05.22.09
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This devotion was written by Dr. Charles Stanley, InTouch
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THE PROCESS OF SANCTIFICATION
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11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV
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Many modern-day inventions are designed to help us accomplish tasks more quickly. The microwave, for example, shortens cooking time drastically, while washing machines and computers speed up other chores. New technology has the added effect of increasing our already-fast pace as well as our desire for instant solutions.
Not every process, however, lends itself to acceleration. Consider our growth in Christ, which is known as sanctification. Being a Christian is neither an event nor a quick fix. Rather, it is a journey. There are things for us to learn along the way, and while we may unwisely choose a longer path than necessary, there really are no shortcuts.
Sadly, certain people grow little after salvation. Some are not encouraged in their faith or discipled well. Others fail to pursue maturity through prayer, meditation on Scripture, and fellowship within the body of believers. God is not pleased when His children opt for comfort and complacency. That’s why His Word tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:17).
Consider how spiritual development benefits believers. By learning God’s ways, we can walk in obedience and live content, purposeful lives for His glory. We also gain the ability to discern truth from distortion.
Do you notice any change in your life and character since the day you were saved? Can you detect spiritual growth over the last year? Your heavenly Father wants to mature you. So make a continuous effort to cooperate with Him by reading Scripture, praying, fellowshipping, and repenting of all known sin in your life.
04.30.09
RUN WITH PATIENCE
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This devotion was written by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, Streams in the Desert
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RUN WITH PATIENCE
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“Let us run with patience” (Heb. 12:1)
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O run with patience is a very difficult thing. Running is apt to suggest the absence of patience, the eagerness to reach the goal. We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet, I do not think the invalid’s patience the hardest to achieve.
There is a patience which I believe to be harder–the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing!
Many of us would nurse our grief without crying if we were allowed to nurse it. The hard thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in bed, but in the street. We are called to bury our sorrows, not in lethargic quiescence, but in active service–in the exchange, in the workshop, in the hour of social intercourse, in the contribution to another’s joy. There is no burial of sorrow so difficult as that; it is the “running with patience.”
This was Thy patience, O Son of man! It was at once a waiting and a running–a waiting for the goal, and a doing of the lesser work meantime. I see Thee at Cana turning the water into wine lest the marriage feast should be clouded. I see Thee in the desert feeding a multitude with bread just to relieve a temporary want. All, all the time, Thou wert bearing a mighty grief, unshared, unspoken. Men ask for a rainbow in the cloud; but I would ask more from Thee. I would be, in my cloud, myself a rainbow — a minister to others’ joy. My patience will be perfect when it can work in the vineyard. –George Matheson
“When all our hopes are gone,
‘Tis well our hands must keep toiling on
For others’ sake:
For strength to bear is found in duty done;
And he is best indeed who learns to make
The joy of others cure his own heartache.”
11.05.08
“ATONEMENT”
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Lev 16:20-22 NIV
20 “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. 21 He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites–all their sins–and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert.
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Heb 4:14-16 NIV
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
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At first glance, Christ’s work on the cross for us means that sins have been atoned for. But there are depths to the atonement that merit our faith, reflection, and thanksgiving. When theologians unpack what has happened in the atonement, they speak of both the complete removal of our sin from us (expiation), and the final dealing with the righteous wrath of God toward us due to our sin (i.e. propitiation). As symbolized by the transference of Israel’s sin on the goat via laying on of hands (and subsequent expulsion of the goat from the camp), Christ’s work of atonement radically separates us from the sin which has seeped into our very nature. By choice, Christ takes that sin on himself; and absorbs the righteous wrath that should have fallen on our heads.
Now, there is nothing to block us from experiencing God’s passionate love and compassionate mercy. Atonement is “AT-ONE-MENT”; where we have been reconciled to God and made one with Him. Because of Christ, and in Christ, the approach to God’s very throne room is made in both humble amazement, and unshakable confidence.
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- SCENE 1: As you begin to reflect this morning, will you ask God to bring revelation to your heart and mind over the magnitude of what Christ has done for you, and for us on the cross? Will you linger there, in wonder and thanksgiving?
- SCENE 2: From the cross, will you imagine a path that extends toward the very throne of grace. But as you make your approach, Satan the accuser comes and accosts you with evidence of your sin. Having come from the cross, will you denounce the lies of the accuser, who hopes to deceive and shame you into diverting your approach to God’s throne of mercy? Will you confess (i.e. agree with God) the fullness of the atonement Christ has achieved, and draw near?
- SCENE 3: Now at the footstool of the throne, would you begin with an other centered confidence ask for, and open your spiritual hands to receive specific grace and mercy this morning?
