All He Asks of Us is Love.. Craig Denison Ministries

 

All He Asks of Us is Love

Craig Denison Ministries

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:“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Devotional:           

One of the most life-giving, transformational truths of the gospel is that of everything we have to offer God, of everything in this life we have to give, he most desires our love. To love God is all-encompassing. Colossians 3:14 says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” To love God is to pursue a life of wholehearted devotion to a King who is wholeheartedly devoted to us. To love God is to place ourselves in this never-ending, blessed cycle of giving and receiving limitless love.

The simple truth that God simply wants our love frees us from frivolous pursuits. It frees us from systems and practices that are rooted in “should” rather than true desire. God will take us however he can get us. He’ll take us if all we have to give is a belief that we should serve him or be with him. But he never desires to keep us in that place. He longs to love each of us to such a level that we would live and serve him out of a place of full devotion as the natural response to his overwhelming affections for us.

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.” Allow 1 John 4:16 to create an image in your mind for a second. Picture what it would be like to truly abide in God and have him abide in you. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a vision of what that would be like. What would everyday life look like if you were to truly abide in God and have him abiding in you?

So great is God’s love for us that he makes himself available for us to abide in him. So great are his affections for us that we could have him abiding in us. If we will pursue love above all else, we will discover a wellspring of simplicity and life rooted in wholehearted devotion to the God of love.

Cast off all other pursuits today in light of God’s call to love. Cast off the striving and tireless work of doing life rooted in the “should”and let God love you to a place of love-based obedience. Find rest today in the truth that God is simply after your heart. Open up to him and receive his vast affections. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let all that you do be done in love.” May you abide in the heart of your heavenly Father and allow him to come in and meet with you that all you do today might be done in love.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the call of God to love. Allow Scripture to fill you with a wholehearted desire to love God in all you do.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27

“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. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with a fresh revelation of God’s love for you. Receive the love of God and allow it to cast out all fear and reservation.

“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.” 1 John 4:18

3. Respond to the affections of God with your own. Tell God how you feel in his presence. Thank him for all that he’s done for you. Enter into the cycle of giving and receiving affection.

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

This cycle of giving and receiving affection is really just a picture of what it is to worship. As we allow God to love us, our natural response will be to love him in return because we are created for worship. As we receive his love we will naturally love him and others. For a long time I pictured worship as this time where I had to drum up affection for God that I honestly didn’t feel. God never asks us to fake it. He never wants worship that isn’t truly from our hearts. He knows we need his love to love him in return. If you find yourself emptied of affection for him and others today, take time to simply let him love you so that you can live wholeheartedly today.   

Extended Reading: 1 Corinthians 13

Naming the Tension We’ve All Been Wrestling With..LYSA TERKEURST

 Naming the Tension We’ve All Been Wrestling With

LYSA TERKEURST 

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 (NIV) There is a word I haven’t dared to use when I’ve faced relationship issues or tensions in the past. I’ve avoided it. I’ve been afraid to name it. I’ve ignored it when possible. The word is dysfunction. Now … let me confess something: I have dysfunctions. Other people I know have dysfunctions. All humans alive have dysfunctions. It shouldn’t scare us when we acknowledge that dysfunctions exist. But we should be concerned when someone lives as if dysfunctions are normal. Ahem. I’m pointing at myself here. I’m reminded of a time when my sister came to visit. My family had just finished a few renovations where some of the wiring in our house had to be reworked. For some reason our water heater would no longer work unless the back floodlights of our house were turned on. So if you were enjoying your hot shower and someone turned off the floodlights — wham! — cold water was very quickly making you cringe, scream and yell downstairs for someone to turn the floodlights back on. Hello, dysfunction. My sister tilted her head and said, “Lysa, you know that’s weird, right? You do know an electrician would be able to fix that, right?” Technically, I knew an electrician could fix the problem. But that wasn’t my automatic response. Calling an electrician would cost money, and when I was growing up, that wouldn’t have been an option for my family. So this thought process got ingrained in me that it’s better to get scrappy and navigate around problems rather than pay to fix them. But this isn’t just about floodlights and hot water. It’s about what the floodlights-and-hot-water situation represents. It’s about no longer being aware of just how dysfunctional things have become and reacting as if something is normal when it absolutely is not. Dysfunction means things aren’t working correctly. In other words, something gets in the way of how things ought to be. For example, a mother is supposed to parent her child. But it is a dysfunction when a child has to parent their mother. Another example is when a spouse is expected to be not just a partner but a savior of the other spouse. Or when one friend’s happiness is dependent on another friend making them feel OK all the time. And when we trip over areas of our relationships that just don’t feel right, we have a choice: We can use the conflict and tension to make us more aware of our issues or totally ignore what the other person is saying and stay wrongly convinced that this will get better on its own. But it won’t. Appropriately addressing the issue is healthy. Ignoring the issue increases the likelihood of dysfunction. I love how 1 John 3:18 instructs us in the importance of loving and living in relationships in truth: “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” When this isn’t the case and we find ourselves in a relationship where truth is manipulated, denied or partially omitted for the sake of covering up behaviors that should be addressed, dysfunctions may not just be difficult … They may become destructive. We then run the risk of a pattern of wrongs being tolerated as acceptable because over time they start to feel less alarming, more acceptable and eventually our version of “normal.” And while the issues with my hot water were more of an inconvenience, the dysfunctions hiding out in my relationships and life could be truly detrimental. Friend, I don’t know how these words may be resonating with you personally today, but here’s what I want to say to you: Dysfunctions may be inevitable. All relationships may be difficult at times. But they should not be detrimental to our well-being. I know how hard all of this can be, but this is where I am learning healed hearts and healthier relationships begin. They begin when we choose to stop ignoring dysfunctional, maybe even destructive, patterns and when we get honest. When we choose to bring these issues into the light and address them in equal measures of both grace and truth. When we pursue healthy boundaries and see them as the way to love others well without losing the best of who we are. We don’t have to be afraid of naming the tensions we’re already wrestling with. Healthy honesty isn’t trying to hurt us. It’s trying to heal us. God, help me not avoid or become numb to the dysfunction that may be present in some of my relationships. Even when naming it, addressing it or confronting it feels overwhelming or even impossible, remind me that I am not alone. You are with me. Give me the courage to have the conversations I need to have. Give me wisdom and discernment. I want to live in the health You desire for me to experience in my relationships. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Praying with Impact.. Dr. Charles Stanley

 Praying with Impact

Dr. Charles Stanley

1 John 5:14-15

Since praying is such a common practice for believers, over time it's easy to fall into habits that result in a lifeless and empty prayer life. Instead of a dynamic conversation with thoughtful requests and active listening for God's response, our prayers can seem more like grocery lists. Because communication with the Lord is such a vital part of the Christian life, we occasionally need to step back and examine how we're doing.

Begin by asking yourself these questions:

How effective are my prayers? Is God answering my petitions, or does it seem as if they never go past the ceiling?

Who am I praying for? Are most of my requests for myself or others?

What am I asking the Lord to do? Have I looked in the Word to see what He wants, or am I trying to get Him to intervene according to my plans and desires?

When do I pray? Is it only during emergencies or when I need something?

If you discovered any selfishness in your answers, you're not alone. Most of us struggle to enter God's presence with our eyes focused on Him instead of our needs. But the only way we'll be able to pray with impact is to fill our minds with Scripture so we can find out what the Lord wants to do.

Your prayer life can become effective and dynamic if you'll approach the Lord with a clean heart (Psalms 66:18), align your requests with His will, and believe He will do what He says (Mark 11:24). Then you'll be able to pray with absolute confidence knowing that He will hear and answer your petitions.

The Grace-Granted Patience to Smile and Wait..Meg Bucher

 The Grace-Granted Patience to Smile and Wait

By Meg Bucher

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.” - Exodus 15:25

I rushed to complete the school picture day check list.

Hair cuts …check.

Coordinating outfits …check.

Appropriate shoes …check.

Pre-picture day pictures before school …check.

Even though I seem to have all of the proverbial ducks in a row before they hop out of my car and walk into school, I can never be completely sure what the end product will be until I pull those developed pictures from the envelope months later.

My youngest daughter gives me every ornery reason to worry about what kind of photo everyone that enters my house will admire over the next year. I say a little prayer before I open that envelope.

Today’s verse talks of Moses receiving a direct answer to prayer. Sometimes, we get so used to our prayers not looking like the answers we expected, that we forget God is capable of an immediate yes. We’ve often primed ourselves for the possibility that we’ll never know how or if our prayers were answered at all.

Unlike the ‘wait and see’ expectations of the picture day envelopes, we can lift our prayers up to God and undoubtably know that He hears us …right away.

God intervened in response to Moses’ cry, and Moses obeyed God.- NIV Study Bible Notes

He may not answer immediately in the direct way that we want Him to, but let’s not count out that fact that He might …and then miss it!Jesus died to give us the freedom to speak to God everyday, all day, and anytime. The more we get to know Him, through the movement of the Spirit in and out of His Word, the more we realize that God is not unpredictable. He is dependable. He is Trustworty. He isLove.When we surrender our agenda in exchange for His will, we start to pray for His timing over our prayers.

Father, Praise You for hearing us, in a way that only You omnipotently could. Thank You for answering our prayers and allowing us to lift our prayers up to You through Jesus’ Your Son. Please forgive us for praying in hopes of our agendas being fulfilled over Your will for our lives, and bless our hearts to be moved by the Spirit as we study Your Word to know the difference. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

A Prayer to Live an Unfiltered Life..Betsy St. Amant Haddox

 A Prayer to Live an Unfiltered Life

By Betsy St. Amant Haddox

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” - 1 Peter 3:3-4

We live in a filtered world. A world that no longer accepts reality and instead demands that women master the charade.

Thanks to Snapchat, women no longer even have to post a picture of their actual selves. With a few swipes they can suddenly become a woodland fairy with butterflies nestled in their hair, don a crown of flowers, or turn their features into an adorable puppy. There’s obviously nothing wrong with fairies and puppies. But why do you want to look like one? “It’s fun,” you said. “It’s silly. I’m just playing around.”

That’s fine too—if that’s true. But how many of women are telling the truth in those moments? I think deep down, if we really dig beneath the surface of the lighthearted “look at my silly post, I have polka-dotted ears and a button nose” we’ll realize that we’re hiding. We duck behind one mask after another, secretly wishing we could use these filters in real life and permanently hide.

The theme of 1 Peter 3:3-4 this verse is found in the phrase “your beauty should not come from”—meaning, don’t let your identity be your outward beauty. Don’t let those efforts or those items define you and your worth and become more important than the condition of your heart.

Trust me—this isn’t an overnight fix, ladies. It’s hard to retrain our hearts and shut up the lies of the enemy. But the effort is worth it. So let’s stop hiding. Let’s put down the mask and the excessive use of products that hide instead of enhance. Let’s stop playing the comparison game that’s a guaranteed lose-lose.

Let’s live unfiltered. Let's pray.

Lord, help me live an authentic life. Help me see where my true beauty and worth lie – in being a child of the Most High God. Help me have the unfading beauty of a gentle spirit. Thank you for valuing me so much that you sent Jesus to die for me. Thank you that you take what is broken and ugly in me – my sin – and wash me white as snow. Help me live to glorify you, not myself. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.

Thanking God When We Don’t Feel Like It..Lynette Kittle

 Thanking God When We Don’t Feel Like It

By Lynette Kittle

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

What happens when we don’t feel like giving thanks, especially during times of rising fuel prices, increasing mortgage rates, food shortages, job losses, and more? Amid unstable times, God asks us to focus on Him and His faithfulness, instead of our circumstances. He draws us to dwell on His promise to never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and to trust Him to help us in every situation we face in life.

Some say if they aren’t really feeling thanks, then it’s fake and insincere to practice thankfulness. But thankfulness is not a feeling or based on what’s going on in our lives but rather it’s an offering to God.

God Calls Us to Be Thankful
God understands it can be difficult for us to give thanks during trying times but He wants us to be willing to be thankful even when we don’t feel like it.

Psalm 100:4, expresses God’s call to us to be thankful. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”

His will is for us to approach Him with thankfulness. Yet many of us misunderstand God’s directive to give thanks in all circumstances, believing we’re supposed be thankful “for” everything when the truth is, God is asking us to be thankful “in” everything. Still some of us struggle with this concept, resisting thankfulness, thinking God is telling us to be thankful “for” the challenges. But we’re missing what He is really leading us to do, which is to be thankful despite the difficulties, to not let lack, losses, disappointments, and hurts keep us from expressing our gratefulness to Him.

Sacrificial Thankfulness
Throughout Scripture God emphasizes the importance of thankfulness, understanding that even if it’s sacrificial on our part, He is honored and glorified through it. Psalm 50:23, describes its benefits. “Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor Me, and to the blameless I will show My salvation.”

As well, Psalm 116:17, encourages sacrificial thankfulness. “I will sacrifice a thank offering to You and call on the name of the Lord.” 

Still with our human weaknesses and frailties, it may feel like God is asking too much of us, especially during times of huge disappointments, unbearable heartaches, and tremendous losses. It can seem beyond our capabilities to offer Him thanks amidst such deep devastations.

Practicing Sacrificial Thankfulness
If it’s God’s will for us to give thanks “in” everything, how do we begin? Prayer is the place to start. Colossians 4:2 urges us to keep alert in our prayers with an attitude of thankfulness, which involves recognizing where ungratefulness can creep into our thoughts, words, and even our prayers.

At times when we think there is absolutely nothing, we can find to be grateful for in our lives, we can be thankful for Jesus Christ and the Salvation we receive through Him. Even when life seems empty, we can give thanks to God for His peace, presence, faithfulness, and comfort. As Colossians 3:17 urges, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

In experiencing everyday disappointments, job losses, natural disasters, financial stresses, and more, thankfulness helps us to cultivate a trust in God. Like Isaiah 12:2 assures, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense. He has become my salvation.” Even in situations that seem hopeless, like there couldn’t possibly be any good ever come from them, God promises to work them together for our good. “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).

Intersecting Faith and Life:
If you’re finding thankfulness difficult to express, try beginning each day by finding one reason to be thankful to God, then throughout the day, take time to offer thanks to Him.