Devotional for Thursday October 30th

Good morning everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I commanded you.” John 15:13-14 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Serve Him with your life.”

 

In John 15:13 Jesus wasn’t necessarily talking about physically dying for someone. He made that clear in verse 14. Instead, He was calling His followers to lay out their lives for Him in big ways and in small. “You are My friends if you do what I commanded you.”

 

What are the things He commanded us to do? To care for the sick and the needy; to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit those in prison. He commanded us to live lives worthy of God and to be His witnesses in places near and far. He wants us to give our hearts completely and without reservation to God.

 

When Jesus speaks of someone laying down their life for a friend the friend He was referring to was Himself. He calls us to lay it out there, all of it on the line, in big ways and in small, for the sake of His Kingdom. Oswald Chambers explained it this way:

 

“God saves a man and endues him with His Holy Spirit, and says in effect, ‘Now it is up to you to prove it, work it out; be loyal to Me while the nature of things round about you would make you disloyal. I have called you friends, now stand loyal to Your Friend.” Chambers concludes: “His honor is at stake in our bodily life.”

 

Doing the things Jesus commanded us to do is frequently not easy or convenient. But this is where the rubber meets the road; it is the real test of discipleship. Will I lay my life down for Him in a thousand different ways, big and small, on a daily basis? “You are My friend if you do what I commanded you.”

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday October 29th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen … These all died in faith without having received the promises.” Hebrews 11:1;13 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God calls us to be faithful not successful.”

 

One of the hardest things you will ever have to do is to remain faithful to what God called you to do even when there is no observable evidence of success from your efforts. This seems counterintuitive in the success-oriented, bigger is better world of modern day life.

 

Our culture admires and celebrates observable success which is usually measured in big numbers – whether those big numbers apply to a bank account, a batting average, or big audiences. Big is good, bigger is better, and small is a problem.

 

However by that measure, two of the biggest failures who ever lived were Noah and Jeremiah. Noah preached for 100 years and had no observable impact on anyone. Jeremiah’s message was completely rejected. Jonah on the other hand would have been acknowledged as a great success because a large crowd responded to his short message. But while Noah and Jeremiah are remembered for their admirable faithfulness in difficult circumstances, Jonah is remembered as a whiny and reluctant servant whose story ends with him pouting.

 

Likewise, in Luke 21:2 it was the small offering of the poor widow given in faith that impressed Jesus. In Hebrews chapter eleven, “The Faith Hall of Fame”, many of those whose faith is celebrated never experienced any observable success by worldly standards and yet, in the economy of God they were superstars.

 

What difficult situation does God have you in today? Are you struggling to hold a marriage together, trying desperately to guide a wayward child, persevering in a difficult ministry setting? I encourage you to remember that God calls us to be faithful not successful. Stick with the thing He has called you to do regardless of whether the world would judge it a successful endeavor or not. The approval we seek, and ultimately the only approval that really matters, is from our Heavenly Father.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim
 

Devotional for Monday October 27th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But we encourage you … to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with our own hands …” 1 Thessalonians 4:11 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Many of us need to simplify and downsize”

 

The poet J.W. Goethe once wrote:

 

“To live within limits. To want one thing. Or a few things very much and love them dearly.
Cling to them, survey them from every angle. Become one with them – that is what makes the poet, the artist, the human being.”

 

Goethe’s words echo what Paul was expressing in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, God calls us to a quiet and simple life that honors Him – a life with which we are content. This is a theme which is repeated many times in the Bible. Jesus Himself, in Luke 12:15 cautioned us that the true value of our lives is not measured in the multitude of our possessions but in the quality of our relationship with God. Solomon also, in Ecclesiastes 2:24, urged his readers to find joy and satisfaction in the simple things.

 

But this is a problem for many of us. Our culture celebrates and encourages larger, bigger, better, more, and faster; rather than quietness, simplicity, and contentment. For many people their life has become too big, too cluttered and demanding, and, sadly, less satisfying rather than more.

 

I think Christopher Smith and John Pattison nailed it in their book “Slow Church”. They wrote, “In an age of consumerism, economic imperialism and what Martin Luther King Jr. called “jumboism”, the sacrificial way of Jesus may be calling us to forsake the supersized life.”

 

Most of us would be better and happier, and the quality of our lives would improve exponentially, with less instead of more – less work, fewer activities, fewer possessions (and consequently less debt). Interestingly, the only upward mobility the New Testament calls believers to pursue is to be upwardly mobile out of this life and into the next. While we’re here on earth we’re to be simple, modest, and content.

 

Pursuing such a life is counter-cultural and therefore not easy. But it is what God calls us too and therefore it is what’s best for us – even if it doesn’t seem that way from a human perspective at the moment. This is something I have struggled with for years and there’s a good chance you do too. I encourage all of us to consider if perhaps God might be calling you to a simpler and quieter life.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday October 25-26

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “He comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 1 Corinthians 1:4 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We are to obey God by caring for others just as He has cared for us.”

 

In his book “Keeping Ex-Offenders Free” Donald Smarto writes of how important it is to quickly help ex-prisoners to get involved in activities focused on helping others. The reason is that ex-prisoners, especially those recently released, tend to focus almost exclusively on themselves and on their own problems. They get completely wrapped-up in their own situation, to the point of becoming self-absorbed. Smarto’s advice to Christians who are attempting to help those ex-prisoners with their transition into a productive and law-abiding life, is to help them get involved in doing things for others. When we take our eyes off of ourselves and put them on other people, it helps to put our own problems in a better perspective.

 

This is an important lesson for all of us. If you have been a Christian for very long, then God has already used other Christians to be a blessing to you. Now you are to turn it around and be a blessing to others. This is especially true for those who may be dealing with the same kind of issue that you dealt with. Since you have that similar life experience, you are strategically prepared to be used by God to help others in a similar situation. That’s exactly what Paul was getting at in 1 Corinthians 1:4.

 

When we’re going through tough times it’s easy to turn our thoughts fully upon ourselves. But that is usually the worst thing to do. Although it can be difficult to do, going out of our way to help others while we ourselves might be struggling, can actually be very therapeutic. God will bless and minister to you as you are blessing and ministering to others.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday October 25-26

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God wants us to rely upon each other.”

 

Author Philip Yancey writes of the time he visited and Alcoholics Anonymous meeting with a friend. His friend was a professing Christian but did not attend any church. He told Philip that he considered is AA group to be his church family. He explained that his AA group was able to provide an important aspect of church life that no church he found had been able to give. Philip was surprised and asked for more of an explanation. Here’s what the friend said:

 

“None of us can make it on our own – isn’t that why Jesus came? Yet most church people give off a self-satisfied air of piety or superiority. I don’t sense them consciously leaning on God or on each other. Their lives appear to be in order. An alcoholic who goes to church feels inferior and incomplete.”

 

He went on: “It’s a funny thing; what I hate most about myself, my alcoholism, was the one thing God used to bring me back to him. Because of it, I know I can’t survive without God. I have to depend on him to make it through each and every day. Maybe that’s the redeeming value of alcoholism. Maybe God is calling us alcoholics to teach the saints what it means to be dependent on him and on his community on earth.”

 

That man’s story is a powerful lesson for all of us. We need God and we need each other. Unfortunately, we live in a culture that celebrates independence and self-sufficiency. Dependency is often portrayed as weakness – but not so in the eyes of God. God wants us to lean on Him and on others, and He will often use our times of trial and great need to draw us out of ourselves and to Him and to others. One of the hardest lessons we have to learn is to allow others to help. This is an area where many of us disobey God the most. We try to do it all ourselves.

 

I encourage you today to not only help others to carry their burdens, but let others help you to carry yours.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

 

Devotional for Thursday October 23rd

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; there is no limit to His understanding.” Isaiah 40:28 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Rely on the Lord and in His strength.”

 

From time to time we all come to the point where we are just bone-weary and we feel like we can’t go on. There are times in all of our lives when we feel as if we just don’t have the strength or the energy to do the things we know we have to do. How do we keep going? The Old Testament prophet Isaiah had some thoughts about that.

 

Isaiah chapter forty is all about God providing comfort and strength for His weary people. For twenty-seven verses he makes the case for a Sovereign God who is strong and mighty and who has absolute power over all creation. Then in verse twenty-eight, almost in an incredulous tone, he challenges his tired and discouraged readers to consider if perhaps they had failed to hear about this mighty God who is constantly working on their behalf. “Do you not know? Have you not heard?” Then he offers this advice:

 

“He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31 (HCSB)

 

If today you find yourself weary and feeling as if you just don’t have the energy or strength to do the things you need to do, then I encourage you to spend some extra time with the God who never grows weary, the One who is never lacking in strength. He will lift you up and strengthen you, He will renew your energy and help you to do what needs to be done. 

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Wednesday October 22nd

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “Being still is sometimes harder than being busy”

 

As we’ve been learning all this month, obeying God when obeying isn’t easy usually involves doing things which are hard, and which we would probably not do. But sometimes obeying God involves not doing anything. Sometimes we are called to simply be still and to sit quietly before Him. And for many of us, that can be much harder than being busy for Jesus.

 

We live in a busy and fast-paced world. Most of our lives are filled to the brim with activities and demands and expectations. Even church life can become a never-ending cycle of programs and events and work to do. Canadian journalist Carl Honore once described modern life as a “cult of speed”. He wrote:

 

“Fast and slow are not just rates of change. They are shorthand for ways of being, or philosophies of life. Fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity.”

 

God doesn’t require us to be constantly busy. In fact, being able to live with passion for the cause of Christ has its origins in the quiet times of prayer, meditation, and Bible study. It’s out of the quiet times that our sense of purpose and direction grows. It’s only then that we can effectively be on-mission with Jesus out in the world. Otherwise, we can easily go shooting off in all directions, unfocused and ineffective; busy, but to no good purpose.

 

Unfortunately many people have difficulty being still. We’ve become accustomed to noise and activity and we’re therefore uncomfortable in the quiet times of stillness. For many people this call to stillness and quietness is where obeying God becomes most difficult, and therefore this is the area which requires the most focused discipline and resolve.

 

It’s true that being still can often be harder than being busy, but effectiveness in the busy times is directly tied to the quality of the quiet times. I encourage you to have some extra quiet time with God today. You’ll discover that the rest of your day is better as a result.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Tuesday October 21st

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Jesus wants us to be passionate about our faith.”

 

The idea of being truly passionate and on-fire for Jesus scares a lot of Christians. It seems like it would be so hard, so time consuming. The condition of many Christians is actually more like what Oswald Chambers described as a sort of subdued stoicism. They do profess faith in Jesus, and they do go through some of the motions of acting out the Christian faith, but in a very limited and half-hearted way.

 

People like that probably attend church on a semi-regular basis and they may even read their Bibles. But if you observe their lives closely you see that there is little evidence of genuine passion for Christ. When it comes to Christianity they seem subdued and maybe even a little stoic. They seldom mention Jesus in their conversations and there is little involvement in Christian activities beyond perhaps, Sunday morning church attendance. Such folks are distracted by the cares of life and are resistant to the whole notion of plunging into the deep end of the Christian experience.

 

Chambers writes, “Christianity overcomes the world by passion, not by passionlessness. Passion is usually taken to mean something from which human nature suffers; in reality it stands for endurance and high enthusiasm, a radiant intensity of life, life at the highest pitch.”

 

High enthusiasm, radiant intensity of life, life at the highest pitch – that’s what it’s like to live the Christian life with real passion. And that’s when life is at its best. Living with a genuine and observable passion for Christ isn’t limiting, it’s freeing. When we truly plunge into the deep end and live fully for Jesus, it’s then that we come fully alive in Christ. That’s when we begin to experience life at its fullest and very best.

 

Jesus wants us to be passionate about our faith – not just in profession, but in practice. However, living with passion also does not mean that we are constantly busy. How is that so? More about that tomorrow. For now, I encourage you to live like you mean it. Live in such a way that your passion for Christ is the most noticeable thing about you.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Monday October 20th

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? Isaiah 58:6-7 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God calls us to an active faith.”

 

Perhaps you’ve noticed in this month of devotional messages that most of them have revolved around “doing”. We’ve talked about maintaining healthy relationships; we’ve considered the responsibility we have to speak up for Christ; and we’ve thought about how we should act at work. We spent some time thinking about our responsibility to obey the laws of the land, and when we should disobey those laws as we boldly take a stand for righteousness. We’ve also addressed the problem of greed, the attribute of generosity, and our responsibility to care for those in need.

 

Why so much emphasis on actions? Because it’s a theme that God Himself repeatedly brings up in the Bible. The fact is that God isn’t looking for a passive faith from us. Instead, He calls for a real faith that makes a real difference in real lives out in the real world.

 

Unfortunately much of what passes for Christian faith today is not active but is extremely passive. People go to church, sing some songs, put a few dollars in the plate, listen to the sermon, and then go on their merry way, having put a check mark in the box so their religious thing is accomplished until next Sunday. Paul Sparks refers to it as a “McDonald’s” church experience. It doesn’t really matter which franchise you go to because they’re all pretty much the same. The menu is predictable and what’s served up isn’t all that nutritious. People quickly consume what’s offered and then they’re back out the door.

 

In Isaiah 58:6-7 God made it clear that He’s not interested in, or impressed by, empty religious ritual. What matters to Him is a faith that makes an observable difference in the real world. The problem of course, is that religious ritual is relatively easy and undemanding. Living-out the faith in real life is harder. But it is also meaningful in a way that empty ritual can never be.

 

God calls His people to actually go out and “be” the church in the world, in everyday life.  He calls us to an active faith that makes a real difference. Obeying God in this way isn’t always easy but it is always right.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Devotional for Saturday and Sunday October 18-19

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him.” John 6:66 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We must remain obedient and faithful even when we don’t appear successful by the world’s standards.”

 

In his book “The Insanity of Obedience” author and missionary Nik Ripkin writes of how he has spent more than 15 years researching and studying church life in some of the most difficult and highly persecuted regions of the world. He then compared what he found there, to the average experience of Christians in our culture. Almost without exception the practice of the faith in the hard places was vibrant, alive, and dynamic, and by comparison in the USA it seems pretty anemic. One of the starkest differences he found was the American preoccupation with big numbers and highly choreographed professional worship services.

 

In the USA glamour, glitter, technology, and an extensive menu of programs is the golden grail which everyone strives for. With this in mind Richard Foster once wrote about Christian life in the USA, “Superficiality is the curse of our age.” Much of it is a mile wide and an inch deep. But in much of the rest of the world, where the practice of the faith is so much more vibrant and dynamic, the emphasis is on depth not width. The focus is on small groups of passionate disciples who are clearly and obviously alive in Christ.

 

For all the hoopla and circus-like atmosphere that surrounded much of Jesus’ ministry, there were surprisingly few who were true disciples. Therefore Jesus was fairly unimpressed with the crowds and the shouts of acclimation. He knew what was really in the hearts of the people and He knew that their faith was fickle and short-lived. And so He was not surprised when in John 6:66, after a little hard teaching, the crowds shuffled away, muttering and grumbling. Likewise, in Matthew 26:56, as He hung on the cross dying, virtually everyone deserted Him.

 

We have to be careful not to be taken-in by the hoopla and circus-like atmosphere which often comes with big numbers and slick professional productions. So much of it is superficial! Seek instead a deep and genuine church life. That’s what mattered to Jesus and so it’s what should matter to us too.

 

God Bless,
Pastor Jim