Our Righteousness..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 Our Righteousness

Dr. Charles Stanley

Ephesians 2:1-10

Anyone who thinks of himself as a pretty good person ought to take a look at God’s assessment of humanity. He says we all come into the world spiritually dead and are ruled by Satan, his world system, and our own sin nature, or flesh. In the Lord’s eyes, we are children of wrath who deserve only punishment.

On the other hand, God is so pure and holy that He is totally separated from all sin and cannot look upon it with any favor or approval (Hab. 1:13). Everything He does is appropriate and beneficial; by comparison, even mankind’s righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). Yet even though we have nothing of value to offer Him, the Lord wants us for His own and has done everything necessary to draw us close.

Those of us who have placed faith in Jesus Christ have been made spiritually alive in Him, and all our sins have been forgiven. There’s a striking contrast between what we were and who we now are in the Lord. But this change has nothing to do with how good we’ve been. Even the faith with which we respond to the Savior comes from God. We can never make ourselves righteous; it’s all a gift from Him. And once He declares us justified, we will never be pronounced guilty again.

God has said that in the ages to come, He wants to show the “surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us” (Eph. 2:7). For all eternity, we will be showered with this awesome demonstration of His love. As great as our blessings are now, they’ll pale in comparison to what awaits us in heaven.

The Experience of His Love..... Craig Denison

 

The Experience of His Love

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

To know God is to experience God. Just as we experience aspects of one another as we grow in friendship, we experience the wonders of God as we seek to simply know him. God is calling us to a life of seeking him with all we are. He is calling us to value relationship with him above all else that we would love no other but him. May you encounter wonderful aspects of relationship with your heavenly Father this week as we wholeheartedly seek to know him with all we are.

Scripture:“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

Devotional:

There is nothing in this world like experiencing the unconditional love of God. His love extends farther than the width of the skies. His love goes deeper than the deepest sea. His love is more powerful than a raging fire, and it is closer than the heartbeat within your chest. Experiencing his love is like becoming new again and again. With each taste of his affection, the wounds of the past become healed and restored that one no longer regrets pain but rejoices in the opportunity it gives to experience the love of a good and near heavenly Father once again.

When we seek to know God we gain experiences with his love because it’s who he is. 1 John 4:8 says, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” To know love is to know God because every bit of true love comes from him. 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” It’s time for you and me to “believe the love that God has for us.” It’s time that we cease questioning whether we are loved and instead seek the face of our heavenly Father that we might know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loves us.

Almost all of my energy goes toward being loved. I look for love everywhere. I look for it from my wife, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and total strangers. I constantly concern myself with whether I am, moment by moment, loved or not. But Jesus came that we might no longer ask ourselves that question. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God already loved us so much that he died for us (Romans 5:8). There’s nothing we have to do to earn his love. If we need a fresh reminder of it, all we have to do is simply seek his face and love will come as the result.

We have unlimited access by the grace of God to the love of God. Unconditional, limitless love awaits us at every turn if our hearts will simply seek his. Scripture says in Psalm 27:8, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” May we be children who constantly seek the face of our loving heavenly Father. May we be a bride wholly wrapped up in the love of our Bridegroom. And may we experience as the result of simply seeking God the powerful affections of a God who laid down his own life for the sake of his creation.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the love of your heavenly Father. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to seek God and as a result experience an encounter with his love.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16

2. Where are you seeking love? To whom or what are you turning for love other than God?

3. Take time to seek the face of your heavenly Father and encounter his love. Open your heart to him and simply desire relationship with him. He will take care of the rest.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

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

1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” We have no reason to fear seeking God. All that he would say to us, do in us, and lead us to comes from a foundation of his perfect love. There is no reason to fear in this life. There is nothing here that can separate us from eternal, unbound relationship with our heavenly Father. Allow his love to cast out any reservations you have today. Receive an awareness of his perfect love and rest easy in his kindness.

Extended Reading: 1 John 4

God is Near, Even When He Feels Far Away..... By Brenda Rodgers

 God is Near, Even When He Feels Far Away

By Brenda Rodgers

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed..." - Deuteronomy 31:8

Often when I feel God is far away, shame takes over. We have this idea that low points in our relationship with Jesus equate to a lack of love for Him. Sometimes well-meaning churches or Christian environments support this belief.

However, most people in the Bible felt like God was far away from them at one point in their journey. Think about Hannah whose only hope in life was to have a baby. Or Joseph who was sold into slavery. What about Moses who never got to enter the Promised Land? Even though the Bible may not articulate that these people felt far from God, I imagine that their circumstances created that tension. And then, of course, there was Jesus Himself who asked, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).

In many ways, our relationship with God is like our human relationships. There are times we feel closer to God than in other times, just like there are times we feel closer to people in our life than other times. This is natural. There's no reason for it to cause shame or make us question our love for Him. In fact, we need to guard against doing that because it is a tactic of the enemy. Satan wants us to feel shameful about our relationship with God, and the longer we wallow in that belief, the more opportunity he has to build a foothold in our lives.

Remembering that my feelings aren't my reality is hard for me. Everything I feel is reality for me. But the Bible tells us differently. We may feel that God is far away but the truth is He never leaves us and He's always with us. Let's look at some of the promises from the Bible that tell us God is always with us:

"Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).

Feelings are powerful and important, but we do not need to depend on them to guide us. When we're tempted to believe our feelings instead of what is real and true, we need to meditate on these promises from God. Reality is what the Bible tells us, not what our feelings say.

What Are You Thankful For?..... by Ryan Duncan

 What Are You Thankful For?

by Ryan Duncan

“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” – Psalms 69:30

A while back, there was an episode of The Simpsons in which the family is celebrating Thanksgiving. When the time came to say grace, Bart Simpson bowed his head and said,

“Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing.”

The first time I saw this clip on TV I remember feeling a mix of emotions. On one hand, I was angry that such cynicism was being shown toward God and a day celebrating thankfulness. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but relate to Bart a little. I was at a time in my life when everything seemed out of control. I had no money, my life felt like it was stuck in neutral, and my future was looking pretty bleak. Why should I be thanking God for anything?

If you’ve ever been in my situation, I want to point you toward a passage of scripture that helped me put things in perspective,

“On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’”  – Luke 17:11-19

It’s easy to spend our lives worrying and obsessing over the problems of life. It’s also easy to overlook a blessing in times of need, or forget to be thankful when troubled times have been put to rest. Be sure you don’t become one of the nine lepers, who were so happy to be cured that they forgot who cured them. This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to spend time remembering what God has done in your life.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Whatever your situation may be, count your blessings and take a moment to thank God for them.

Further Reading
Psalms 95:1-6

A Prayer to See Children as a Blessing..... By: Victoria Riollano

 A Prayer to See Children as a Blessing

By: Victoria Riollano

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.” - Psalm 127:3-4

As a young child, I already knew I wanted many children. The thought of having little people who loved me unconditionally and even looked like me was pretty exciting. Yet, as I started having children, I realized that the motherhood journey wasn’t easy. There were days that were full of frustration; I wondered if I could ever measure up to the mother I dreamed of being as a child.

Although I knew that motherhood didn’t come with a manual, I still felt like I would never be good enough. Consequently, the more children I had, the more I would be met with comments of, “You have your hands full” and “I can’t imagine having that many children. It seemed the world around me was confirming the pressure and insecurity I felt within myself. Yet, one day during a grocery store outing with five little ones in tow, a man old enough to be my grandfather quietly whispered under his breath words that I will never forget.

 “Wow! Look at all those generations, you are so blessed.”

In that moment, I was reminded that my current woes would soon be fading memories. The sleepless nights with an infant wouldn’t last forever. The conversations with my preschooler about eating healthy foods or flushing the toilet will one day make me giggle. The irritable moments with my tween will soon be a story that I will share with their future children. You see, the man at the grocery store wasn’t concerned about the squirmy little ones in the cart, he saw who they would one day become. These children would become generations of men and women who would impact the world around them. He could see that my present annoyances would be nothing compared to the great reward of seeing them grow and flourish. 

Children are indeed a blessing from the Lord.

The more and more I’ve thought about this moment over the years, I’ve realized that children are an opportunity to learn more about myself and the Lord. As I raise my children, I’ve learned the power of patience, the beauty of offering forgiveness, and how to love people in moments where I struggle to love myself. Each day, as I find ways to see them grow and blossom, I am reminded just how much God loves me.

I believe it is no coincidence that He calls us His children. As the Bible says, if a natural parent does good by their children, how much more will our Father in Heaven do good for us? Certainly, we serve a God who loves us beyond our daily messes and occasional attitudes, just like we love our own children. This, alone, is a great victory.

My prayer for all caretakers today is that you would know that the Lord is near. Even on the days you may want to give up or cry yourself to sleep, He hears, He knows, and He answers. May you not allow today’s frustration to cheat you out of the joy of parenting. Though there will be hard days, our God is able to light up our path and teach us how to be caretakers who can love and speak life to those He has entrusted us with.

Let’s pray.

Lord, 

I thank you for the precious children you have placed under my influence. Help me to love them from your heart. Teach me the words to say that would uplift them and never crush their spirit. Father, silence me when my words don’t reflect your heart and give me the boldness to speak up when they need an advocate. I thank you that children are a blessing from you. Help me to see them for who you have called them to be and to speak life over their destiny. And on the days that I feel weary, remind that you are near and strengthen me.

In Jesus name, 

Amen.

The Origin of Christmas..... Unknown

 

The Origin of Christmas

Unknown

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. -- Luke 2:11

When Pope Julius I declared December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in A.D. 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today? And when Professor Charles Follen lit candles on the first Christmas tree in American in 1832, who would have ever thought that decorations would become as glamorous as they are today?

Even before these two events that shaped what Christmas means today for most, there was a bright, special star that lit the dark night thousands of years ago letting the world know that Jesus the King was born. Usually, we don't celebrate historical figures as children, but in the case of Christ, it is appropriate.

When Christ was born, shepherds came to honor Him, wise men from the East brought Him gifts, and the earth rejoiced at His birth. These people who came to worship Him had no idea what Christ would accomplish as an adult. But they were right in traveling to worship the King because His birth was the most remarkable event in human history. Wise men and women today worship not only the Child of Bethlehem, but the Christ of Calvary.

As we approach the holiday season again, we are faced with yet another opportunity to pause in the midst of all the excitement, decorations, and commercialization, to consider again the origin of Christmas--the One whose birth we celebrate. Let's not forget the true meaning of why we celebrate during this time of year. Celebrate the baby Jesus and trust Him as Savior today.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Thank God for sending His Son that glorious night to be born of a virgin, live a perfect life, die on the cross for your sins, and rise from the dead three days later to give you eternal life through Him.