The Daily Word: Thursday, February 18^th, 2021
Leviticus 6:1-7:27
Mark 3:7-30
Psalm 37:1-11
Proverbs 10:3-4
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” – Mk. 3:10-11

Wherever Jesus went, Jesus healed. And His healing was not a one-off or an occasional occurrence! He healed all the time. He didn’t heal few or some; He healed many. Matthew 15:30 says He healed all who “came to Him.”

Wherever Jesus goes, He heals. Healing is what Jesus does. It is who He is! He is Jehovah Rapha, the God Who Heals (Exodus 15:26). So if you need healing, go straight to the Source. Press in! Get close to Jesus. Tell Him what is going on, and ask Him for what you need. And the Divine Physician will give You what only He can: perfect wholeness and health.

Prayer:

Jesus, I trust in You. I know You can – and will – heal me! Help me to trust in You like never before. If You healed then, You heal now, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Wednesday, February 17^th, 2021
Leviticus 4:1-5:19
Mark 2:13-3:6
Psalm 36:1-12
Proverbs 10:1-2
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” – Mk. 3:1-3

Jesus came to the synagogue and encountered a man with a withered (“wasted away;” Hebrew xeraino[1]) hand. The rulers of the synagogue “watched [Jesus] closely” (v 2). They wanted to accuse Him of violating the Sabbath. But Jesus didn’t care about their silly games. He only cared about His mission.

He told the man to “step forward.” Notice there was action required on the part of the man who needed healing. He couldn’t stay where he was. He had to make forward progress. The onus was on him to actively demonstrate a willingness to come out of the crowd and onto center stage, acknowledging his need for a miracle.

In verse 5, Jesus made another request: “Stretch out your hand.” There is no hiding in the presence of God! He already knows what you need, but the question remains: will you admit you need something from Him? Will you allow yourself to be vulnerable in the presence of your Savior so that you can be healed? As the man stretched out his hand, “…his hand was restored as whole as the other” (v 5).

When Jesus tells you to step forward, step forward. When He tells you to stretch out your hand, stretch out your hand! Don’t hide your need for healing anymore. Bring that part of you that you don’t want to admit needs healing out of the darkness and into the light. And as you do, Jesus will restore you and make you whole.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for restoring me. I need healing! And I am not afraid to admit it. I will come to You for every need and every desire, and I know that You will heal me in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/xeraino.html

The Daily Word: Tuesday, February 16^th, 2021
Leviticus 1:1-3:17
Mark 1:29-2:12
Psalm 35:17-28
Proverbs 9:13-18
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Now the Lord called to Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting… – Lev. 1:1

Moses had just spent nine months overseeing the design and construction of the tabernacle.[1] God had just taken over fifteen chapters of Scripture[2] to describe the structure and layout of the tabernacle in intricate and painstaking detail. And guess what happened as soon as Moses was done building what God had called him to build? God spoke.

As soon as Moses built a place to meet with God, God spoke. Are you struggling to hear God? Have you built a tabernacle to meet with Him? For you, that means creating a space where you are separate and cut off from the busyness of the world! Put your appointment calendar on hold. Turn off your cell phone. Get out of “the camp” (Ex. 33:7) and away from other people! When you make room to meet with God, God will make time to meet with you.

Prayer:

Father, I am making room in my day for You! I am so excited to talk with You. I am so excited to see You! I am so grateful that You meet me, face to face as with a friend. I am making room like never before, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] https://livingroomtheology.com/ever-wonder-how-long-it-took-to-build-the-tabernacle-why-should-you-care/

[2] Exodus 26-Exodus 40

The Daily Word: Monday, February 15^th, 2021
Exodus 39:1-40:38
Mark 1:1-28
Psalm 35:1-16
Proverbs 9:11-12
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
“If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, you will bear it alone.” – Prov. 9:12

Nobody else can be wise for you. You have to be wise for yourself! And this is why you need a personal relationship with Jesus. No more excuses! You have His Word: you can read it every day! And you have His Spirit: He will lead you and guide  you into “all truth” (Jn. 16:13)!

God has given you everything you would ever need to know exactly what to do at all times. Are you taking advantage of what you’ve been given?

But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you… – 1 John 2:27

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for wisdom! Thank You for making me wise. Help me to always rely on You: never on myself, and never on anyone else in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Sunday, February 14^th, 2021
Exodus 37:1-38:31
Matthew 28:1-20
Psalm 34:11-22
Proverbs 9:9-10
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. – Ps. 34:14

What you leave is just as important as what you pursue. Seek peace! Pursue Jesus with all your heart. But also: depart from evil. Leave your old life behind, and be free from your past in Jesus’ name!

When you give your life to Jesus, everything changes:

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. – Rom. 8:2

You are no longer subject to the “law of sin and death.” You are no longer bound by sickness and disease; instead, your portion is divine healing. You are no longer victim to the bottomless pull and temptation of sin; instead, your portion is perfect freedom in every area of your life! Jesus came to take captivity captive (Eph. 4:8)! He came to set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1). And because you have Him, wickedness no longer has any hold on you.

Seek Jesus and depart from evil. Leave your old life behind! And your portion in this world will be “newness of life.”

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. – Rom. 6:1-4

Prayer:

Father, I pray You would fill me with a desire to pursue Jesus like never before! I also pray You would fill me with the strength and conviction required to depart from evil permanently. Death no longer has a hold over me. I am leaving my old life behind, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Saturday, February 13^th, 2021
Exodus 35:10-36:38
Matthew 27:32-66
Psalm 34:1-10
Proverbs 9:7-8
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. – Matt. 27:50

Jesus gave up His spirit. He willingly yielded to an agonizing death on the cross and laid His life down. Why?

First, so you could be forgiven of all your sin when you believe in Him: 

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Cor. 5:21

Jesus died on the cross as your sin. He became your sin so that your sin could die! And when you believe that Jesus died in your place and received the punishment you deserve, you inherit the reward that only He deserves.

Second, Jesus died so you could have His Spirit. The Holy Ghost was the One who empowered Jesus for His earthly ministry. But in order for Jesus to give up His Spirit, He had to die. After all, how can a man give up his spirit unless he dies?

Jesus died on the Cross so that you could be filled with His Holy Spirit. And do you know what that means? You get the live a life of power, just like Jesus did. You get to live a life of victory, just like Jesus did! You are filled with the Spirit of the living God. You get to go out and pray the same prayers Jesus prayed, and expect exactly the same results!

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. – Rom. 8:11

Prayer:

Jesus, thank You for yielding up Your Spirit! Thank You for enduing me with power from on high. I am so grateful that Your Spirit lives in me! I will never make one decision, or live one moment, without Him in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Friday, February 12^th, 2021
Exodus 34:1-35:9
Matthew 27:15-31
Psalm 33:12-22
Proverbs 9:1-6
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.” – Ex. 34:10

I remember preaching on physical healing one Sunday several years ago at our church. I used Scripture to outline the reality that God is the Healer (Ex. 15:26), and emphasized that He still heals today (Heb. 13:8). I shared some of the miraculous healing testimonies that we have seen at our church: a baby healed of a life-threatening liver condition, a woman healed of stage 4 colon cancer, and many more.

After service, a man in the church approached me. “You know,” he said, “You shouldn’t focus so much on miracles. You should just focus on Jesus.” I understood the point he was trying to make. We should never focus so much on the miraculous that we lose sight of the God of the miraculous. But this is God’s promise to you in Scripture: He will, “…do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth.” God will work miracles – “extraordinarily hard or difficult things”[1] – in your life. He will do the impossible in and through you so that others can see that He is Lord.

Do you know why I like to preach on miracles? Because Jesus preached on miracles. Do you know why I pursue healing through prayer? Because Jesus is the Healer. He healed people everywhere He went. He cast out demons with a word. He is a miraculous God! And if we are His people, we should experience miracles all the time.

God wants to work miracles in your life: not just one, but many. Are you ready to open your arms and receive all that He has to give?

Prayer:

Father, thank You for miracles! Thank You for the marvels You are going to do in my life. I will focus on the miraculous because Jesus focused on the miraculous! And I will never apologize for it, in Jesus’ name.

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] Strong’s Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon H6381; the Hebrew word for “marvels” is pala

The Daily Word: Thursday, February 11^th, 2021
Exodus 32:1-33:23
Matthew 26:69-27:14
Psalm 33:1-11
Proverbs 8:33-36
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” – Ex. 32:30

God’s people messed up. They messed up badly! The first thing God told them was, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex 20:3). So what did Israel do as soon as they had the chance? They demanded that Aaron make them a golden calf: an idol they could worship instead of God.

How insulting to God! And this was the best Moses could offer them in response: “So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Perhaps! Imagine being one of the children of Israel, wondering if God would forgive your sin or strike you dead. Imagine being Moses, wondering if God was still willing to fulfill His promise to make Israel a great nation, or if He would just exterminate them altogether. Imagine being Aaron, wondering what penalty he was going to have to pay for caving to the will of the people and building the golden calf!

Thank God we no longer live in the age of “perhaps!” On this side of the Cross, Jesus has separated you from your sin, “…as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12). You don’t have to send someone to God to see if He will forgive you any more! When you confess your sins, God is “faithful and just to forgive” them and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9). There is no more perhaps because of the Cross. When you have Jesus, forgiveness is a guarantee.

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. – Heb. 10:14

Prayer:

Father, thank You for perfecting me! I am far from perfect; but Jesus is perfect, and I am hidden in Him! Thank You that I don’t have to wonder if You will forgive me. I get to know that I am forgiven, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

The Daily Word: Wednesday, February 10^th, 2021
Exodus 30:11-31:18
Matthew 26:47-68
Psalm 32:1-11
Proverbs 8:27-32
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. – Ps. 32:5

What does confession mean to you? If you come from the Catholic tradition, confession means acknowledging your sin “with true sorrow before the priest.”[1] But is that really what the Bible teaches?

If you want to be forgiven, it is true that you have to confess your sin. But you have to confess your sin “to the Lord,” not man. You don’t have to tell everyone! You just have to tell the only One: God, who is the only One with true authority to forgive you.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9

Biblical confession is not a conversation with a man who claims to be your only route of access to God. Biblical confession is a conversation with the Son of Man, who is God Who Forgives. Do you see the difference?

There is a place for corporate confession (James 5:16). But do not make a practice of relying on man to forgive your sin. God and God alone is the One who forgives sin! And all that matters is that you talk to Him.

Go to God. Admit your mistakes! And watch Him turn your weakness into strength, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer:

Father, I have made some mistakes. But You forgive my sin! You separate me from my sin as far as the east is from the west. I am so grateful for forgiveness! And I am so grateful for confession, in Jesus’ name.

[1] https://www.catholic.org/prayers/confession.php

The Daily Word: Tuesday, February 9^th, 2021
Exodus 29:1-30:10
Matthew 26:14-46
Psalm 31:19-24
Proverbs 8:14-26
For full text click here.

Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
And you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar, and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. – Ex. 29:21

You need two things to minister effectively for God: blood and oil. When Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests, they were arrayed with special garments: a tunic, a robe, an ephod, a breastplate, a turban, and a holy crown (vv 5-6). Then, they were sprinkled with 1) blood and 2) oil.

The blood of Jesus makes you clean. It makes you whole! It covers your sin. It sanctifies you and separates you from your past, “…as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12). Jesus spilled his blood – one offering for all mankind – so that you could be made perfect in the sight of God:

“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” – Heb. 10:4

The oil of God – the anointing, or the manifest presence of God’s Holy Spirit on you to do something – makes you capable. God has called you to do something great! He created you to do something that nobody else in human history could ever do quite like you. But you can’t do it yourself. You need His Holy Spirit! And when you spend time in His presence, you will be filled with the strength and the power to do what He has called you to do: nothing more, and nothing less.

You are just like Aaron. You are a priest![1] You get to stand and minister before God because you are covered in the blood, and you get to change the world because you are anointed with the Holy Spirit.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light… – 1 Peter 2:9

Prayer:

Father, thank You for covering me in the blood of Jesus! Thank You that my sins are washed away. And thank You for anointing me. I know I have a calling on my life! And I know the only way I will walk it out is by letting Your Holy Spirit do the work. Help me to lean on You like never before, in Jesus’ name!

© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.

[1] “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” – Rev. 1:5-6