God’s Plan for Renewal.. Craig Denison Ministries

 God’s Plan for Renewal

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview

One of the best aspects of spending time alone with God is being renewed daily by his word and presence. When we make space for God in our lives, especially at the beginning of the day, he is faithful to renew and prepare us for all we will face out in the world. Scripture says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Where do you need renewal? How greatly do you need God’s mercies in your life? He has a plan this week to both teach and guide you into an encounter with him that will renew you with his overwhelming goodness and love. Make space for God. Make time to encounter him. And experience the refreshing spring rain he longs to bring to heal the dry and weary places of your heart.

Scripture:“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16

Devotional:    

God has an incredible plan for renewal in your life. He knows better than anyone the trials, circumstances, and people that wear you down. And he knows that you need time to be refreshed by him. Often, we seek rest and renewal from people and entertainment. Our friends, family, and entertainment can be great sources of fun and rest to be sure, but the only consistent and true source of renewal we have is spending time with our heavenly Father. Only he knows to the full extent what you need. And only he can give it to you. So, before we dive into the process of having specific areas of our lives renewed by God this week, let’s allow him to simply reveal how to rest in his word and presence.

First, let’s look at what Scripture says about our need for renewal. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” Because of the nature of sin and separation from God, we as humans will not live in our fleshly bodies forever. Genesis 3:19 says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” But we also have the promise of Jesus in John 11:26 that “everyone who lives and believes in [him] shall never die.” We live on the earth knowing one day our earthly bodies will pass away, and we will at the same time be taken from this world to the next. But God’s desire is that while you are here in this body you would be renewed in your spirit every day. Though your body will grow weary, he desires to strengthen your spirit with the hope of an everlasting life with an all-loving God who cares for you. You can meet with God every day. You’ve been given the ability through the Spirit to rest in God’s presence, to know his nearness and love. You can have the same experience as Paul in being “renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

So, how can we experience God’s promised renewal? How do we rest in God’s presence and allow him to revive us? First, it starts with trusting that God will reveal his love to you when you meet with him. In Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, he asks God to love us with the same love with which he loves Jesus (John 17:26). When you ask him to show you his love, he will. When you make space to encounter him, he will fill you with his presence. Trust that God loves to meet with you and renew you.

Also, foundational to experiencing renewal is engaging in worship. You and I are created to worship. It is both our highest goal and greatest success. When you engage in worship daily, you will experience a renewed sense of purpose and direction. Last, spend time reading God’s word, allowing it to change you and lead you to obedience.You must experience renewal in areas of your life that are not aligned with God’s word. You have to spend time allowing yourself to be shaped and transformed by what God says is best for you. So much of being renewed by God is choosing to believe his word over our experience of what we feel is true.

Let your faith be stirred to encounter your heavenly Father today. You can earnestly desire to meet with him without any fear or reservation that you won’t experience his renewal. Know that when you wake up every morning, God has a plan for the time you spend with him and the ability to reveal it to you through the Holy Spirit. God earnestly desires to renew you this week. He longs to heal the wounded and dry places in your life. Spend time today meditating on God’s promise of renewal, and allow your desires to be stirred to receive all that your heavenly Father longs to give you.           

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s promise for renewal.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

2. Reflect on areas in your life that seem dry or weary. Where do you need to be renewed today?

3. Rest in God’s presence and allow his love to renew those areas of your life. Spend time in his presence. Spend time worshiping. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you God’s specific plan for renewal in your life.  Look up Scripture that applies and let it mold and renew you.

“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

May the prayer of your heart today be like David’s in Psalm 63:1-3: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” Just as David looked upon the Lord in his sanctuary, you can see God daily. Just as he beheld God’s power, glory, and love, you can experience God. May you be renewed today as you step out into the world, and may God’s strength be your source as you seek to live in light of his glorious nearness.

Extended Reading: 2 Corinthians 4

It’s Never Quitting Time..Clarence L. Haynes Jr.

 It’s Never Quitting Time

By Clarence L. Haynes Jr.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:9

When I was in college, I used to work the overnight shift for UPS. This required me to be at work at 11:30 PM and I would not get off until 5 AM. After leaving work, I would then go to school for an 8:15 philosophy class. Let’s just say I made up for any missed sleep I had from working overnight. As we got close to the end of the shift, we would get to what we called quitting time. That was the time to finish working and get out of there. Because of the physical nature of the work, every employee loved quitting time.

The urge to quit is real.
With doing good or doing the work of the Lord, there is no such thing as quitting time. If you are doing what God has called you to do, then it requires you to stay in the fight and resist the urge you may face to want to quit, even more so when you are not seeing fruit from the work you are doing.

In February 2018, my wife and I launched our ministry called The Bible Study Club. The purpose of this was to provide a platform for discipleship for members of our church who needed it. Our church was 75 miles from our house, so for us, this was simply a matter of practicality. We met every Thursday, and in our first few sessions, we had about eight to ten people and we knew all of them because they were members of our church or friends and family.

By the fall of 2019, we were pushing forward in the ministry, and I remember distinctly one night we came on zoom to do the Bible study, and there were four people on the line. Two of them were Diana and me. At that point, I thought about all the hours of preparation we had put in, the sacrifices we had made to help people grow in their walk in the Lord, and it felt like people just weren’t interested. In my human nature, I got discouraged and wanted to give up. However, we pressed forward. 

Shortly after that, something amazing happened because God opened a door for me to write for Biblestudytools.com. Without it being my intention, more people heard about the Bible Study and started showing up on Thursday nights. These were people we did not know, and we were totally surprised. To make a long story short, this trend continued over the next few months and has continued to this day.

God’s Word remains true even if you want to quit.
The reason I am writing this is that what God has said in Galatians is true. So often, when you are doing good things, you work and toil for a while, sometimes a long while, and despite your best efforts, you don’t see any fruit. These moments are where all the questions come into play and the desire to quit rises within you. My encouragement to you is don’t. It is quite possible you are standing on the verge of reaping the harvest of all your hard work, and if you just hang on a little longer, you will see that harvest.

When you feel the desire to quit, you must go back to why you are doing this. When you remember your why and you know you are doing what God has told you to do, he gives you the resolve to keep going. For me, I had to refocus, and that kept me going.

I can’t promise you the harvest is going to come in the next week, next month, or when it will come. But if you will be faithful to what God has called you to do, a harvest and reward is waiting for you. It might not be one you see in this lifetime, but it will be one that will last forever. I implore you to stay in the fight because God is faithful, and he will reward you for your faithful labor if you do not give up.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
Many times, the urge to quit is strongest right when you are on the verge of your breakthrough.

Further Reading:

• 1 Corinthians 15:58
• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

The Unfathomable Sovereignty of God..Jennifer Waddle

 The Unfathomable Sovereignty of God

By Jennifer Waddle

“To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.   - Isaiah 40:25

Every so often, we read a passage of Scripture that we’ve read many times before, yet the truth of it leaps off the page as if we’ve never read it. It catches us by surprise, offering a beautiful revelation of God’s sovereignty and glory.

Isaiah chapter 40 was like that for me recently, as I read through it with a quickening of my spirit motivated by the unfathomable sovereignty of God described throughout.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? (Isaiah 40:12-13)

What struck me most, was that the God of all creation has measured every drop of every ocean, stream, and pond in the hollow of His hand. If we were able to view the entire earth from space and see just how much of it is made of water, it would be unfathomable to imagine the Lord measuring it. Yet, Isaiah 40 confirms it.

Then, if we were to gather just a handful of dust in the palm of our hand, we would see that each particle would be impossible to count. Yet God, in His perfect sovereignty, has calculated the dust of the entire earth. Oh, the magnitude of that thought!

Each mountain, that stands high above us, peaking to the heavens and seemingly impossible to climb, has been weighed by the Lord God in a scale—one so vast, it is beyond compare.

No one is like our God. No one has ever directed His Spirit or taught Him a single letter of knowledge. His wisdom is supreme. His Word is living. Only He is able to judge the thoughts and intents of our hearts. And yet…

The unfathomable sovereignty of God has reached down in love, through the perfect sacrifice of His Son, to take broken sinful “us” into the same palm that has measured the oceans. Every thought, action, and breath we take has been calculated by the same measure God used to count the dust.

The very same Spirit who raised Jesus, victorious over sin and death, lives in us. We are His beloved. Yes, our God is unfathomable and awesome. There is none like Him. His ways are perfect, holy, and sure.

“To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing. Isaiah 40:25-26

Gracious and mighty God, thank You for your unfathomable presence in our lives. We are in awe of You. Thank You, Holy Redeemer, for numbering the stars and counting our breaths. We trust You. We praise You, God, for the richness of Your word that leads us, guides us, and sometimes surprises us. To You belong all glory, honor, majesty, and praise. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Prayer for People Who’ve Messed Up..Lynette Kittle

 A Prayer for People Who’ve Messed Up

By Lynette Kittle

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” - Romans 3:23

Have you ever really messed up in your life? Not something unimportant or easy to correct, but in a way, it can’t be easily made right or fixed at all, something that can't be erased, redone, or even forgotten? If so, it's a horrible and devastating feeling for most individuals. It’s especially difficult for tenderhearted people who bear the weight of it and are unable to carry the guilt. Coping with mess-up fallout may cause some to feel like they can’t go on living, unable to cope with daily life, with nothing making sense or mattering anymore. For those who don’t understand, this strong reaction may seem too dramatic and over-the-top, but to those who have experienced devastating failure and sorrow, it may be greatly understated.

How Do We Respond?
Sadly, rather than offer comfort and compassion, some Christians often dole out plenty of scolding and condemnation to those who mess up, something usually too heavy for a cast-down soul to handle along with their own tormenting emotions. For those who haven’t experienced messing up big time in their own lives, it may be hard to relate to others who are going through it. But count it a blessing; there is no firsthand accounts to relive, and while counting, also ask God to give you a compassionate heart towards those who are living through it.

Rather than looking down on others who fail, we want to remember that every human has the shared experience of being born a sinner because all of us have sinned and fallen short when it comes to God’s glory (Romans 3:23).

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” - Romans 3:23

Have you ever really messed up in your life? Not something unimportant or easy to correct, but in a way, it can’t be easily made right or fixed at all, something that can't be erased, redone, or even forgotten? If so, it's a horrible and devastating feeling for most individuals. It’s especially difficult for tenderhearted people who bear the weight of it and are unable to carry the guilt. Coping with mess-up fallout may cause some to feel like they can’t go on living, unable to cope with daily life, with nothing making sense or mattering anymore. For those who don’t understand, this strong reaction may seem too dramatic and over-the-top, but to those who have experienced devastating failure and sorrow, it may be greatly understated.

How Do We Respond?
Sadly, rather than offer comfort and compassion, some Christians often dole out plenty of scolding and condemnation to those who mess up, something usually too heavy for a cast-down soul to handle along with their own tormenting emotions. For those who haven’t experienced messing up big time in their own lives, it may be hard to relate to others who are going through it. But count it a blessing; there is no firsthand accounts to relive, and while counting, also ask God to give you a compassionate heart towards those who are living through it.

Rather than looking down on others who fail, we want to remember that every human has the shared experience of being born a sinner because all of us have sinned and fallen short when it comes to God’s glory (Romans 3:23).

Hope for the Hurting
Gratefully for those who know God, there is forgiveness because “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

We also don’t have to stay and live in our mess-ups. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13). Paul understood God doesn’t want us to linger in regret or live in past failures but to trust Him and move forward with Christ Jesus. 

People need to know that messing up big time in life doesn’t have to ruin their lives. True, it may take them in new and unexpected directions, but God has a way of leading people into more fulfilling, satisfying lives when they trust Him for their future.

Let’s pray:

Dear Father,
We confess that we have messed up in life and aren’t able to correct or change the consequences of our actions. We ask You to forgive us and to help us today to move forward with You. Cleanse us, Lord, and free us from pain, sorrow, and regret. Help us Lord to not dwell on our past failings but to look forward towards our future with You.

Thank you for being close to us in our brokenness (Psalm 34:18). Mend our shattered hearts, Father. We praise you for giving us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and the garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3). Lead us from this point on in our lives, and let our hearts be willing to follow You and submit to Your ways and directives in life.

Help us to be sincerely grateful to You for Your forgiveness, love, compassion, mercy, kindness, and so much more that You graciously pour out on us during our deepest, darkest hours. Thank you that even if friends and family reject and turn away from us, You promise never to leave us, turn away from us, or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
In Jesus’ name, Amen

Come as You Are This Easter.. Rick Warren

 

Come as You Are This Easter

Rick Warren

“He will send down help from heaven to save me because of his love” (Psalm 57:3a TLB).

There’s a myth that says you’ve got to clean up your act before you can come to God: “I’ve got to get it all together. There are a few things I’ve got to get right in my life first, and then I’ll come to God.”

It’s like brushing your teeth before going to the dentist to have your teeth cleaned or washing the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher or picking up the house before the maid gets there! Why do we do this?

The truth is, God doesn’t expect us to clean up our act before we approach him. The death and Resurrection of Jesus is God’s statement on that. Jesus spread out his arms and said, “I love you this much. Now, just come as you are.”

In Psalm 57:3, the Bible says, “He will send down help from heaven to save me because of his love” (TLB). That’s what Jesus did on Easter. And that’s why we can bring our messes and failures to God.

There are people you know who think God will never love them because they’ve made such a mess of their lives. But you know God wants them to come as they are. Help them hear the Good News from Jesus. Invite them to come to church with you this Easter. It’s such a simple thing to do, but it can make a difference that will last for eternity.