Alan shares a devotion called Choosing Grace written by Dr. James Emery White and originally posted by Crosswalk:
C.S. Lewis once quipped that everyone thinks forgiveness is a wonderful idea until they have someone to forgive. Let’s apply that to grace.
"Therefore, encourage each other and build each other up." 1Thessalonians 5:11
My perception is that being a Christian isn't going to get any easier, and probably will get harder in coming years. Even more reason to follow the counsel that Paul gives the church in Thessalonica, telling them to encourage each other.
"Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24
In part, I think David is a man after God's own heart because he so humbly asks God to search his heart. What a risky request. I know we know that God sees through us, one of the obvious byproducts of omniscience. But, like David, would we also implore God to test our anxious thoughts? We should as the Bible encourages us, "be anxious for nothing". David is so real and honest, and we should emulate His transparency.
"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes', and your 'No', 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" Matthew 5:37
Is it just me, or, does this simple verse seem a lot harder than it should be? I seem to be a lot better at the 'yeses' than I am at the 'nos'. That is for sure, even though I know I'm better than I used to be. OK, I admit it; I have invented this whole complex category of 'maybe' to really complicate the simple. Throw into that mix of confusion the famous, 'probably yes', and notorious, 'probably no', and you can cause yourself and others even more trouble and heartache. Can somebody give us a 'definite maybe' about now? No wonder we have such a hard time saying and hearing yes and no. We don't practice what the Lord preaches.
Our Monday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Lahoma:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I Am the Lord, Who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23-24
"Boasting" defined by the online dictionary is "To glorify oneself or another in speech; talk in a admiring way; to speak of with excessive pride; to possess or own; to contain; have; the act or an instance of bragging; a source of pride."
"All things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you . . . that you should go and bear fruit." John 15:15-16
Someone has defined friendship as “knowing the heart of another and sharing one’s heart with another.” We share our hearts with those we trust, and trust those who care about us. We confide in our friends because we have confidence that they will use the information to help us, not harm us. They in turn confide in us for the same reason.
"It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us." 2 John 1:4
As John gets older his great joys come from the most important things. How encouraging it must have been for him to report to the woman whom this letter is written to, when it came to his attention that some of her children, either her specific children or the children from her house church or fellowship where this short letter is first read.
"Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." 1Peter 3:11
Peter is quoting Psalm 34:14 in this verse as He draws on David's words to make his point about how to live in harmony with one another. He uses those wonderful words in verses 8-10 to encourage peace; "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because of this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." Now, apply these words to the following old parable and ask yourself what you need The Carpenter to help you do.
With His Grace, Pastor Fred
"Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17
I recently received a newsletter from a young missionary who stated this verse as part of her motivation for responding to a call from God to dedicate her life to helping minister with women and children who are being sex trafficked in India. I am sure she is earnestly following the first part of the verse and has stopped doing wrong and is learning to do right. As a matter of fact, she is training right now for this venture of faith. She certainly has chosen an excellent verse to illustrate why she is passionate about her call. She indeed will be seeking justice and deliverance of the oppressed and encouraging them, too. She will defend the cause of those poor, victimized and defenseless, unprotected children and plead the case of widows in the process too. She will be doing exactly what The Word says. I find this hugely inspirational and motivating, and I will pray for her cause and calling.
Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Dolly:
How many minutes is the snooze on your alarm clock? Mine is 12 minutes.
When the alarm goes off before we are ready to get up, it is all too easy to hit that snooze button. But snoozing can get you into trouble. Three or four snoozes can eat up most of an hour, and then you are scrambling to make up that time to get where you need to be.
Have you been hitting the snooze button on what God has called you to do? Or are you putting your God-given gifts and abilities to good use serving God and His people?
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