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

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.

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. 

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 Trust God for Provision..Victoria Riollano

 A Prayer to Trust God for Provision

By Victoria Riollano

“She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.’” - Gen. 16:13

My son was five years old. Yet, he was growing fast. Clothes that fit him at the start of the school year were now tight, uncomfortable, and far too short for his growing legs only two months later. As I got him ready for the bus stop, I quietly prayed “Lord, please provide for my son, we need help.” I can recall that aching feeling of knowing my child was in need but not having the means to provide it. I didn’t whisper a word to anyone out of shame and continued my day. Later that day, while leaving my son’s bus stop after school, I heard a neighbor calling my name. “Victoria, Victoria, I have something for you.” As she approached me, she handed me three oversized paper bags bursting with clothes. Barely able to carry it all she exclaimed, “I am so sorry I have been meaning to give this to you for weeks.” Needless to say, my eyes filled with tears. Before I had even prayed the prayer earlier that morning, God had already provided the need. He had already put the need in my neighbor’s heart to bless me. Not only was my son blessed but he had enough clothes to last him for many more growth spurts. The Lord had provided.

Moments like this lead me back to His Word. He assures us that He will never leave us or forsake us. He reminds us that He owns it all and that He has limitless resources. He tells us that if we would ask for anything according to His will, we shall receive it. He even knows our thoughts and inner desires. What marvelous love is this! 

In Genesis, we see a story of a mother who also found herself in need. Hagar, a woman, who was pregnant and was being mistreated by those who should have been protecting her, was hurting, and decided to run away. It was here that God met her. He spoke life into her situation and vision of who her son would become. In this moment she says these words, You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” God saw her pain; He saw her situation. He saw her need and He saw her future! In this moment, she was reminded that she was not alone and that God would provide for every need.

Today, may we be reminded that we have a God who sees us. He hears our cries for help, even the silent ones. He knows what those we care for are in need of, and it is His good pleasure to show us His goodness. May you be encouraged to seek the Lord and know that He answers.

Let’s pray:

Lord, I thank you for noticing my need. You prepare blessings for me before I even get a chance to ask. You place my name in the hearts of many and use others to bless me when hard times come. God, I thank you that I can trust you. I praise you for the provision and help in my time of need. Help me to never take you for granted or forget that you see me. Be with me and guide me closer to you in every situation. Help me to have peace and rest knowing that you care for your creation and that I am your beloved child. I love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.