True Spiritual Growth.....By Dr. Charles Stanley

 True Spiritual Growth

Dr. Charles Stanley

James 1:17-27

If you want to genuinely grow in spiritual maturity, it is not enough to simply be instructed by the Word of God. You may love going to church or listening to Christian radio programs. You might talk about everything you hear and assume you're growing because your knowledge is increasing. However, if you don't actually grow closer to God by allowing His Word to change you from the inside out, your head will merely continue to fill with information. You might even sound like a godly person who is admired for the ability to quote chapter and verse. But if you don't take the next step and allow God to touch others' lives through you, you're missing the point.

Spiritual growth is the result of practicing the truth you receive from God. He wants you to give away what He gives you--that is, by loving and serving others and sharing the truth of the gospel. Our example is Jesus, who said that He did not come to be served, but to serve even the lowest outcasts in His society (Matt. 20:28). He could have exalted Himself and spent all His time preaching and teaching. Instead, Jesus did only the Father's will, which was to reveal His heart of love to a broken world. The Lord sacrificially involved Himself in people's lives, and He calls us to follow in His footsteps.

God's plan is to reach the world through you. If that weren't the case, He would have taken you to heaven as soon as you were saved. But you are here for a purpose--to live out Christ's life alongside hurting people who desperately need to experience His love.

Renewal of Conscience..... Craig Denison

 Renewal of Conscience

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

One of the best aspects of spending time alone with God is being renewed daily by his word and presence. When we make space for God in our lives, especially at the beginning of the day, he is faithful to renew and prepare us for all we will face out in the world. Scripture says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Where do you need renewal? How greatly do you need God’s mercies in your life? He has a plan this week to both teach and guide you into an encounter with him that will renew you with his overwhelming goodness and love. Make space for God. Make time to encounter him. And experience the refreshing spring rain he longs to bring to heal the dry and weary places of your heart.

Scripture:“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22

Devotional:    

Our conscience is a window revealing how we view ourselves and, most importantly, our relationship with God. One of the worst effects sin has is distorting our view of ourselves in relation to God. The devil’s plan with sin was always to separate us from God, so Jesus came to the earth to destroy the power of sin in our lives. He came so that we might have restored relationship with our heavenly Father.But still sin persists. Even though the power of sin was broken, its effects destroyed, we often still live with an unclean conscience. We feel that God is angry with us, that he doesn’t want to be with us, or that we can’t come before him and sit at his feet. Your conscience affects your relationship with God either negatively or positively. It will either lead you to God’s throne room or away from his presence. Your heavenly Father’s desire today is that you would come to see yourself as he does, that your conscience would be wiped clean, and that sin and lies would separate you from him no longer.

Hebrews 10:19-23 contains an important truth for us today. Scripture says:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Let the truth of Scripture sink into your heart. Hebrews tells us that our confidence to come before God is found in the blood of Jesus. Through his death, Jesus paved the way for you to come before the throne of God with confidence and full assurance of faith. God’s desire today is that your conscience would be “sprinkled clean” with the powerful blood of your Savior.

So, let’s dive even deeper into how God sees us today. Let the truth of his word further mold your identity until it is perfectly aligned with his perspective. Galatians 3:26-28 says, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” 1 John 1:9 says,“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Romans 8:1 says,“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:20 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5 says,“For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” And Colossians 1:21-22 says, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”

Your heavenly Father sees you as he sees Jesus. Many Christians believe that while they are clothed with Christ, they’re still dirty and sinful on the inside. But don’t be deceived today. At salvation you were made completely new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” God didn’t trick himself with the death of Jesus. He sees you completely. And when he looks at you, he sees the blood of Jesus running through your veins. He sees you as his clean and holy child. Through the death of Jesus, you can see God with unveiled face. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 says, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” You can see and know God freely and fully. In fact, that’s God’s greatest desire. He longs for us to know him. He longs for us to encounter the depth of his love and affections for us every day.

Sit at the feet of your loving heavenly Father with the knowledge that there is nothing in the way of you and him. Spend time with him allowing the truth of how he sees you to renew your conscience. May your conscience, renewed in him, lead you freely and consistently to the throne of God.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on your new identity in Christ.

“For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

2. Reflect on your own conscience. How do you view yourself? Through what lens do you see your relationship with God? Is it one renewed by the blood of Jesus or one inconsistent with his word?

3. Allow God’s truth to clean your conscience today. Come before God boldly, and let him do a work in how you view your identity.

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:19-23

Whenever you feel like something is in the way of you and God, take a minute to reflect on your conscience. Ask yourself, “Do I feel worthy to be with God? Is something leading me away from him instead of to him?” Ask the Spirit to renew your conscience in that moment. Spend a minute gaining God’s perspective. Confess whatever sin you committed to God, and allow his forgiveness to draw you near. Nothing could be more important than spending time with your heavenly Father with a clean conscience that you might experience the fullness of his affection for you. 

Extended Reading: 1 Peter 2:1-12

Divine Disconnection..... SHERI ROSE SHEPHERD

 Divine Disconnection

SHERI ROSE SHEPHERD

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” John 15:4 (NLT)

I’ve always struggled with a sense of inner loneliness. No matter how many people I know or who I am with, whether in a crowd or at home, I fight that deep, dark feeling of loneliness.

It was the same on the night I became a Christian. I was 24, by myself in a hotel room, feeling alone, like I didn’t have a real friend in the world, and fighting with guilt and shame from my past. To be honest, I was contemplating taking my life.

Feeling so desperate, I finally cried out for the first time to what seemed like an invisible God and asked Jesus to come into my heart and my life. In that moment, something happened that made me know God’s presence and love are very real because, for the first time, I did not feel alone.

As I began to get to know the Lord and walk with Him, I thought I would never have to fight that feeling of loneliness again. But I was wrong!

Truthfully, this current season has been the hardest of my life. Five years ago, I was given an eight-week death sentence due to Stage 4 cancer. Soon after that, my marriage fell apart, my adult kids moved across the country, and my mother — whom I did not know very well growing up — was also diagnosed with cancer and came to live with me so I could care for her.

In my darkest hour, God gave me what I needed most: divine healing in my heart, in my mind and in my spirit. I supplemented the work the Holy Spirit was doing with the help of a professional Christian counselor and received relief from my loneliness because I was connected to Christ in the right way.

One of the most beautiful things I’ve discovered during this healing season is that God draws close to the brokenhearted because He knows how hard it is for us to draw close to Him when we’re brokenhearted.

In the midst of my deepest heartache, God has somehow given me what I’ve longed for the most: relief from loneliness, a relief that brings joy and contentment in Him. Honestly, it was hard to see the Holy Spirit at work until I was forced to be totally alone and had no one else to run to but my Savior!

I never want to downplay the heartache that comes with this life because I know it well. I don’t want to simplify a connection with the Creator of the universe. Yet the vine Jesus refers to in John 15:4 is sort of like a Wi-Fi connection — it's always there, but it’s of no benefit to us until we connect to it.

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4)

It took a while for me to fully surrender to the only one who will never leave me or forsake me. The Lord revealed to me through my many tears that the reason I felt alone was because I was relying more on God’s people than on God. To find relief from my loneliness, I needed to spend time with God alone!

The fact of the matter is, He was there for me all along, like a Wi-Fi connection, lovingly and patiently waiting for me to connect my heart, mind and spirit to His heavenly vine: Christ alone!

Though my entire life as I knew it was completely dismantled, today I have joy and am healing, and I am not dependent on other people or circumstances to feel connected. I know that there is a Savior who gave His life to connect with me now and forever, so I walk out my faith on an even stronger foundation — one that can’t be shaken.

Dear God, sometimes I feel far from You, or I fight to find a way to connect with You. I pray that I will feel Your touch today. Reveal Yourself to me in a whole new way, and open my eyes to be able to see Your work in my life. Open my heart to receive all the love You want to pour into me, and open my spirit that I would feel that beautiful connection to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Revelation 3:20, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (NLT)

Seek to Speak the Truth to Each Other..... by Lynette Kittle

 Seek to Speak the Truth to Each Other

by Lynette Kittle

"Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”—Acts 5:4

Do you ever find yourself “fudging” the truth in everyday life situations?

Perhaps you justify doing so because you believe you’re keeping the peace or sparing hurting someone’s feelings. Maybe in your opinion, you’re not really being dishonest or deceptive but rather managing conversations and situations for the best.

Possibly you leave out details because you don’t want people to know what’s really motivating your actions. Or maybe you only tell partial truth because you want someone to have a certain impression about you.

Yet Scripture is pretty straightforward in instructing Christians to “Speak the truth to each other” (Zechariah 8:16).

As well as Proverbs 22:21 urges you to be honest and speak the truth.

In Leviticus 19, God gave Moses’ guidelines for Israel to live by, including “Do not defraud or rob your neighbor (vs. 13).

Although many may not consider “fudging the truth” a form of defrauding, it’s robbing another of truth with an intention to be misleading.

A really severe example of the seriousness of defrauding is in Acts 5, where a couple named Ananias and Sapphira sold land and brought the money to give to the Apostles. Instead of saying they were keeping some of it for themselves, they mislead the group to believe they were giving the total amount received.

Act 5:2 describes how “With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.”

In today’s standards, it wouldn’t seem like a big deal but both were immediately struck dead and carried away from the scene (Acts 5:5-10).

Although today’s culture may not understand why this deadly incident occurred, Acts 5:4 explains why it was such a serious situation. “You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

Still, with “fudging” so widespread in present-day culture, most believe there isn’t anything wrong in practicing it. Instead of seeing it as defrauding others and a sin against God, people rationalize its use.

As you go about your daily life, ask God to help you not to defraud those around you.

Ask Him to show you any areas where you may have failed and confess your sin to Him. Psalm 32:5 states how when you acknowledge your sin and you do not cover up your iniquity, God forgives and frees you from the guilt of it.

Choose today to speak the truth in all your dealings with others.

Dancing Backwards..... by Katherine Britton

 Dancing Backwards

by Katherine Britton

Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. - Psalms 31:3

Ballroom dancing is decidedly anti-feminist.  

Now, when I say “ballroom dancing,” forget those incredibly stylized, choreographed performances you’ve seen on “Dancing with the Stars.” I’ll admit to a few transfixed stares when that show begins, because those professional dancers really can execute some amazing steps with unbelievable energy – meanwhile, I can be about as graceful as an elephant taught to balance on a giant ball. Still, the celebrities and professional dancers on the show don’t quite match my idea of ballroom dancing. Their performances are just that – canned routines so highly polished that they hardly resemble an actual dance anymore. When the judges’ critique starts, the performances become all about intangibles like “energy” and “heart,” or technicalities like “precision” and “form.”

That’s fine. That’s what makes the show. But who really dances like that, much less choreographs every song?

Real ballroom dancing, in my mind, happens when a couple walks out on the dance floor, the music begins to play, and a graceful, spontaneous game of follow-the-leader begins.

Yes, I did just compare ballroom dance to a game I played when I was five.

Here’s the catch in ballroom dance: the woman is walking backward most of the time, following her partner’s lead as he dictates the steps. She’s moving in a direction she can’t see, and even if she knows every step in the books, she doesn’t know what’s coming next until her partner leads her. And her hand on his shoulder and his hand on her waist is the only communication between the two. Following isn’t as easy as it looks!

No matter how great the trust between dance partners, the temptation is always there – especially in beginning dancers – for the lovely lady to resist her role as follower. She’ll look over her shoulder to see where she’s going, or to pull her partner in the “right” direction when she doesn’t think he’s leading well.

I had a ringside seat to watch this unfold recently, when I helped teach basic waltz and foxtrot steps at a Valentine’s Day dance. Most of the couples there had been married a minimum of 20 years, but a good number of the ladies still had trouble following their husband’s lead. These ladies would stop in the middle of a song to tell him what he was doing wrong, grow impatient as he figured out the double challenge of doing the steps while leading, or warn him that he was about to run into another couple.

As I’ve slowly learned with my husband, David, the best dancing happens not when he executes the steps like Derek Hough, but when I focus on following whatever he does next. We’ve improvised some pretty, shall we say, unique steps on the dance floor because of that, and incredibly, they’ve worked. We’ve gotten a couple of funny looks after that kind of improvisation, but they’re actually some of my favorite moments on the dance floor. The reason is pretty simple – it’s times like that, when he pulls a spontaneous new move and I manage to follow, that I know we’re connected.

And so I say that ballroom dance is decidedly anti-feminist. It’s no solo activity, and the woman must always follow the man’s lead. Yes, even when she thinks he’s going the wrong direction and can’t see where she’s going. Otherwise, it’s not really dancing.

Just as my husband leads me through the dance, so Ephesians 5:22-33 says Christ leads his church. The steps are far more elaborate, so that we can never know them all, but the technique of closely following is the same. For “Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior,” and as we trust his leading, he will lead us on.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
 And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he.
– "Lord of the Dance"

Intersecting Faith & Life:  Are you more focused on the exact steps you think your life should follow, or are you sensitive to the Lord’s leading? Are you so distracted by what’s outside of your relationship with Christ that you’ve lost your connection with him? In this Lenten season, let’s relearn to follow the leader.

A Prayer for Thankfulness When You’re Struggling..... By Wendy van Eyck

 A Prayer for Thankfulness When You’re Struggling

By Wendy van Eyck

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

If you’re struggling with being thankful for an imperfect life at the moment here are 5 different ways to practice thankfulness:

1. Toe to head thank you

As a teenager, I heard Mike Pilavachi speak at a Soul Survivor event. I can’t remember most of what he said but one thing stuck with me: a prayer of gratitude when you wake up in the morning. I still do this from time-to-time. Basically, the idea is that as you wake up in the morning you start at your toes and you thank God for the ability to wiggle them and then you move up naming various body parts and why you are thankful for them until you reach your head. I generally find at the end of this prayer I’m pretty cheerful about the day ahead.

2. Grace

Another way to build gratitude into your life even when you aren’t feeling it is to say grace before your meal. Don’t make this a rote prayer that you learned at kindergarten. Use each meal as an opportunity to thank God for one good thing in your life. If you’re really drawing a blank, you can always simply thank him that you have food for one meal.

3. The Ann Voskamp method

A few years ago now, Ann Voskamp wrote a beautiful book about how she learned to embrace gratitude through hard things. It is called One Thousand Gifts and if by some chance you haven’t read it yet, you should. Without giving too much away the basic premise is to find 3 things to be grateful for each day. Ann Voskamp’s lists always read like poetry. I tried my own list for a couple of months while Xylon had chemo and I definitely found myself noticing the small things to be thankful for that I might have otherwise missed.

4. Sunset thank you

One of my cousins, Pam, was telling me recently how from the time her children are small she tells them every time they see a sunset that God loves them and just like the sunsets every evening God’s love for them will never change. I thought this was a beautiful idea. It also made me think of the sunset as an opportunity to thank God for being part of the day we just lived. Even if I didn’t feel him there the sunset reminds me that was.

5. Last thought at night

Something I try and do each night as I fall asleep is to thank God for at least one thing that happened that day. This prayer is usually really sleepy but it helps me to fall asleep in a good frame of mind and forget all the difficult things that might have happened in the day.

Do any of these ideas sound doable to you? Do you think they’d help get you into a cycle of cheerfulness-prayer-gratitude?

Prayer: God, sometimes life gets me down and I find it hard to see things to be thankful for. Open my eyes to see the gifts you’ve given me in my life. I’m going to start by thanking you for loving me enough to come to earth and die so we can live together forever. Amen.

THE RESURRECTION..... Rebecca Barlow Jordan

 THE RESURRECTION

Rebecca Barlow Jordan

Jesus said to her,
 "I am the resurrection and the life."
JOHN 11:25

FROM THE FATHER'S HEART
My child, you've walked away from the funerals of your loved ones with fresh memories still clinging to you like grave clothes. Tears have filled your eyes as you've said good-bye to the last dreams of your heart. Remember, for those who love Me and are My children, death is but a step into eternity with Me. It is never the end but the start of forever - what you were created for! Take heart. I am the resurrection and the life. Where I am, you will be also. Find peace in Me.

A GRATEFUL RESPONSE
Lord, death could not hold You. And because of You, the resurrection, we, too, can live. Thank You that the grave is only a journey into the presence of God. You have removed the sting of death and empowered this thing called life. Now I will live in Your presence forever.

SIMPLE TRUTH

On the other side of death is the real side of life.