Month: November 2018

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Find blog posts at LoveAndGrace … tweets at Twitter.

Comments welcomed. Please join us for Prayer and Questions at the end of the devotion. Why not forward this blog post to a relative, friend, or neighbor who might be blessed by it?

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“My children, we should love people not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring.” 1 John 3:18 (NCV)

“Most importantly, love each other deeply, because love will cause people to forgive each other for many sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 (NCV)

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GOD CALLS US TO WITNESS FOR HIM 24/7/365.

We are to live out the Gospel in how we act, think, and talk. That is not just in sharing a word of encouragement, although it certainly includes that – it’s also about putting God’s Words to use in how we live out our lives.

Pastor Rick Warren, in a Daily Hope devotional, said God commands us, as His followers, to show love and compassion for other people. In God’s world, loving others is not an option. Here’s what Warren writes:

“If you are a follower of Christ, you must love everybody — whether you like them or not — in the same way that Christ loves you.That means you are to accept them completely, love them unconditionally, forgive them totally, and consider them extremely valuable.”

Then, when someone asks about the joy we feel, we should be ready to explain how Jesus Christ has changed our hearts. (see 1 Peter 3:15) That’s when we share the Word in personal testimony.

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THERE IS A DIFFERENCE between being a Christ-follower and a humanitarian.

All of us have the breath of God within us and, thus, the capacity to extend concern even for total strangers. Witness the outpouring of funds and volunteer effort to help victims of tragedies, whether from nature or man-made.

The calculus among humanitarians, which is rarely stated or even recognized at the time, is “enlightened self-interest” or payback — if I help someone today, tomorrow someone will help me.

However, as Christians, our giving is to be modeled after Christ, who said He came to serve, not to be served (see Mark 10:45).

In other words, for us, serving others comesfrom the overflow of love and mercy that we have received from the Creator, without regard to whether others will pay us back (see Luke 14:13-14).

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TO SERVE OTHERS properly, the way Christ calls us, requires a heart for those we help.

Here are a few verses where God makes that point clear:

“A person thinks all his ways are pure, but the LORD weighs motives.” Proverbs 16:2 (GW)

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b (ESV)

“God would have known, because he knows what is in our hearts.” Psalm 44:21 (NCV)

“But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature.” John 2:24 (NLT)

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SO, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US AS BELIEVERS?

We need to see every moment of every day as an act of worship. We need to take in the words that start every translation of God’s Holy Word, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) and celebrate that as a “wow” moment, no matter what is happening in our lives.

Peter neatly tied in this act of worship of God’s splendor and glory with God’s command that we honor Him through our witness (1 Peter 3:15 NLT):

“You must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.”

Are you ready?

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PRAYER

O Gracious LORD, our Heavenly Father, we thank You for being a God of love and a God of. Work on our hearts, O LORD, to turn them from stone to flesh, from hard hearts that are self-centered and prideful into hearts of love, hearts of mercy, hearts of service, hearts of encouragement, hearts of teaching, hearts of testimony. Lead us to serve You, for Your glory. In the name of Jesus. AMEN

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QUESTIONS:

1. Are you ready to share with someone — a family member, co-worker, neighbor, or even a stranger — your faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
2. If you aren’t, what’s stopping you? Is it a lack of faith, a lack of confidence, a lack of belief? Remember, we are commanded by Jesus, Himself, to spread His Word to all nations (see Matt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:8).
3. Does your life — the way you act and speak — reflect well on God’s glory? If not, do you see the need to repent of your sin and accept the gift of His grace and forgiveness?

Would you like us at LoveAndGrace to pray for you? Just send a prayer request via the Comments section.

Find blog posts at LoveAndGrace … tweets at Twitter. Comments welcomed. Please join us for Prayer and Questions at the end of the devotion. Why not forward this blog post to a relative, friend, or neighbor who might be blessed by it?

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“But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.'”  Luke 23:34 (NASB)

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  Matthew 5:44 (NIV)

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THE LORD CALLS US TO PRAY FOR OTHERS.

Most of us find it very easy to pray for others … as long as it involves praying for our families and those closest to us.

Prayers abound to the heavenly throne for wives and husbands, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and the closest of our friends and neighbors.

The Bible also tells us to pray for those who are physically sick, mentally unbalanced, emotional distraught, and spiritually lost. We do that, too.

However, there’s more.

We’re also to pray for those we don’t like, and those who don’t like us. We’re even to pray for our government leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2), both those we admire … and those we don’t.

Oh, yes, we are.

Remember that on two occasions David could have killed King Saul, who was trying to kill him, but he refused to kill Saul because Saul was “the Lord’s anointed” (1 Samuel 24:6; 26:9). While most of us never face life and death choices from our government, we do face many annoying circumstances.

The Bible is clear we are to offer prayer for our elected and appointed officials at all levels of government, regardless of whether we like them.  (see Romans 13:1-2; 1 Peter 2:13-14)

It is very hard to extend God’s grace to those we despise.

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RECENTLY, I TRIED PUTTING THOSE WORDS into practice by listing some political figures I find loathsome.

The commandment to pray for others is far wider than the political arena, but this, I figured, was a good place to start. God knew my list before I compiled it, so I just acknowledged to Him in prayer what He already knew was in my heart.

I gritted my teeth praying for the lowest of the low, but when I was done, I knew I had to keep doing it. God wants to change me; He wants to change my heart; and He does that through our prayers.

God tells us to pray for those officials’ health and safety, for their well-being, and most of all for their salvation. It is God’s grace that gives us the grace to care for others and desire their comfort.

In those moments, God is more likely to answer our prayers by changing our hearts than He is in changing the hearts of a rude government official or a politician who opposes our wishes, but we don’t know for sure.

He could be doing both. God’s timing is not our timing. Besides, our attention spans are short, so we drift away, while He remains present.

The Bible is clear that we must be diligent in lifting prayer for those God places in our paths. James, the half-brother of Jesus, said it this way in James 5:16b (NIV):

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” 

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THERE IS EARTHLY COMFORT, and there is heavenly comfort. We enjoy more or less earthly comfort at different times in our lives as well as in relation to others.

But the earthly comfort is transitory; the heavenly comfort is permanent.

The Bible says, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2 Corinthians 4:18 (BSB)

Or this, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.”  Matthew 6:20 (CSB)

Jesus said we will experience many troubles in our lives, but God is our refuge (see John 16:33; Psalms 46:1). In Him, we find solace. He, and He alone, takes us through the storm.

We are to share that solace with others, both those we love and those we do not love, those we know intimately and those we’ve just heard about, those who directly impact our lives and those who impact us tangentially.

When we feel overwhelmed by it all, by the sheer vastness of prayer requests and the awesome responsibility of caring for the lives and souls of others, let us recall the encouraging words of the apostle Paul in Galatians 6:9a (ESV):

“Let us not grow weary of doing good.”

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PRAYER

Our Heavenly and merciful Father, we confess that all too often we fail to consider the needs of those around us, especially of those we don’t know well or don’t like. Our Savior set the example for us when He prayed for those who drove the nails into his hands and feet. At this time, as our nation has elected a new government at federal, state, and local levels, we raise prayer for those elected — and those appointed — to carry out Your will. Soften our hearts, O Lord, when we resist Your command to pray for those we dislike and those who cause us harm. May Your will be done. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN

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QUESTIONS:

1. Has God placed someone in your life who needs your prayer support? Are you reluctant to offer that support because (a) it’s none of your business, (b) you feel inadequate to the challenge, (c) the person hasn’t asked?

2. Being serious in your self-appraisal, do you really believe God will listen to your prayer and grant your request, or do you think (a) God is too busy managing the universe, (b) you aren’t important enough (or good enough) for God to care about, (c) the person you should pray for is not a believer?

3. Whatever your answers to the above questions, can you take a moment and ask God to fix the problem you see: in your heart, in the other person’s life? Can you ask God to show you how much He cares for you?

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Would you like us at LoveAndGrace to pray for you? Just send a prayer request via the Comments section.

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Find blog posts at LoveAndGrace … tweets at Twitter.

Comments welcomed. Please join us for Prayer and Questions at the end of the devotion. Why not forward this blog post to a relative, friend, or neighbor who might be blessed by it?

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“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:12 (NIV)

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” John 3:3 (NIV)

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WE NEED TO BE SURE WE HAVE JESUS IN OUR LIVES.

It’s really that simple.

Jesus … and no other.

Pastor Louie Giglio, in his book ~Goliath Must Fall: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants~, lays it out this way:

“Yet this kind of belief is more than simply mentally ascribing to something as true. It’s putting all your trust in Jesus to be all he says he can be in your life.”

Have you done that? Have you come to grips with the single most important decision you can make in your life, whether you have latched onto a saving relationship with the Creator of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Savior of the world?

Have you told him, “I believe”?

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JESUS ILLUSTRATED THIS POINT one day with His disciples. After asking them about the chatter in town as to who men (and women) thought He was, He drilled down to the essential question for all of our lives:

“Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15 NCV)

The Bible tells us that Simon Peter immediately gave the correct answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16 NCV)

Later, another one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot, gave a different answer: “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” (Matthew 26:15 NIV)

Those two answers are polar opposites, and yet they represent the totality of possible answers:

“You are who you say you are” … or … “You aren’t.”

“I will follow you” … or  … “I won’t.”

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GOD’S WORD TELLS US that He gives life to those who believe in Him and follow Him, but that those who do not believe will not be rewarded with the abundance that God intended for everyone.

Here are just two examples, one each from the Old Testament and the New Testament:

“Today I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses. I am offering you life or death, blessings or curse. Now, choose life! Then you and you children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NCV)

“A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10 CSB)

Is there a greater shame in all of life than that many of God’s creatures — men and women fashioned in His image — willingly choose to have little or nothing to do with Him?

In Noah’s day, they were wicked and thought only of evil (Genesis 6:5).

In Jesus’ day, they called out to Roman authorities: “Crucify him!” (Luke 23:21)

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HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?

What about today?

Today, God’s people are called “bigots” for calling out sin among the populace.

No, that does not mean that all of God’s believers are without sin — only Jesus holds that honor — but God’s believers are called to turn from sinful ways and show their good works before men that men will give the glory to God (Matt. 5:16; Titus 2:7).

Remember the prophet Amos’s litany to the ancient Israel? He called out their sin and God’s response to their continued sin. You can read it in Amos, Chapter 4. God kept saying, “Yet you have not returned to me.”

As a people individually and collectively, we have failed to “return to [God]” with the obedience and humility to which we are called. If we do, the Lord has promised to hear that prayer:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)

For those who do not believe, there will be judgment (2 Thessalonians 2:12). For those who do believe, there will be life (Romans 8:1).

Our Lord said it this way in John 3:36 (NET):

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.”

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PRAYER

Father God, maker of heaven and earth, please hear our prayer of repentance. We need your love and grace to experience life with all the abundance You intended when You created us. Forgive us, O Lord, for our sinful ways, for our disobedience, for our unbelief. Turn our hearts toward You and toward life. We pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen

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QUESTIONS:

1. What does being “born again” mean to you? Does the Lord’s use of that phrase in John 3:3 mean something special to you? Does it sound different coming from Him than from someone else — a family member, neighbor, pastor or Bible teacher? Can you take Jesus’ statement at face value and believe Him when He says you must be “born again” to experience life?
2. Do you believe you have turned from your sinful ways, the natural ways we tend to act because sin is in our hearts? Do you base you answer on your personal effort or are you dependent on the Holy Spirit living within you? Do you accept that your salvation is determined solely by God’s grace and not by your works?
3. Do you see a difference between “head knowledge” and “true faith” when it comes to salvation? Do you understand that simply knowing that Jesus is Lord is not enough to be saved? Can you ask Him into your heart now?

Would you like us at LoveAndGrace to pray for you? Just send a prayer request via the Comments section.