Having Grace for Others..Craig Denison Ministries

 Having Grace for Others

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

The story of the prodigal son moves my heart to delve into the depths of God’s limitless grace. I find myself in every facet of Jesus’ words. I identify with both the son’s rebellion and the power of the father’s love. As children of God we are in constant need of reminders about God’s mercy toward us. When the world rejects us, God calls us in. When the world writes us off, God clothes us with righteousness and honor. May this transformative story of the prodigal son guide you to a deeper and more intimate relationship with your loving heavenly Father.

Scripture:“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Devotional:

In response to the wealth of grace given to us by our heavenly Father, we are called to be ministers of his grace to others. Until we set others free from having to live up to our standards, we will never experience true freedom ourselves. Living apart from an attitude of continual grace robs us of the joy of living without unrealistic expectations of others. When we are slow to offer grace for the sins of others, we step outside the realm of God’s kingdom and place our hope and security in this fleeting world.

Jesus tells an important story for us to heed in Matthew 18:21-35. In this parable a servant is forgiven of an insurmountable debt owed to the king. But rather than taking the grace he was shown and offering it to others, the servant sought out a fellow servant and began to choke him until he paid his debt. Upon hearing of his servant’s lack of grace, the king has him thrown in prison until he paid off what he owed. And in verse 35 Jesus concludes, “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

We are called to offer grace to others, and not because of who they are or what they’ve done. If grace were based on merit or self-worth, it wouldn’t be grace. We are called to offer grace because no debt owed to us compares to the insurmountable debt of sin forgiven by the death of Jesus. There is no wrong someone could ever commit against us that could compare to the amount of unmerited favor we’ve received.

In showing grace to others we begin to experience to greater depths the joy of our heavenly Father. In offering mercy to the undeserving we shine the light of God’s grace into the darkness of a world without second chances. May we not be like the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18, but instead be like our loving Savior. May we not conform to the patterns of unforgiveness found all around us, but instead cast our hope on heaven and let go of that which the world would deem rightfully ours. May we commit scandals of grace that the lost cannot comprehend and the world cannot explain. May the love of our heavenly Father shine through us as we run out to meet the weak and sinful at their point of need and offer them mercy and compassion.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” May we gain everything as we seek to love others with God’s compassion and grace. May we love beyond what the world understands and offer grace beyond what anyone could expect. Take time in guided prayer to allow God to fill you with a fresh revelation of the grace you’ve been shown. Allow your Father to fill you with his heart for others. And ask the Holy Spirit to transform you into a minister of his divine grace today.

Guided Prayer:

1. Allow God to fill you with a fresh revelation of his limitless grace. Meditate on Scripture and allow it to fill your heart with thanksgiving at how compassionate your heavenly Father is.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

“So that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:7

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

2. Ask your heavenly Father to fill you with his heart for others.Ask him to whom he wants to offer grace through you today. Ask him how you can reveal his love and compassionate heart to the lost around you.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to transform you into a minister of his divine grace. Ask him to give you the courage and perspective to love, forgive, and show grace to the undeserving.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

The father in the parable of the prodigal son didn’t hesitate to show his rebellious child grace. He ran out to meet him at his point of greatest need and restored him to the life for which he had been born. Don’t hesitate to show grace today. Don’t wait to be used by your heavenly Father. Run out to meet those who are at their lowest points. Affirm and encourage those who have given up on themselves. Love and restore those who feel shame and helplessness. May your heavenly Father use you in powerful ways to reveal his loving grace to a world in desperate need of unmerited mercy.

Extended Reading: Matthew 18

How God Views the Self-Directed..Dr. Charles Stanley

 How God Views the Self-Directed

Dr. Charles Stanley

Luke 12:16-21

We've all heard jokes about men who refuse to stop and ask for directions. But in reality, there's probably a good bit of truth to the stereotype, and it isn't limited to males. Plenty of men and women in this world zoom along without slowing down to ask for guidance.

If you were to look at the situation from a spiritual perspective, you'd see a world of lost souls desperately trying to save themselves. They think  they can earn their way into heaven through hard work and the accumulation of good deeds. But they're wrong.

Today's passage from Luke describes a wealthy person who makes a lot of plans based only on his own thoughts, desires, and experience. Take the time to look at the passage again, and notice how many times he used the words "I" and "my." What you'll see is that his focus was squarely on himself. This parable is a sad picture of the self-directed man trying to make his own way and secure his own future with no help from anyone--including God.

The Lord didn't mince words: He called the man "fool" (v. 20). Worldly wisdom amounts to nothing in the eyes of our omniscient, all-wise Father (1 Cor. 1:20), and He expects His children to request and follow His guidance.

The message for us today is clear: When we figure out our own plans and take action with no thought about what God would advise, we are behaving like fools. The Lord has a plan for your life. He knows where you'll succeed and where you'll fail. Be wise and ask Him for directions.

A God Who Is Willing..Lynette Kittle

 A God Who Is Willing

By Lynette Kittle

“Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him’” - Luke 5:13

Like me, you’ve probably known or know someone praying for God to heal them who is still sick, or worse yet, someone who many prayed to be healed but instead passed away. Scripture is very clear God is willing to heal. So how do we explain when people continue to suffer or even die? We don’t. Instead, we keep our eyes on the truth that God’s will is to heal, and just because we sometimes don’t see it happen doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

Although a heartbreaking experience when someone isn’t healed or passes away, God reminds us, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than Your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). It becomes an opportunity where even though we don’t understand or can’t explain why, we choose to say, “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’”(Psalm 31:14).

How We Know God Is Willing
God tells us over and over in Scripture of His willingness and desire to heal us. 

• Psalm 147:3 affirms, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
• As well, Psalm 103:3 explains He is a God, “Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”
• Likewise, Psalm 107:20 describes how, “He sent out His word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.”

The Willingness of Jesus
Not one time in the Bible do we read where Jesus was unwilling to heal those who came to Him, and we know God the Father is willing to heal, too, because Hebrews 1:3 explains, that Jesus is the exact representation of God. As well, Jesus often healed whole crowds of people. “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23).

Because He healed entire crowds of people, we can be pretty safe in believing He healed people who didn’t have great faith to be healed, and individuals who hadn’t confessed all their sin, even some who were probably living in sin, and even those who had brought on their own sickness through their actions or lifestyles. All the reasons Christians often offer people as reasons why some people aren’t healed or die. But healing isn’t dependent on our efforts or condition, “For God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11).

Rather, it is dependent on the One who freely heals and delivers. Again. Matthew 4:24 describes how “News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and He healed them.”

God Is Willing to Save and Heal
Still, often some of the same individuals who believe Jesus saves don’t believe He heals. Yet how many millions of people pass away without knowing God? Does that mean God doesn’t save? Of course not! Although many men and women are passing away not knowing God, it’s not God’s will. 

His will for a dying world is summed up in 1 Timothy 2:4; He is a God, “Who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

Like it is written in His word, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

 So why do people doubt God’s desire to heal? Because they are focusing on not seeing it happen around them rather than on the truth that just like God saves, He also heals.

As Jeremiah 17:14 explains, “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the One I praise.”

Intersecting Faith and Life:
If you’re having difficulty believing God is willing to heal, maybe because of personal experiences and losses, ask God to renew your faith in His heart to heal, even when you don’t see it happen.

How Humility and Obedience Go Hand in Hand..Jennifer Waddle

 How Humility and Obedience Go Hand in Hand

by Jennifer Waddle

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. - Philippians 2:8

Jesus humbled Himself many times and in many ways during His life on earth. At the age of twelve, He humbly obeyed His parents by leaving the temple and His “Father’s business” to return home with them. (Luke 2:41-52) He humbled Himself when being baptized by John, fulfilling all righteousness. (Matthew 3:13-17) And, Jesus served His disciples in humility by washing their feet as an example of servanthood to them. (John 13:1-17)

There was, however, no greater example of humility than that of Jesus’ obedience to death on the cross. He chose to humble Himself, despite the immense battle raging within His soul.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Matthew 26:36-39

In the face of intense sorrow, even to the point of death, Jesus humbled Himself in perfect obedience to the Father. He wasn’t afraid to ask that the cup be taken from Him—that God would perhaps deliver Him from suffering—but in the end, Jesus surrendered His will.

“Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Humility and Obedience go hand in hand. Without one, the other is nearly impossible. It’s like the example of a child, when told to clean their room, who stomps down the hall and slams the door. Eventually, the child has a choice. He can either humbly accept the parent’s instruction and clean his room, or he can remain stubbornly defiant.

We, too, have a choice. When called by God to do hard things, we can cross our arms in defiance, or, we can humbly accept the command. It may take some wrestling through prayer, just as Jesus portrayed in the garden of Gethsemane, but ultimately, true obedience will follow humility.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8

A Prayer to Obey When Faced with Temptations..Chelsey DeMatteis

 A Prayer to Obey When Faced with Temptations

By Chelsey DeMatteis

“Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings.” - Joshua 7:11

I have absolutely loved my time studying the book of Joshua, it’s a current favorite book of the Bible with our almost 5-year-old! It’s convicted me and encouraged me. Most of all, the Holy Spirit has prompted me to look at the areas of my life that I’ve set on the back burner.

As I read through the book my jaw dropped at the events that unfolded in Joshua chapter 7. (I love when God’s Word does this.) In this portion of scripture, we watch the Israelites set out to destroy Ai. However, that plan did not pan out the way Joshua had hoped - they were defeated and dismayed. This sent Joshua to his knees in an outcry to God. He couldn't understand why God allowed them to lose this battle. 

“God responded to Joshua, ‘Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.’” - Joshua 7:10-12

One man, by the name Achan, chose to keep several of the very things God commanded be destroyed when He gave Jericho to the Israelites. Something we know about God and His character is He doesn’t give l commands as options but as rules and boundaries that must be obeyed. And when these commands are not obeyed there will always be a consequence. Because we serve a holy and loving God.

What God calls Joshua to do as a consequence to Achan left me speechless but reminds us yet again of the holy God we serve. “And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.’” Joshua 7:15

Jaw-dropping right? “All” Achan has must be destroyed. This meant not only the possessions in his tent but his entire family. Everything. What an incredibly gut-wrenching yet true example of what happens when we choose to defy God and His commands of us. While we can rest assured our family and all our possessions aren’t going to be physically destroyed by the people in our neighborhood; the destruction of the sinful choice to defy God still destroys so much. Inside our hearts and ripples into the lives of those around us.

Achan was no different than you and I. He did what many do on a daily basis. Take the bait of defying God in secret, concealing it in the dark, then wind up feeling the weight of life unraveling as God brings the truth to the light and consequences commence. 

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will use Joshua 7 to convict you in the same way it did me. I pray it causes you to see the areas of your life you’ve tucked away (big or small), hoping no one will confront them. There is freedom in things coming to the light and by God’s grace, we live on this side of the cross - where redemption and hope are offered because of Christ.

Let’s pray:

Lord, thank you for the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I ask that You move my heart to a surrendered place that craves closeness with You. Father, I pray that as I grow in the knowledge of what you command of me, I will follow You boldly. Help me see that the consequences I face due to sin are out of Your love for me - You discipline me as a father disciplines his child. In Jesus’ name, amen.