Category: Devotion

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What Happens if You Choose Not to Live Righteously?

“Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.” Ephesians 5:3-7 (NIV1984)

costume-15839_640_crop_devilThe Apostle Paul seems to be saying in theses verses that faith is not enough to be saved — that we also have to turn from sin and live righteously. Many of us have had it drilled into us that we are saved (from future punishment and condemnation by God) if we believe in Jesus and love Him. Even Paul wrote three chapters earlier that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV1984). So how do we resolve the tension in these two ideas?

I think the answer lies in what we mean by the word “faith” (or a closely related word, “believe”). James wrote on this extensively. In James 2:14, he writes, “What good is it… if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” (NIV). Then he points out in verse 19 that even demons believe in God.

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Jesus Claims to be the Messiah (John 4:25-26)

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” — John 4:25-26 (ESV)

well_at_cathedral-164322_640As Jesus and a Samaritan woman that he met at the town well discuss things about God, she speaks of her belief that one day the Messiah will come into the world. This is interesting of itself, because it is clear in other passages that the Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah, but here we see that at least one Samaritan (a mixed race people that had Jewish influence from centuries before) also believed that the Messiah would come.

There were multiple expectations for the Messiah at the time, but they included that he would be a king, would save people from their oppression, would be holy, and would be sent from God. In the words of the Samaritan woman, her expectation of the Messiah included him being a great prophet. She mentioned that aspect of the Messiah, probably not because the idea had entered her mind that Jesus was the Messiah, but as a conversation extender, since Jesus was clearly a prophet, having just revealed to her that she had already had five husbands, and was living with another guy — and that it was interesting to note that he shared a gift that the Messiah would have.

Now what is really startling here is that Jesus comes right out and tells her that he is the Messiah that she (and presumably the other Samaritan’s) had been waiting for. Around Jewish people, Jesus was a lot more careful what he would say about himself. But not here: he just comes right out and says it.
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A lot of people today think that it is accurate to consider Jesus to be a great teacher or perhaps a great prophet. But in this particular passage, we see that it would be wrong to think of Jesus only in that way. Jesus himself claimed to be more than that — he claimed to be the Messiah, someone sent from God to be a king, to set people free.

Given that he was crucified without becoming a king on this earth and without setting people free, except for the ones that were healed by his prayer, he was clearly wrong… Unless the claims of his followers about him are correct: that he rose from the dead; that he remained in bodily form on the earth for several weeks; that he ascended to heaven; and that he rules and reigns from there.

Because if the claim that Jesus made about himself being the Messiah is not true, then we must think of Jesus — as C.S. Lewis has eloquently written — as a deluded person, or a liar, but in any case not as a great prophet or teacher or holy man. It is left, then, is for each person to decide. Which is he to you?

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How Will You Discover What Pleases God?

“Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.” Ephesians 5:8b-10 (NIV1984)

candleEven if this were not in the Bible, it still sounds like a really good idea for someone who claims to love God to “find out what pleases the Lord”. If you agree with me (and the Apostle Paul, who originally suggested it) that this is a good idea, let me ask you, “What is your strategy for finding out what pleases the Lord?”

This short passage suggests that if we find out what pleases the Lord, we will be enabled to “live as children of the light”. That is, we will be able to grow to be like God in holiness and righteousness. That would also require us to put into practice what we discover about pleasing God. But we cannot put into practice something unless we first figure out what it is we should be doing.

I can only think of four ways to find out what pleases the Lord.

1) Learn from the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right” (NLT). It sounds to me like reading and learning from the Bible would be a good component of any successful strategy.

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Who Says You Have to Choose between Growing in Love and Spiritual Gifts?

1 Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (ESV)

law-158356_640The Apostle Paul tells us that it is not “either-or” but “both-and”. I have heard some people say that they will seek love and not spiritual gifts because love is better and higher and will endure through eternity. And I agree in part: Love is essential. It is priority one. In fact, we are warned a chapter earlier, that if you’re not going to love, please don’t do miracles.

But you CAN both love and prophesy. That is what the Apostle Paul is telling us here, along with the implication that the truly obedient and spiritual among us will seek both. And not just prophesy. In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul ranked apostleship higher than the gift of prophesy, then exhorted us to seek the greater gifts. So it is good to seek that spiritual gift, as well.

In this passage, by writing “earnestly desire”, he means that 1) he wants us to be hungry enough for it that we ask God to give it to us; and 2) he doesn’t want us to give up.
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Yet we know that because it is a gift, and because God has to decide to give it, we don’t ultimately know what he will do. He might not give it to us ever, or He might not give it to us right away. Sometimes God waits to see if we truly desire something before he acts (and sometime he waits until we are in better shape to receive it and use it properly). It is not something we attain on our own, but we are more likely to attain it if we consistently petition God for it — but it is God’s to give.

In regard to pursuing love, we can certainly try to put love into practice. We should not overlook asking God to help us love better, since that is part of pursuing love, just as asking him for higher spiritual gifts is part of earnestly desiring them.

So let us not be a “love” Christian or a “gifts” Christian, but let us be the well-rounded followers of Jesus that we were meant to be.

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Evil Hearts Result from Not Believing God Wants to Give You Good Things – A Reflection on Hebrews 3:12

“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12 (ESV)

The context of this passage from the book of Hebrews is that the author has been challenging the readers not to rebel as the Israelites did in the wilderness in the days of Moses. But what did the Israelites actually do? Reading through Deuteronomy 1 you can see Moses laying out the case. We see that the last straw was when the Israelites believed the report of the ten spies rather than the report of Caleb and Joshua. The people believed they would be killed by the giants of the land — the land that God promised to them. In verse 27 we see that the Israelites actually believed God hated them. By the end of chapter 1, we see that the people never really trusted God.

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This is a very serious warning in Hebrews, and follows and intertwines with a phrase the author uses repeatedly, talking about entering God’s rest. We enter into God’s rest by trusting in His work on the cross, and not in our own work after we have put our faith in Him. This warning tells us that we are in danger of falling away from true faith if we fail to trust in Jesus’ work being sufficient for all we need. If we trust in that, we can rest from our work and our striving, and look to see the blessings that God continually pours out on us.

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Books on Learning to Hear from God

I have read many books on the topic of learning to hear God’s voice (learning to be led by the inner leading of the Holy Spirit). I thought it would be helpful to include a brief list here.

I would like to start by recommending a book by one of my all-time favorite authors, John Eldredge. The book deals with the practical side of a lifestyle of trying to hear from God. It is called “Fathered by God: Learning What Your Dad Could Never Teach You”. Incidentally, my favorte book by John Eldredge deals with various matters of the heart in relationship with God, and would possibly be helpful for people trying to learn to walk intimately with God. It is called “Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive”.

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Devotion to God

What is devotion to God? Quite simply it is dedication; single-heartedness; deep, abiding love; passion — not for the concept of God, but for God as a person, if you will, a being, one who lives and who speaks with and interacts with us.  Devotion to God is the essence of holiness, which means being set apart for God.

WorshipperTrue devotion to God leads to sanctification — it leads us to live a life that reflects our hearts — demonstrated through holy and righteous living.  However, the focus of devotion is not on our outward performance but on God in an intimate relationship characterized by walking with and listening to the heart of God.

As I have prayer-walked each Sunday for the last 13 months, praying for a spiritual transformation to take place in this country, it became obvious that part of that transformation had to take place within the Church.  The Bride is to be pure and spotless, devoted to the Bridegroom.  Yet the level of purity and devotion that such a worthy Bridegroom deserves is not yet apparent in the Bride.  So part of the prayer has been for God to help the Bride grow into a suitable partner for the Bridegroom.

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One Day in His Courts: My Verse for Wed, Nov 21 (a reflection on Psalms 84:10a)

“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” Psalms 84:10a (NIV)

How awesome it is to spend time in the presence of God! This verse challenges me to reprioritize my life. It inspires me to seek God more fully, and to value time with Him as something very precious.

But if I am to be totally honest, judging by my actions and choices, you would think that I do not truly believe this verse, and I wonder if I know anyone who really does. It seems to me that if we really believed this, our lives would be less busy, and most of our time outside of sleeping and work would be in His presence. Instead, we seem to manage to fill up our lives with electronics (television, radio, games, internet, social media) and other distractions.
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