. And knowing that the world is always watching, Paul wants us to recognize that we have an opportunity to bear witness to the Lord Jesus. It may well be the case that you will be the only exposure to the gospel of Christ that your neighbour or your co-worker ever has. If those around us perceive that the Gospel has not really changed us, then they’ll assume that it’s because the Gospel doesn’t have the power to do so. Therefore, we must show by our lives that Christ is our all in all and our everything. When Paul calls us to walk in wisdom toward outsiders, what he’s getting at is that we should be “walking Bibles” as it were – not in the sense that we are always quoting Scripture all the time, but in the sense that by our very lives, we should show something of who Christ is, what Christ has done, and that Christ is indeed a Saviour worth living for. Suggestions for prayer Pray we would be the light of the world and the salt of the earth in everything we do. Pray that God would indeed open to the church a door for the Word, to declare the mystery of Christ. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 29 - A new humanity: The Christian at work

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” - Colossians 3:23-24 Scripture reading: Psalm 90:12-17 & Colossians 3:22-4:1 In our passage today, we are both encouraged and challenged with a Protestant notion that many of us probably take for granted – and that’s the notion that regardless of our respective callings, we are serving the Lord Christ. What Abraham Kuyper said was spot on – “There is not one square inch of the whole domain over our spiritual existence over which Christ, who is sovereign overall, does not cry, “MINE!” Whether you work in the field with your hands or in the study with your mind – you are serving the Lord Christ, which means that your calling has inherent dignity and honour to it, regardless of what the world may or may not say about it. In those years leading up to the Protestant Reformation, there was a great divide between the sacred and secular, between the clergy and the laity. But when Martin Luther rediscovered the priesthood of all believers, he also rediscovered the biblical notion of vocation. And in that glorious rediscovery, a real sense of gospel purpose and meaning was restored to the believer, no matter how “ordinary” his/her life may have been. You don’t have to live in the limelight to serve the Lord Christ. You don’t have to do something flashy or extraordinary for Jesus to say on the last day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Suggestions for prayer Pray that God would be glorified in our labour. Ask Him to give us all a strong sense that we are serving Him with the work of our hands. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 28 - A new humanity: Christian fathers

“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” - Colossians 3:21 Scripture reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 & Hebrews 12:3-11 It is, no doubt, safe to say that Paul’s words here certainly have application for mothers, too. Mothers are instrumental in bringing children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. As a Christian man and as a Christian minister, I am beyond indebted to the Christian instruction and example that I received from my mother. But Paul singles out the fathers. And he does so in light of the fact that husbands and fathers are the head of the home. Therefore, the primary responsibility falls on the father. From Colossians 3 and Ephesians 6, we learn that fathers are to do two things. Negatively, fathers are to be careful that they do not provoke their children to anger. And positively, they are to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. To be sure, discipline must be given, but it must be done carefully and consistently. Any form of discipline that is not modelled off the heavenly Father’s discipline is bound to provoke and discourage. Parents need to remember that they don’t discipline their children simply because they want their lives to be easier or to run more smoothly. But parents discipline their children in order that they might respond to God in faith and in subsequent obedience to his commandments, which this obedience is best nurtured by love and encouragement, not by shame and fear. Suggestions for prayer Pray for all the parents in your congregation. Ask God to give them wisdom teaching their children to love the Lord and to keep His commandments. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 27 - A new humanity: Christian children

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” - Colossians 3:20 Scripture reading: Proverbs 1:8-19 & Luke 2:41-51 The Apostle recognizes that children are part of God’s covenant family (1 Corinthians 7:14). And Paul wants the children to know that everything he has said so far in his letter about Christ and the transforming power of His glorious gospel pertains also to them. This is one of the reasons why we do not send our children away from the worship service for so-called “children’s church.” Because even though they might squirm and struggle to sit in the pew, God’s Word – and the preaching of God’s Word – pertains to our children as much as it pertains to parents. And it is a means of grace as much for them as it is for adults. We believe that when the Word of God is faithfully preached, Christ’s sheep hear His voice. This is true not only for the seasoned sheep in the congregation, but also for the little lambs. Jesus has a word – a word of gospel instruction – for our children: He calls them to obey their parents in everything. And He motivates them to that end with the promise that, in so doing, they will please the Lord just as their Saviour pleased the Father by submitting to Joseph and Mary. Suggestions for prayer Pray that covenant children would come to embrace both the promises and the obligations of the covenant. Pray that their obedience to their parents would bear witness to the power of God’s saving grace. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com. ...

Daily devotional

August 26 - A new humanity: Christian husbands

“Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.” - Colossians 3:19 Scripture reading: Ephesians 5:25-33 & 1 Peter 3:7 In Ephesians Chapter 5, Paul clearly anchors the husband’s responsibility to love his wife in Christ’s love for the church. The Lord Jesus calls husbands to love their wives with a love that is selfless, sympathetic, and sacrificial. Husbands are to mirror their Saviour, living with their wives in an understanding way, even as Christ so lived with us when He sojourned on the earth. Christ took on human flesh in order that He might understand us fully and so minister to us according to knowledge. And in so doing, He left husbands an example. No husband should ever say of his wife, “I don’t know why she is the way she is!” It is his duty to know. Consider just how intimately Christ knows the needs of His bride, the church. He knows all of her struggles. He knows the sins that she wrestles with and the doubts that despair her. And by His Word and Spirit, Christ ministers to her. And He reminds her, again and again, that He loves and cherishes her. This is what God calls husbands to do with their wives. The figurative crown of authority that God has given to husbands is a crown of thorns that obliges them to be more concerned for their wives than they are for themselves. Suggestions for prayer Pray that Christian husbands would love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Pray that this would bear witness to the watching world. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 25 - A new humanity: Christian wives

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” - Colossians 3:18 Scripture reading: Ephesians 5:22-24 & 1 Peter 3:1-6 Your relationship with Christ must have an impact on your relationships with one another. This is really Paul’s burden in this section of his letter. In Verses 18 and 19, Paul begins with perhaps the most fundamental relationship there is: the relationship between a husband and his wife. Wives are called to submit to their own husbands as is fitting to the Lord. To our 21st Century ears, these words are radically counter-cultural. To our Western world, these words are regarded as being repressive and misogynistic. But Paul’s words are no more counter-cultural today than they were when Paul originally wrote them. They’re just counter-cultural for the exact opposite reason. When Paul was originally writing to the Colossians, wives had no real status or standing in society at all. In Greco-Roman society, wives were typically regarded as being nothing more than the possessions of their husbands. But here in Colossians 3:18 and elsewhere in the Bible, their status is exalted. The Apostle Peter calls wives co-heirs of the grace of life. And as such, wives have the unique opportunity to mirror their Saviour to their husbands and to the world through their Christlike submission. Just as Christ submitted Himself to the will of his Father, Christian wives are to follow in their Saviour’s steps by submitting to their own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Suggestions for prayer Pray that Christian wives would submit to their own husbands as is fitting to the Lord. As they do so, pray that the world would see something of Christ in their beautiful submission. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 24 - A new Humanity: Mirroring my Saviour

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” - Colossians 3:12 Scripture reading: Colossians 3:12-17 There are many occasions where what you wear gives expression to who you are. When you go to a wedding, it’s never hard to figure out who the bride is, because the bride is the one wearing the beautiful white wedding dress. When you go to a graduation ceremony, it’s not too hard to figure out who the graduates are, because they’re the ones wearing the square caps and the graduation gowns. And this is the imagery that the Apostle Paul is using here in Colossians. In virtue of our union with Christ, we have put off the old man with all its practices, and we have put on the new man, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Who you are on the inside – a new creation in Christ Jesus – must be reflected on the outside – not only by mortifying your sin, but also by mirroring your Saviour. Those who belong to Him will more and more begin to look like Him, act like Him and reflect Him to those around them. In essence, Paul is telling us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when others see us, they see something of Him. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God that Christ first showed compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience towards us. Pray for the Spirit’s help to mirror these Christian virtues to one another. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 23 - A new humanity: Mortifying my sin

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you…” - Colossians 3:5 Scripture reading: Colossians 3:5-11 Do you love Christ enough to kill for Him? That’s a sobering question, isn’t it? Do you love your Saviour more than you love your sin? If you had to part with one or the other, which would it be? Jesus, we know, has given us everything. As Article 26 of the Belgic Confession says it so beautifully, “There is no one in all the world who loves you more than Jesus Christ loves you.” And now the question is set before you – to what extent do you love Him? “Do you love Him enough to kill for Him?” In Verses 5 and 8, Paul calls us to put to death and to put away all the sins and vices that belong to the old man, for on account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. God is going to judge the world on account of the kinds of sins that Paul lists in verses 5-11. Paul wants us to see the seriousness of our sin. Just as any patient of sound mind would not dare to ignore the presence of cancer in his body, neither should the Christian dare to remain indifferent to sin and its destructive power. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). Suggestions for prayer Ask God to shine the light on your sin. Seek His grace to mortify your sin in repentance and faith. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 22 - A new humanity: The Christian’s new destiny

“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” - Colossians 3:4 Scripture reading: 1 John 3:1-3 & Colossians 3:1-4 By nature, we were destined for death and destruction. But, in Christ, we are destined for glory. In contrast to those who set their minds on earthly things, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 1:20-21). How amazing it is for us to recognize that in this world of death and decay, where everybody dies and where our culture seems at times to be rotting from the inside-out, we have a living Saviour and a lasting promise. In Christ, we have a glorious guarantee: that even as He was always destined for glory, we, too, are destined for glory. As we confess in Lord’s Day 19 of the Heidelberg Catechism, “In all distress and persecution, with uplifted head, confidently await the very judge who has already offered Himself to the judgement of God in place and removed the whole curse from . Christ will cast all his enemies and into everlasting condemnation, but will take and all his chosen ones to himself into the joy and glory of heaven.” Suggestions for prayer Give praise to God for a new destiny in Christ Jesus. Pray that He would grant to us all an earnest longing for Christ’s appearing. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 21 - A new humanity: Hidden with Christ in God

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” - Colossians 3:3 Scripture reading: Colossians 3:1-4 The Apostle is drawing out the further implications of what he has already said in the previous chapter. In Verse 12 of Chapter 2, Paul said that “You have been buried with Christ in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Paul has reminded his readers of that which was emblematic of their baptism – that when they came as families and individuals to be baptized, their old lives were left behind, and who they were going to be from that point forward was to be determined by the Lord Jesus. When God sees you, he no longer sees you for who you used to be; for the old you has died. When God sees you, he no longer sees you in light of all your sins and your failures. But when God sees you, He sees His own dear Son, in Whom you have been hidden. And what a great source of encouragement this should be for us here and now. Whatever sins may have marred your identity in the past are now covered by perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your spiritual bank account is filled with His righteousness, and you are so secure in God’s heart that He has already granted you Christ’s heavenly status. Suggestions for prayer Thank the Lord for the reality that your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Seek His grace to live before Him in the confidence of this truth. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 20 - A new humanity: The Christian’s new mentality

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” - Colossians 3:2 Scripture reading: Philippians 3:12-21 & Colossians 3:1-4 In his work on Spiritual Mindedness, the Puritan Pastor and theologian John Owen, asks his readers the question: “What do you think about when you are thinking about nothing in particular?” To state his question another way: What is the default setting of your mind? When you’re driving home from work, and the traffic is light – when you’re just cruising along – Where does your mind most immediately go? How we answer that question says a great deal about us, doesn’t it? And what the answer to that question probably says for many of us is that our hearts and our minds are fixed on earthly things when they should be fixed on heavenly things. Now, there are some who might raise the objection at this point and caution against this notion by saying, “Those who are so heavenly minded are of no earthly good.” And yet, if you read on into the rest of the chapter, what you’ll soon discover is that those who are heavenly minded do the most earthly good. For if your head is in heaven, that’s going to have an extraordinary impact on the use of your hands and your feet on the earth. If your head is in heaven – if the affections of your heart and the thoughts of your mind are fixed upon Christ and governed by Christ, the blessedness of that will bleed into every area of your life. Suggestions for prayer Ask God to forgive our earthly-mindedness. Ask Him to grant us heavenly-mindedness. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 19 - A new humanity: Raised with Christ

“If then you have been raised with Christ” - Colossians 3:1a Scripture reading: Colossians 2:16–3:4 In Colossians 3:1-4, Paul sets before us the gospel pathway to spiritual security and maturity. Having just addressed the paths that lead only to ruin: the paths of empty philosophy (2:8-15) and legalistic piety (2:16-23), Paul now sets before our eyes the path that leads to glory. But in so doing, Paul not only seeks to remind his readers of where they’re going, but he also seeks to remind them of who they are. Whoever the false teachers in Colossae were, they were not only seeking to rob the Colossian believers of their security, but also of their status. Their insistence on various rites and rituals and religious experiences was causing some in the church to feel as though they were lesser. But in Chapter 2:20, Paul assured them, saying, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations?” And by asking that question, what Paul was essentially saying to them was – “Don’t you know who you are? Don’t you know that you have died with Christ, and that since you have died with Him, you’ve also been set free in Him?” Paul was reminding them of their new status in Christ. And this is the thread that Paul is going to pick up in Chapter 3: our new status and the implications of it in the Christian life. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God for the freedom that we have in Christ. Pray for the grace to live in light of the reality that we have not only died with Christ, but that we have also been raised with Christ. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 18 - “He disarmed the rulers and authorities”

“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” - Colossians 2:15 Scripture reading: Romans 8:31-39 & Colossians 2:11-15 Paul’s words are steeped in the imagery of the ancient world. A victorious king would line up his vanquished enemies, and he would strip them of all their weapons and all their armour. And in this way, he would put them to open shame. He would take away their capacity to rise up against him or his people ever again. According to Paul, this is what Christ has done in His death and resurrection. He has disarmed the rulers and authorities and has put them to open shame, by triumphing over them. Christ has not only set us free from the guilt of sin, but also from the power of sin. The rulers and authorities that Paul speaks of here include all the demonic powers arrayed against Christ and His church. But in virtue of His death and resurrection, Christ has already put them to open shame. The great victory over the evil powers of this world has already been won. And although we must remain vigilant, we must also recognize that in our struggle with sin, we’re dealing with an enemy who has already been defeated. Suggestions for prayer Give thanks to God for the “double cure” of our salvation, namely freedom from both sin’s guilt as well as sin’s power. And pray for the grace to engage in the spiritual battle in the confidence that we’re not the underdogs, but that we are already now on the winning side. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 17 - Nailed to the cross

“This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” - Colossians 2:14 Scripture reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-21 & Colossians 2:11-15 Do you recognize that you used to be dead? At one time, you were dead in your sins and trespasses, following the prince of the power of the air. But in His astounding grace and mercy, God made you alive together with Christ. You used to be guilty, but now you’ve been reckoned righteous. For God has forgiven you all your trespasses. He has cancelled the record of debt that stood against you with its legal demands.” As the Psalmist says in Psalm 130, “If God should mark our sins, who of us could stand? But grace and mercy dwell at his right hand.” Every I.O.U. for every sin that you ever acquired was nailed to the cross and you bear it no more. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, “God made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him, you might become the righteousness of God.” This is what Christ accomplished at the cross for you. From now on, your accomplishments don’t distinguish you, nor do your failures destroy you. But when God sees you – He sees His own beloved Son, Who paid the ransom of all your sins. Suggestions for prayer As you prepare your heart for worship, give thanks to God for the wonder of the cross. And with a view to the Lord’s Day, pray that the message of the cross would resound from every pulpit in our land and in our world. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 16 - Paul’s pastoral warning

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit.” - Colossians 2:8 Scripture reading: Psalm 16:1-11 & Colossians 2:8-10 Part of our walking in Christ involves resistance. We must resist being carried away by the foolish philosophies and ideologies of this world. Through the philosophies and ideologies of the world, Satan appeals to our sense of self-righteousness and self-autonomy, and he seeks to allure us away from finding our satisfaction and joy in Christ alone. Materialism, for example, appeals to one’s desire for instant gratification. Secularism appeals to one’s desire to be free from God’s law. Transgenderism appeals to one’s desire for sexual autonomy and self-autonomy. And lest we be totally naïve, we need to recognize that these ideologies don’t just appeal to people outside of the church, but to people inside the church as well. These evil “isms” promise us everything – autonomy, freedom and power. But they deliver on nothing. They are empty and deceitful. They are like a Venus Flytrap: as soon as a person comes to embrace them, those promises clamp down on them, making them more miserable than ever before. But in Christ Jesus there is indeed fullness of joy forevermore. “In Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Why then would you ever look to another? Why would you ever think that you need something more? Suggestions for prayer Pray that God would help His people resist the empty and deceitful philosophies of this world and to continually rest in the truth of Christ, Who alone can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional, Uncategorised

August 15 - Walking in Christ

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” - Colossians 2:6-7 Scripture reading: Psalm 1:1-6 & Colossians 2:6-15 The Bible often makes use of various metaphors to describe the nature of the Christian life. Here Paul uses the metaphor of walking. But what does this walking consist of? According to the Apostle Paul, there are four key components: We must remain rooted in the truth of Christ (v. 7). The Christian life does not begin one way but finish in another way. The Christian life, from start to finish, is to be lived in and through the Lord Jesus. We must resist being carried away from Christ. (v. 8). Who among us doesn’t know someone who, at one time, appeared to be a disciple of Christ before eventually being carried away by one of the empty ideologies of the world? Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, our resistance must remain strong. We must remember our circumcision in Christ (v. 11). In Christ, we’ve received that which circumcision pointed to all along, namely, the removal of our sin and the new status of being clean before God. We must rest in the Cross of Christ (v. 14). For it was there, at the cross of Christ, that the record of debt that once stood against you was cancelled once and for all. Suggestions for prayer Pray for the grace to continue walking in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ask God to protect us from the ideologies of the world and to keep our eyes fixed on Christ Jesus the Lord. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

Daily devotional

August 14 - Paul’s mission

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” - Colossians 1:28 Scripture reading: Colossians 1:28-2:5 The Apostle finally makes perfectly clear what he’s been alluding to all along. Paul is a man on a mission. And his mission is to present everyone mature (or complete) in Christ. For this Paul toiled with all his might, according to the measure of strength which the Lord Jesus had graciously worked within him. As Paul pours out his prayers on the Colossians’ behalf, his desire is that they would grow up into spiritual maturity. For we never graduate from the school of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is always more to learn and more to grasp more fully. And because our faith is often so weak, we need to be reminded of Christ, of who He is, what He has done, and what He is now doing at God’s right hand, again and again and again. And we are to grow in Him. Paul writes with a view toward Christ’s second coming, but until that day comes, all of Paul’s energy is going to be channelled into this one thing: presenting his readers mature in Christ. Suggestions for prayer Pray that God would continue to mature you and the members of your local congregation in the faith. Ask for grace to make the best use of the means of grace that God has given us with this goal in view. Rev. Bryce De Zwarte is a native of Pella, Iowa and a graduate of Dordt University and Mid-America Reformed Seminary. Rev. De Zwarte has been serving as the pastor of the Adoration URC in Vineland, Ontario since April of 2020. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com....

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Search TAG: Nearer to God daily devotional

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Daily devotional, Uncategorised

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August 14 - Paul’s mission