The Church: God's Design...... Dr. Charles Stanley

 The Church: God's Design

Dr. Charles Stanley

Hebrews 10:23-25

When you hear the word "church," do you picture a little white building full of smiling people in fancy clothes? As lovely as that image may be, God's design for church is unrelated to it. He created the church to be a unified fellowship of believers who encourage each other and carry out His ministry to the world.

The Bible clearly defines the following as ministries of the church: worshiping the living God, instructing and edifying believers, making disciples of all nations, and serving the needy. Unless the leadership is careful, however, these purposes can all too easily get out of balance, with the unfortunate result that the body ends up malnourished. For example, a church with too heavy an emphasis on praise might become introverted. Congregations that overemphasize teaching could lose their joy, and those that evangelize to the neglect of the other areas could miss out on great faith.

Because of sin and human imperfection, we do not experience church as it was originally intended. Instead, there's a tendency to overstress certain ministry areas. What's more, divisive arguments--many of which concern minor issues, such as music preferences--too often destroy unity. Greed, pride, selfishness, and gossip can also tear a congregation apart.

Since they're composed of imperfect people, churches will be imperfect too. Though expecting anything else leads to disappointment, we should nonetheless strive for God's original design, continually measuring ourselves against Scripture and correcting course to realign with His purpose.

His Grace is Sufficient ..... Craig Denison

 His Grace is Sufficient

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

Grace is a gift most of us don’t know how to receive. We’ve been so inundated with the earthly systems of give-and-get and work-and-earn that grace is a concept few ever fully grasp. Yet it’s grace alone that has the power to transform lives. Grace alone has the power to bring freedom to the captives. By grace alone we are saved. There could be no better use of our time than consistently and passionately pursuing a greater revelation of God’s grace.

Scripture:“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Devotional:

It seems like every day I discover new ways in which I am weak and in need. Whether it be sin, physical exhaustion, or emotional dependence, I am constantly discovering my need for help. But daily I also discover a God who is wholly sufficient in all the ways I am weak. Daily I receive rejuvenation from my heavenly Father who seems to take these weaknesses of mine and use them for his kingdom.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But [God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”What great comfort we can find in the words of Paul here. And what amazing love our heavenly Father has for us that he would bestow his sufficient grace upon us.

We serve a God who turns our greatest weakness into our greatest strength. In his grace, all he asks of us is to have a heart open, willing, and receptive to him. Our God is one who comes down to us and lays down his life that we might live through him. He’s the King of Kings who washes the feet of the very men who would betray him. He’s the God of compassion who heals the sick and spends time with the sinners rather than the pious. He has given up any form of personal gain in order to devote his entire existence to paving the way for us to have restored relationship with our heavenly Father.

We serve a God whose grace is wholly sufficient for us. In fact, it’s only in living by his grace that we are made strong. Your heavenly Father says, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” In Christ we can boast in our need for our need is our greatest asset. Christ demonstrated through his ministry that he works powerfully when people simply acknowledge their need of him. From the woman desperate to touch his garment, to Zacchaeus the tax collector, to the paralyzed man lowered through the ceiling, God works incredible miracles in the lives of those who come before him with all their brokenness and need. His power is made perfect in those who simply cry out to him in desperation.

In contrast, we see those in Scripture who come before God thinking they have it all, and therefore receive nothing from him. Mark 10:17-27 tells us of a rich, young ruler who came to Jesus asking for his help but was unwilling to trade worldly success for eternal relationship. In response to the young man’s unwillingness Jesus says, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:23). I don’t believe Jesus was just talking about monetary wealth here, although money is most definitely included. I believe Jesus is making a statement about anyone who feels satisfied in themselves and the world apart from God. You can be poor and still receive nothing from God because you live pridefully without acknowledging your need. One of our greatest gifts is weakness because in acknowledging our weakness we make space for God to move and work.Those who are satisfied with worldly success, pleasure, and possession make little room for the incredible wealth of love, peace, passion, and joy God longs to give those who simply acknowledge their need of him.

You see, this life is not about possession, whether it be little or much—it’s about the posture of your heart toward God. The abundant life God longs to give you will only be received in areas where you acknowledge your weakness and need. The thief hanging on the cross who acknowledged his own sin received the gift of eternal life, not the pious and successful high priest who, in his pride, fought to crucify the very Savior he had been asking to come.

Posture your heart today as all those who have received the incredible wealth of the Lord’s love have before you. Ask the Spirit to show you your dependence and need of God if you don’t already know it. Ask God to humble you and make you receptive to all he longs to give. May it be his grace that is sufficient for you today, rather than your own strength. May it be his power that proves strong in your weakness. And may you experience today all the sufficient grace your heavenly Father longs to give.

Guided Prayer:

1. Reflect on your own need of God. Ask the Spirit to reveal to you your weakness. Spend time acknowledging your own sin, selfishness, pride and brokenness.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

2. Receive the grace God longs to give you. Spend time receiving his love and enjoyment over you. Receive the love, forgiveness, joy, and peace your heavenly Father longs to pour out on the broken and needy places of your heart.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

3. Ask God to move in power through your life today. Ask him to guide and help you accomplish what is set before you today through the power of the Spirit.

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

No matter how gifted you are, God will always work through you to greater levels than you could  accomplish on your own. Surrender your life to him and allow him to lead you to a lifetime of his unmerited favor. Every day as you wake up, acknowledge your dependence on God that your day may be lived in the abundance available to you. There is no better prayer you could pray in the morning than one asking God for his love, grace, and power in acknowledgement of your need of him. 

Extended Reading: Matthew 5:1-12

How To Find Courage in the Waiting ..... ALICIA BRUXVOORT

 How To Find Courage in the Waiting

ALICIA BRUXVOORT

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage …” Psalm 27:14 (ESV)

We sit in a humble huddle of plastic chairs, sharing our stories with a stream of tears. At first glance, we have little in common other than the Bibles in our laps. We’re women of various ages, stages and backgrounds, yet bound by an invisible thread: We’re all living in the throes of delay.

Some of us are waiting for healing and others for breakthrough. Some are waiting for prodigals to return and others for marriages to resurrect.

We’ve spent the weekend together at a women’s retreat, lifting our hands in worship and bowing our heads in prayer. All too soon, we’ll pack our suitcases and go our separate ways, but for now, we find comfort in our circle.

Our tales are different, but our ache is the same.

“Waiting hurts,” murmurs a woman with beautiful eyes and a gentle smile.

“And it’s exhausting,” another adds as she digs for a tissue in her purse and dabs at the drizzles of sadness sliding down her cheeks.

We talk about the nights when our doubts run wild and the days when our faith shrinks small. We confess the ways uncertainty is sapping our strength and stirring our fear. This is making space to share our struggles, but what we need most is wisdom in our waiting. So we shift our focus to the Bibles in our laps.

Psalm 27 was written by one familiar with the discomfort of delay.

Even though David was anointed as a teenager to be God’s chosen king, he waited years for the promised crown. In the bewildering gap between his sacred anointing and his royal appointing, he tended sheep in obscurity, served his leaders with loyalty and battled enemies with bravery. He was mocked by his own brothers, betrayed by confidantes and hunted by the ruler who was supposed to protect him. In the end, David spent more than a decade on the run before God placed him on the throne.

It would have been easy for David to give up on God in the waiting. But Psalm 27 tells a different tale. When David’s situation didn’t seem to match God’s declaration, he chose not to run from the Lord but toward him. (Psalm 27:4)

As my friends and I study the chapter, we linger long over verse 14, and we wonder if the truth it touts is possible.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage …” (Psalm 27:14).

From the shadows of our own delay, it’s tempting to dismiss David’s bold words as empty encouragement. But when we consider David’s story, we realize he’s not expressing a flippant commendation; he’s sharing a hard-earned realization — there is a way to grow strong in the waiting.

While David could have used many different Hebrew words to communicate the concept of strength, he selected the Hebrew word quvah, meaning "to bind together." Quvah evokes the image of a tightly woven cord.

With the gentle brushstroke of a single word, David paints a poignant picture of the source of his daily strength. David didn’t just wait on God; he spent time with God.

He worshipped and prayed, (v.4) sought the Lord’s instruction and obeyed. (v.7) He looked for God’s goodness (v.14) and celebrated God’s faithfulness. And as David twined his hope to God’s heart, he found courage in the waiting.

Then, when his lament finally turned to a laud of praise, God’s chosen king penned a promise to assure us we can become brave waiters too.

When we draw near to Jesus in our waiting — paying attention to His presence and talking honestly with Him in prayer, fueling our faith with His Word and binding our confidence to His character — our strength swells instead of sags. Our hope flourishes instead of fizzles.

But best of all, we don’t just gain the grit to press on — we garner the gift of pressing in. Right there in the middle of the uncertainty we’d hoped to avoid, Jesus offers us the intimacy for which we’ve always longed. And instead of unraveling in the waiting, we find ourselves bound to a Savior who won’t let us go.

Dear Jesus, increase my awareness of Your presence in my delay and help me to see Your unchanging faithfulness today. I want to know and love You even more when this season of waiting is over. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Isaiah 40:31, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (ESV)

Vessels of God (Ephesians 3:20)..... By Rachael Adams

 Vessels of God (Ephesians 3:20)

By Rachael Adams

Today’s Bible Verse - “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

Do you ever wonder if who you are and what you have to offer is enough? I certainly do. Even as Christians who know our identity in Christ, it is hard to live like it’s true. We feel inadequate and insecure about our capabilities and gifts. We wonder if our everyday acts of obedience matter at all.

In 2 Kings 4, we meet a woman who also felt like she had little to offer. Her sole possession was a pot of oil. Despite her lack, the prophet Elisha instructed her to borrow empty vessels to fill with oil. Fully aware that she had nothing to fill them with, she gathered them anyway.

As she poured the oil into borrowed vessels, the oil never stopped flowing until all the vessels were full. She was abundantly blessed as a result of her active faith. Not faith in herself, but faith in God working through her.

The same is true of us. We may only have a little oil, but God's supply is more than enough to fill our empty vessels. And in God’s graciousness, He has enough for us to continue pouring Him out to the vessels around us so they are full too.

This is the beauty of being a vessel of God. In and of ourselves we aren’t able, but God is more than able. As we allow Him to fill us, we can fill the world's empty spaces by using what He has given us. When we offer all we have, no matter how small and inadequate it may seem, we can trust God to turn it into immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

Yes, we are fallible and frail containers, but we have treasure inside (2 Corinthians 4:7-9). Our contents are priceless because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. This fact alone should give us faith we can act on, knowing we have His power and provision with us in each moment and in every interaction. Since He is more than adequate, we no longer have to doubt our adequacy because we always have Him with us.

This gift of His indwelling presence frees us from the pressures and expectations the world has placed on us as well as those we have placed on ourselves. His work through us gives meaning to the mundane and confidence to our call. We can rely on Him to give us what we can not produce on our own (Galatians 5:22).

Friend, you have everything you need to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. It may not look like you thought, but God can use you as you are to fulfill His great purposes.

Sometimes acting in faith may come naturally for us and other times we may need to borrow our neighbors' faith like the widow borrowed her neighbor’s vessels. But rest assured God is working in you and you are enough just as you are. On seemingly big days and seemingly small, we are valuable to God when we give all we have to Him and watch what He can do with all we have to offer.

Lord, help me to see I am able because you are able. Thank you for creating me in your image and for giving me your Holy Spirit to guide and empower me. I offer myself to you as an empty vessel to be filled by you and poured out so others may be filled by you too.

Deconstructing David..... by Ryan Duncan

 Deconstructing David

by Ryan Duncan

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
1 Samuel 16:7

The first time I read the story of King David, it was from a small, animated Bible my parents had bought me as a boy. As I flipped through the pages of that little book, I can remember looking on David as something of a superhero. Think about it: he defeated Goliath with nothing but a sling and five stones. After that, he became King of Israel, replacing Saul, who had done a pretty terrible job to begin with. He was referred to as a man after God’s own heart, and nothing could touch him.

After a while, I began to see the life of David as more of a fairytale. I still believed it to be true, but a part of me resented God for showing David so much favor. Why had his life been so perfect when the rest of us had to struggle? Why did God allow so many people to suffer pain, but always seem to step up for David? It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I stumbled onto this psalm written by David:

“Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal. You know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you.” – Psalms 69

Now that I’m older I realize David’s life wasn’t perfect; in a lot of ways it was actually pretty lousy. He was hounded by Saul for years, he lost loved ones to sickness and war, and he even committed some pretty serious sins. Being a man after God’s own heart didn’t mean David would be shielded from harm, and being a Christian doesn’t guarantee us prosperity. The thing that made David a great man, and the thing that makes our lives as Christians meaningful, was that he never turned away from God. We will all experience trials and tribulations in our lives, but by trusting God we can overcome them.

That is how we become people after God’s own heart, and in the end, that’s all God really wants.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Take a moment to look past your troubles and consider what can bring you closer to God.

A Prayer for Guidance..... By Kristine Brown

 A Prayer for Guidance

By Kristine Brown

“And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.” - 2 Samuel 7:20-21 (ESV)

King David spent years in battle, fighting enemies one after another. Not to mention running for his life from the former king, Saul. However, at this time God had given David a break from conflict. He enjoyed much-needed rest in his palace.

Then he got a brilliant idea.

David felt guilty living in luxury while the ark of God “dwelled in a tent.” (See 2 Samuel 7:1-2.) He resolved to do something about it. He was the king, after all. Who better to build a house for the ark of the Lord?

David shared his plan with Nathan the prophet. Since God was with David, Nathan encouraged him to go ahead. There was just one small problem: God didn’t tell David to do it.

That night, God spoke to Nathan with an urgent message for David. God had a different plan for the ark of the covenant, and He needed David to step out of the way. Even though David’s desire came from his best intentions, this job belonged to someone else. And through his mistake, God taught David a valuable lesson.

Sometimes, making a decision solely based on our good intentions interrupts God’s perfect plan.

David took the correction as an opportunity for growing closer to his Lord. And with the heart of a servant, David thanked Him for it. This is God’s desire for us too.

In His firm yet gentle way, God teaches us to trust. And when we allow the Lord to guide our decisions, we find unmatched fulfillment. So let’s agree to seek His instruction today. We can race ahead wanting to serve, but let’s also listen for the times He says, “Stop.”

Then, like David, we can thank our loving Father for the training. After all, He’s the best Coach ever.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your guidance. Forgive me for getting ahead of Your plans, and help me know when to stop and listen for Your direction. Your ways are perfect, Lord. Thank You for offering gentle grace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.