Welcome to Daily Devotions
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Arnold United Methodist Church
To Reach the World for Christ by Looking Up for Divine Guidance and Reaching Out Through God's Love |
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If You Say So
Shortly after Jesus began His ministry, He sat down in Peter's boat and began teaching those on the shore. Finishing His lesson He told Peter to go back onto the lake and let down his fishing nets.
CREATING A NEW YOU- A huge block of marble was given to a sculptor who began a carving and then stopped. The stone sat gathering dust for forty years until a young Michelangelo came along and saw David, the kingof Israel, in the stone, waiting to be released. For two years Michaelangelo chipped away at the stone, revealing more and more of David. On one occasion a small boy, after watching Michaelangelo work, asked him, "How did you know he was in there?" Michaelangelo replied, "I just took away everything that was not David." That's what God is doing with us-chipping away everything that is not the image of Jesus. God's goal is to conform us to the image of His Son (see Rom. 8:29). While others (and we ourselves) may see us as nothing but a block of humanity, God sees something beneath the surface just waiting to be revealed. Like a master sculptor, He removes everything that stands in the way of Christ in us being released. There's a different between marble and flesh and blood. Marble does not fight the sculptor as he works. Marble yields to the sculptor's tools and takes on exactly the shape the sculptor desires. We are not so compliant. We may not like what God, the Sculptor, does to our flesh, our old nature, that must be removed. The Bible talkes of mankind suppressing the work of God (see Rom. 1:18) and of Christians resisting the Holy Spirit (see Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19). God will not force us into the image of Jesus. He wants us willingly to submit ourselves to His loving hands. Our joyful obedience to Christ as Lord makes it possible for God to reveal Him through us. When we trust the Sculptor, we know that whatever He is doing in us is to make something more beautiful of us. God conform us to the image of Jesus (see Rom. 8:29). Allow God the artist to have free reign with you, His subject. Only then can the Christ in you be set free. Heavenly Father, I confess afresh today that I am willing for You to chip away everything in m,y life that doesn't look like Jesus. Thank You for conforming me to His image. Amen. For the rest of your life... welcome the work of the Sculptor's tools no matter how uncomfortable they may be.
"Take Courage, Do More Than Hang in There" Jesus' faith enabled him to set his face "like flint." Assured of God's purpose and continual presence, the Servant is not disgraced, no matter how disgraceful the treatment. Jesus embodied the Servant's confidence and courage when he first "set his face toward Jerusalem." The flintlike set of the Servant's face became the steely determination of Jesus to see his mission through to the very end. The courage to face this conflict was set in a face-forward faith.
A Cry of Victoryby Max Lucado “It is finished.” Stop and listen. Can you imagine the cry from the cross? The sky is dark. The other two victims are moaning. The jeering mouths are silent. Perhaps there is thunder. Perhaps there is weeping. Perhaps there is silence. Then Jesus draws in a deep breath, pushes his feet down on that Roman nail, and cries, “It is finished!” What was finished? The history-long plan of redeeming man was finished. The message of God to man was finished. The works done by Jesus as a man on earth were finished. The task of selecting and training ambassadors was finished. The job was finished. The song had been sung. The blood had been poured. The sacrifice had been made. The sting of death had been removed. It was over. A cry of defeat? Hardly. Had his hands not been fastened down I dare say that a triumphant fist would have punched the dark sky. No, this is no cry of despair. It is a cry of completion. A cry of victory. A cry of fulfillment. Yes, even a cry of relief. It’s over. An angel sighs. A star wipes away a tear. “Take me home.” “Take me home.” Farewell manger’s infant. The battle is over.
Honest Worship Honest worship lifts eyes off self and sets them on God. Scripture’s best-known worship leader wrote: “Give honor to the LORD, you angels; give honor to the LORD for his glory and strength. Give honor to the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness” (Ps. 29:1-2 NLT). Worship gives God honor, offers him standing ovations. We can make a big deal about God on Sundays with our songs and on Mondays with our strengths. Every day in every deed. Each time we do our best to thank God for giving his, we worship. “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering” (Romans 12:1 MSG). Worship places God on center stage and us in proper posture.
Honor God in Your Workby Max Lucado Heaven’s calendar has seven Sundays a week. God sanctifies each day. He conducts holy business at all hours and in all places. He uncommons the common by turning kitchen sinks into shrines, cafés into convents, and nine-to-five workdays into spiritual adventures. Workdays? Yes, workdays. He ordained your work as something good. Before he gave Adam a wife or a child, even before he gave Adam britches, God gave Adam a job. “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15 NASB). Innocence, not indolence, characterized the first family. God views work worthy of its own engraved commandment: “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest” (Exod. 34:21 NASB). We like the second half of that verse. But emphasis on the day of rest might cause us to miss the command to work: “You shall work six days.” Whether you work at home or in the marketplace, your work matters to God. And your work matters to society. We need you! Cities need plumbers. Nations need soldiers. Stoplights break. Bones break. We need people to repair the first and set the second. Someone has to raise kids, raise cane, and manage the kids who raise Cain. Whether you log on or lace up for the day, you imitate God. Jehovah himself worked for the first six days of creation. Jesus said, “My Father never stops working, and so I keep working, too” (John 5:17 NCV). Your career consumes half of your lifetime. Shouldn’t it broadcast God? Don’t those forty to sixty hours a week belong to him as well? The Bible never promotes workaholism or an addiction to employment as pain medication. But God unilaterally calls all the physically able to till the gardens he gives. God honors work. So honor God in your work. “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good” (Eccles. 2:24 NASB). Here is the big idea: Use your uniqueness (what you do) At the convergence of all three, you’ll find the cure for the common life: your sweet spot.
 Sacrifice Is Part Of Service “We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers." (1 John 3:16 GW) Serving others comes at a great price. When you become a servant, you always give up something you could have kept for yourself – time, money, energy. But the greatest cost of all is yourself. Serving others exacts a personal toll that cannot be measured in dollars and cents or hours and minutes. In 2 Corinthians 6:8-10, Paul describes the price he paid for serving others: “We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are well known, but we are treated as unknown. We live close to death, but here we are, still alive. We have been beaten within an inch of our lives. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.” (NLT) Later in the same book, Paul describes being jailed, whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, and robbed – all while serving the churches God entrusted to his care. (2 Corinthians 11:23-28) God’s servants find the sacrifices worth the price because they can look past the present pain or inconvenience, fixing their eyes firmly on Jesus who “for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV) It is in serving others sacrificially, says the apostle John, that we begin to grasp as well as experience godly love: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:10-11 NIV) What does this mean? · Serve on God’s terms; not your own – You’ve been seeded with the Spirit of Christ, and even though you can’t, his Spirit within you can enable you to give yourself for others. You can draw from his sacrificial strength. · Love finds meaning in sacrifice – “We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers.” (1 John 3:16 GW) · Your sacrifice of service – Is God asking you to give up something – or sacrifice in some way – in order to serve others? Talk to him about your fears, concerns, and confusion. Affirm your willingness to cooperate with his plan for you.
“God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” (Psalm 51:10, MSG) “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalms 51:10, NIV) ------- ---- ---- ---- God spoke the world into existence, and he spoke you into your mother’s womb. Even now, he can speak into the chaos of your life to bring it shape and form. This is a Genesis event (Psalm 51:10, MSG) – where God speaks into the void and the darkness of your life, creating a fresh start for you. God can create something from nothing; he can take a heart that is broken, impure, or failed and create a heart that is whole, pure, and purposeful. God loves you and wants to pour his grace into your life. He wants to see you pure, and he wants to see you succeed – so much so that he takes an active role in creating your new heart and bringing order to the chaos of your life. Your job is to submit to his sovereignty, humble yourself before him, and ask for his help. Lord, speak a Genesis moment into our hearts, into our lives, into the circumstances we now face. We acknowledge that “everything that we have – right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:30, MSG) Renew in us a steadfast spirit (Psalms 51:10, NIV), no longer chaotic or moved by events, circumstances, or feelings, no longer “... shaped by things and feelings, instead of by God.” (Colossians 3:5, MSG) Give us a life shaped by you. Give us your spirit, flowing through us like a river of living water. What now? · Where you see chaos, let God speak into your life, creating a new, God-generated life. Pray, “God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.” (Psalm 51:10, MSG) · Steadfast spirit – How would your life be different if you were led and powered by a steadfast spirit? Pray, Oh God, “... renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalms 51:10, NIV) · Shaped by Christ – Fit “every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5, MSG) · Where? – Where do you need a Genesis-event spoken into your life today?
Mundane “The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.” (Luke 2:20 NLT) Since it’s the New Year, you may be wondering why we’re meditating on another Christmas verse. I delayed this devotional until today for the simple reason that most of us are now returning to the routine of life after celebrating the birth of Jesus. We’re back in the office; we’re back at school; we’re back to whatever we normally do. Notice that the shepherds did the same thing. God sent them a message through his heavenly host, and they found the baby Jesus in a manager, just as the angel said they would. They marveled at God and knew they’d been blessed to see the Messiah’s arrival. But they also returned to their fields and flocks. They returned with an energized faith, glorifying and praising God. But they still returned to their fields and flocks. That’s because God uses the ordinary more often than the extraordinary to transform us into reflections of Jesus. Yes, he takes us to the mountaintop; he shows us great miracles and wonders, but he doesn’t leaves us there because he knows the strength of our faith grows in the day-to-day, mundane work required in the fields and among the flocks we tend. Here, in the fields of our workplace and among the flocks of our family and friends, we learn to love one another. It is where we die to Christ, allowing his life to blossom within us: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NIV) The things we truly believe emerge in the day-to-day of our lives. It’s the conflicts over who makes the coffee, who cleans up the mess, who gets to go home early, or who gets the biggest piece of pie that test whether it is Christ who lives in us, or if we’re still saying, ‘It is I who live.’ But God’s lessons are mastery-based, meaning his intent is not to catch you doing something wrong; his intent is to reveal where you still need to yield to the life of Christ in you. What now? · See God in your day – Think of it this way: When you left the manger, you didn’t leave God behind. He’s with you right now; Christ lives in you. Ask God to guide you as you die to self and let Christ live through you. · Thank God for the routine of your life – Just as the shepherds returned to their fields and flocks glorifying and praising God, praise God in your circumstances. Reflect upon the many things times God has answered your prayers, or blessed you by telling you where to find the answer. Tell other people about the things God is doing in your life. · Wait upon the Lord – Are you feeling stuck in your circumstances? When the Jewish people were held captive in
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others – the armies of heaven – praising God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.” (Luke 2:13-14, NLT) ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ Long ago and far away, there was a teacher who worked painstakingly to teach me how to play the guitar. Every week, we'd climb up and down musical stairs crafted from the pentatonic, hexatonic, heptatonic, and octatonic scales. This emphasis upon technique frustrated me, and I grew to hate it so much that I abandoned the guitar – until playing it again became a positive part of my mid-life crisis. OK, OK ... yes, I would have been better guitar player today if I'd practiced what my teacher told me (and, kids, eat your spinach too). But somehow I became so buried in the technique of making music that I lost the exhilarating pleasure of the music – with its power to make my heart soar toward the grace-filled face of God. You might say the how of guitar-ianity muted the wow of the music. And in our well-intentioned focus on the how of Christianity, I sometimes wonder if we lose sight of the wow – that God's Holy Spirit lives within us, and that he is with us always, day after day after day, until the very end of time. Wow! Say this with me, brothers and sisters: · Wow! The God of the universe is present by his Spirit within me! · Wow! The God who spoke the world into existence lives within me! · Wow! The same God who placed the moon and the stars and the sun in the sky also placed his Spirit within me! · Wow! The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills considers me one of his heirs and is pleased to give me a share in his kingdom! · Wow! The God of Creation spoke me into my mother's womb, SHAPEd me as a masterpiece crafted for the mission of proclaiming his Wow! throughout the world! (Jeremiah 1:5) It's not the how; it’s the wow! God Almighty! He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives in me today! (Galatians 2:20) The Wow! is with me always and forever, yesterday today and tomorrow, forever and again, amen. What does this mean? · Set your heart on the WOW – You must be deliberate in staying focused on the Wow! "Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." (Colossians 3:1b-2, NIV) · The Good News – Wow! -- We proclaim without shame that the Wow! is in our hearts, and the Wow! will come into any heart that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. · No commandment harmed – No commandment was harmed in the making of this devotional. Ha! Staying intimately focused on the Wow! does not suggest the how is unimportant or that the Wow! compromises biblical truth or downgrades "the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6, HCSB)
That’s God’s Boy “As bad as you are … you're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?” (Matthew 7:11, MSG) ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ When my oldest son was appearing in his first Christmas musical at church, my job was to videotape the event for posterity. In another time and another place, I was a television producer, so I was already planning out how to “tape the show.” I arrived with all the latest electronic toys and found, to my amusement, a “press gallery” of dads every bit as competitive as the pros I used to go up against. Looking through the viewfinder of my camera, I was distressed to see that the lighting was all wrong, the stage was too low for even the best camera positions, and I knew from experience there was too much noise in the room to get a good sound recording. When the choir took the stage, my hopes for an Emmy-winning video sank faster than the Titanic – My son was on the stage in a place where I could barely see him. Then, his face went pale, and he started yelling, “Mommy!” I felt like crying, “Mommy!” too. Finally, the choir began, but by then my son seemed more interested in the audio speakers than in performing. But just then, he turned to face me with eyes so bright and buoyant that the professional in me stepped aside and I quietly said, “That’s my boy!” When I walked out of that performance, I thought, “There’s absolutely nothing I’d trade for having been here.” · Do you sometimes think of God as more the professional than the Father? · Do you think of him as being disappointed in you when things haven’t gone perfectly? Next time you’ve totally blown it, think about the father-heart of God and the fact that you’re totally accepted by him. When God looks at you, he shouts, “That’s my child, and I wouldn’t trade my child for anything.” God knew you’d never be perfect without his help; and that’s why he sent his Son, Jesus, to cleanse you of your sins. What does this mean? · Consider the father-heart of God – He looked at Jesus in the manger and said, “That’s my boy! I have sent him to save you from your sins.” On the cross, he saw his son, in obedience and love, take on the weight of the world. · God loves you just like you love your own children – Only God does it perfectly. “As bad as you are … you're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?” (Matthew 7:11, MSG) · The next time you fail – Don’t avoid God; come to him as the father he is, and trust that his love is bigger than your mistake. Jolly, Holy Christmas Quiz – We know there were three wise men, some frankincense and myrrh, and a huge star on the first Christmas Day. Plus there were shepherds watching their flock on a cold, silent night in winter, a little drummer boy, and the littlest angel … wait a minute, how much of this is tradition, and how much of it is based in the Bible? You may be surprised at what you find in this Biblical Christmas Quiz, available at www.gracecreates.com.
What Do You Mean, God? “You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!” … They ran to the village … and there was the baby, lying in the manger. (Luke 2:12,16 NLT) ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ If we believe what we say we believe, then when God says it is so – it is so. Yet we often doubt. The interaction between the angel and the shepherds in Luke 2 shows a simple, yet significant sequence: The angel says, “You will find a baby lying in a manger,” and when the shepherds got to God told them what they would find, and they found exactly what God told them they would find. How would we live differently each day if we followed this sequence: When God says it, we know it is true, and when we follow what we are told, we see that God’s promise was true. If we could just stop slipping and sliding in our faith, I think we’d be radically different! Now, before you put on your “believe harder” hat, rest in God’s grace, knowing that he wants you to succeed at hearing what he says and at doing what he wants you to do. So he’s not tapping his foot, ready to reprimand you; rather, he’s walking on the water, encouraging you to step out of the boat! What does this mean? · Do what you know God wants you to do – We get so caught up in wanting to know a specific answer. You know the joke, “I wish I could turn to a verse in the Bible and it said, ‘Jon, take this job and turn the other one down.’” But here’s the thing: There are lots of things God wants us to do that are very clearly explained in the Bible. Like staying in a prayer conversation with him or touching the people around you with a sacrificial love. Start doing those and watch as God tells you the rest. · Look for what God provides – The angel told the shepherds to look for a babe in a manger. It required faith for them to go to · Trust God is working it out – Think you made a mistake? Think you missed his direction or that you were distracted when the angel came with the news? Trust God that he is working it all out and will still use you for his purposes.
Augustus Decreed A Census At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire . … All returned to their own towns to register for this census. (Luke 2:1, 3 NLT) ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ Can you believe it's almost Christmas? Praise God for the gift of his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, who was born as a baby in Bethlehem ! As we read about the birth of Christ, can you see how God used circumstances to guide his Holy plan and how he uses circumstances to speak to us even now? Jesus was born in Bethlehem because God decreed it so. His birth in Bethlehem was foretold by the ancient prophets. But what would compel Joseph and Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem , especially late in a pregnancy? How would they – just as human as you and I, and still looking through the glass darkly – know they were to go to Bethlehem for Jesus to be born? In Luke 2, we see God used a bureaucratic announcement made by a secular authority to guide Joseph and Mary. Augustus said the population should be counted, and that meant everyone was required to return to the “ancestral home.” Joseph was a descendant of King David, so he headed toward David’s ancient home – Bethlehem . (Luke 2:4-5) What does this mean? · God knows you – You were born at the right place and at the right time. God was not surprised by your birth, the circumstances of your birth, or where you were born. He spoke you into your mother’s womb, and he knows you by name. · You’re free to see – Knowing that God is working through your circumstances, you are free to take your eyes off the circumstances and to look around and look above. Peter took his eyes off the circumstances and walk across the water toward Jesus; only when he looked back at his circumstances did he begin to sink! · You can be active; not passive in circumstances – Instead of saying, “Why me, God?”, you can ask, “What’s up, God?” God is working all things out. Look for where he is at work. · Christmas question – How would you view the circumstances of this Christmas season differently if you were certain God was working in your circumstances? “For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)
A Simpler Life As we enter the Christmas season, I thought this teaching from Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” would be helpful and encouraging. – jw “Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.” (Galatians 6:4-5 NLT) At Christmas time, we often feel like we have to get it all done, and then we crash and burn when we can’t do it all. If you want to simplify this season, you need to understand that it’s all about making choices – and then sticking to those choices, no matter how tempting it is to add more to your holiday “to do” list. It’s easy to forget this, but it’s true: You’re the only one who must assume responsibility for your time, and you’re the only one who can clarify what’s really important to you. The choices you make control your calendar and, as a result, your lifestyle. Your choices are far more powerful than your circumstances, and you have the power to simplify your life by making purpose-full choices. The Bible teaches, “We are each responsible for our own conduct.” (Galatians 6:4-5 NLT) That’s why it’s so important to discover why God placed you on this planet: What is your purpose for being here? In the long run, the donation of your life will count far more than the duration. In other words, it’s not how long you live – or even how much you cram into the length of your life – it’s about how you live, according to God’s purpose for you. What now? · Let your purpose guide what you do this Christmas season. As you serve, serve where you know God intends for you to serve. Don’t just volunteer for anything or everything. As you pray about it, you may sense God is prompting you to start a “not to do” list! · You have just enough time to do God's will this season. You’ve been given just enough time to fulfill his purpose over the next 30 days. When you try to do more than God planned for you to do, it’s only natural that you’ll stress over your schedule. · Does your list include rest? God doesn’t want you to burn out; in fact, he may want you to specifically add “rest” to your to-do list because he knows you’re trying to overdo it. Does your list include having fun this season as you express gratitude to God the gift of his Son?
Love As Long As Life Lasts “We are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, so that you will get your full reward” (Hebrews 6:11 LB). Today’s devotional is based on lessons from Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church and author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” –jw God designed life for us to learn how to love one another like God loves us. For the moment, we are in the midst of some rather serious on-the-job-training. God is making use of all things — pain and suffering, joy and comfort, opposition and cooperation — to transform us into people who love fully and deeply. We’re to spend our lives learning to love one another because God wants us to be like he is, and God is love: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8 NIV). God designed this life to sever our ties to self-centeredness so he can teach us to be other-centered — putting the needs of others over our own. This love we are learning will never die: “Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit” (1 Corinthians 13:8 MSG). The love we learn now will last forever. This life is practice for an eternity of love. It’s like spring training in the game of baseball: We’re practicing our love for one another now, strengthening our skills, preparing for the World Series of Love in heaven. This is God’s purpose: “When the time is ripe he will gather us all together from wherever we are — in heaven or on earth — to be with him in Christ forever” (Ephesians 1:10 LB). No doubt, we will be surprised in heaven by how our love has flowed into eternity (Ephesians 4:4). What now? · Love urgently – “And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts” (Hebrews6:11 LB). There is urgency in learning to love now because today could be our last day on earth. This life is fleeting, and eternity is coming. The opportunities for us to express love come and go quickly; we cannot take them for granted. One day our earth-bound lessons will end, and we’ll love for eternity in heaven. · Love consistently – As long as we’re living, we’re to “keep right on loving.” This curriculum of love is not something we learn once and then put behind us. We have to study it for a lifetime, until we “know it so well, we’ve embraced itheart and soul.” We’re to “take up permanent residence” in this life of love, where we “live in God and God lives in us” (1 John 4:16, MSG). · Love expectantly – We’re to keep loving so we will get our “full reward” (Hebrews 6:11 LB). We will find our greatest reward in those we love.
How Do You Recover From Disaster? Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:4 NIV) This past week, many of us have watched as the worst disaster in Southern California history has unfolded. It will take years to recover. You may live far away from California, but more than likely you’ll face some form of hardship in your life (you may even be facing one now). In this guest devotional, Pastor Rick Warren explains three biblical principles for recovering from any disaster: First, release your grief It does no good to stuff emotions or deny they exist. God created us to feel emotions, and he doesn't expect us to act happy when we’re grieving. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” That means it is OK to be honest about our grief. “Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalms 62:8 NLT) God wants to comfortus in tragedy. He is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Second, receive help from others Third, reject the urge to be bitterness What now? · Your response to disaster is a choice – As I’ve watched television interviews related to the California wildfires, there are some victims who say, “We lost it all, and we’re sad, but we’re still together as a family, and we’re going to work together and rebuild.” Yet others say, “My life is over! I just don’t see how I can go on from here; I don’t think I can ever recover from this.” It’s not an easy choice, but it is a choice between believing God is still in control or believing you’re on your own. · Your joy comes from God, not your circumstances – There’s absolutely no correlation in life between your circumstances and your joy. None whatsoever! Joy comes from within. It is based on who you trust, not what you see or feel. When you give your grief to God, he is faithful to comfort you (Matthew 5:4). · Focus on what you have – When you experience disaster, focus on what you still have, not on what’s lost. Tell God you’re thankful for what you still have. Make a list of all the good things inyour life. Personally, I find it is impossible to be grateful and depressed at the same time.
The Faith of Works “Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you have faith if you don't prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can't save anyone. … So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all—it is dead and useless.” (James 2:14,17 NLT) Consider this paraphrase of James 2:14,17 (based on the NLT): Dear brothers and sisters, what's the use of saying you love your spouse if you don't prove it by the way you treat your spouse? That kind of impersonal love doesn’t make your relationship a marriage. … So you see, it isn't enough just to have an impersonal love. A theoretical love that doesn't show itself by intimate involvement in the life of your spouse is no love at all – it is dead and useless. I use this example because it helps us see the holy union of faith and works. We can say we love our spouses, but without the “good works” of married life it’s hard to see the love. Yet we also can go through the motions of “good works” within a marriage without the presence of love. Either way, we’ve missed the point and veered from God’s plain and simple plan. When it comes to faith and works, it basically works this way: · We are saved by grace, through faith; this salvation is not from what we do, it is a gift from God; Salvation comes from faith and not by works, so that no one can boast about what they did to get to heaven. (Ephesians 2:7-10 NIV; Psalm 51:12 HCSB) · God places the Holy Spirit within us, and we are energized by his spirit to do good works. (Colossians 1:29) Paul says we’re compelled by love to do good works; it is possible, however, to fake faith by doing these good works. This may feel good bring us praise, but it will not earn salvation from God. It’s good works done in a faithless way – because they do not require faith, nor are they motivated by your faith. James says it the other way around: You can claim faith all day long, but if your faith isn’t reflected in your actions, in the way you live your life, then you faith is dead. You’re living with a faith that has not been energized by the Spirit of God. It’s a theoretical faith that doesn’t compel you to pour your life into good and godly works. Faith without works; works without faith – neither of these is God’s design. He designed us to live out a union of faith and works, so co-mingled that they reflect the very image of Christ. What now? · Work your faith – Let’s bring this lesson back down to an intimate level. Which takes more faith combined with works, for you to:
· God’s energy directs your work for him – “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” (Colossians 1:28-29 NIV) Perhaps you never thought you’d hear this from a pastor, but there may be some good things you’re doing that you can stop doing – because God never meant for them to be part of your purpose or the works you were created to do. This is not an excuse to sit on the sidelines. The question is: What is God energizing you to do for him? · God’s love compels you to good works – “For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” (2 Corinthians 5 NIV) God’s love is within you, compelling you to good works. What good and godly work are you consistently compelled to do?
It Starts in the Heart "For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander." (Matthew 15:19 NLT) We tend to think that if we clean up our behavior, then we’ve got a good handle on being like Jesus. But Jesus says behavior starts in the heart, so we need to be cleaned from the inside out. And once our hearts are right, godly behavior follows. The Apostle Paul says one way to monitor the condition of our hearts is to track what comes out of our mouths – anger or acceptance, criticism or encouragement, bitterness or forgiveness. In addition, Paul explained, “If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 MSG) Rather than trying to hide the condition of our hearts by being insincere in what we say or do, God wants us to hand our hearts to him so he can scrub them clean. King David, confessing the sin in his own heart, invited God to change its condition: “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10 HCSB) When you allow God to capture your heart, he’ll then set a guard around your heart: “And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 HCSB) You can maintain a vigilance over your heart by dealing with issues immediately, instead of allowing them to fester for days, weeks, or even longer. What now? · Daily questions for you – Andy Stanley, from
· Daily questions for your family – Andy Stanley also suggests you ask these questions of your family each day:
No Small Dreams Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” (Mark 10:27 NLT) In 1631, due to a proofing error, the word ‘not’ was left out of a printing of the King James Bible, changing the seventh commandment to “Thou shalt commit adultery.” Not surprisingly, that printing of the King James became known as “The Wicked Bible.” By a similar blunder, an error in the Oct. 11 devotional (“Making points with God”) suggested faith had nothing to do with our salvation. Ironically, the entire devotional was about the truth that our good works will not get us to God, and that it is our faith in God’s grace – through Jesus Christ, his son – that covers our sins. The mistake occurred as I attempted to paraphrase Ephesians 2:8-9, so let me give it to you straight from the NIV: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Please forgive me for this mistake, which could cause someone to be confused about eternal salvation. Needless to say, it’s not the first mistake I’ve ever made. Several years ago, in writing a headline for a Rick Warren column on altar calls, I typed out “alter calls,” and failed to catch the error before it was sent around the world! Rick’s response was, “I want everyone on my staff to make at least one big mistake a week. If you're not making mistakes, then you're not trying anything new.” Now Rick is gracious about mistakes – even if they’re made when you aren’t trying something new – but he doesn’t want us making the same mistake every week! He wants us to not be afraid to try something innovative and creative, even if it means risking failure. According to Rick, this means there should be no small dreams for those belonging to God. Like the song says, our God is an awesome God – a huge and generous God – and we should live what we say we believe. In Matthew 25, Jesus spoke about three servants: One was given ten talents; he went out and doubled it. Another servant was given five talents; he went out and doubled that. The third servant was given one talent; he dug a hole, essentially saying, “I don’t want to lose it. I don’t want to take any risks.” The master says, “You wicked and lazy servant! … Well, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest.” (NIV) Consider Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in the Message: “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’ “The master was furious. ‘That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least?’” (Matthew 25:24-26 MSG) If we’re not taking any risks – if we’re walking in a way that does not require faith – then we are faith-less in our walk. There’s another word for risk-taking, according to Rick Warren, and that word is faith.” He cited Mark 10:27 (NLT), where Jesus says, “Everything is possible with God.” If that is true, then we should have no small dreams. Will you believe God for big things and big dreams? What now? · No small dreams – What is the greatest dream God has placed in your heart? What keeps you from pursuing it? Ask God what roadblocks you have placed in the way of that dream. Explain to him how your approach is faithful or unfaithful to Mark 10:27 (NLT), where Jesus says, “Everything is possible with God.” · Stop fearing mistakes – God will not condemn you for making mistakes. If he thought you could be perfect, then he never would have sacrificed his son on a bloody and brutal cross. Ask yourself how the fear of mistakes lines up with your theology. What kind of theology does the fear of mistakes suggest? Ask God to be your courage as you overcome your fear of mistakes. “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” (2 Timothy 1:7 HCSB) · You are saved by faith, not by the mistakes you avoid – Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV): “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” · Let yourself off the hook – If you’ve made some mistakes (and we’ve all made some colossal ones) then let yourself off the hook. When God says you’re forgiven, do you overrule him? And, while you’re at it, let you-know-who (insert name of someone who’s got you vexed) be human, that is, allow that the other person will make mistakes. · Pray – Would you pray for Mark Kelly and me as we prepare these devotionals for you? Pray that our hearts will be pure and our eyes on Jesus as we pass God’s grace and peace on to you.
Getting Practical With Love “Little children, let us stop saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.” (1 John 3:18 LB) The heart is the control center of all actions. How you act reflects what your heart trusts. Dallas Willard says, “You can live opposite of what you profess, but you cannot live opposite of what you believe.” Eventually what you believe will show up in your actions. If you believe God loves you, then you’ll begin to love others. If you believe God forgives you, then you’ll begin to forgive others. Your experience of God results in an overflow of his life into the lives of others. As we allow the Holy Spirit to continually fill us, we become a spring of his love and life to all around us. John would say we have “rivers of living water flowing out of us.” We become a conduit for the life of Jesus. The life of Jesus is a practical life. The disciples were expected to live out what they heard Jesus say. Jesus told his disciples they would be known by the way they treated others. He gets specific in Matthew 25:35-36: · You gave food to the hungry, · You gave drink to the thirsty, · You invited a stranger into your home, · You gave clothes to the naked, · You cared for the sick, · You visited the prisoners, And this isn’t an exhaustive list on the ways to offer practical help. Jesus constantly provides us with down-to-earth examples meant to get us started. What now? · Love language – Make a list of people you love and pray through it, asking God to show you what you can do that will speak love to each person. · Take initiative – When someone is in crisis, we genuinely want to help, and we’ll say, “If there’s anything I can do, please, just let me know.” Start changing that to express a concrete form of love: “I’m going to do this for you.” Maybe you offer to bring over a meal or watch the children. Perhaps you offer to cut the grass. Maybe you bring a roll of quarters to the hospital so the family can grab snacks and drinks from the vending machine. Be creative – and let the Holy Spirit guide. · Fake it ‘til you make it – C.S. Lewis said, if you don’t love someone, then act like you do. Eventually the feelings will catch up with your actions. · Pray – Be still and ask God to show you someone you know who is in need, and ask him how you should help your friend. Seek God about the timing of your help. Ask him to use your act of service to make his presence known to your friend.
Bursting At The Seams “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.” (Mark 2:22 NIV) A few miles from my house, there’s a gas station/convenience store that just went through a “make-over,” changing their utilitarian look into a warm and inviting neighborhood haven. The new look suggests something like a Star-coffee store with gas pumps. When I walked into the place, however, it appeared the employees may have missed the make-over memo. The kid behind the counter wore a new uniform that matched the new warm and inviting look outside, but he also wore the same sullen look I’d seen him wearing before, perhaps a little bored and a bit put out that an actual customer had walked in the store to disturb his sedentary productivity. It set me to thinking about how we try to put new wine into old wineskins. Jesus says we’re doomed to failure because “the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined.” (Mark 2:22 NIV) Over the years, I’ve been in a lot of church meetings and ministry settings where the image of new wineskins flows as freely as Kool-Aid at Vacation Bible School . But where we tend to apply the concept is with church structure, discussing the “new wineskins” of programs, plans, and priorities. But I rarely hear the concept of new wineskins applied to a life, as in your life or my life. Don’t we often try to put new wine into old wineskins when it comes to our Christian walk? What I mean is this: A new wine of “honesty at work” poured into an old wineskin of “cutting corners.” The point is this: God pours the new wine of the Holy Spirit into the new wineskin of our new-creation lives, and that sets us steady on our kingdom walk. But we often reach into the discard pile and pull out our old wineskin, trying to make it work as part of our new life in Christ. Consider this: · The new wine of unconditional love poured into the old wineskin of hatred for the family two doors down, who appear to be going out of their way to destroy the tranquility of your neighborhood. · The new wine of worship poured into the old wineskin of idolatry (as in worshipping something other than God: Money? Power? Music? The latest video game?). · The new wine of Bible study and prayer poured into the old wineskin of gotta-go-pop-tart-for-breakfast busyness. · The new wine of humility poured into the old wineskin of conceit. What would that look like? · The new wine of forgiveness poured into the old wineskin of bitterness. · The new wine of “others first” poured into the old wineskin of selfish ambition. · The new wine of joy poured into the old wineskin of jealousy and factions. · The new wine of peace poured into the old wineskin of discord. · The new wine of dependence on God poured into the old wineskin of independence. After years of living in the old wineskin, we’ve gotten so used to living with certain habits and patterns – sins – that it’s difficult to toss them off as we shroud ourselves in God’s new wineskin. Corrie Ten Boom calls this falling into old habits “echoes from the past.” We are new creations in Christ, and we are no longer defined by our old wineskins; we are now defined by our connection with Christ. What now? · Old wineskins? – What old wineskins do you continue to use? Perhaps you pull them out in a crisis. Perhaps you use them throughout the day – almost every day. Which “old wineskin” will you stop using this week? · Look above – Look at the list above and see if any of those scenarios echo into your life. If so, lift that conflict to Jesus and ask him to guide you as you abandon the old wineskins to become the strong, new, clean vessel for which Christ died. · Rip at the seams – In this same passage, Jesus speaks of how new “unshrunk” cloth will eventually tear away if used to patch an old garment: “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.” (Mark 2:21 NIV) You know what it’s like to have an embarrassing rip at the seams of your clothing. Can you imagine what we look like spiritually when such a rip occurs in our relationship with Christ? · Pray at the mini-mart – Next time you walk into a mini-mart, offer a prayer for the people behind the cash register. And, for your own walk, remember the importance of pouring new wine into new wineskins.
Jesus Cleanses and Calls “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:4-8 NIV) --- --- --- --- One of the most effective tools the enemy will use to keep you from serving God is to convince you that you’ve either messed up too much to serve God, or that you must clean up your life before you can even get God’s attention. When these thoughts pop into your head, sniff the air for the scent of sulfur – because they are lies straight from the fires of hell! If you follow the sequence of Isaiah 6, you’ll see how God initiates the process that brings you into his holy presence, purifies you to remain in his presence, and that your new guilt-free, sin-atoned status will compel you – and prepare you – for the unique mission God sets before you. In today’s passage, we see that God draws Isaiah into his holy presence – in the same way God is reaching out to you. God began working to bring you home, back into his presence, long before you were born. God knows we can’t make the journey home on our own, so “… while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. … For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, [then how] much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!” (Romans 5:6,10 HCSB) In the presence of God, we – like Isaiah – are overwhelmed by the magnitude of our sin and ungodliness. It is no longer something we can wink at or rationalize. Even Isaiah, a Hall-of-Fame prophet, sees the woeful ruin of his own life, “a man of unclean lips … among a people of unclean lips ….” Yet God’s intention when he convicts us of our sins is not to condemn us; rather his breath of life disperses the “fog of war” – that satanic smoke the father of lies uses to keep us on the run from God. In fact, Isaiah reports that God’s fire is a cleansing fire, a blaze that burns your guilt away and purifies you from sin (sealing within you the work of Jesus Christ). The prophet also reports that God’s ultimate purpose for cleansing us is to prepare us for mission: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Prior to God’s initiative to cleanse Isaiah, the prophet was overwhelmed and unprepared for any mission on Holy God’s behalf. But after the cleansing, Isaiah is energized by a desire to serve God. What now? · Saved to serve – As Rick Warren teaches in “The Purpose Driven Life,” we are not saved to sit in church; we are saved to serve God. As God transforms our lives, he places within us a “calling” for mission. · No condemnation – When God convicts us of sin, his goal is not to condemn us; there is no condemnation in Christ. God’s intentions are revealed in this truth – that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-11) · God’s power cleanses you – Your work for God does not cleanse you or make you worthy to stand before God. It is only through God’s power – his ability to wash you white as snow with the blood of Jesus Christ – that you are able to approach God’s throne boldly.
A Forgetful Faith “I plan to keep on reminding you of these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12 NLT) About nine months ago, my sense was that God wanted to deepen my faith, and so I stopped receiving a regular paycheck and started living, as we sometimes say, “on faith” – as if all of life isn’t lived on some sort of faith, even if misguided. (For example, I may think I’m guaranteed a paycheck from my employer over the next ten years, but who has promised me that?) But I digress, which is, in a way, what this devotional is about. I soon found myself believing, with an absolute certainty, that God would provide. It was a rock-solid conviction, a certainty that it would happen – far different from the tentative “I hope it will happen” belief I have at other times mistaken for biblical faith. I had no doubt God would provide, and so I started looking for his provision – even keeping a log of everything God gave us, and the list was impressive. Yet within a few months I was staggered with doubt. I’d lost focus, or at least my focus on God, and I started scrambling for ways to generate income. I started believing, again, that it was my responsibility to “make things happen,” and that God may or may not come through. You, my faithful friend, may be much further along than I am in learning to trust God; then again, you may have experienced exactly what I’m describing. Could it be that I forgot what I believed? C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, says you will never talk a man out of his faith, never debate him out of his beliefs – but what can happen is that he’ll slowly, imperceptibly at first, forget what he believes. And then he’ll begin to act upon that lack of belief. It may be that the Apostle Peter understood this tendency toward a forgetful faith. He told the early Church, “I plan to keep on reminding you of these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12, NLT) Even though they already were standing on the truth, Peter saw it as necessary to remind them of their beliefs, that “on Christ the solid rock” they stood. Long ago and far away, I took similar step of faith in order to study at seminary. I hadn’t been on campus two days when I backed into a post and wrecked my car. I was very angry at myself for such a careless mistake, knowing I had little in the bank. Yet God used that as a “faith breakthrough” for me, as I came to realize that God, not my bank account, provided for me. And God knew I would make mistakes, so his provision could even cover my carelessness. As it was – and it’s far too complex to fully explain in this setting – I got my car fixed with the insurance company paying the full amount (i.e., not charging me the deductible), and thanks to a newly enacted state law, my insurance payments remained the same. On top of that, as I left the body shop with my car, the man handed me $20 and said, “The insurance company said to give the difference to you.” Wow! Now, you may want to know who my insurance company was (ha!) But the one who deserves the credit isn’t the insurance company but the God of the Universe, who spoke the world into existence, hung the moon and the stars, and owns the cattle on a thousand hills. I told my story in class at seminary, and other students started sharing their own stories of how God had provided, again and again. Our professor said that’s how we’d all make it through our faith journey – just keep telling each other your stories of how God works in your life, remind yourselves and each other of what God has done in your midst. What’s next? · God’s provision list – Think over the past few years and make a list of all the ways God has provided for you. Praise God for his provision, and then share your list with others. · Ask about God’s provision – Ask others to tell you how God has provided for them. Listen expectantly to how our awesome God works within our lives and encourage your friends to remember their own God-stories. · Log answered prayers – Several years ago, a survey suggested that one of the reason high school students did not believe in prayer is because they never saw any prayers answered. Create a simple log of your prayer requests, then go back over it frequently to note how God answered the prayers. Often our prayers are answered, but we don’t notice because we’ve moved on to other concerns. · Provision anniversary – Think about the most significant provisions God has made in your life. Select one and start an anniversary celebration to commemorate the provision each year. Essentially, that’s why holidays such as “Passover” are celebrated every year. It allows for an annual re-telling of God’s work in our lives. © 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
Don’t Waste the Grace “As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain.” (2 Corinthians 6:1, NIV) Have you ever wanted to quit being a Christian? Or at least just get away from God’s commands for a while? If you have, you’re in good company – Jonah and Jeremiah come quickly to mind. God gives us grace sufficient for our needs each day, and He gives us that grace every day. In 2 Corinthians 6:1, Paul, in effect, says, don’t waste the grace God has given you. He says don’t receive God’s grace “in vain” – rejecting it in order to nurture frustrations and disappointments. In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases the Corinthian passage by saying we’re to stay at our posts, alert and unswerving, because “our work as God’s servants gets validated — or not — in the details” of our lives. In other words, the very power of God – the very strength we need, the very testimony we were meant to model – emerges in troubles, hardships, and distresses (2 Cor. 6:4). Let’s pray together that we stay at our posts in these uncertain times and not waste the grace God has given us. What now? · Receive God’s grace now – For God says … “‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2, NIV) · Accept that life is hard – There will be some difficult times in your Christian walk. God won’t necessarily take you out of them, but he’ll always walk you through them. (2 Cor. 6:4-10) · Squandered? – What do you think of when you think of squandering God’s grace? 2 Corinthians 6:1 (MSG): “Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us.” · Validation – How is your life validated by staying at your post? In the details of being a servant? (2 Corinthians 6:4 (MSG): “Our work as God's servants gets validated – or not – in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly ... in hard times, tough times, bad times ....”
It's Not The How; It's The Wow! "Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20 NLT) Long ago and far away, there was a teacher who worked painstakingly to teach me how to play the guitar. Every week, we'd climb up and down musical stairs crafted from the pentatonic, hexatonic, heptatonic, and octatonic scales. This emphasis upon technique frustrated me, and I grew to hate it so much that I abandoned the guitar – until playing it again became a positive part of my mid-life crisis. OK, OK ... Yes, I would have been better guitar player today if I'd practiced what my teacher told me (and, kids, eat your spinach too). But somehow I became so buried in the technique of making music that I lost the exhilarating pleasure of the music – with its power to make my heart soar toward the grace-filled face of God. You might say the “How” of guitar-ianity muted the “Wow!” of the music. And in our well-intentioned focus on the “How” of Christianity, I sometimes wonder if we lose sight of the “Wow!” – that God's Holy Spirit lives within us and that he is with us always, day after day after day, until the very end of time. Wow! Can I get an “Amen?” Say this with me, brothers and sisters: Wow! The God of the universe is present by his Spirit within me! Wow! The God who spoke the world into existence lives within me! Wow! The same God who placed the moon and the stars and the sun into the sky also placed his spirit within me! Wow! The God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills considers me one of his heirs and is pleased to give me a share in his kingdom! Wow! The God of Creation spoke me into my mother's womb, SHAPEd me as a masterpiece crafted for the mission of proclaiming his Wow! throughout the world! (Jeremiah 1:5) It's not the How; it’s the Wow! Good God Almighty, he lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives in me today! (Galatians 2:20) The Wow! is with me always and forever, yesterday today and tomorrow, forever and again, amen. The Good News we proclaim without shame is that the Wow! is in our hearts, and the Wow! will come into any heart that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord. What does this mean? · Set your heart on the Wow! – You must be deliberate in staying focused on the Wow! "Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." (Colossians 3:1b-2 NIV) · Relationship over results – God is more interested in you than he is in your methods. Wow! And the Good News we carry is that God is truly interested in the life of each person he placed on the planet. Are there some relationships where you emphasize the How over the Wow? · No commandment harmed – No commandment was harmed in the making of this devotional. Ha! Staying intimately focused on the Wow! does not suggest the How is unimportant or that the Wow! can compromise biblical truth or downgrade "the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6 HCSB) · The greatest How – is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." The second is "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-40 HCSB) The Wow! guides the How. © 2007 Jon Walker . All rights reserved.
Doing What God Is Thinking "… For, "Who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who can give him counsel?" But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:16 NLT) In a land not so far away and a time not too distant, lived a mighty, yet gentle Master of the Manor. There was a servant who worked for the Master, and this servant was a man of excellent efficiency, incorruptible integrity, and joyful heart. The Master was pleased with his servant, but he also noticed the servant would do things that were well-intentioned, yet not in line with the Master's wishes. One day the Master was in his library, and he couldn't find one of his favorite books. Looking closely, the Master realized that his entire library had been re-arranged. "Good servant," called the Master. "Why have you re-arranged the library?" "Master," the servant replied, "I wanted to provide you with the most efficient catalog system available." "But I did not ask you to re-arrange the library," the Master lovingly said. "However, I did ask you to prepare the banquet hall for the guests we will receive tonight, and I see that hasn't been done." "Yes, Master," said the servant. "But I don't see anyone coming up the road, so I assumed the guest weren't actually coming tonight. And you're library is now cross-referenced and categorized according to Humboldt's hierarchy of human thought." "So I must think like a human in order to find my books?" said the Master. "Well, yes," said the servant. "But what if I want you to do things according to my thoughts?" said the Master, a tone of command coming into his voice. "And what if I want you to begin to think like me, instead of the other way around? Just then, the doorbell rang. The guests had arrived. — You were created to serve God, and one way to serve God is by serving others, offering ministry to others. But it's important that you serve God according to his thoughts and his plans, not your own independent thoughts and plans. Don't misunderstand: This does not suggest permission to be passive in your service to God. Instead, it's a call to intentionally seek the will of God in our service to him. Rather than making assumptions about where to serve God, you can constantly and consistently talk to him about where he wants you to serve. And in this way, you will develop a mind like Christ's. We serve at the will of God and not on our fantasies about what Christian service looks like. The service required of me may look very different from the service required of you, because God has shaped us each uniquely and with our own unique purpose in mind. God speaks to you through your shape, your circumstances, your experiences, your friends, and your family. And he speaks through the Holy Spirit, telling you to prepare for the guests you cannot yet see, instead of rearranging the library that is already organized according to God's design. So what does this mean to me? If God is in constant conversation with you, are you carefully listening? · Ask God to help you hear his voice and to tell you how he wants you to serve. · Ask God to give you discernment so your service always lines up with your will, and not your own human agenda or someone else’s agenda. · Ask God to fully develop the mind of Christ in you.
Radiant Certainty “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:20-22 NIV) There are some days when, frankly, I don’t feel much like worshiping God. There are probably more days like that than I’d care to admit. But usually those are days are when I’m staring at my circumstances and making faithless judgments about what I see around me. And I struggle with the God-truth that he is in the circumstances that surround my life – all the circumstances. Have you ever considered that heartbreak is part of God’s plans for you, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”? (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV) We put so much energy into avoiding the hurt when God would have us embrace it. He wants us to know that he can heal our hurts, even use our hurts for his benefit, and for us to faithfully believe that sometimes the circumstances we think are harming us are actually positive situations God is engineering. God, who is omnipotent, sees the breadth and depth of our circumstances, and he knows his plans for our lives. Thinking, then, like Christ, we can slowly, ever so slowly, begin to understand that avoiding the pain in our lives is actually an act of faithlessness. God calls us to faith in him during difficult circumstances; we’d rather place our faith in avoiding the circumstances. As always, Jesus shows us the way – because he is the Way. Jesus embraced the pain of God’s plan for his life, and he did it with full faith that God was still working the plan to bring a “hope and a future” to your life and mine. Christ was so sure that his grief would turn to joy that he showed a radiant certainty in God’s faithfulness (“Radiant certainty” is a phrase William Barclay uses to describe the attitude of Jesus at the Last Supper). Our Brother Jesus, who is also our King, was heading into a crisis that would cost him his life, yet he was so certain – radiantly certain – of God’s faithfulness that not one of his disciples even discerned the gravity of the crisis! Jesus was so certain of God’s faithfulness that it radiates throughout his whole being. And we, too, can have this radiant certainty about God’s hand in our lives. We can say, when it comes to God’s faithfulness, “I know because I know that I know.” That’s radiant certainty! The cross was Christ’s glory, not his penalty – and the same is true of difficult circumstances in our lives. So what does this mean to me? · God’s faithful character – You will develop this radiant certainty in God when you learn to trust in his faithful character. Your daily worship of God is irrevocably tied to your faith in God. · Praise God anyhow – You must choose to praise and worship God every day, no matter what the circumstances of your life. Developing a radiant certainty in God begins with simple steps of faith and obedience. · Respond to God, not your circumstances – When faced with a painful or difficult circumstance, ask God, “How do you want me to respond to this?” Keep your eyes wise for the “Why me?” traps that lay about your circumstances. · You can be radiantly certain of this: Difficult circumstances are opportunities for you to intentionally focus your faith in God and to see what he will do to give you hope and healing. © 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.
Your Commission “Jesus said to his followers, ‘Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone.’” Mark 16:15 (NCV) The Great Commission is your commission, and that means you have a critical choice to make: You will be either a world-class Christian or a worldly Christian. Worldly Christians look to God primarily for personal fulfillment. They are saved, but self-centered. They attend concerts and enrichment seminars, but you’ll rarely find them at a missions conference because they aren’t interested. Their prayers focus on their own needs, blessings, and happiness. It’s a “me-first” faith: How can God make my life more comfortable? They want to use God for their purposes -- instead of being used for his purposes. World-class Christians, in contrast, know they’re saved to serve and made for a mission. They’re eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God. World-class Christians are the only fully alive people on the planet. Their joy, confidence, and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they’re making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work through them in fresh ways. Which type of Christian do you want to be? God invites you to participate in the greatest, largest, most diverse, and most significant cause in history—his kingdom. History is his story. He’s building his family for eternity. Nothing matters more, and nothing will last as long. From the book of Revelation we know that God’s global mission will be accomplished. Someday the Great Commission will be the Great Completion. In heaven an enormous crowd of people from “every race, tribe, nation, and language” (Revelation 7:9 – CEV) will one day stand before Jesus Christ to worship him. Getting involved as a world-class Christian will allow you to experience a little of what heaven will be like in advance. When Jesus told his followers to “go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone,” that small band of poor, Middle Eastern disciples were overwhelmed. Were they supposed to walk or ride slow animals? That’s all they had for transportation, and there were no ocean-crossing ships, so there were real physical barriers to going to the whole world. Today we have airplanes, ships, trains, buses, and automobiles. It’s a small world after all, and it’s shrinking daily. You can fly across the ocean in a matter of hours and be home the next day if you need to be. The opportunities for normal, everyday Christians to become involved in short-term international missions are now literally limitless. Every corner of the world is available to you—just ask the travel industry. We have no excuse not to spread the Good News. Now, with the Internet, the world has gotten even smaller. In addition to phones and faxes, any believer with Internet access can personally communicate with people in virtually every country on earth. The whole world is at your fingertips! Even many remote villages get email, so you can now carry on “e-vangelistic” conversations with people on the other side of the world, without even leaving your home! It’s never been easier in history to fulfill your commission to go to the whole world. So what? · Assess yourself -- Based on where you’re at today, how would you assess yourself?
· Truth Statements -- Check where you agree –
· Pray through your unbelief -- If you do not agree with any of the four statements above, ask God to help you in your unbelief.
‘Off-The-Clock’ Christians “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you ….” (1 Peter 2:9 MSG) Here’s the snapshot: As I write this, I’m sitting in a restaurant, pre-dawn, sipping on Southern sweet tea. (Who needs coffee when you can have the nectar of God? Ha!) The restaurant is a chain you would recognize if I gave the name, and in a booth a few feet away from me is a group of employees, mostly college age. Some of them are on-duty and in uniform; some are just getting off the night shift and, although still in uniform, shirt-tails are coming out and ties are coming off, and – a third category appears present – employees who evidently don’t work this morning, but have just come in to hang-out. It is a slow time; I am the only customer in the place. As the group talks, one young man in particular punctuates his conversation with four-letter words, salted with a generous dose of seven-letter phrases. Following his conversational leadership, others in the group contribute their own forms of profanity to the mix. Far from being a prude, I could have been one of these kids, in my youth, about 227 years ago, but I still thought, “If this moment were captured for the next commercial for such a family-oriented restaurant, would the corporate office be pleased?” Some of these employees were “off the clock,” some of them were out of uniform, but within this context, all of them were representing the restaurant. Snapshot point: There are no “off the clock” moments as a Christian, where you can “dis-identify” yourself from Christ. As a believer, you are a representative of Christ – but more so – you are a minister sent and authorized by God. The Bible teaches that every Christian is: Created for ministry (Ephesians 2:10) This means ordinary people with children and jobs and mortgages and really, really full calendars — in other words, people just like you — are called to be ministers from God. A fifth grade teacher writes, “I come from a very traditional Christian home. We believed missionaries had to be trained in seminaries and receive ‘the calling.’ “When the opportunity came to go with a mission team to Nigeria , I was concerned that I wasn't ‘properly’ trained, nor did I have enough theological knowledge,” she says. “But my experience in Nigeria totally challenged my beliefs about missions. I became more aware of God's sovereignty and his ability to use anyone, even those who are ‘unworthy.’ We just have to make ourselves available.” God doesn’t want you to waste your talents; he wants you to make a difference with your life. He created you to make a contribution to the world now – in your lifetime. So what? · You are shaped for this – The God of the universe shaped you uniquely to make a contribution, to make a difference – as you take steps of faith toward going on mission and completing your mission on earth. · God will support you – There is no way you can fail in your mission –unless you fail to accept the calling of ministry that comes with being a believer in Jesus Christ or fail to follow in faith God’s direction. · Just ask God – Ask him how he wants you to contribute. Ask him how he wants to use your SHAPE to make a difference in the world. Ask God, “Where can I make the greatest contribution for your glory? What kind of God-legacy do you want me to leave?”
Under New Ownership "You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) What does it mean to not belong to myself? I can think of a few things. It means that I should probably do a lot of consulting with my new owner. There is more to consider than just me and what I want to do; there is God and what he wants me to do. If you’re anything like me, this makes sense until you begin to wonder over what he wants you to do in certain circumstances. It isn’t always clear. For this we have Scripture and gifted members of the fellowship to consult, but in all instances it is the attitude of the heart that is most important. It is a submissive attitude toward God that he is looking for – what the Old Testament calls a broken and contrite heart. It’s being always open and teachable because I realize my new owner has a different way of looking at things than what comes natural for me. In fact, over time I begin to realize what comes natural for me is often my biggest problem. Instead of “how much can I get away with here,” God is looking for an attitude that says, “Even if I’m not sure, what do I think God would want me to do here.” God is not going to lead astray a humble person who is seeking to do his will. Our new ownership also means there will be inner conflict. It used to be just me. Now I have me and the Spirit and we may not always be in sync. In Roman 7, Paul concludes that an inner battle over right and wrong is a good thing because it proves at least that something good is going on. “But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.” (Romans 7:16) Or in other words, he may have done the wrong thing, but at least he knew it was wrong. Consider even the Son of God whose joy was always to do the will of his Father in heaven, who in the It used to be easier. It used to be just me left to the whim of my desires. But all that has changed. I am not my own anymore; I have been bought by God at a high price – the blood of Jesus – and he has a plan and a purpose for me as my new owner.
Interdependence “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:35 NLT) God designed you to need others – and for others to need you. Even though God shaped you uniquely for your mission, he never meant for you to go it alone. You will only succeed by remaining dependent on God and by becoming interdependent upon other believers, including those in your family or at your church. This interdependence with other believers means we mutually give to each other and receive from each other. As Rick Warren taught in The Purpose Driven Life, this interdependence is at the heart of Christian small groups, where companions in faith develop mutual relationships, learn to share responsibilities, and work to support each other. It is through this interdependence that we build a unity of purpose, so we reflect the first-century church: “All the believers were together and had everything in common” (Acts 2:44 NIV). This interdependent unity reflects the love we’re to have for one another. You may think that individualism and independence will lead to a stronger faith, but God never designed it that way. Your faith will be strengthened as you consistently walk with other believers, and their faith will be strengthened as you walk with them. This interdependence provides for accountability and encouragement, and it lightens the load of serving. The truth is, your purpose in life is interdependent with the purpose of other believers. God created you to fulfill a mission only you can complete, but you must depend upon others and cooperate with others in order to accomplish the God-sized task set before you. So what? · Confess your need – God designed us to need others, yet one of the most difficult things to do is ask for support or help. It’s even more difficult if it involves a matter of faith or help overcoming an embarrassing sin. By confessing we need help, we’re agreeing with God that he did, in fact, create us to live in loving, supportive community with other believers. · Provoke faith – The Bible says we should provoke one another into a deeper love and a stronger faith. One way to do this is to agree, with a group of other believers, to trust God on specific steps of faith and then to encourage each other as you watch God respond to your faith. · Support others – If God designed you to need others, then it means he also designed you to help others – creating mutual support within a Christian community. If your love for others proves to the world that you are a disciple of Christ (John 13:35, NLT), how do you need to adjust your behaviors or attitudes to show support for other believers? · Interdependent purpose – Fulfilling your purpose depends on other believers helping you, and fulfilling their purposes depends on you helping them. What big thing is keeping you from being interdependent with other believers? God does not come in condemnation, but in love to support you as he removes this “big thing,” whatever it is. Ask him to help – “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief.”
Do Prayers reflect Belief?
What do your prayers reveal about your perceptions of God? I was thinking about this question the other day while reading a book by the great prayer warrior T. W. Hunt. In The Disciple’s Prayer Life, Hunt and co-author Catherine Walker say we learn about the attributes of God by analyzing the prayers of people in the Bible. For instance, when Daniel knelt to pray, he knowingly violated a civil code that required he only pray to a king-proclaimed god. From Daniel’s prayer, we learn that God is the most high God, and there are no other gods above him. When Cornelius, a Gentile, prayed, seeking salvation from the God of Abraham, we learn from his prayer that there is only one true God. These, and many other prayers in the Bible, show us the character of God and help us know him more intimately. But then I started thinking, “What would someone learn about God if they listened to my prayers? Would they see that he is trustworthy? Would they see that he’s pure and holy?” I have to admit that sometimes my prayers reflect more of a wishful faith that hopes God is listening and willing to answer, than a confident expectation that God will do what he has promised to do. Prayers like that suggest a god who is not trustworthy, a god who isn’t concerned about the circumstances of my life, a god who reflects my own weak faith, as opposed to a God who is trustworthy, caring, and faithful. So what?
· Know God – Do your prayers reveal the truth about God, his character as described in Scripture? Align your prayers with God’s great and unsurpassed character. He is El Shaddai, the all-sufficient One, able to meet any and all of your needs. · Pray Scripture – Align your prayers with God’s Word. One way to ensure this is to pray sections of Scripture. In other words, take a passage and use it as the basis for a prayer to God, personalizing it to your circumstances and needs. · Provision list – Thank God that he does answer your prayers. In fact, keep a prayer list that records your prayers and the answers God provides. It will supply ample, consistent evidence that God is involved in your life and constantly cares for you.
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