Love Hopes..Craig Denison Ministries

 Love Hopes

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

James 2:26 tells us, “Faith apart from works is dead.” If we are going to experience the fullness of life offered to us through our faith we must be those who put our words into action. We must not profess to love God on Sundays and live as if he isn’t present, real, or good on Monday. May your faith come alive this week as you seek to be a doer of the word.

Scripture:“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:7

Devotional:

Through Jesus we have been afforded an anchor of hope. Through God’s promises of his presence now and total restoration in the age to come, we can have peace in the midst of trials, joy in persecution and steadfastness when it seems nothing can go our way. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” As believers, we have an inheritance of boundless communion with our heavenly Father. And with this inheritance we are called to share our hope with a lost and hopeless world.

The hope that’s been freely given to you was not meant to be solely contained within you. You have a testimony in Christ that has the power to transform lives. 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” You are called to hope for a better life for those around you. You are called to believe in people when no one else will. God has abundant life and relationship for all if they will simply come to know him. And he’s chosen to use his children to share that message of hope. Your life has been transformed from being lost and lifeless to being filled with the powerful hope of the gospel. No one is hopeless. No one is beyond the saving grace of Jesus. And God is calling you to love others enough to share with them the reality of his love in both word and deed that they might have hope in God.

The only hope the world has is Jesus. No amount of money, no friends, and no politician can save us from the destruction of sin. The truth of God’s unconditional love and unmerited grace is the only source of redemption and joy this world has.

So who around you needs hope today? Who around you needs to know that God has a plan for their life? Who around you needs you to have hope in“all things” for them today? There is no love without hope. There is no gospel without hope. In you lies the hope for all the world, the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Share that hope with those around you today who are in desperate need of restored relationship with their heavenly Father.

Guided Prayer:           

1. Reflect on the hope you have in Jesus. Allow Scripture to remind you of the destruction that awaited you apart from God’s saving grace.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:3-4

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:16

2. Ask God who he would have you hope “in all things” for today. Who around you needs someone who will simply believe in them and reflect the unconditional love of God?

3. Ask the Spirit to show you how you can share the message of hope with that person today. How can you reveal God’s heart of grace, love and peace?

Both believers and non-believers need hope. Everyone needs love from the people around them. Whether you’re sharing the gospel with someone for the first time or helping a fellow believer through a tough time, you are needed by the people around you. Exemplify the hope God offers as Jesus did, and watch as lives are transformed around you. May your day be filled with reconciliation and good works as you allow the Holy Spirit to use you.

Extended Reading:1 Peter 1

The Confidence To Believe You Belong..BRENDA BRADFORD OTTINGER

 The Confidence To Believe You Belong

BRENDA BRADFORD OTTINGER

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!” Psalm 139:16-17 (NLT)

It was my first day at a new school — midyear, in a place where everyone knew each other and no one knew me.

Naive and 9 years old, I had yet to understand the insecurity that clothed my spirit.

From my first timid step off the school bus that day till the final bell rang after class, I wore a long red coat … totally extra for the wink of winter a southern U.S. season contains.

Walking unfamiliar halls as the new girl wearing a bulky red coat, indoors and out, can set you apart in a way that doesn’t serve your social life well; I don’t recommend it. Yet my antsy insecurity found comfort in my cocoon of a coat that day.

Despite the awkward start, eventually I lost my timidity in that new school, but never would I lose the insecurity that gripped my spirit. Long have I lacked an innate confidence to believe I belong.

As the years grew, I sensed God working in my life and trusted He had plans for me. Yet I still struggled to confidently enter any space believing I was enough to belong.

This mistaken mindset began to shed its grip on me, however, when God met me in the center of my insecurity one day and traded new life for old lies.

That day, as I attempted to skim over a familiar Bible passage, the Lord prompted me to linger with the words rather than rush past them, and I read these truths afresh:

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!” (Psalm 139:16-17).

And in the quiet of that moment, I felt a freedom I hadn’t known before, as the truth of God’s eternal heart for me covered my spirit with a comfort like no other.

In this passage, David declared to God, “You saw me before I was born,” recognizing that before he’d ever spied a ray of light or cried a breath of life, his very person was intimately known by God.

This is our confidence: Before we had an earthly identity, God regarded us!

Before oxygen filled our lungs, the Lord laid out every moment of our lives according to His purpose. God hasn’t simply recorded the hours we’ve already spent; rather, from the second He sketched our identities to the futures we’ve yet to reach, He has borne witness to it all.

We can confidently believe we belong anywhere He places us because the Ancient of Days, our eternal God, has made it His business to know and adore us and to tenderly record His trustworthy plans for us.

May we reject the enemy’s lie that we’re not enough to belong, for our confidence is grounded in God’s authority as we walk together with Him into every space He’s already prepared for us.

No earthly brand of belonging can compare to the belonging we have in God.

Dear friend, the God who saw you ahead of your birth — whose precious thoughts about you are greater than numbers can contain — recorded purpose for you long before your life existed in time!

You can shed every lie of insecurity that drapes your spirit today and walk confidently in the truth that your story is already sealed in God’s book. You are a woman precious to your Maker, and you belong where He places you, for you enter with the authority of His divine script.

Dear God, thank You for clothing me in the comfort of Your belonging and for recording trustworthy plans for my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Bearing One Another’s Burdens..Dr. Charles Stanley

Bearing One Another’s Burdens

Dr. Charles Stanley

Galatians 6

If you are looking for a way to carry out Christ’s command to love your neighbor, Paul has a suggestion: bear their burdens. At some point, everyone struggles under the weight of an oppressive situation. Believers have an obligation to get under that load next to their brothers and sisters.

Jesus sets the pattern for burden bearing. He calls to Himself all who are heavy-laden and gives them rest (Matt. 11:28-29). Since God predestines believers to be conformed to Christ’s likeness, we must imitate His care and concern for those who suffer. Acts 4:32 shows that the early church followed His example. To lift the load of poverty, they pooled their resources so that no one was in need.

Paul’s letters make clear his concern for the physical and spiritual welfare of growing churches. He fasted and prayed for them and sent missionaries when he could. He felt it was his responsibility to strengthen them, even though he sustained a personal hardship—his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7).

A believer cannot wait until his life is clear of obstacles before reaching out to others, since that day may never come. Even though we have our own needs, we can do all things through Christ’s strength—including sharing someone else’s adversity (2 Cor. 12:9).

When you’re willing to wade into someone else’s troubles to help that person hold up under the weight, two things happen. First, he or she receives desperately needed blessings in the form of aid, support, and love. And second, you fulfill God’s command to love a neighbor as yourself. 

How to Warm Up a Cold Heart..Lynette Kittle

 How to Warm Up a Cold Heart

By Lynette Kittle

“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another” - John 13:35

What defines your life? How do others see you? What sets you apart in the world? How would others describe your witness in the world? Do those around you know you’re a Christian? Sadly many Christians carry their Salvation in their heart, holding it silently within, not saying or doing anything to reveal God’s love to others. Content on loving God themselves, they find it difficult to love those around them. 

Consequently, although many believe they deeply love God, their love for others has grown cold. But maybe our love for God can be measured by our love for others? If less than warm and loving to those around us, do we truly love God? 

1 John 4:20 explains how “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

Loving others is not optional when it comes to loving God. Rather, it’s the proof of whether or not we truly love Him.

Watch Out! It’s Chilly Out There
Matthew 24:12 addresses how increasing wickedness in the world will turn hearts cold toward God. It also turns hearts cold towards each other. “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” So can we love God deeply and not love each other? And is it even possible to love others in the chilly setting of our world today? Yet if we find we don’t love others, maybe we really don’t love God like we think we do. maybe our lack of love for each other reveals a heart not fully committed to Him?

1 John 4:21 reminds us, “And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

Indicators of a Chilly Heart
A lack of love towards others is a key indicator of a heart that has or is in the process of growing cold. In fact, it’s a blaring red alarm that we’re in danger of our hearts growing cold toward God, too.

1 John 4:16 explains how our love for others reflects whether or not we truly love God. “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

As well, 1 John 4:8 explains how a lack of love for one another goes even deeper. It may mean we really do not love God. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” From what Scripture teaches us, God and love cannot be separated. Loving God means we love one another. It’s not optional but rather evidence of whether or not we know God.

Warming Up
If we find our hearts have grown cold toward one another, what is the answer to warming up our love for others? 2 Thessalonians 1:3 describes how when our faith grows more and more, then the love we have for one another increases. God’s Word Translation translates 1 Peter 1:22 as, “Love each other with a warm love that comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other.”

Putting God’s Word into our hearts and minds, along with applying it to our lives, leads to the heating up of a cold heart. Living and walking in God’s truth acts like exercising works to warm up our physical bodies. The truth of His Word warms our hearts and removes the chilliness that has taken up residence within us.

Intersecting Faith and Life: Have you taken your heart temperature lately? If so, have you found your heart warm toward others? If not, ask God to help you to turn to His Word to study and apply to your life, for the purpose of warming your heart toward others and toward Him.

What Does it Mean to Train Up a Child in the Way He Should Go?..Brent Rinehart

 What Does it Mean to Train Up a Child in the Way He Should Go?

By Brent Rinehart

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” ( Proverbs 22:6).

What a seemingly simple, but overwhelmingly complicated verse! It’s one of the most quoted – and often misquoted – verses in the Bible.

People often use this verse as a guarantee that if you raise your children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” ( Ephesians 6:4), they’ll always stay on the right path. That interpretation can be problematic, particularly for the “good parents” I know who have seen their older children stray from the faith. We all know that we can try our best, and sometimes the results are different than we would have hoped. God has given us free will to make our own choices, after all.

I’m no theologian or Bible scholar, so I’m not an expert in these matters. I am a parent however, and I do know that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” ( 2 Timothy 3:16). Regardless of the camp you may fall in on the interpretation of this complicated verse, I believe there are several important implications we should all be able to agree on.

You have a responsibility as a parent. Throughout Scripture, God is pretty clear about the responsibility He places in the hands of parents.We are to teach our children what matters to God. It doesn't mean forcing them into a certain set of beliefs or rituals; rather, it means demonstrating a real faith – one that puts the focus on loving God and loving others. In my view, there's not a greater purpose we can have in life than reflecting God's image for our children to see.

You have influence as a parent. Children are sponges. And, my kids seem to soak up everything – good and bad. They often mimic the mannerisms of my wife and me. They’ll do and say the same things we do from time to time. And I can certainly tell who my daughter has been hanging out with by the phrases she says or the songs she sings.

I’ve often thought about it this way: the moon reflects light from the sun. And just as the moon reflects the sun, as a Christian, I should reflect the Son. We were made in God’s image, but we are not perfect like Him. We are works in progress. As we grow closer to Him, there should be some family resemblance between us and our Father. The things I say and do should be characteristic of Him. And, here’s why that’s important. If I truly reflect Him and shine His glory, others will, including my children. “Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” ( Matthew 5:16).

You will have results – either good or bad – as a parent. The years our children are in our homes are critical. These are the formative years when they are developing their entire worldview. The majority of adult Christians became Christians before turning 18. Actually, many follow Christ between the ages of 4-14. On the other hand, we’ve all seen the troubling numbers of young people (the “nones”) who are much more likely to lack any religion at all. Belief systems tend to form early, and while they can – and do sometimes change – it’s critical for parents to have an active role in a child’s spiritual development early on.

It’s not likely that   Proverbs 22:6 is a guarantee of success for committed, Christ-following parents. But, it is important to recognize the truth the verse contains. God has given us an incredible responsibility by placing children in our care. The family is a primary mechanism God uses to grows His kingdom and grow His people. As a result, it’s our duty to teach our children about God. We are in an influential position, and what we do today will matter in our kids’ lives tomorrow.

A Prayer to Be Online..Christopher Eyte

 A Prayer to Be Online

By Christopher Eyte

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1: 1 - 5) 

Today I was watching my mother on a bus. She was en route to visit her cousin in a coffee shop. No big deal, right? Well - she was 180 miles away from me! I was following her by using a mapping app, which allows for satellite tracking. She can follow me, and I can follow her. We can also message instantly, of course. A quick tap on the phone and my message pings instantly on her device, despite the immense distance between us. 

We’re all connected. Messages, videos - it’s so easy. We’ve even got chatbots organizing conversations for us. Our modern-day existence ebbs and flows on a sea of words and images. Online communication seems to be the key enabler for us to work, rest and play. I mean, you’re reading this devotional online! 

The other night I was thinking about this subject whilst staring up at the dark night sky. I won’t portray a sense of poetry by saying there were stars twinkling because there weren’t (at least, not to my naked eye). But I felt somber looking at that indifferent deepness of hidden space. I knew that all around me the world was communicating, and yet God was still there. Almost silent. 

I say almost because Jesus Christ is the king of communicators - to such an extent that He is called THE Word. We say so much in our text messages, emails, and apps, but it’s all so meaningless if not embedded in The Word. All that needs to be said is fulfilled in Him. 

So, let’s pray to be online with God. To receive the word from the Word. Calm our restless, internet-tuned minds and embrace the true life and light, which is simply Him. 

Let's pray:

Father God of the heavenly lights,
I pray to you this day in the name of The Word - Jesus Christ - who loved me enough to die for me. I am privileged to pray by the leading of your gift: the Holy Spirit. I want to thank you for your patience with me. 

You see me when I am distracted on my phone, tablet, or PC - and you still wait for me. During my days when I get so pulled toward the idolatry of consumerism and self-worship - you forgive me. When I am tempted to think that man is capable of anything, as I am awed by the gadgets and technological advances - you remind me that you alone are the true doorway to creativity. When I believe the lie that the online world is proper living - you bring me back to reality. 

I am perplexed, my dear Lord, that you still want my company. I love you, Abba, and I am so glad of your love for me and for my family. Give me the wisdom to obey your will. For I know that obedience with a delay is not obedience.

I ask for a gift of maturity, too, as I use technology in my daily life. Direct me to use these tools for your glory. Remind me to use my time, not waste it. Help me to bear fruit as I communicate with others because, at all times, I represent you. Amen.