18 Friday Sep 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
God does not love us because we love Him; We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:10 says, This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. There is no greater evidence of God’s love for us than the sacrifice of His own Son for our eternal salvation.
15 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
We are all sinners and just like people who struggle with addiction, the first step in recovery is to admit we have a problem. 1 John 1:8 says, If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. There is no greater deception than the deception we believe about ourselves. When we believe we are justified in sin, we not only lie to God, but we lie to ourselves. Once we realize how much we need God’s grace and mercy, we can then see how broken we are without the love of God, and this is when we begin to heal.
06 Sunday Sep 2015
Posted in Reflection
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I love this video about Francis Chan and his adopted daughter Dellal. It is the perfect picture of us and our relationship with God. We were born sinners, but He adopted us into a redeemed life and relationship with Him.
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04 Friday Sep 2015
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Sacrifice and sharing with others is pleasing to God. As we finish up the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews 13:16 the author clearly spells this out for us, And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Our role on this earth as believers is to be a reflection of God. And since God is good, we should be good. Christ’s command to us before He left the earth was simple; love God and love others.
20 Thursday Aug 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
Life is often overwhelming and sometimes hard to know how we will make it through. In 1 Peter 5:7 Peter says, Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for for you. God loves us so much that he wants us to place our burdens in His care. He did this with our sins when He died on the cross and He wants to do it now with the things that stress us out and worry us. Trust God and He will comfort us and provide us peace.
19 Wednesday Aug 2015
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None of us are perfect and we certainly are not perfect about the way we sometimes treat each other. But if we remember to love each other first, love takes care of a lot of our imperfection. In 1 Peter 4:8 Peter says, Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Love will in fact cover our inability to be perfect towards one another.
14 Friday Aug 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
As believers we have nothing to prove to this world. It is not our job to convince others of the truth. It is our job, however, to lovingly show them the truth and allow the Holy Spirit to work in each individual’s heart to bring them into a relationship with God. Paul talks about this in Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Arguing with someone who does not choose to believe and see the truth is a waste of time and brings them no closer to God. We are called to do two things; love God and love others. If we focus on those two things we are obedient and help bring people closer to God.
07 Friday Aug 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
In today’s reading, Paul talks about church leadership and what is required. The first verse sums it all up in 1 Timothy 3:1, Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Church (people, not the building) leadership is a big responsibility because we serve as God’s representative. It is not a popularity contest. It requires strength of character, integrity, and most of all, a commitment to love others and serve God wholeheartedly.
22 Wednesday Jul 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
Today we come to the end of the book of Acts. This marks the end of Luke’s account of the history of the early church, but in actuality it marks the beginning of the history of our Faith. Without the boldness of Paul to force the hand of the local Roman leaders to appear before Caesar, he would not have been sent to Rome. Though Paul was imprisoned, he was still given freedom to preach the gospel and share his faith with anyone who would listen. Let us learn from Paul’s and other early church leader’s examples of taking every opportunity to share our faith with others. In doing so, we are to remember to follow Paul’s example, which he learned from Christ, to love others and help to provide their needs before expecting them to understand God’s love for them. We are the Hands and Feet of Christ, just as Paul was over 2,000 years ago.
16 Thursday Jul 2015
Posted in Daily Reading
In today’s reading I had an interesting thought. More than 40 men bound themselves to an oath to kill Paul and not eat until this was accomplished. When they were unable to fulfill their oath, did they end up starving to death? My understanding is that these oaths were taken very serious. I know this is probably a silly thought, but I can’t seem to get over it. It would seem these men were more willing to take an oath to sin against God’s law and commit murder than to seek the truth. When we choose to focus our energy it is best to focus on things that really matter. Choosing to hate instead of love in Jesus’ name is not only against everything Jesus stood for, it is foolish and a waste of time.
Daily Devotion 