05.19.09
WANTED!
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This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden
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WANTED!
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Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” –Luke 9:23-26
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MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. ?SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.
What do you think? Would you sign up for this? Sir Ernest Shackleton, an Irish-born explorer, reportedly ran this advertisement to recruit men for an expedition across the Antarctic Continent in 1914. With no promise of success, twenty-seven signed up to join Shackleton on this journey.
Reread Luke 9:23-26. Jesus has asked us follow Him on a journey we call the Christian life. What does it mean to pick up your cross? Are you ready to be persecuted, mocked, ridiculed, spit upon? Christians are not promised great rewards on earth…but crowns in heaven. Like Shackleton’s journey, the Christian life doesn’t pay well, nor does it promise safety. You’ll experience darkness and danger. However, in the end, if you are willing to pick up your cross and persevere throughout the journey, there is eternal glory
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GOING DEEPER:
- What are ways you can push through the hard times as a believer?
- What are the promises Christians can grasp onto during this life?
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FURTHER READING:
Romans 8:28; Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrews 12:1-4
04.20.09
“FAITHFUL IN A LITTLE”
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This devotion was written by Henry T. Blackaby, Experiencing God April 9
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FAITHFUL IN A LITTLE
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“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” Luke 16:10
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God rewards those who are faithful. Throughout your life God will seek to grow you in your faith. He will continually bring you to times when you must trust Him. He will lead you into situations that require a “little” faith, and if you are faithful, He will then take you into situations that require even greater trust in Him. Each time you are able to trust God at a higher level, God will reveal more of Himself to you. Your faith and experiencing God are directly linked.
The best way to tell if you are prepared for a greater revelation of God is to see how faithful you have been with what God has given you. This is a foundational principle in God’s relationships with us. If you have been faithful with the little He has given you, you are ready to be entrusted with more. If you failed to trust God with the little He gave you, He will not trust you with more . God will not lead you beyond your present level of trust and obedience to Him. He will return you to your area of unfaithfulness until you are prepared to trust Him. The children of Israel were unwilling to trust God to lead them into the Promised Land, and their generation never again was able to move forward with Him. You stand at an exciting new door of opportunity to know God more intimately every time you believe Him. Every step of faith leads you to a deeper relationship of faith with Him. It is an open invitation to know God more intimately.
04.03.09
“HYPERBOLIC FORGIVENESS”
HYPERBOLIC FORGIVENESS
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Matthew 18:21-22 NIV
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
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Luke 17:3-5 NIV
3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
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It is oft said that to sin is human; to forgive is divine. There is some truth in that sin and the painful consequences of sin are so endemic to human concourse. Carried within the spiritual DNA of a person, it is seemingly transmitted in every touch; like the oil on one’s finger which leaves fingerprints of sin. Sin is a direct function of our broken humanity. And yet to forgive is divine. Divine as in somehow transcendent beyond to the gravitational pull of sin. True forgiveness is not sourced in mere human ability. For when pushed to the limits of true love, human ability to truly forgive falls short.
Jesus makes sure His disciples understand how high and above true God empowered forgiveness is. He uses hyperbolic language to demonstrate how futile human forgiveness is; and how true forgiveness means tapping the transcendent source. Peter comes to Jesus, chest swelling with spiritual pride. “How many times shall I forgive, up to even seven times” He asks. Two and a third more than the limit that even the highly righteous Pharisee would declare, Peter has outstripped the limits of even those highly spiritual leaders. What a shock it must have been to have Jesus blow his ignorant pride out of the water. Not seven times, but seventy time seven.
That same message, put in another context was when he tells his disciples, if your brother sins against you seven times in the same day; but asks for forgiveness each time; forgiveness is to be given without condition.
Having heard this, the apostles immediately cry out in a prayer, “Increase our faith!” Given the absurdity of difficulty level; this is not something human ingenuity can achieve. It is hyperbolic language to describe a genuine truth; this is what forgiveness begins to look like. True forgiveness, which flows from God. Such dramatic forgiveness do we encounter in Christ, that in comparison to that which we are called to forgive…even a trickle of the overflow of God’s mercy and compassion will not fail to empower deep forgiveness. Is it not the Lord’s intention; to blanket the many transgressions of the world with hyperbolic forgiveness? Is it not within our purview to overflow this kind of forgiveness as we tap into His transcendent love?
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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
- This morning, will you not praise and worship God who has washed every stain with hyperbolic forgiveness?
- Will you listen for God’s prompting in asking for forgiveness today? Not only from God Himself, but from others? Will you put your weight on God’s seventy times seven level of forgiveness?
- Will you think of those who have hurt and marked you with their sinful touch? Will you ask for an increase in faith commensurate with a disciple of the Lord Jesus? Is there anyone specific you need to forgive?
This devotion was written by Pastor Martin
01.28.09
“KINGDOM GREATNESS”
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From Henry T. Blackaby & Richard Blackaby, Experiencing God Day by Day Devotional (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2006) Jun 23.
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KINGDOM GREATNESS
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“For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as One who serves.” Luke 22:27
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The measure of greatness in the kingdom of God differs vastly from that of the world. Our society idolizes the rich, the powerful, the beautiful and the athletic. We even make celebrities out of those who brazenly flaunt their immorality. The world claims it is demeaning to serve others. However, God’s kingdom completely rejects the world’s measure for esteem, giving the greatest honor to the one who serves most. The person who serves selflessly, lovingly, without complaint, and without seeking recognition is highly regarded in the kingdom of God.
When Jesus and his disciples entered the upper room, the disciples looked for a prominent place to sit; Jesus looked for a place to serve. As they awkwardly waited to be served, Jesus took a towel and basin and washed their feet (John 13:1-15). We Christians like to refer to ourselves as servants, but we are seldom content to be treated as servants! We are tempted to adopt the world’s evaluation of importance. But when we look to Jesus as our model, we see that it takes a far more noble character to serve than to be served.
The world will estimate your importance by the number of people serving you. God is more concerned with the number of people you are serving. If you struggled to be a servant, your heart may have shifted away from the heart of God. Ask Jesus to teach you selflessness and to give you the strength to follow His example. Watch for Jesus’ invitation to join Him in serving others. It will come.
12.25.08
“JOY TO THE WORLD”
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Luke 2:8-15
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
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On this Christmas morning, I will depart from my normal format, and leave you with a song to sing:
JOY TO THE WORLD
Verse 1
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Verse 2
Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
Verse 3
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
Verse 4
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!!
12.24.08
“REJECTION & REDEMPTION”
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Luke 2:1-7 NIV
2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
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In a culture which prizes hospitality as an exalted virtue, it is hard to imagine that the very pregnant couple are relegated to stay the night in a stable. Regardless of the lack of vacancy in the inn, it was the town’s duty to take in and take care of any traveling guests; much less those sharing ancestral ties. The lack of hospitality was a sign of great shame, and fall from righteousness. The fact that any newborn baby had to use a manger (a filthy feeding trough for animals) for a cradle is near criminal; much less the Son of the Most High?
But these were no ordinary times. The people of God were in bondage to a foreign power. The Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus was flexing his sovereignty, ordering a census for military service and taxation purposes. A wicked, illegitimate king sat on the throne in Judah; one who did not flinch when it came to murdering a whole generation of young boys, much less his own heirs. Demonic possession and infiltration was rampant throughout; all the way to the highest levels of religious authority.
This was the setting into which the God inserts His Messiah, the Savior of the World.
Into this world: filled with violence and villains, crisis and crosses; God inserts a newborn boy. One who will be rejected by His own people; His own ancestral line; His own hometown; His own trusted disciple. But who will win every people, tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself.
For some, there was no room for God’s Messiah; whether it was in their home or in their hearts. But for all those who opened their doors, the doors of eternal life were in turn opened for them.
This Christmas Eve, we celebrate a mystery. How was it that God subjected His unique Son to the inhospitality of those who were His own; and responded to the hunger of world with invitations to adoption into His home forever?
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REFLECTION /RESPONSE
- This morning, will you delight in the God of reversing mercy? For the one who returns beauty for ashes; faces down violence with vulnerability; offers eternal hospitality for all those dispossessed? Extol His praises, and soak in His Presence.
- Will you imagine the Mary & Joseph, in the throes of labor; pleading for a safe place to bring their first child into the world. Will you imagine the multiple faces of rejection they encountered. What reasons might they have entertained to justify such a response?
- With all the craziness and crisis of this season, and of this day; will you ask yourself…is there room in my heart and home for the Christ child come to town? Will you actively invite Him to not only stay for the night, but to fulfill His desire to stay with you forever?
11.14.08
“CROSS ROADS”
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Luke 9:23-26 NIV
23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
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Phil 3:7-11
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
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Grace comes in many forms. Sometimes, we encounter grace through unmerited favor and forgiveness. However, there is another category of grace where we are given the strength to deny our very selves in order to pursue Christ. In fact, any person who ever walks the roads of grace in seeking to follow Christ comes upon “crossroads; i.e. junctions where a cross needs to be embraced in order to come after Christ.
As we come to maturing junctions in our walks with Christ, we cannot be ignorant of the heavy cost we are called to pay; the gains of our self oriented kingdoms. But by grace we are given power and perspective to see that what we do truly gain far outweighs whatever temporary cost we incur.
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- This morning , will you reflect on how God has showered grace on you in the form of unmerited favor and forgiveness? Will you acknowledge that though that grace comes free to us, it came at a heavy cost to Christ as He embraced the cross for us?
- Will you acknowledge another kind of grace; that is the empowerment He gives to embrace self denial and take up our cross? Where are the “crossroads” God has brought you/us to at this season? Where specifically might God be calling you/your church to die to self, that you might live to God, His Kingdom and His righteousness?
- Will you tell Christ that you consider everything now a loss compared the surpassing greatness of knowing and gaining more of Him? Will you pray this representatively for your church?
11.07.08
“COMPASSION”
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Luke 10:29-37 NIV
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
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Sometimes it’s easy to think that the only way we will hear from God is if we divorce ourselves from the bustling setting of the world. But even the Desert Fathers would tell us that true attentiveness to God doesn’t only mean isolating ourselves from the world and its inhabitants. Rather, our time alone with Him ought to empower us to carry His heart and mind to every person we come across.
A heart that is open to sharing in God’s own compassion for the world is one which is all the more opened to God’s specific communication.
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REFLECTION/RESPONSE
- As you ready yourself for the day’s task ahead of you, will you reflect on God’s abundant, and practical compassion for the people you’ll come into contact with today? He knows them by name…the number of hair on their heads. Ask God to reveal a greater measure of His compassion to you.
- How compassionate a person are you? Will you ask God to expand your heart of compassion?
- Is there anybody God is putting on your heart to step in and help today? Will you ask Him to give you specifics on how you can be a “neighbor.”
