Devotionals

October 10, 2018

Psalm 90:12-17 New Living Translation (NLT)

For many years, I enjoyed listening to Billy Graham share the Word of God.  He always seemed to bring forth such wisdom.  I ran across this quote from Billy Graham and I felt it was worth sharing as it connects with our Scripture for the day.  

“There comes a moment when we all must realize that life is short, and in the end the only thing that really counts is not how others see us, but how God sees us.”  Billy Graham

May God truly help us grow in wisdom and realize our great need for him, because only God’s love can renew and satisfy a life.  Blessings!

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October 9, 2018

Matthew 15:1-9 New Living Translation (NLT)

Centuries after the Israelites were released from Babylonian captivity, they were still teaching and practicing religious rituals that had been added to God’s law during their captivity.  The laws God handed down to his people were about fostering a loving relationship with Him and with everyone else; a picture of a worshiper.  God’s fifth commandment is: “honor father and mother so your days may be long…,” yet the traditions of man, in our reading, had strangely become equal with the commands of God.  

Every day we must invite God to cleanse us from incorrect thinking and impure motives; to lay our lives down as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God.  Our worship of him depends on the Truth we are willing to believe and live.  Worship is agreement and oneness with God.  Worship is an internal individual action based on the authority of Christ we are willing to yield to with our daily lives.  Clearly, we are either in agreement with God’s Word as worshipers or our worship can sadly become a farce.

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October 8, 2018

Psalm 112 New Living Translation (NLT)

The fear or reverence of the Lord leads people toward wisdom in honoring God which brings about blessing for the family and compassionate outreach to the community.  Wisdom causes us to imitate our loving Heavenly Father in every area of our lives; that wisdom guides us toward righteous acts of generosity and compassion.  Our honest dependence upon God keeps us strong and unshakable, because God watches over our minds and action when our hearts are truly fixed on keeping his commands.  The strongest place you and I can ever find ourselves is to prayerfully and reverentially abide in the presence of the Lord.  Pray and ask God to fill your heart with Himself.  Spiritually cling to Him and praise Him for being your Rock, today!

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October 5, 2018

Romans 8:1-8 New Living Translation (NLT)

In our flesh, we tend to compare ourselves to others. These comparisons can be physical, emotional, or spiritual.  But you know comparing ourselves to one another is really sinful.  It’s like saying one person is of greater value than another.  God never compares us to one another.  Never.  You see without being covered by the blood of Jesus, our sin causes us hostility with God; which demands the death penalty.  We are all guilty of sin.  The only person who would never deserve death is the one who actually gave his sinless life for us; Jesus.  When God looks at believers, he sees the blood of Jesus and blesses us for Christ’s sake.  Grace is such an extravagant and sacrificial gift!

Jesus wanted us to be able to enjoy life in the Spirit, as well as enjoy the Father.  So, he freed us from sin and death and gave us a new beginning. Be joyful for who you are because God celebrates you as his child.  Make your focus each day to please the Spirit. Value the gift of grace above anything this world has to offer.  Set your mind on things above; the things that lead to real life.

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October 4, 2018

Galatians 3:23-29 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

The Law of Moses was given to serve God’s people as a guard; but it was not a path to salvation.  It was a way to protect and prepare God’s people for salvation through faith in Christ.  The Law was given to keep people from straying into dangerous areas outside the will of God.   Now, faith in Christ leads to salvation.  Faith in his love. Faith in his sacrifice for our sin. Faith in his way of being born again.  Faith in his instructions to our hearts.  Faith to know if Jesus—the Word of God—calls for a change, it is necessary in order to live right before God.  Faith to know we will be given power to accomplish what Christ asks us to do. Faith in God’s promise of blessing and eternal life.  As children of faith, we do not live according to our own desires; rather, we live to please Christ because he is the good Shepherd guiding our new lives.

In our passage today, the early Christians in Galatia had trouble deciding how far the Law was to go now that Messiah had come.  Paul reminded them Jesus paid the price for sin and now everyone was invited on the same journey of faith to follow the same Shepherd.  No one was better than another; all were One by faith.  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

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October 2, 2018

1 John 2:18-25 New Living Translation (NLT)

Believing in the work of Christ is essential for genuine fellowship and life with God.  We cannot know Father God without knowing his Son, Jesus Christ the Anointed One. God is three persons in One: Creator Father, Savior Son, and Holy Spirit.  Because Christ is the only way to know the Father and the Spirit, Satan uses deceiving spirits (the spirit of antichrist) to influence people in order to minimize the essential need for Christ, his work of salvation, the need to connect to him for forgiveness, and the impartation of the Spirit of truth and righteousness. In other words, Satan knows if we connect to Christ we will have the privilege of standing in his authority, appropriating the resources of heaven, and using the power of his name with the purpose of bringing people to our life-changing God.  Satan is afraid of genuine believers; we know the value of allowing God to transform our thinking, bring us wisdom, so we can overcome evil with good.  Any religious group who denies Jesus is the Christ is going no further spiritually than religious expression; which is zero threat to the work of evil.

The Apostle John teaches us this morning about a separation in the early church that happened due to the spirit of antichrist. Satan’s goal is to deprive the Church of power.   As well, John reminds us that one day the Antichrist—the embodiment of evil and opposition to the triune God—will try to come to deceive the very elect—community of faith.  We need to guard our hearts—the temple of God—and stay fixed on God’s living Word—Jesus Christ.

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October 1, 2018

1 Peter 1:3-9 New Living Translation (NLT)

As I have been reading the Word of God today, I have been pondering the word genuine.  I think about the word genuine and the word real comes to mind.   I prefer genuine solid wood furniture, genuine friendships, and genuine food without all kinds of preservatives and artificial ingredients.  I want a genuine relationship with God and a genuine relationship with all of his creation.  As I love the Lord my God with my whole being, I want to receive all God has for me knowing he is a rewarder for those who genuinely seek him.   The Apostle Paul teaches that genuine Christians receive the gospel, they trust in him alone by laying down every idol, and serve God while waiting for Christ’s return.

The Apostle Peter tells us something similar in our passage today.  If we want a genuine faith, then we will be tested by fire.  The fire of God longs to burn up whatever is hazardous to our spirits; idols and lies that hold us back from being spiritually genuine.  We must be willing to give over to God those things which have the potential to hinder our faith and ultimate salvation in the genuine love of God.   

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September 28, 2018

Matthew 5:17-20 New Living Translation (NLT)

Last month, our LIFE Lesson Study was based on the foundational principles written in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. In his sermon, Jesus got very specific about the reasons he left heaven for his First Coming: to accomplish the purpose of the Law and prophetic writings.  In other words, Jesus lived without sinning and he fulfilled the Law with his life.  No one had been able to live a sinless life, as commanded by God, before the coming of Jesus Christ.  As well, Jesus fulfilled the writings of the prophets because they spoke of God sending a Messiah who would come and lay down his sinless life and take upon himself the sins of the world. By believing Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and the prophetic writings, we connect to Christ, receive forgiveness of sin, and enjoy a relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Now, Christ in us becomes the teacher of God’s heart regarding the Law and prophecy. Because of Jesus, we can know the heart of God, his purpose for our lives, and have the power to actually live for him.  Righteousness is spiritually imparted (begins invisible) by Christ and is worked out to be seen (made visible) in our daily lives.  As Christians, we are the visible manifestations of the difference the invisible God has made and continues to make in us.  So, according to Jesus, it isn’t enough to just receive his righteousness and talk about faith in God; although that is good.  If we are really going to live for Christ’s purpose in us, we must live what we say we believe every day so our lives will teach others about the presence of God in us.  It is how Jesus lived for our benefit.  Will we allow the Spirit to help us live the same way for the benefit of others?

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September 27, 2018

Psalm 19:7-14 The Message (MSG)

I love and enjoy people.  So many people around me bring good things to my life. I value people and their life lessons.  As I connect with them, I look for glimpses of the goodness of God evident in their lives.  People who have welcomed the Lord usually welcome all that God is as the Most High.  They give God the glory for all things.

Truly, God brings amazing blessings to human life.  Our part is to welcome him into our hearts, so those blessings are worked out in our daily lives.  In our reading today from the Psalter, we are reminded of the blessings and the benefits the presence of the Lord brings as a free gift just because he makes his home within us.  Some of those blessings that can be enjoyed in Christ are wholeness, righteousness, joy, and direction.  Some of the benefits are known as we cry out in prayer and he becomes our Protector, Provider, Savior, and Deliverer.  Do you know Christ, the Anointed One?  Even if you have never acknowledged him, he knows you!  Pray and ask him to make his home in your heart, today.

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