Be a World Changer!

John 17: 19 – 20

“For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message….”

 

Jesus is just moments away, from enduring a punishment, that no one in the world would ever know, and what does He do?

He remembers to pray for you—and for me.

The One who is, and was, and will ever be, stops for a moment, to pray for us. What a beautiful gesture.

 

No One ever cared for you and me, like Jesus.

At the height of His anguish, He stops to pray for us. Who would do a thing like that? Jesus would.

 

You may feel like you don’t have a friend in the world, but Jesus prayed for you.

Maybe you need to hear that today. Maybe you need to embrace the love of Jesus all over again.

He wants us to believe in Him, through the message that came through His intimate followers.

 

I watched the History channel’s depiction of the Bible the other night.

Jesus went fishing with Peter, and at the end of the experience, Peter asked Jesus…… “What are we going to do now?”

And Jesus replied….. “We’re going to change the world!”

And so they did.

 

Maybe there’s an area of your world that needs changing.

So go ahead and change it, because you have already been prayed for—by the One who set us apart, for an awesome, Holy task.

Yes—He cares that much………..

The answer to Temptation!

Luke 22: 40

"Pray that you will not fall into temptation."

 

Jesus shared these words of wisdom, with His closest companions, because He knew what was ahead.

From His vantage point on the Mt. of Olives, Jesus knew His friends would need sincere prayer.

He knew the Spirit was willing—but that the flesh was weak.

 

One thing you and I can count on today, is that God will strengthen us in our weakness—all we need do, is ask.

Unfortunately for Jesus’ followers, they were more interested in a cat nap—and so temptation got the best of them.

Instead of having courage, they took off hot foot, and ran for cover, when the Temple guard came for Jesus.

 

It is true that Jesus never gives us more in the way of temptation, than we can bare.

Maybe today, we should pray against temptation, and other sinful enticements that bring about weakness.

 

If we approach God with our short falls with humility, we can grow from them and learn from them.

God gives grace to the humble—right?

 

Every day we should be reminded to turn to God when we feel vulnerable to temptation.

Look no further than the cross of Christ—let it remind you of the power that overcame temptation and sin.

 

Ask yourself this question;

Do I allow myself to get close enough to Jesus, so that He can reveal to me, my weaknesses?

Live Dangerously!

Luke 21: 16

You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.

 

Jesus knew precisely, that it would cost somebody something, had they decided to follow Him.

There has been a high price to pay to follow Jesus, since the time of His arrival, 2013 years ago.

Jesus issued this warning to His friends, right before he was taken captive to be executed.

 

Some followers of Jesus, have sacrificed much through the centuries.

I heard someone on the radio yesterday say, that believer’s in the 1^st century, lived during very dangerous times—but that people living during the current century, are living during the most challenging times.

 

It might be costing you something today, to mark yourself as a disciple.

Maybe the person from work, that used to speak to you—or the family member, that used to invite you to a family gathering.

Jesus said this, about that kind of person….. “great is your reward in Heaven”.

 

Are you living dangerously, for the cause of Christ?

What we do for Jesus now, is the only thing that will last—and it will follow us all the way, to the Kingdom of Heaven……

Drifting?

Luke 22: 67

"If you are the Christ, " they said, "tell us." Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer.”

Jesus was never confused with His own identity.

It seems that even today though, people still do not believe in Him, or His many promises.

God revealed the very nature of His Son in the Word of God—the Bible.

Our country was founded on the very principles of Christ Jesus.

Is it just me, or have we completely drifted from the truth?

During this Holy Week, my personal prayer will be, that I fall in love with Jesus all over again.

That I take and embrace His sacrifice of love, in a personal way.

That will be my prayer for you too.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life—no one will come to the Father, but by Him……….

Believable Public Testimony!

1 Peter 2: 13

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men…….

These two words…. “submit yourselves”, come from the Greek word…. “hupotasso”, which literally has a military root meaning.

The best translation appears to be…… “Put yourselves in an attitude of submission”.

At least that’s the best translation I’ve been able to find.

I wonder why that seems to be such an issue, especially in the church?

Did you know that God’s chosen people, are to live in a humble and submissive way?

For whose sake are we supposed to submit? The Lords.

Jesus even submitted to the Roman empire, just before His execution.

I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to act, just like Jesus acted.

Frankly, I think it’s pretty sad, to see Christians of all people, practice public disobedience and lack of submission, especially in the church.

It happens more often, than not.

So for the Lord’s sake, we submit to Him, to obey Him.

For the Lord’s sake, we seek to imitate Him, just so we can honor Him.

We’re supposed to live our lives in such a way, that our public testimony, can actually be believable.

Is your public testimony, believable? 

Purge!

Deuteronomy 24: 7

You must purge he evil from among you.

As a part of the 2013 WCF experiment, some folks are reading the Bible cover to cover.

I just finished reading the book of Deuteronomy the other day, and I am amazed at the times this same verse comes up over and over again.

“You must purge the evil from among you.”

It seems to be a recurring theme.

For some reason, it appears that God hates evil.

But as we gaze into our world today, it seems there is a complete tolerance toward evil.

I wonder why that is?

What if those who tolerate evil, find out in the end, that they were wrong?

They will spend eternity in inescapable punishment, and separated from their God.

I don’t want in any way to risk that.

There is so much to lose, and so little to gain by entertaining evil.

This isn’t a message of judgment, this is a message of truth.

And the truth shall make you free!

It always has, and it always will.

What is it, that you need to purge today?

What is on your mind?

Philippians 4: 6 – 7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When you present your requests to God every day, what kind of thought pattern directs your prayer life?

As soon as you settle in to pray, what comes to mind?

Is it the bill that needs to be paid—or the menu for tonight’s supper?

It is possible, that a thousand others things can compete for our attention.

Maybe that’s why I meet so many people, who don’t have that unexplainable peace of God.

The only thing that God want us to have on our minds, is Him.

He isn’t one bit interested in the stock market or March Madness—He’s only interested is some quiet time with you.

That’s right—the Creator of the universe just wants a few of our 1,440 daily minutes.

How much time will you give Him today?

How often do you and I, give into the distractions of the day?

How long has it been, since you’ve known God’s peace?

Maybe something has to give—and it probably isn’t God.

I believe it’s time, that we allowed God to guard our hearts and minds.

It sure doesn’t seem to work very well, when they are preoccupied with anxious, meaningless thoughts……..

Wake Up!

Revelation 3: 1 – 2A

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up!

Is it possible to pretend at being in love with Jesus?

What would your family, friends and co-workers say, about how strong your relationship with Jesus is?

Whether we like it or not, we all have a reputation to uphold—good or bad, and we can’t hide the truth from the people that are closest to us.

I’m pretty sure that my wife knows that I love her.

I don’t think I could pretend at that—and besides, she’d know if I was pretending.

I make it a pretty steady practice, of showing her.

Is it just me—or am I the only one who thinks a lot, about the fact that God knows every single detail about us?

He even knows if we’re just going through the motions.

Would He say that you’re alive in your faith, or dead?

Maybe on this Monday morning, we really need to wake up.

God knows full well, if we’re just playing religious church games.

As I said in yesterday’s sermon, some people spend more time playing Farmville or Candy Crush Saga, than they do in devotion to God.

When’s the last time, you spent time with God, just to enjoy the blessing of His presence?

If it’s been a while, don’t waste one more second reading this devotion.

Get alone with God right now—and tell Him that you’re sorry, and that you want to get things really real again………

Repeated Warnings!

Proverbs 3: 1

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart…..

I’ve been reading in the Old Testament as of late, and is it just me, or does God’s warning from His Word, seem to repeat itself a lot?

Could it be that we forget so much of what we’ve learned, or what we should already know?

It should be fundamental by now, but if we always remembered God’s mandate, we’d probably have something fruitful to show for it.

It’s probably because we don’t read God’s promises with a whole lot of faith, or overall understanding.

I’ve personally learned, that my forgetter works pretty good.

Why is that we sometimes forget the things of God, but don’t forget the exact time of our favorite TV show?

We forget to pray—to study His Word—to offer service in the church—to obey God’s Word.

Maybe it’s because we find the subject matter uninteresting or unimportant.

Aren’t you glad, that God doesn’t forget about us?

What teaching from God, do you need to call to mind?

Is there an area of faith, that you need to remember?

If God’s commands were truly in our hearts, we probably wouldn’t forget them.

Funny thing…..If we forgot the teaching from the WDMV, most of us wouldn’t have a drivers license……

He wants it all!

1 Peter 3: 15

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

The great British Missionary to China, Hudson Taylor once said…….

“Christ is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.”

When we became Christians, we confessed Jesus as Lord.

When we pray, we call Him Lord.

But as we live day by day, is He really Lord in our hearts?

Often times, there are places that struggling believers don’t allow the Holy Spirit to enter.

Some folks like to control the pace of the progress of their discipleship.

Just be sure of this—that is not Lordship.

Would you say, that Jesus is Lord of 100% of your heart?

Jesus desires more of us, than we’ve been willing to give Him up to this point.

He wants it all.

Did you know that Jesus is trustworthy with everything we surrender to Him?

He’s also better at managing our lives, than we could ever hope to be.

Do not resist His advances.

Set Him apart today, as LORD of ALL………….

Pure Minds!

Psalm 19: 14

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19 is all about the very glory of God, and the glorious things to come.

It ends with a verse, that shows David’s desire to live within the parameters that God set in place.

David prays for protection, and then he prays against the willful sins of the mind.

He also gets to the heart of the matter….the purity of his thoughts, and the words that come from his mouth.

The average Christian’s greatest struggle, are the words that come from their mouth—and the thoughts that enter the mind.

What slips from the tongue, tells a lot about what’s going inside the mind.

Would you say that you’re fit for glory today?

Do your words and thoughts, reflect the truth of who God really is?

We need to be honest with ourselves, and ask whether our thoughts and words, reflect the glory of God.

If we can keep ourselves pure in the mind, our actions and speech will follow that thought pattern.

Ask God today, for the purity of mind, and thank Him for the forgiveness He freely gives, especially when our thoughts and speech, don’t measure up to His Word.

After all, pleasing Him, should be our greatest desire……..

It Matters!

Judges 21: 25

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.

In our current independent culture, everyone seems to be doing their own thing.

“It’s my body, and I’ll treat it like I want to.”

“It’s my life, and I’ll live like I please.”

The people of Israel, were living by their own standards of morality.

They had disregarded the precepts of God, and as a result, everyone was doing their own thing.

It got them into serious trouble.

In this society where everything goes, it doesn’t seem to matter what a person does anymore.

Let me share with you a direct response from God’s Word; It MATTERS!

Why does it matter?

Because those who show an upright behavior toward the things of God, display a deep respect for His ways.

What we think and what we do, shows a lot about the One we claim to serve and love.

Those who genuinely fear God, reflect it in their lives.

Those who don’t care that God exits, also reflect it in their lives.

People who show a deep respect and reverence for God’s Word, can never say…. “My life, is my own business”………….