God Works Within Us..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 God Works Within Us

Dr. Charles Stanley

Ephesians 3:20-21

Let these words slowly sink into your understanding: “able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (v. 20). What an amazing description of God’s ability to work within us.

Yet so often our focus is mainly on what we want Him to do around us: If He would change this situation or fix that problem, then my life would be better. But He invites us to think and ask bigger—He wants to change us!

The Holy Spirit has more than enough power to transform lives from the inside out, but working change within is usually a slow process. Spiritual fruit takes time to grow and mature. That’s why we need patience and faith to believe He is working even when we don’t see the results right away. God is never in a hurry and will never give up on us.

The Lord has a purpose for your life, and He is constantly working to achieve it. Although He has an individualized plan for each one of His children, He also has an overarching goal—to conform every believer to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. In order to accomplish this, He may have to bring us through some struggles and heartaches. It might make no sense to us, but God knows exactly what He’s doing.

What would you like to see the Lord do within you? As you read the Scriptures, look for qualities that God considers precious, and ask Him to work them out in your life. Then rely on His wonderful promise to do even more than you have asked or imagined.

His Love Has Redeemed Us..... Craig Denison

 

His Love Has Redeemed Us

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” The greatest of all aspects of the Christian life is love. Love is to be at the foundation of all we do, all we are, and all we hold on to. If we focus on love and allow the Holy Spirit to strip everything else away, what will be left is a life of blessed simplicity rooted in face-to-face relationship with our heavenly Father. As we spend time this week looking at the simplicity of love, I pray that all the weighty, frivolous things of the world that rob you of an abundant life fall away in light of the glorious goodness of God’s unconditional and wholly available love for you.

Scripture:“For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.” Psalm 130:7

Devotional:           

The eternal redemption afforded to us by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus is a wonderful, life-giving demonstration of God’s unconditional, unchanging love. I’ve gone through much of my life feeling condemned. I look at my thoughts, actions, reactions, and failures and apply my condemning perspective to my perception of my heavenly Father. But in reality, he has so faithfully demonstrated his overwhelming love to me through the securing of my redemption. In reality, he truly loves me just as I am even with all my failures and faults.

Colossians 1:19-22 says,

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 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.

God sees you and me as “holy and blameless.” Through his love we have been totally redeemed: set right before the God whose perspectives and beliefs are true above all else. When he says we are redeemed, that truth is now meant to be at the foundation of all we think, believe, and do.

Psalm 130:7 says, “O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.” You and I are redeemed apart from anything we do. We are made holy apart from any inherent ability or worthiness we possess. God’s passionate desire for restored relationship with us caused him to secure what you and I could never attain on our own: the eternal redemption of all who believe in Jesus Christ.

So what does it mean for you to be redeemed? What effect does redemption have on your day today? 1 Peter 1:14-15 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Live your life today in light of the redemption secured for you by Jesus. Allow the Holy Spirit to do a mighty work and help you live differently today than you did yesterday. Your past failures and weaknesses do not define you. Your present misconceptions and sins can be forgiven, healed, and transformed this instant. Jesus made a clear path for you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received (Ephesians 4:1). All that is required of you is to believe, trust, open your heart to God, and live today in the constant communion God desires with you. May your day today be filled with the life-giving transformation and freedom that comes from living in light of your present redemption.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the redemption secured for you by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Ephesians 1:7

“O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.” Psalm 130:7

“He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:12

2. Where have sins, lies, past failures, or wounds been causing you to live apart from your redemption? Where has your life looked more like the world and less like heaven? Confess those sins and your need of God’s forgiveness, transformation, and presence.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19-20

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

3. Receive God’s forgiveness. Spend time opening your heart and receiving his presence.

“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Psalm 130:3-4

“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14

Our heavenly Father is wholly patient with us as we learn to live out this incredible gift of redemption. He is perfectly kind and forgiving when we come to him and confess our sin. And he has a perfect plan every day for our transformation, healing, and freedom if we will simply make space in our lives to spend time with him and receive all he has to give. May we as the body of Christ learn what it is to live in light of the glorious inheritance of redemption, freedom, and abundant life secured for us by the precious blood of Jesus.

Extended Reading: 1 Peter 1

If John the Baptist Were Alive Today..... By Jennifer Waddle

 If John the Baptist Were Alive Today

By Jennifer Waddle

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” - Matthew 3:1 NKJV

If John the Baptist were alive today, his message to the masses would be the same message he preached in the wilderness so long ago. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Yet, I wonder how many of us would take him seriously. In a world that is deafened by the constant noise and chaos, how many would actually listen to a man in the wilderness who claimed to be preparing the way of the Lord?

John’s timeless message is like a banner waving over every heart on the planet. It continues to wave bold and strong, even in the darkest of days. We need only look up and see that God’s kingdom is at hand. Our present circumstances are not our final destination. This is not all there is!

The beautiful thing about John’s invitation, is that it doesn’t require a whole check-list of things to accomplish. There is no get-your-life-together-first requirement. There are no rules you have to follow before repentance. For repentance is where it begins.

The Bible assures us that when a person, or a nation, repents of sin, God is faithful and just to forgive (1 John 1:9). When people humble themselves and seek the Lord, He hears them. He heals them. And, He forgives them (2 Chronicles 7:14). What a simple, yet unheeded call: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

If John declared the kingdom of heaven was at hand, more than 2,000 years ago, how much nearer is God’s kingdom today? Every new day, we are one step closer to our heavenly home. Yet, we continue to live as though this is all there is. We continue to strive for the things of earth, which will one day pass away.

Today, let’s ask God to renew our hearts, minds, and souls, by surrendering everything to Him. Every hardship, trial, sin, and struggle, let us confess them and lay them at His feet. Will you join me?

Heavenly Father, We come before You, humbly seeking Your will and Your way. Forgive us, Lord, for doing as we please, in a world that is not our home. Help us to gain a heavenly perspective. Help us heed the timeless call of John the Baptist—“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

Please, Lord, give us boldness and clarity to share this message with those around us, to break away from the noise and chaos and speak words of truth. Thank You, Father, for preparing the way through Your Son. There is no other way. Continue to work in our lives until the glorious day when Jesus returns. For it is by Him, for Him, and because of Him that we live, and move, and have our being. It is in His name that we pray. Amen.

What’s There to Gain from Loss?..... by Laura MacCorkle

 What’s There to Gain from Loss?

by Laura MacCorkle

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” - Job 1:20-21, NIV

In the next-to-last chapter of Dr. David Clarke’s The 6 Steps to Emotional Freedom: Breaking Through to the Life God Wants You to Live, a few sentences stand out in regard to our personal response to loss:

“You’re stuck if you have not genuinely changed as a person, in your relationships with others, and in your relationship with God. The whole point of loss is change.  Each loss ought to move you ahead in these three areas… God wants you to experience positive change, and one of His main methods to promote change is loss.”

Whoa. When’s the last time any of us has looked at a loss in our lives as something good? As something meant for positive change? As something from which we can gain?

It’s so much easier to become bitter, to stay depressed, to go into denial or to lash out in anger at those closest to us. 

When I think back about all the loss I’ve experienced in my lifetime, I don’t know if I can see resulting positive changes every time. Divorce, death, job lay-off, broken relationships, a church split… these are some of the losses that have impacted my life so far. Yes, some have grown me and strengthened my spiritual life.  But others are still a painful work in progress.

In the Bible, Job has got to be the No. 1 poster child for loss. He had it all: great wealth, good health and multiple children. And then one by one, God allowed it all to be taken away.

There was great suffering. Job agonized and felt alone. He cursed the day of his birth. I can imagine him thinking, Please, God, I am so tired of hurting. I have nothing left. Why are you allowing this to happen to me? I don’t know how much longer I can be ‘strong,’ hold it together and act like everything is fine.

But despite losing nearly everything, Job never curses God (although he is honest about his feelings). He honors His Creator and is faithful. Job sees that God’s way is the right way. He repents. And then God blesses him, giving him TWICE what he had before.

God doesn’t explain to Job why he allowed the suffering. And Job is okay with that. In fact, he goes on to live another 140 years: “He saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years” (Job 42:16-17).

We see that Job’s loss didn’t cripple him. He didn’t shrivel up his spirit and choose the bitter route for the rest of his days. No, what happened to Job only strengthened his relationship with God and matured his spiritual understanding. And that is the ultimate gain.

Like Job, we are to be faithful to God even when we endure loss in our lives.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Ask God today how, through your loss, He can help you gain positive change as a person—in your relationships with others and in your relationship with Him. Ask Him to use your experience to encourage someone else who has also suffered loss.

Further Reading

James 5:10-11, NIV

A Prayer to Stop Spiraling Thoughts.....By: Alisha Headley

 A Prayer to Stop Spiraling Thoughts 

By: Alisha Headley

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 10:5

 

Have you ever had a thought about something small and then that thought spirals into the worst-case scenario and before you know it, you’ve created an entire story in your mind that is completely false from the reality you are in?

I certainly have. And I’ve noticed a trend that often, thoughts take me captive rather than me taking them captive, and next thing I know, I’m on a wild wide of spiraling thoughts. From there, those thoughts turn into action.

A thought out of fear for example, could spiral into a belief that your situation is way worse than it is, leading you to decide to act based on a fear that came from a simple thought. And thoughts my friends, are not real. A thought is not tangible, yet we can turn it into an actual reality by our actions if we allow our thoughts to spiral.

So how do we stop the thought before it spirals into action? In today’s verse, Paul knew that the Corinthians could easily be led away from the truth of the gospel, just like we can be easily led astray by one thought ourselves. He encouraged them to pull down those thoughts that have been established in their minds that is anything other than truth, by making every thought obedient to Christ.

To take every thought captive, we must first be aware of our thoughts. The enemy is loving the culture we are in today because we live in a world full of distractions where thoughts are thrown at us at every turn without even recognizing it. We must wake up and look around and pay attention to the thoughts we allow in our minds. We must guard and shut the gates to our minds and kick out the thoughts that no longer belong there.

If you are feeling anxious, ask yourself what the thought behind that feeling is and kick it out. If you are feeling overwhelmed, insecure, sad, angry, or afraid – take the time to get figure out the through that is behind the reason you are feeling this way. And take that thought and make it obedient to Christ. Surrender it to Him, releasing it into His hands. This is something we as believers may practice daily, hourly, and sometimes minute by minute.

But remember, we have the power to demolish these thoughts full of lies from the enemy, so stand up, and be victorious kicking any thoughts out that are not from the Lord, and begin to be the one that takes over spiraling thoughts before they take over you.

Let’s pray.

Dear God,

Thank you, Lord, that you didn’t leave us empty-handed to roam this earth aimlessly. Thank you for your Word that you left us with. Thank you for Scripture and the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us. And we thank you for today’s verse from Paul reminding us that we have the power to demolish all the lies we have believed that leave us spiraling. Lord, we ask that you would prompt us to a full awareness of what we let enter our mind. Help us in these moments of fleeting thoughts entering our mind, to discern whether they are a truth or a lie. Bring to our attention some of the actions we have done in our life as a result of a thought that does not glorify you and your truth. Forgive us for those times we have believed thoughts that are not from you, rather than believe in your truth. We ask for your strength to rid ourselves of all the thoughts that are lies, so we can fill ourselves up with more of your truth. We love you, Lord and put our thoughts on you and your goodness.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen