From my devotions this week, I was encouraged by David’s charge to his son Solomon in the building of the temple. David said, in I Chronicles 22:16, “Arise and work and may the Lord be with you!” So I have risen and am busy about the work that God has called me to do and that is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
In my devotions from Streams in the Desert, I was reminded of the blind men that received their sight from the Lord. We feel blinded by the distractions of this life (financial provision, health, family issues, politics, etc) and yet we have taken God at His Word and are now trying to walk by Faith. Therefore, as Matthew 9:29 says, “It shall be done to you according to your Faith.” Even now Lord, may it be so!
As I was having devotions today, I was led to Colossians 1. There is so much to share with each of you from this passage but I feel impressed to remind us that we must “continue in the Faith firmly established and steadfast, not moved away from the Hope of the Gospel...” (Colossians 1:23 NASB).
God is so good! HE is our Hope! I find no greater joy than to share the Hope that I have in Christ with others! Yet at times life is hard and challenging! How thankful I am that I am anchored to the Cross of Calvary and the Rock of Christ Jesus! Amen!
For some reason, the Lord led me to John 4 today during my devotions. The story is of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. What Jesus did was culturally inappropriate (Jews did not converse with Samaritan’s). Yet we see Jesus’ Heart was for the lost.
The Samaritan woman was drawn into a conversation out of her curiosity and interest in what Jesus said to her. Jesus said to the woman: “Give me a drink;” “If you knew the Gift of God...you would have asked Him and He would have given you Living Water;” “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst;” “I Who speak to you am He.”
In response to what God had done in her life, the Samaritan woman brought the city to hear the Christ. The response was that “many Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified...HE stayed two more days. Many more believed because of His Word.”
I guess I wanted to encourage you with this passage. There may be many Samaritan’s out there who have never heard the Good News. It is our privilege to share the Hope that we have in Christ with them! We need to engage the community with our life, our words, and our prayers! In the process, folks will be drawn to Jesus by the word of our testimony.
I trust that all is well with you and yours this beautiful day! I am in the library where the silence is deafening only to be interrupted by the tap tap tap of computer keyboards, the doors opening and closing, and an occasional siren from the fire department across the street. Needless to say, I would rather be outside enjoying this beautiful spring day! And yet I am reminded that we are not promised tomorrow. Therefore, we should make the most of today.
I was reminded of God’s Purpose in our lives to put our hope and trust in Him as I read Jeremiah 17 in devotions this morning. Verse 5 says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man...whose heart departs from the Lord.” Then check out verse 7, which says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose Hope is the Lord.” May that be our hearts cry this day for more of Jesus! Even when we can’t see His Hand we are admonished to trust His Heart!
How I thank God for you! I am in the process of emerging from a tremendous campaign of Spiritual warfare that has spanned several weeks if not months! I have endured a tremendous amount of pain and have received many battle wounds in the process. As one of my favorite author’s, Louis L’Amour has said, “Scars are like war maps. They tell a story.”
For each of us, we have many scars in our lives. Some of us have the physical scars of cancer, elective surgeries, athletic injuries or clumsiness. Others have the emotional scars of divorce, unemployment or family issues. Yet on top of every “war map” in our lives should be written “Victory in Jesus” in Blood red! What is your battle cry today?
I preached a message from Daniel 3 yesterday re: the “fiery furnaces” in our lives. God will use these furnaces to purify us and make us into vessels that He can use. Sometimes those fires are used to remove sin in our lives. Sometimes those fires are to test us, grow our Faith, and prepare us for greater fires. Yet, God never said that we would be exempt from the furnaces of life. HE said that He would be in the midst of the fires with us.
The Bible tells us that as Christians, we will experience persecution. I Peter 4:12-14 (NIV) says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Jesus said in John 15:20, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Paul even states in II Timothy 3:12 that “…all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
Prior to our Salvation, we ran with the world, we ate with the world, and we slept with the world. The world wants us to have the same standards-its standards; the same beliefs-its beliefs; the same things-its things. When we give our hearts to Jesus we are admonished to “…not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...” (Romans 12:1-2). Once we have repented of our sins, we stop pursuing sin and start pursuing our Savior. We do a complete 180. We now swim against the flow of the world on our way to Heaven through Jesus Christ rather than happily cruise down the river to Hell.
I pray that you are encouraged by my devotions from Streams in the Desert re: the storms that we encounter in our lives. The passage was from Mark 4:35-41 where Jesus calms the wind and the waves on the Sea of Galilee. This was part of the commentary: “If you are to ever be strong in the Lord and the Power of His Might, your strength will be born in some storm.” I believe that God is only increasing our strength as we weather the storms of life.
In my devotions this week, I was reflecting on the passage of Acts 14. In this passage, Paul and Barnabas were preaching the Gospel in Iconium and Lystra. While in Lystra, they healed a man crippled from birth. When the crippled man was healed, the people thought that the Apostles were the gods, Hermes and Zeus respectively. They proceeded to worship the Apostles. When Paul and Barnabas realized this, they tore their clothes and cried out saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men with the same nature as you and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things (like idolatry) to the Living God” (Acts 14:15). Paul was then stoned, dragged out of the city, and left for dead (Acts 14:19). Paul later rose up and went with Barnabas the next day to preach the Gospel in Derbe. When they were with the Disciples in Antioch, they encouraged them in their Faith by saying that “We must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:20-22).
That doesn’t sound very encouraging does it? Yet if we look at the bigger picture, we know that God has a plan and purpose for our lives that is perfect! F.W. Robertson, a 19th Century pastor from Brighton, England stated, “The best things in life come out of wounding.” I believe the Lord allowed me to experience cancer. Let me explain, in the fall of 2007, I received the news that my abusive high school basketball coach was dying of cancer. One of my teammates and I visited with our coach’s family in order to share our stories and the Hope that we have in Christ Jesus. Before my coach died, he gave his heart to Jesus! I then had the privilege to speak at the halftime of the Broughton vs Leesville high school basketball game that honored my coach following his death. I shared our stories and the Hope and Peace that only Christ Jesus can give. PTL!
And yet Isaiah 53:3- 5 (NLT) says, “3 HE was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. HE was despised, and we did not care. 4 Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! 5 But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. HE was beaten so we could be whole. HE was whipped so we could be healed.” A new life that is abundant and eternal is freely given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Praise God for His Glorious Provision of the Cross of Calvary!
