Be Who You Are..Craig Denison Ministries

 Be Who You Are

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

So often we view God as an enforcer of religious rules. We see the commands of Scripture as a list of to-dos rather than a path leading to abundant life. But those perceptions aren’t the truth of Scripture. Those beliefs are founded on misguided notions of God’s character. God is after the heart. More than he wants us to do right, he wants us to see him rightly. He wants going to church, reading the Bible, worshipping, serving the poor, and living righteously to come from a heart filled with a true revelation of his loving-kindness. May your heart be wholly God’s this week.

Scripture:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13

Devotional:    

God will never ask you to be anyone other than who you are. He’s not asking you to be just like other believers. He’s not asking you to copy those around you that seem to be well-liked or accepted. So often we view God as a parent who spends all his efforts trying to fix us on the outside that we might keep up appearances. But it couldn’t be more the opposite. God doesn’t spend time trying to cover up who we are. Rather, he devotes himself to uncovering who we truly are—who he made us to be.

Psalm 139:13 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” God formed you wonderfully and uniquely. He gave you a personality and calling all your own. He sees past all the exteriors we create to try and fit in. He sees through all our efforts to cover up what makes us unique and different. He sees us for who we really are. And he is calling us to cast down our facades and live out of the revelation that we are already, right now, fully loved and accepted by our Creator.

Discovering your identity begins with a journey with God to your heart. If you’re wondering who you truly are, you need not look past yourself, but rather, with the Holy Spirit, take an honest look at yourself. Don’t shy away from your insecurities. Don’t shy away from that which makes you different. Allow God to reveal how he sees you. Allow him to reveal to you the true desires of your heart. And allow him to lay a secure foundation for you built on his unconditional love that you might live vulnerably and honestly.

Allow God to fill you with the courage to be yourself today. Stop trying to change yourself to fit in to the expectations of others. And live with your identity and value securely founded in the love of your heavenly Father.

Spend some time in guided prayer looking at your heart with the Holy Spirit. Allow him to reveal how he sees you. Ask him how he has formed you and made you unique. And allow him to empower you to be yourself today. May your time in guided prayer be filled with freedom and courage as you cease striving to be someone that you’re not.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s call for you to be who you are. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to live honestly.

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.” Psalm 139:13

“As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” Proverbs 27:19

2. In what ways are you striving to be someone you’re not? How are you seeking to keep up appearances rather than live honestly?

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal how he sees you. Ask him to fill you with courage to cast down any facades and be who you truly are.

Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you choose to place value and identity on what God says about you, then your heart will find freedom that transcends the ways and cares of the world. Treasure what God says about you. Store up his words and truth over you. Let them be your source of hope and life. May your heart be with your loving, kind heavenly Father as you seek to find freedom to live as you truly are today.

Extended Reading: Matthew 6

God Is Not Gone..LISA WHITTLE

 God Is Not Gone

LISA WHITTLE 

“I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. But he knows where I am going.” Job 23:8-10a (NLT)

One day last fall, I was feeling overwhelmed. My husband and I were in California, celebrating our anniversary, but it wasn’t pretty. I was physically sick and didn’t even have the energy to wash my hair.

We sat out on a big rock overlooking the Pacific Ocean. At some point, sitting there, I said to him, “I want to jump in that ocean and swim as far as I can and not swim back for a long time.” I never say things like that, so it scared him.

I didn’t want my life to be over. I just wanted to escape the pressures of it for a while.

Sometimes we mistakenly think if we build a good enough life, we will never have thoughts of wanting to run away from it. But it’s not true. Even the best life on earth will still be a life in which we long for relief from its pain and imperfection.

In moments of feeling overwhelmed, the words of Job 23:8-10a feel particularly relatable: “I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. But he knows where I am going.”

God feels hidden. He feels far away. You can’t see traces of Him. When Job uttered these words, he had lost nearly everything he loved. And yet, after expressing his angst, he relayed a sentiment of confidence in these seven words: “But he knows where I am going” (Job 23:10a).

Job didn’t need to know where God was because he trusted that God knew where he was.

If you feel overwhelmed, you are not alone. If you want to escape the pressures of life, know that sometimes we all have that feeling. But feelings don’t change the truth:

• God is not gone. The silence of God in our waiting and worrying can make us feel desperate. The prevalence of evil in this world can seem out of control. And yet we have proof throughout Scripture that He is forever present.
• God knows, so you don’t have to. Breathe a sigh of relief. It’s not your job to know how to work out that situation … how to right that wrong … how in the world to overcome your limitations. The world is not in your control. You can’t see the future. What if you said the words “God knows” and rested in His reliability? How would that help you rest versus continuously wrestle?

God’s omniscience — His intimate knowledge of things past, present and future, both in the world and your world — means that there is not one thing you have faced, are facing or will face that He does not know about.

Right now, you may be making plans, but He is handling the things you cannot. The comfort and relief you are looking for cannot be found in more self-help; they’re found in the understanding that God sees the injustice no one else sees and will one day make it right. In ways you don’t even realize, He is holding your life together.

God is not gone. He sees you. Your worries, questions of “why” and feelings of overwhelm do not change the reality of who He is and what He knows about your life and future.

Good news: You’ll never get away from that.

Dear Lord, thank You for knowing and seeing all. Thank You that You’re not gone, even when You feel absent. Help us trust the reliability of Your omniscience. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Greatest Act of Love..Dr. Charles Stanley

 The Greatest Act of Love

Dr. Charles Stanley

Romans 5:6-11

What do you think about when you see a depiction of Christ on the cross? Most of us are overwhelmed by the physical and emotional suffering that He endured—the scourging, beating, thorns, nails, mocking, and shame. We are horrified at the cruelty of the Romans and the hard hearts of the Jewish rulers.

But during the crucifixion, far more was happening than the eye could see. God was carrying out His plan to rescue mankind, providing everything we need for salvation:

1. Redemption. Jesus paid the full price of the debt we owed for transgression: death. His payment set us free from bondage to sin.

2. Forgiveness. God could now release us from the punishment we deserved.

3. Propitiation. Christ’s payment satisfied
the Father by fulfilling His demand for justice while letting Him forgive us.

4. Justification. On the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice, the Lord now declares believers not guilty. Although we will still sin in this earthly life, our standing before God is one of righteousness. This is a legal declaration that can never be reversed.

5. Reconciliation. The sin barrier that separated us from the Father was removed by Christ’s death on our behalf. We’re now God’s children—we have open access to Him and fellowship with Him.

The crucifixion was the only way to rescue lost humanity. If there had been any other way, the cross would have been a grotesque display of divine cruelty. But because so much was at stake, it can truly be called the greatest act of love by both the Father and the Son.

Taking Hold of Our Cup..Aaron D’Anthony Brown

 Taking Hold of Our Cup

By Aaron D’Anthony Brown

“Going a little farther, he fell face down and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

The Cup of Sorrow
Jesus' life demonstrated both suffering and submission. He was born to save mankind from the consequence of sin, bearing the weight of pain and hardship meant for us so salvation would be possible. Despite the toils on this earth, He endured, and He maintained His faith in God. Jesus did not want to experience all that unfolded, but He accepted the suffering nonetheless. He submitted not to His own will, but to the Father’s. He drank from the Cup of Sorrow.

Jesus’ life is something none of us will ever fully comprehend, but we can learn a thing or two about suffering and submission. His life mirrors our own. Suffering is inevitable for each of us, no matter where we are born, our social status, age, or sex. Hardships will arise both from within and externally, and there is nothing we can do to avoid them. 

Where we do have a choice, as Jesus reveals, in submission, as we go through life, we can choose to live for ourselves or for God. The temptation, especially when suffering gives us a bleak view of life, is to submit to our own will. If God doesn’t save, help, guide, or do whatever for us, then we want to make it happen for ourselves. The Cup of Sorrow is often undesirable and thus, so is submission.

Life is hard. Any adult who has led a life of service, responsibility, and faith knows how true that statement can be. The difficulty of life is something we try to shield from our children, but like us, they eventually come to discover sorrow all the same. We try to shield ourselves from this difficult truth as well, coping with food, video games, alcohol, sex, and more. However distracted we decide to be, the reality remains the same. Life is hard. But what happens when we submit to God, and ultimately to whatever suffering comes our way? We can say with confidence, something good because Jesus’ life reveals this as well.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
Before we experience the outcome of submission, we first have to overcome the hurdle of taking hold of our cup. What is the solution when we are given the cup, but don’t want to drink it? The answer is hard but simple. The solution is to be like Christ and drink, accepting whatever life God has given or allowed us, and all the suffering it entails. We drink knowing God has not left us to go through life fending for ourselves. He’s promised His presence through the ages, meaning forever, our entire lifetimes and that of our children and their children.

We also drink knowing the sorrow we experience will not last forever. Jesus has shown us through His life, death, and resurrection, death has lost its sting. Suffering because our problems, whether financial, relational, or health will not last forever. When we submit to God, we find His presence in the midst of our hardships. We find healthy ways to cope. We find protection from any additional suffering. And in time, we find a way out - in this life or the next.

Every day, we have the option of submitting to our own will. Yet, there is no fair comparison between what we can offer ourselves and what God can. Only one of us is omnipresent, omnipotent, all-holy, all-loving, and faultless. God can do much more for us than we can do for ourselves. Therefore, whatever challenges we face in life, we ought to be like Jesus, declaring not our will, but the Father’s. We ought to remember no matter how much we toil during our lifetime, our Cup of Sorrow will eventually be replaced with a cup of joy, a kind of joy that never ever ends.

Further Reading 

• Psalm 34:17-20
• Habakkuk 3:17-19
• Matthew 16:24
• Revelation 21:4

Abiding in Love in a Hurting World..Lia Martin

 Abiding in Love in a Hurting World (John 15:17)

By Lia Martin

Today’s Bible Verse: This is my command: Love each other. - John 15:17

The Bible is often referred to as a love letter or love story; an incomparable history of hearts laid bare, broken, and believing. Filled with songs of love, promises of love, and commands to love, God’s Word is clear. Love is the purpose and the mission.

I believe we embrace the Bible as a love story in no small part because the Bible shows us who we are—sins and all. It pulls us up from the dirt in Genesis through a cataclysm of warfare in Revelation. And yet, at the heart of it is the refrain that God so loves the world, anyway.

It’s interesting to note that although Jesus talks about loving God, your neighbor, enemies and more all throughout Scripture, he wraps his message of love in John 15 in that of abiding in him, even though the world may not love us.

He begins with the image of himself as the vine we draw sustenance from, yet ends with the reality that the world will hate those who love him. As he paints a picture of humanity stretching forth, bearing fruit only by the power of the vine, he says in John 15:12, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

To be sure the importance of his command is felt, he says it again in John 15:17, with greater clarity:

This is my command: Love each other.

Jesus is offering himself here, as he does for eternity, as our source when life requires us to choose love. He is assuring us that we draw our ability to love from Him—the only vine that makes our inept branches bear fruit. Without him, we wither as he describes in verse 6.

The one who loves us so much that he gives his very lifeblood to reconcile us to our Creator knows...that as his followers, we’re up against a world of hatred.

So, he commands us: love anyway.

How? Remain in him. Remember his words. And, as he says in John 15:10, “keep my commands.”

What does this look like for an imperfect human in a hurting world? It often takes surrendering your agenda. It definitely requires a willingness to claim utter dependence on a love supply that is far greater than any of us, and perfect in its plan.

Love involves seeking him in prayer when hatred prowls around, seeking to burn your branches. It means asking God for the wisdom to choose love, instead of hate. It means seeing even those who hate you as needing love, too.

Does Jesus say to set those haters straight? Does he say to bear angry, rotten fruit? Not at all. He says in John 15:27 that in presence of hate, we testify. By judging? By performing? Well, In this passage, there’s only way. By loving.

So, rather than get our branches in a twist, and risk breaking off from the One strong enough to grow us, let’s not respond to the reality of hate with further persecution.

Let’s abide, by asking what the vine would have us do to show His love instead.

A Prayer for the Overflow of Our Hearts..Ashley Moore

 A Prayer for the Overflow of Our Hearts

By Ashley Moore

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” - John 7:38, ESV

Have you ever met someone who claimed to be a Christian, but their walk didn’t match their talk? Does your boss use an overly critical tone with his employees? Is there a friend who loves to share the current gossip? Or perhaps you have found yourself complaining or grumbling about something in a less than God-honoring way. I think Christians openly admit that just because we love Jesus doesn't mean we don’t still make sinful choices or say hurtful things. But we also can't use God’s forgiveness as a means of cheap grace, giving us a free ticket to heaven while we still live controlled by our flesh on earth. 

The tension lies somewhere between the two. Yes, we still experience the effect of sin on this side of Heaven, but we are a new creation in Christ. Jesus painted a beautiful word picture when He said whoever believes in Him would overflow with life-giving water (John 7:38). When Jesus confronted the Pharisees, He said whatever their hearts were full of is what would come out of their mouths (Matthew 12:34-35). The Bible tells us to guard our hearts because out of the heart flow the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). 

So, this begs the question, if what we say and do isn't life-giving, then what is in our hearts? Maybe we are too full of entertainment. Does our diet consist of hours of social media, streaming binges, or overindulgence in food or drink? Perhaps we are overly ambitious. Do money, power, or status drive us? Or maybe our lives are too full of noise and distraction. Is it a struggle to find a moment to be with God over our kids, coworkers, spouses, or friends?

These are challenges Christ-followers face. However, steadfast belief in Jesus is followed by tangible transformation despite life’s challenges. Our desires will change as we find ourselves longing to know Him more. Our “diets” change as we meet with Him to listen and learn about Him from His Word. We begin to take in less of what the world offers and more of what God says is good. And as we do this, we get our fill of life-giving goodness and start overflowing it onto others. 

It’s simply not enough to say we believe in Jesus. Changes follow this proclamation! We will desire to know Him more, and as we feast on His Word and obey His statutes our lives will be as He described. Out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). 

Let’s pray:
Dear Lord, 
Thank you for saving us from sin. Thank you for your forgiveness and for making us new creations. Thank you for the gift of Your Spirit and the power to change! Lord, forgive us when our words and actions misrepresent you to those around us. And Jesus, forgive us for filling ourselves with the wrong things more than we desire to fill ourselves with your truth. Help us to forgive those who offend us, Lord. We know how hard it is to deny our fleshly, human desires and obey you instead. 

God, we pray for strength to desire the things that you call good. Lord, help us hunger for your Word, and godly community, and fight for time to pray and commune with you. Help us desire these things more than anything else. Jesus, I pray that as we take our fill of your goodness that you would cause us to overflow onto those around us. Lord, let our presence be like your presence to them. Let us refresh others and encourage them! Let us be like a life-giving river that points them back to you. In Jesus’s name, Amen. 

Stinky Feet..Laura MacCorkle

Stinky Feet
by Laura MacCorkle

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:34-35, NIV

Do you celebrate Maundy Thursday?

The word maundy means "a new commandment" and is derived from the Latin word Mandatum in translating Jesus' commandment in John 13:34-35.

Before He said that, Jesus had demonstrated His love that same evening during the Last Supper, as He humbled Himself and washed His disciples' feet (John 13:4-5). This act perfectly illustrated His new command.

So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

After reading this, I can only imagine what washing someone else's stinky feet must be like. 

Think about where your feet have been, especially if you live in a back-to-nature, shoe-optional locale. This starts getting very up close and personal. And, depending on the individual and their hygiene habits or lack thereof, perhaps not too pleasant. Washing another's feet is not a glamorous act of service at all. But neither is anything related to the role of a servant, since it represents a position of humility and a mindset of putting others first.

In this day and age, I know there are certain churches that do have foot-washing services on Maundy Thursday to commemorate Christ's actions and his command. I have not participated in one like this, but I am sure it is a great object lesson to help all ages understand how to love one another. 

Taking this a step further, The Bible Knowledge Commentary has this to say about foot-washing:

"Foot-washing was needed in Palestine. The streets were dusty and people wore sandals without socks or stockings. It was a mark of honor for a host to provide a servant to wash a guest's feet; it was a breach of hospitality not to provide for it. ...[Jesus] had done a humble service for [the disciples]. Meeting others' needs self-sacrificially is what they ought to do too. This passage emphasizes inner humility, not a physical rite. Not to follow the example of Jesus is to exalt oneself above Him and to live in pride. No servant is greater than his master (cf John 12;26)."

So when we humble ourselves and serve the Lord as He served us, it is He who lifts us up. When we love Christ, He changes our hearts and motivates us to love others. And if showing this love means washing some stinky feet, then so be it. 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and keep my laws (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Intersecting Faith & Life: Who is God impressing upon your heart today? Is he calling you to show love to this person? Determine your course of action that will show a humble heart: make a phone call, send a note, lend a hand, speak a kind word or wash some feet! And then follow through as you love one another!

Further Reading

Luke 10:27