The Judgment..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 The Judgment

Dr. Charles Stanley

2 Corinthians 5:9-10

Every Christian is answerable to Jesus for how he or she lived life. We will not stand before the Great White Throne of Revelation 20:11--that is where unbelievers will be judged. Instead, we will go before Christ's judgment seat and give an account of ourselves.

Perhaps this seems like a contradiction: Believers will not be judged but will stand before Christ's judgment seat. The Greek word that 2 Corinthians uses for "judgment seat" is bema, which means a place of accountability. So those who believe in the Savior will not be condemned to death but will live and be accountable to Him.

Do not confuse accountability with giving a defense. We won't defend our worthless actions--those things we said and did that brought no honor to the Lord or shamed His name. God likens our selfish works to wood, hay, and stubble, which are items fit only for the fire (1 Cor. 3:13). The valuable thoughts, words, and deeds that serve the Lord are exchanged for rewards in heaven.

What we'll be judged on is the quality of our work. God has given every believer an individual purpose, along with the personality, talents, and spiritual gifts needed to fulfill it. The question that will be answered at Christ's judgment seat is, Did I live out my purpose to honor and glorify God?

Standing before Christ's judgment seat is something to look forward to. We need not fear, since we are beloved co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17, 34). Because of His sacrifice, we have a right to the treasures of heaven. He is eager to bestow them as a reward for faithfulness and obedience.

Choosing to Worship..... Craig Denison

 Choosing to Worship

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we have been afforded an opportunity to live an incredibly abundant life here on earth. Our God is nearer, more tangible, and has a greater ability to make his presence known than we’ve yet realized. He longs to make his children more in tune and aware of the depths of his love, guidance, empowerment, and nearness. He longs for our days here on earth to be marked by unveiled communion with him. As we look at what it is to live an abundant life here on earth, I pray that your heart will be awakened to the reality of God’s presence and affection in your life.

Scripture:“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” - John 4:23

Devotional:

In this life, we have an ability to choose to worship which we will never have again. When God brings final restoration to all things and we live in perfect communion with him, we will see him and know him fully. In heaven, worship will not be a choice. It will be the natural response of all of creation to the full revelation of God. Revelation 5:11-14 depicts this image:

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

God loves our worship here. John 4:23 says, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” Did you know that God is seeking your worship? It delights the heart of your Father when you desire to encounter him, know him, and give him your affections. There is nothing he loves more than communion with us.

When we choose to worship God here on earth, we are declaring to the Father and all of creation that he is King of kings and Lord of lords, and that he is our true ambition. To worship God here is to crown him as Lord of your life, come underneath his leadership, and make him first priority. What we do with our limited time here on earth has the power to affect the heart of God for all eternity. And living a lifestyle of worship instead of choosing the things of the world has the power to guide others into relationship with the Father, thereby changing the nature of their eternities forever.

Gathering together to worship with fellow believers is no small or fleeting task if we will take time to ask God what it does to his heart. Every time we gather together to worship, we can move the heart of our Father. We have the ability here on earth to delight our Creator. He sent Jesus to die that we might walk in communion with him. Our worship and pursuit of relationship with God is the reward for the unmerited suffering of our Savior. Every word we sing from our hearts matters. Every person we love is music to the ears of our Father. Every act of worship has eternal significance.

Take time in guided prayer to allow God to reveal his longing for your worship. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to worship with your life. Crown God as King and Lord and live to satisfy your God’s desire for continual, intimate relationship with you.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the value of your worship here on earth. Allow Scripture and God’s presence to stir you up to live a lifestyle of devoted worship right now.

“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” Psalm 27:8

"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness." Psalm 29:2

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.” Revelation 5:11-14

2. What have you been pursuing above worshipping God? What is keeping you from doing everything in your life as an act of worship?

3. Ask God to show you how much he loves your worship. Ask him to help you live a lifestyle of worship, daily surrendering all you do to him as an act of praise and love. Rest in his presence and spend time simply being with him.

Mark 14 describes for us an inspiring story of worship. Mark 14:3-6 says, “And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. There were some who said to themselves indignantly, ‘Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.’” And then later in verse 9 Jesus says, “And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” This woman’s worship affected eternity. Her story of devotion and affection for Jesus has inspired countless Christians. May we live like this woman. May we give all that we have in love and devotion to the King who gave everything for us.

Extended Reading: Psalm 27

With Us in The Wilderness..... by Jennifer Waddle

 With Us in The Wilderness

by Jennifer Waddle

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.”’ Deuteronomy 2:7

When we find ourselves walking through a season of testing, most of us want to get through it as quickly as possible. The refining of our faith is never a pleasant experience. The Israelites knew all too well what it felt like to trudge through hard times. For forty long years, they traveled and camped and wandered, not knowing when they would reach the promised land. Perhaps, that is the most painful part about the testing of our faith. We don’t know how long it’s going to last or how painful it’s going to be.

But God…

God, in His faithfulness, walks through the wilderness with us. He provides what we need to make it through. Even though it is painful, it is crucial for the purifying of our faith. Just as the refining of silver involves extreme heat that allows impurities to rise to the surface, so the testing of our hearts involves uncomfortable pressure that urges us to surrender our thoughts, motives, and actions to the perfect will of the Father.

Though painful, we are never left alone in the process. The Refiner doesn’t put us through the fire just to stand by and watch. He stays with us, while lovingly turning up the heat until we release our impurities to Him. God knows our “trudging” through this life. He sees the trials and the hardships that come. But He doesn't stand by at a distance. He is with us, and in us, providing the strength we need to endure.

There is no doubt that the Israelites suffered greatly in the wilderness. What could have been a direct route, ended up being a very long road to the promised land. But if the Lord would have ignored their rebellion and skipped the refining process, the impurities of their hearts would have defiled His blessing.

The big question for us, is will we allow God to refine us, or will we continue to wander in the wilderness of rebellion?

Let’s willingly yield every impurity to Him. Let’s be open to the refining process, knowing that it is strengthening us and preparing us to cross over to the promised land.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

Where Were You When 9/11 Happened?..... by Veronica Neffinger

 Where Were You When 9/11 Happened?

by Veronica Neffinger

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28

“Where were you when 9/11 happened?” This is a question that seems to come up in discussions every once in a while. I think it’s because we all realize that, though we may not have known it at the time, almost all of us now remember vividly what we were doing the moment we found out about the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

I still have a clear memory of sitting in my fourth-grade class. My teacher had a somber look on his face as he told us that school was being let out early and all extra-curricular activities for the day were cancelled. The classroom became abuzz with questions of what happened, to which our teacher replied, “Your parents will tell you.”

I remember being surprisingly angry at my teacher in that moment -- if this was such a big deal, why couldn't he tell us what happened?

I don't remember the ride home, but the next thing I remember is seeing footage of the plane flying into the Twin Towers. Like many people, that footage has been seared into my mind and I can still see it, even though we were nearly 900 miles away from New York City.

It always leaves me with a sense of awe and wonder at the country's connectedness as I have met people years after September 11, 2001 and we have talked about where we were and what went through our minds on that day. My husband grew up in New England and his father, as a firefighter, knew colleagues who were called in to Ground Zero. It boggles my mind that someone so far away from me geographically at the time was thinking about the same event at the same time I was.

On the anniversary of this tragic day, I think I know why so many of us recall 9/11 so vividly and why it has impacted us so greatly: it's the power of a shared experience.

As I write, the after-effects of Hurricane Harvey wreak havoc on southeast Texas, and I'm reminded that even tragedies and terrible disasters, whether manmade or acts of God, have great power to unite people and to dispel differences.

"That's why America is so amazing," my husband often says, "when something like 9/11 happens, people from Los Angeles and people from rural Montana and people from New York City and everywhere else come together."

That is truly amazing. And truly beautiful.

And I can't help but think that this also applies to the Christian faith. No matter your faith journey, no matter how you came to find Jesus, no matter how windy your road, as believers, we are all sons and daughters of God and we have a shared experience that is more monumental than anything else. At some point in time we all made the same decision and we are all on the same road, with the same Savior leading us.

There is a lot of tragedy, a lot of suffering, a lot of sin in our world. We see it in obvious ways like the evil that was carried out on September 11, 2001, and we see it in more subtle ways in our own hearts, but we can rejoice because God’s Word tells us that He is greater than all of it. Christ has overcome the world and the sin that weighs it--and us--down.

Intersecting Faith & Life: We can be united as believers in the assurance that, no matter what darkness and trials come, our God “causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28).

Further Reading:
Romans 8
Psalm 121

A Prayer for Relief from Pain..... By Meg Bucher

 A Prayer for Relief from Pain

By Meg Bucher

“You heard my plea: ‘Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.’” - Lamentations 3:56

Anyone who’s suffered long-term pain can relate to the sentiments of the prophet Jeremiah in today’s verse. God does hear and answer our prayers, but His answers don’t always look the way we want them to, or happen in our time.

When my husband first complained of a pinched nerve, I honestly didn’t pay much attention. It happens every so often, and usually goes away in a few days. This time, it was much worse. He couldn’t lie down. Night after night he tried, but ended up down in the basement on the reclining couch. After living with the pain for a week, our friends and I pulled the reclining couch he’d been sleeping on upstairs. Weeks later, he was still sleeping there.

We take things for granted until they are taken away. Why does human nature have to be that way? God designed us, and did so perfectly… to need Him. He does give us more than we can handle and He does allow circumstances to bleed out beyond our control. There’s a lot of life He will withhold the answers to, and we don’t have the capacity to understand even if He explained it.

After weeks of pain, therapy, and doctor’s visits, it became clear there was something else causing his nerve to be pinched. Something, as I write this, only God holds the answers to. In prayer to Him, it’s tempting to beg for definitive answers over miraculous healing. But I know better from my own pain that hope deferred grows faith.

I pray for my husband to hear God’s voice through the pain, and feel His presence through the frustration. “Don’t be deaf to my call;” Jeremiah pleaded. When someone we love is in pain, we feel helpless to stop it. “Bring me relief!” When we are in pain, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, it takes over our focus. It becomes difficult to concentrate on the hope of healing, and hard to let go of what we think that should look and feel like.

Hold onto the hand that was nailed to the cross. That hand knows pain like none other. Our hope is in Him.

Father, we praise You for Jesus. No one has ever experienced pain like He did for us. Thank You for His sacrifice, which allows us to call out to You for help in full confidence that You hear us and will answer us and heal us. Forgive us for wanting to control what the answers to Your prayers look and feel like and when they happen. Bless us to be strong in Your Word, and rely on You for strength. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.