This Week’s Theme: Finding Rest

Today’s Theme: A Personal Relationship, Finding Rest in Christ

Key Verse

Psalm 3:2-5  “Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah. But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.  Selah. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.”

Meditation

This Week’s Theme:  Rest

Today’s Theme: The Results of a Trusting Heart

Key Verses

Proverbs 3:5-10  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.  Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

Mediation

Proverbs 3:5-6 are two of the most often quoted verses in the Bible and for good reason.  Solomon’s exhortation rings as true today as the day he wrote them.  As God’s good stewards, let’s look at these verses and a few more.

First, the faith we put in God must be complete: it must be completely in Him, and it must completely define our character (our heart). God gave us a mind to reason and to understand.  It reasons and understands best when it is saturated with God’s precepts.  We all rely on some construct or frame of reference to understand life.  It could be the American dream, secular humanism, or the gospel according to Bill O’Reilly.  There are lots of competing values and ideas subtly weaving themselves into our pop culture and calling us to follow them.  God calls us to saturate our thinking, character, and behavior with His precepts.  The great 19^th century Bible commentator, Matthew Henry, wrote, “We must refer ourselves to him as one from whom our judgment proceeds, and patiently, and with a holy indifference, wait his award.”  Since God created our hearts and minds, we ought to fill the hard drive with His programming and hit the ‘delete key’ to all of the rest.  When we truly rely on Him, the Holy Spirit acts like an anti-virus program exposing ungodly thoughts and temptations so we can avoid them.  There is a lot of corruptible ‘spam,’ and God’s Word written on our hearts is the ultimate ‘spam-buster.’

Second, by prayer and testimony we give God credit and glory.  One sure-fire way to step away from godly stewardship is to stop knowing and admitting that God is the source of every good gift.  To acknowledge is to know something as fact and to state unequivocally.  When we are busy thanking God and telling others of His grace, there is little time and ego left to be wise in our own eyes.  A good steward shuns evil by acknowledging God continuously. 

According to Solomon, God is into recycling.  When we do our part – trust Him alone, acknowledge His blessing and shun evil, God blesses us.  A mind relying on God does not let worry creep in, and that is both mentally and physically healthy.  God also blesses us by providing our every need.  Having received a great blessing, Solomon reminds us what to do with it.  Give Him what He has given.  Give Him the first benefit of what He has given.  And, He will give you even more.  What a great cycle!  He gives because we trust, we acknowledge and return our first fruits to Him, and He gives us even more!

 Thoughts to Ponder

What should I be acknowledging today to remind myself and others of God’s grace and mercy?  Am I letting God recycle His blessings through me?

This Week’s Theme:  Finding Rest

Today’s Theme: Life Can Be Better

Key Verse

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Meditation

No matter what our circumstances, God can and does make our lives better.  Sometimes it might be in profound, miraculous ways and other times it might be small, comforting ways.  No matter who we are or what we have done, God wants a better life for us.

First, He wants us to have eternal life and to have peace with Him.  Arguably the most memorized verse is John 3:16.  It has a clear, compelling, concise message – whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life.  As we have mentioned earlier in the week, this salvation is a free gift because of God’s grace.  Paul reminded us that, “since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)

Second, God wants us to have a joyous, full life.  John 15 records Jesus’ teaching when He used the metaphor of the vine (Jesus) and the husbandman (God the Father) and the necessity of our abiding in Him.  Jesus punctuated His teaching saying, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (John 15:11)  And, when Jesus used the parable of the thief in the night, He summarized the teaching point saying, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  (John 10:10)

Additionally, God wants us to have a productive life.  Returning to John 15, Jesus told us that, “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5-8)

Whosoever.  That is a pretty complete word.  No matter who we are, what we have done, how old we are, or what is our position in society, God wants us to have an eternal, joyful, productive life that is complete in Him.

Thoughts to Ponder

If you are a Christ-follower, reflect on how productive, joyous and full your life is.  Are you doing anything to diminish what is possible by God’s grace, mercy and blessing?

This Week’s Theme:  Finding Rest

Today’s Theme:  The Lord Is My Refuge

Key Verses

2 Samuel 22:1-3 David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior— from violent men you save me.

Meditation

King David was an authority on worship.  His half of the Book of Psalms may have been his PhD dissertation on worship.  David knew how to cry out to the Lord.  He was a master of expressing his longings, fears, joys, and sorrows.  He celebrated God’s greatness.  David knew God’s character and sang about it often.  David worshipped God in truth and spirit with a full range of emotion.

One of my favorite David-authored descriptions of God is the image that God is my refuge.  God is a shelter from danger, distress, sadness, worry, and, in keeping with this series theme, uncertainty.  He alone is the true recourse when we face difficulty or struggle with a sense of worry.

Perhaps you are like me, and at the end of a busy, frustrating day you get home, shut the door, and in a sigh of relief whisper, “Thank God I am home.”  I shut the door, hug my wife and suddenly feel safe from the day’s issues.  To get away from the world I can take refuge in the comfort of my home and support of my wife.

While being home is great, it is not the ultimate refuge.  God is our true refuge.  I might be able to retreat physically from the world, but not find refuge from the emotions and thoughts of my troubles.  Those can be present regardless of where we are physically.  True refuge from fear, disappointment, anxiety, or heartache is in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter (John 14:16). 

God does not want us to struggle in isolation.  He wants us to turn to Him in true worship.  Worship is more than singing wonderful praise songs on Sunday, working in one of the church’s ministry programs, or meeting with your LifeGroup.  Worship includes crying out to the Lord in desperation.  Worship includes finding comfort in God’s presence.  David cried out to God when he was wildly successful and when he was crushed with despair.  He was always open with God.  He never hid his emotions, frustrations, fears, and doubts.  David did not just talk with God, he cried out to God in a loud voice filled with unabashed passion.

Question to Consider

Am I finding rest in the Rock of my salvation?

 “Walked Humbly” by Mike Bickley

Today’s Theme: “Humble Service”

Key Verses

 ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  (John 13:3-5)

 ¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  (John 13:12-17)

Meditation

Yesterday we discussed the Christian call to live a life of humility.  Now that sounds great, but what does living a life of humility mean?  As Pastor Mike points out, part of humility is the willingness to serve others regardless of your position in life.  Jesus provides us with an excellent example.  In John 13, Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for His nearing departure by teaching them privately of things they will need to understand once He is gone.  As the group breaks bread, Jesus begins to wash the feet of his disciples.  Given Jewish culture, this act was a scandalous act of humility.  Washing feet was generally a job for a slave and at best junior members of the room, which in this instance would have been the disciples.  But Jesus, in full confidence, knowing exactly what God called him to do and the power and authority given Him by His Father acted in humility showing a willingness to do even the job of a Gentile slave.  Jesus set an example that the Christian life is one of humble service to our God who has adopted us out of a life of destruction and to each other. 

As we go into the world proclaiming the gospel, we will encounter individuals that need their feet washed.  Some might need encouragement and prayer while others may need something tangible like a meal, ride, babysitter, or etc…  While logistically, we are incapable of being of service to everyone that crosses our path, we can ensure that we have a heart of humble service that is willing to follow God’s call of service to others. 

Question to Consider

Am I truly willing to humbly serve others as God calls me?

This week’s devotional author is Marquel JaCoway.  He can be contacted at svh071880@yahoo.com

 “Walked Humbly” by Mike Bickley

Today’s Theme: “The Right to Serve”

Key Verses

¹If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)

 Meditation

The moment that one crosses the line of salvation is an amazing time.  Almost immediately everything changes. The bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17) (KJV).  Everything that we were in the past is irrelevant to what God has in store for us as his children. 

As His children, scripture tells us that we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.  “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:17).  This idea of heir would indicate that there are some special rights or inheritance to this person.  As God’s children, we inherit an amazing relationship with God.  We inherit the opportunity to approach God boldly knowing that as His Word tells us, He will withhold no good thing from us.  Inherited is the opportunity to live life to the fullest, which Jesus said that he came to bring us.  Furthermore, we inherit the opportunity to spend eternity with God. 

Frankly, the list of our rights and inheritance is quite long and we could spend years and years, pages and pages, trying to uncover all the rights and privileges of being a child of God.  However, God has not called us to focus our lives on what we get out of our relationship with Him, rather what we can give out of our relationship with Him.  As a Christian, the call is to be an imitator of Christ who acted as a servant.  In humility, Jesus put aside his rights and ultimately his life to serve the needs of others. Our responsibility is to also accept this call of humility.

Question to Consider

Am I focusing my life on what I can give through my relationship with God?

This week’s devotional author is Marquel JaCoway.  He can be contacted at svh071880@yahoo.com

This week’s theme: “Love Mercy”

Today’s theme: “”

Key Verses

James 3:13-18 

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.  (The Message)

Meditation

God has two constant demands of us Christ-followers:  1) having a godly or positive attitude and 2) godly or appropriate action.  Simply put, it is having the right heart spiritually and the right actions physically.

As we see in the above verses, it is wisdom from above that drive success in these two demands.

Wisdom’s origin is God’s truth, love, grace and mercy.  Wisdom – at least the kind that leads to fulfilling Micah 6:8 – comes from the Holy Spirit. 

Note what James said about real wisdom.  We can recognize it because we get along with others.

Avoid taking this to the extreme.  This does not mean that we endorse or tolerate sinful behavior.  Nor does it mean that we will not have conflict with others.  Remember, Christ said that people will despise us when we live a life reflective of His truth. 

James went on to explain that our behavior is marked by gentleness, sincerity, consistency, and treating people with dignity and honor.  This takes us full circle – it is attitude that leads to behavior.  Wisdom in action is merciful to others.

Question to Consider

Am I growing in wisdom?

This week’s theme: “Love Mercy”

Today’s theme: “Treasure His Mercy”

Meditation

As we consider the topic of mercy, let’s remember God’s merciful patience.

1.    Rom 2:4  Don’t you realize how patient he is being with you: Or don’t you care? Can’t you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

2.    Rom 2:4  Are you, perhaps, misinterpreting God’s generosity and patient mercy towards you as weakness on his part? Don’t you realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

3.    2 Pet 3:15  Think of the Lord’s patience as your opportunity to be saved.

We cannot, however, think that God’s patience and mercy is unbounded.  God will respond to persistent sin.

1.     Rom 2:5  Or are you by your obstinate refusal to repent simply storing up for yourself an experience of the wrath of God in the day of his anger when he shows his hand in righteous judgment?

2.     Rom 2:5  Your stubborn refusal to repent is only adding to the anger God will have toward you on that day of anger when his just judgments will be made known.

3.     Rom 1:32  They know what God’s verdict is: that those who behave like this deserve to die–and yet they do it; and what is worse, encourage others to do the same.

4.     Gal 6:7  Don’t be under any illusion: you cannot make a fool of God! A man’s harvest in life will depend entirely on what he sows.

5.     Rom 11:22  You must try to appreciate both the kindness and the strict justice of God. Those who fell experienced the justice, while you are experiencing his kindness, and will continue to do so as long as you do not abuse that kindness…

As one author wrote, “Grace is unlimited and forever.  Mercy is vast but limited, and will end in either: 1) Repentance leading to salvation by grace, or 2) stored-up wrath and eternal punishment. In the meantime, God is calling us out of mercy and into obedience. Eventually it dawns on all of us that we cannot “get away with” unrepentant sin. It’s as if God gradually withdraws his mercy after we have come to a knowledge of the truth. God’s mercy has served its purpose, now it is time for obedience.”

Question to Consider

What is my attitude about God’s mercy?  Am I abusing it?  Do I treasure His mercy?

This week’s theme: “Love Mercy”

Today’s theme: “Mercy: Don’t Leave Home without It”

Meditation

Why is mercy so important to us Christ-followers?  Here is what the Bible has to say about it.

1        Ezra 9:13 “What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins have deserved… Shall we again break your commands…?”

2        1 Tim 1:13 Even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance.

3        1 Tim 1:15-16  …I realize that I was the worst of them all, and that because of this very fact God was particularly merciful to me. It was a demonstration of the extent of Christ’s patience towards the worst of men, to serve as an example to all who in the future should trust him for eternal life.

4        Heb 4:16  Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with fullest confidence, that we may receive mercy for our failures and grace to help in the hour of need.

5        Ps 103:8,10-14 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love… He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

6        Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sins and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

These verses make it pretty clear that we do not deserve God’s mercy, yet He still extends mercy to us. 

Can we do anything less to others?

Don’t leave home today without an attitude of mercy towards others and thankfulness for God’s mercy!

Question to Consider

What is my attitude about God’s mercy?

Today’s Theme:  Commitment to Stewardship

Key Verse:

Exodus 34:14  Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy”. 

Mediation

What is the start point for good stewardship?  Some people start with actions – tithe, give, save, and stay out of debt.  All of these are good points, but “action” is not the start point of good stewardship.

Another approach is exhortation to have the right or godly view of wealth and money.  If we don’t love money and see it as a resource given by God, we will have the right belief to be good stewards.  Again, this is wise counsel.  It is, however, the second point in good stewardship.

Good stewardship starts with our view of God.  We need to understand and know God first and then see money and wealth as He defines them.  So, good stewardship starts with understanding the attributes of God.  It is the duty and privilege of all Christians that we meditate on God’s attributes.   People who accurately and intimately know their God are prepared to be strong in the faith. 

It is important that we know God as He is and not as we want Him to be.  God commanded that we have no other god before Him (Exodus 20:3).  Quite often when ministers and teachers talk about stewardship, they stress that putting wealth before God is like worshipping an idol.  Again, this is wise counsel and faithful teaching.  There is more to having another god before the One True God.  If we define God in our terms and in an image pleasing and politically correct to us, we have created an idol.  We cannot put God into a male-box or a female-box or into a culturally correct image.  It should be the quest of every Christian to know God and worship and serve Him as He is.  We need to know His attributes.  A.W.Tozer wrote: “Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.”

Of His many divine attributes – such as faithful, omnipotent, omniscient, righteous, immutable, sovereign, and just – two that are germane to stewardship are holy and jealous.

When God tells us that He is holy, He also calls us to be holy (see Leviticus).  As one theologian describes it, “Holiness is that perfection in God that totally separates Him from all that is evil and defiling and common. As we call gold pure when it is free from any dross or impurities, or a garment clean when free from any spot, so the nature and actions of God are free from any impurity or evil of any kind whatsoever.”  Holiness refers to the absolute integrity and purity of the nature of God. It means He is always absolutely pure and, therefore, distinct from all others.  For us, men and women marred by sin, holiness means that we see God as He is.  It means our heart is conformed to the image of God, and our life is regulated by the divine precepts. Hence, holy is used as nearly synonymous with good, pious, and godly.  When our life and heart are guided by a clear understanding of God, we conform to His precepts and see stewardship through His eyes.

God’s jealous nature does not imply covetousness.  J.I. Packer summarized it well when he wrote. “God is possessive of the worship and service that belongs to Him. It is a sin (as God points out in this commandment) to worship or serve anything other than Him. It is a sin when we desire or we are envious or we are jealous of someone because he has something that we do not have and that does not belong to us. It is a different use of the word jealous when God says He is jealous. What He is jealous for belongs to Him; Worship and service belong to Him alone and are to be given to Him alone.”

Thoughts to Ponder

What do I really know about God’s attributes?  Do I have a godly worldview and see stewardship through His divine perspective?