Spending Our Inheritance..... Dr. Charles Stanley

 Spending Our Inheritance

Dr. Charles Stanley

Ephesians 1:11-22

The word “inheritance” usually brings to mind the money and real estate handed down from one generation to another. But God has an even greater legacy to share with His children—one that they are given the moment they enter His family.

Galatians 4:7 tells us that believers are God’s heirs. First among our priceless treasures is a living hope in Jesus Christ that cannot be taken away (1 Peter 1:3). What’s more, He pledged to supply our needs according to His riches (Phil 4:19). In other words, we already have all that we need for an abundant and victorious life.

However, some folks get stuck in spiritual poverty because they refuse to view themselves as adopted children. Failing to tap into their inheritance, they’re like a man who sees himself as a poor, sinful creature: he wanders through this big angry world hoping to hold on to his meager scrap of faith until he’s lucky enough to die and go to heaven. Of course that man misses the blessings available in this life, because he’s not looking for them.

How differently people see themselves when they look through the eyes of Jesus. Christians who live like the beloved, empowered heirs that they are will lavishly spend their inheritance of grace to benefit everyone they meet.

God gives all believers a pledge of inheritance out of the unsurpassed riches of His infinite grace. We are spiritually rich citizens of heaven who have nothing to fear in this world. Choose to live boldly for Christ, and see how abundantly God pours out blessing from the legacy already set aside for you.

The Triumphant King..... Craig Denison

 

The Triumphant King

Craig Denison

Weekly Overview:

What a gift we have in the Christmas season. God himself took on flesh and dwelt among us that we might find eternal relationship in him. His coming serves as a continual reminder of his grace and pursuit of us who are lost without him. As we look to Jesus this week to celebrate who he is and what he’s done, may you find life-giving hope and foundational joy.

Scripture:

“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!” John 12:15

Devotional:

In Zechariah 9:9 we find a profound prophecy about Jesus, our triumphant King. Scripture says,

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus achieved what no other king could have possibly accomplished, and he did it by taking the untrodden path of humility unto death. Jesus triumphed over death, ushered in salvation to all, and changed the eternal fate of the world through sacrifice. We serve a God who conquers with love.

Let us not miss the power in the metaphor Scripture prophesied and what it means for our lives today. When Jesus could have chosen any vessel to carry him down the pathway to victory, he chose a donkey. In a world where those who conquered rode horses and chariots, he chose a lowly foal. And after being mocked and beaten by the very ones he would offer victory, he chose the vessel of a cross as the means of triumph. He chose the final cry of death as a declaration of eternal life for all.

And in Jesus we find life by walking where he walked. Our triumph comes through a death of our own. Jesus says in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Whatever victory you need today, you’ll find it by laying down your own life and looking to your triumphant King. Freedom from sin comes from bringing who we are to the cross, engaging in authentic repentance, and discovering a new self won for us by Jesus’ powerful death. Wisdom and vision come from laying down our own thoughts in humility and asking God, who gives “generously to all” (James 1:5). Abundant life is the fruit of all who triumph in continual death to self.

In what ways are you still looking to your own wisdom and strength to find victory? Where is pride getting in the way of triumph? Take time today as you enter into guided prayer to lay down your life that you might find it in Jesus.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the power of Jesus’ triumphant sacrifice.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

2. Now reflect on Scripture’s call to lay down your own life. 

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

3. Bring to the cross anything in your life that’s rooted in self rather than God. Repent of those things and find forgiveness and freedom in Jesus. Allow God to empower you with his spirit.

“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

“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

Colossians 1:11-12 says, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” Great is our inheritance in God. Great is the life won for us by Jesus. May you find power, strength, endurance, patience, and joy today as you look to Jesus, your triumphant king.

Extended Reading: Colossians 1

Be Loved, Beloved..... AUBREY SAMPSON

 Be Loved, Beloved

AUBREY SAMPSON 

“God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning—Day Six.” Genesis 1:31 (MSG) 

My forehead was pressed against an airplane window, the pressure of which was relieving my nausea and mercifully preventing me from vomiting.

Getting sick in one of those small, white barf bags was an unacceptable option, especially because I was sitting next to a guy who, just a few seconds before, had dumped me.

We’d been dating for almost a year. And just before this weekend getaway with our little group of friends, he had told me that he loved me … wait for it … for my potential.

“I love you for your potential.” Literally. He said this.

He explained he meant that if I improved my taste in music and art and started seeing the world through different lenses (his lenses, I guessed) then I would be worthy of his love. He mentioned I should consider a bit more exercise as well.

“One day, I could totally see myself falling in love with you … when you are ready for me.”

I realized I had placed myself on another person’s scale, and not only his scale but, in many other ways, on many other occasions, on countless others’ scales — frantic to achieve some tenuous measure of worth. And I mean, if your entire life’s value relies on the inconsistent whims of a particular person or 

Even before this boy ever came into the picture, I had named myself falsely like so many of us do. I had picked up and held on tightly to certain destructive names, names like Rejected, Unworthy, Unlovable, Not Enough.

But for those false names to be healed, I needed to believe the first name God ever gave me: Beloved.

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” (Ephesians 1:4, NLT)

The power who brought into existence the swirling stars, the dazzling snow, the summer sunrises and the entire cosmos — the power who put on flesh, bore a cross, and conquered death and evil — breathed a name from the breadth of His unending love for you. It is your first name and your truest name: Beloved.

This name has existed for a long time. Long before the fall of humankind, long before God gave Adam and Eve a tour of their little garden paradise, long before God commissioned them to cultivate the land or govern anything — before they did anything meaningful or noteworthy — God spoke a blessing of goodness over them simply because they existed. “You are very good!” God cried out as both a proclamation and a heartfelt response. (Genesis 1:31)

Over Adam and Eve (and over you, as well), God declares with divine delight, affection and approval, “You are very good!” And it’s not a stretch to assume that “beloved” is contained in that phrase. In fact, in some Bible translations, the terms very good and beloved are similarly defined as “precious.”

Which makes sense. These are, after all, statements about the innate value and pleasure that God has for you and feels for you.

It’s as if, at the emergence of the created order, God made an announcement about you, a broadcast for the entire solar system to hear. God named you with enough force to reach through time and space: You are very good, my Beloved! My Beloved, you are very good!

Thankfully, after that plane ride, I never had to talk to that guy again. But whenever that same sense of unworthiness or rejection creeps in, whenever I begin hustling or striving for approval, I have to remember to stop and speak this truth over myself:

“Breathe, little soul. Slow down, little heart. What are you striving for? What are you after? You already have God’s approval and love in Christ. You are already known and accepted. Be loved, Beloved.”

May you live from your approval in Christ, not for the approval of anyone else. May you live as the Beloved you already are.

Jesus, thank You that You are the Beloved of God, and because of Your love for us on the cross and at Your resurrection, You made the way for us to lived loved. May we walk with humility, but also with our heads held high, as Your Beloved — for Your glory and Kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

How to Have Patience Like Jesus..... By: Lori Freeland

 How to Have Patience Like Jesus

By: Lori Freeland

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” - Colossians 3:12

Patience is hard.

In our fast-food, drive-thru, one-day-Amazon-delivery world, it’s a lost art. A muscle we don’t like to exercise often. Yet as Christians, we’re called upon to use that muscle. God desires for us to wait steadfastly upon Him and be longsuffering with each other.

Patience hurts.

A few years ago, I broke my ankle. After weeks of healing from surgery, it finally got cleared to bear weight. That first second my foot hit the floor, fire burned up my calf and my ankle wobbled. It took weeks of physical therapy and painful repetition to get back into walking shape. But the more I practiced, the easier it got. Building patience is kind of like that.    

Patience is something God understands.

After all, He deals with us 24/7. I can only imagine how much I test Him weekly, daily, even hourly—yet He never wobbles under the weight. He has an endless supply of patience, and He’s willing to share.

When you find yourself struggling, you can pray to have patience like Jesus.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

Some of God’s people are hard to love. They can be moody, mean, difficult, and impossible to understand. They blame you for things you didn’t do and have expectations you can’t meet. Sometimes you might wish they weren’t in your life.

You need God to show you how much He loves them. He can reveal what He sees under the surface, where they’re hurting, and tell you how to make a difference. Thank God for giving us patience to be kind and compassionate when we don’t have our own and for loving us when we are the ones who are difficult in someone else’s life.

The Joyous Paradox of Advent..... by Katherine Britton

 The Joyous Paradox of Advent

by Katherine Britton

"Come, Thou long-expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free…
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart"

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him." - Luke 12:35-36

Like so many Christian doctrines, the Advent season represents a bit of a paradox. I have to thank my colleague Sarah Phillips for expanding my understanding of the tradition, as the three purple candles and one pink candle were mostly a Christmas countdown to me. But Advent has a greater richness if we have eyes to see.

I found a parallel to the Advent paradox on a recent trip. A couple of weeks ago, four of my college friends and I met for a rare weekend together, as we live hundreds of miles apart today. We made pizza, giggled, and spent hours "sharing and caring" like we used to in college, despite the fact that half of us are now married and one of us had a toddler in tow. We were delighted just to be with people who once shared so much with us. As I prepared to leave, I was certainly a bit nostalgic for "the good old days." And yet, I was also thinking about the family and friends awaiting me back in Richmond. I think we all felt a similar tension - not unpleasantly - as the goodbyes rolled around.

Advent represents a coming rather than a going away, but holds a similar tension. On the one hand, we look backward to Christ's first coming in the manger. On the other, we look forward to the Second Coming and the fullness of our reunion with the Lord. And here we are, stuck between the two in the 21st century.

Advent encompasses so many human feelings - hopeful longing, wistful remembrance, renewed wonder, and more. We are twice waiting, first with the nation of Israel waiting for the Messiah, and then with Christians around the world waiting for the time when "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Rev. 7:17). As such, this season is much more than a tradition. It's a season that every person can relate to, because we've all experienced longing. And only one thing can truly fulfill our longings.

That's part of the beauty of celebrating Christ's birth at this dark time of year. We just experienced the winter solstice yesterday; now the days begin to brighten, just as Christ comes to be "the light of men." Our longing for brighter days is literally at hand. The dark night of sin's reign ends as we repent, and joy comes to the world.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Dig a little deeper into the Advent traditions, such as the Advent wreath. We'll light the white Christ candle before you know it - are you ready?

A Prayer to See God’s Goodness..... By: Chelsey DeMatteis

 A Prayer to See God’s Goodness

By: Chelsey DeMatteis

“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:10

“Slow down, pull over, transmission overheating!” This message flashed across the screen of our car as we were 435 miles from home, 15 miles from our exit, on a very busy highway. My husband quickly pulled over to the side of the road as I nervously watched cars, trucks, and semis fly by our SUV causing the car to shake.

“Lord, are you kidding me!”, I said from the back seat with our son. My husband shut off the car, prayed, and grabbed the owner's manual. He then did what the instructions said and we waited. I’m happy to say our vehicle did start and about 10 minutes later we were back on the road, obviously with a trip to an auto shop in the very near future!

A few hours later while unpacking and getting settled at our family lake house, I felt led to prayerfully thank the Lord for protecting us and getting us to our destination safely. I also realized while praying that in God’s goodness, He could’ve been using that “message of inconvenience” in the car to save us from a horrible accident or reroute us so we picked a closer exit where we wouldn’t hit a traffic jam.

I often find myself looking all around for God’s goodness, when all I really must do is look right in front of me. His goodness is packaged in all things, and as cliché as it sounds, His goodness is just as much the little things as the big things. It’s the breath in my lungs as my feet hit the floor in the mornings, it’s in the sweet encounters I have on my daily walk, and it’s most certainly in the smiling face of our little boy.

God’s goodness isn’t confined to the moments that feel grand, and it has become more meaningful to me since I realized this: His goodness is also in the unseen.

I believe the gifts in the unseen are one of the most overlooked parts of scripture. Ponder with me all God did in the unseen that only the prophets knew about. I think of the book of Exodus with all the conversations between Moses and the Lord. The Israelites didn’t know everything unfolding in these unseen conversations; all they could do was trust in the goodness of the One True God.

Look at this conversation between the Lord and Moses in Exodus 3:

“Then the Lord said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.’” - Exodus 3:7-10 ESV

Brothers and sisters, God’s goodness is unfolding in the seen and unseen. In the big moments and also the mundane. In the convenient and inconvenient moments. We need only seek the Lord and His heart with eyes wide open to all He is doing. My prayer is that this encourages your heart as much as it did mine. I pray you to live aware of the goodness of God.

Pray with me…

Lord, thank you for all you do out of your great love for us. I pray that my heart seeks you and desires to see your goodness in all of life’s circumstances. May I always trust in you even when I cannot see what you are doing. Help me more and more see your goodness right in front of me.

In Jesus’s name,

Amen.

5 Ways God’s Christmas Gift Keeps on Giving ..... by Lynette Kittle

 5 Ways God’s Christmas Gift Keeps on Giving (John 3:16)

by Lynette Kittle        

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”– John 3:16

Growing up the first Scripture verse I remember memorizing is John 3:16. I loved hearing it and repeating it to myself and all who would listen to me recite it.

It not only tells of the very first Christmas present ever given, the gift of Jesus, but also assures me of God’s love, where Jesus came from, and God’s purpose in sending Him.

Considering God’s priceless present to the world, the holiday season is an opportune time to share with family, friends, and those around us, 5 ways God’s Christmas gift keeps on giving:

1. The Gift of Love

Love does not exist outside of God. He is the only source of love because God is love (1 John 4:16). 1 John 4:19 states how God first loved each one of us. Before any of us were able to choose to love Him, He loved us.

John 3:16 assures us that in the history of the world, not one person ever, has been unloved by God.

2. The Gift of Purity

Titus 3:4-5 describes how, “the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared” for the washing away of sin. As 1 John 4:10 states, “He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

No matter what sin has been committed, God is willing to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Through God’s Christmas gift, sin is washed away.

3. The Gift of Salvation

Matthew 1:21 tells the story of an angel coming to Joseph stating, “She [Mary] will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

Salvation is good and pleases God “who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). As Romans 10:13 asserts, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

4. The Gift of Living in Love

God’s gift enables us to love one another. 1 Thessalonians 4:9 states through God’s example of loving us, we are taught how to love each other. God urges us in His word to,“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Romans 12:10).

We can know and rely on the love God has for us, and when we live in love, we are living in God and God in us (1 John 4:16).

5. The Gift of Life

God’s gift brings new life, causing old things to pass away (2 Corinthians 5:17). Colossians 1:27 tells us of “the glorious riches of this mystery,” which is Christ living within us.

God’s gift of life comes with eternal benefits as promised in 1 John 2:25, “And this is what He promised us—eternal life.”

His glorious Christmas gift to the world has eternal benefits to all who receive Jesus as written in 1 John 5:11, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”