Honesty before Man.. Craig Denison Ministries

 

Honesty before Man

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

God’s goodness over our lives far exceeds anything we’ve experienced. We’ve only yet splashed around in the shallows of God’s deep love and mercy. In order to dive deeper into the fullness of life available to us, we must learn how to posture our hearts. May your relationship with God be enriched this week as you position yourself to receive all your loving heavenly Father has to give.

Scripture:“For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man.” 2 Corinthians 8:21

Devotional:           

The world is right now in an identity crisis. With the global rise of social media and the Internet, we can now project ourselves to the world as anything we want. We’ve been given the option of only being partly known by countless people rather than really known by a few. We can attempt to fill a gap in our souls for love and relationship with the online world rather than being fully known in our strengths and weaknesses, our greatest faults and soaring successes. We’re in need of an awakening of honesty.

Having an honest heart before man is the only path to experiencing true liberation from the binding opinions of others. When we work tirelessly to build up a false self so that we can receive affirmation from others, we never truly experience love. For our false self to be loved is not truly love at all because we constantly have the thought, “If they really knew me, they wouldn’t love me.” We have an enemy aimed at the destruction of our greatest need: truly being loved. And exaggeration, false projections, and outright lies guide us exactly where our enemy wants us, into a lifestyle of never truly being known and therefore never truly being loved for who we are.

Throughout Scripture we see that wherever the Spirit is at work, the acts of confession, repentance, and truly being known to others are the result. Acts 19:18 tells us, “Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.” And God commands us in Colossians 3:9, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” You see, to project a lie or exaggeration of ourselves to others is to declare that we value the opinion of man over the opinion of God. Every time we work to create a better image of ourselves, we step outside of God’s grace and work for the love of man.

The path to truly being loved starts with being honest before God and man. It starts with positioning ourselves to truly be loved by God. In his book The Furious Longing of God, Brennan Manning describes what happens when we encounter God’s furious longing for us. He says, “The praise of others will not send your spirit soaring, nor will their criticism plunge you into the pit. Their rejection may make you sick, but it will not be a sickness unto death.” God longs to set us free from the emotional roller-coaster of living for the affirmation of man. God loves you where you, as you are. You don’t need to strive for the fleeting, burdensome affection of people any longer. The Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe is waiting right now to pour out a love so rich and true that it will set you free from ever needing what the world has to offer.

Take time in guided prayer today to meditate on the importance of being honest with others around you. Receive the love of God and be filled with courage to be fully known. Posture your heart at a place to be truly loved by God and others for who you are. May you experience the power of true, honest love today.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the importance of being honest with others around you.

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.” Proverbs 28:6

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” Colossians 3:9

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16

2. Confess to God any ways in which you’ve been striving for the approval of the world. Ask the Lord to overwhelm you with his love today that you might receive all you need from him. Ask him to show you how he feels about you. Receive his forgiveness.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19-20

3. Commit yourself to being fully known today. Ask God to fill you with courage to not project yourself as better or different than you are. Ask him to help you live today as you truly are, trusting that his love is all you need.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“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

One of the most powerful ways to be free from creating a false self is to engage in consistent confession with fellow believers. Your spouse needs to know your sin. Healing and freedom comes from bringing what was in the dark into the light so that we might gain proper perspective and have victory. The enemy longs to keep our sins in the dark until the day that bringing them to the light will do the greatest damage to us and to God. Don’t allow fear to keep you from the fullness of life God has for you. Confess your sins to others today, and ask for their help in being fully known. May you have faith that God will only ever guide you to a more abundant life. And may you receive the freedom and love that comes from truly being known today.

Extended Reading: Colossians 3

A Godly Heart..Dr. Charles Stanley

 A Godly Heart

Dr. Charles Stanley

Psalms 37:1-8

The Lord promises to give us the desires of our hearts. But many people take this passage out of context, forgetting that their own mindset plays a vital part in bringing it to fruition. As my mother once said, "Where your mind goes, your feet go, so be careful what you think about."

What is your responsibility when it comes to claiming promises from God?

Delight yourselves in the Lord (Ps. 37:4). Christians should rejoice in God and desire to walk in obedience. The Lord must have first place in your life before you can claim the promise in this verse.

Commit your way to the Lord (v. 5). Allow God to change any aspect of your ambition that is not His will.

Remember that when He doesn't answer a prayer as you wished, it is for a reason.

Trust in Him (v. 5). God is merciful, all-knowing, kind, and generous. You can trust Him with your hopes and dreams.

Rest in Him (v. 7). Resting in the Lord means trusting Him to answer prayers in His timing or transform your aspirations so they conform to His will.

Wait upon the Lord patiently (v. 7). Jesus waited three decades before beginning His three-year ministry on earth. According to His example, waiting is one of the key principles of Christian living.

Do your desires align with God's purpose and plan for your life? He longs to give His followers abundant blessings and fullness of joy. So allow your dreams to be conformed to the Lord's will, and follow His guidance faithfully. Only when you surrender to Him will you experience God's best for your life.

Never Ending Kingdom..Emma Danzey

 Never Ending Kingdom

By Emma Danzey

Luke 1:33 says, “And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And He Will Reign
There has been so much talk over the passing of Queen Elizabeth II around the world. She reigned for 70 years and will go down in history as one of the top 4 longest ruling monarchs. She was known for her service and selflessness. She was a woman of faith in Jesus. Although her reign was great on this earth, the queen herself is now bowing before the King of Kings. Any human reign given by God is ultimately for His purposes. What is amazing about Luke 1:33 is that Jesus’ reign is unlike any other. Where earthly rulers make mistakes and sin, Jesus has a flawless rule. Where people in the world have selfish motives, Jesus is perfectly selfless and humble. 

Luke 1:33 is a verse within a passage when Mary is told by the angel Gabriel about her miracle pregnancy of the Savior of the world. Mary was not anywhere near royalty herself. It kind of makes you think about David the shepherd boy who God chose. God’s kingdom is not like what we imagine in our worldly minds. The Lord was calling a teen virgin to carry the eternal Hero Jesus and in this verse in Luke 1:33 the angel tells Mary that her son will reign. In her mind, she may have thought the Messiah meant a reign on earth. However, God has a much larger plan. 

Over the House of Jacob Forever
This verse is confirming to Mary that she indeed would give birth to the Messiah who the Jews, the people of God had been waiting on for many years. The time had come for the redemption plan of the Lord to unfold. Jesus was coming, He was getting ready to rule. But where the Jews were looking for a powerful earthly king, they missed that Jesus served a greater kingdom. He taught things like, “The first will be last and the last will be first” (Matthew 20:16) and “Let the little children come to me because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) 

Jesus was the fulfillment of all of the promises found within the Old Testament. He was the One who lived the perfect life and became a sacrifice for all sins. Jesus fulfilled every prophecy, He was the One who was awaited, and many Jewish people missed it because of their own human thoughts about “who” the Messiah should be. However, He still came to die for the Jews and the Gentiles. He came first for the Jews, then for the Gentiles. He is King over all. 

And of His Kingdom There Will Be No End
We see so many endings of kings and queens ruling on this earth, some are a relief and some are cause to mourn. However, Jesus’ kingdom has no end date. He was and is and is to come. He is the King of kings. Revelation tells us about the future events to take place. God describes in Revelation 19:16, “And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

We can rest in the fact today and every day that our perfect King who is faithful, humble, kind, the fair Judge, and the King who came to us, loves us and is never going to fail us. When he hung on the cross and people mocked Him and put a crown of thorns into his head, He did not back down from being a perfect sacrifice. When His own disciples turned their backs on him in fear, He still had great forgiveness and restoration for them, and when we ignore Him and forget His sacrifice for our sins each day, His grace meets us where we are and calls us back to Himself and into His kingdom purposes. If we really understood the magnitude of the glory of our King, we would be responding in bowing, in awe, in wonder of His greatness and His intimacy with us. He is worthy to receive all the power honor and glory forever. 

Intersecting Faith and Life:
How can you remember Jesus as the King of kings today? How can you rest in His reign and join Him in His kingdom work?

Further Reading:

• Matthew 19:14
• Matthew 20:16
• Romans 1:16

How to See Hope and Value in Your Suffering..C. Adam Clagg

 How to See Hope and Value in Your Suffering

By C. Adam Clagg

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “In [Christ] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” - 1 Peter 1:6-7

The apostle Peter understood suffering from identifying with Jesus and his years serving the fledgling church. Sometimes his suffering was self-induced, caused by his own mistakes. The simple, rugged fisherman failed when he took his eyes off Jesus while walking on the water. Peter even denied Christ during the last few hours before the crucifixion. Despite all this, Jesus never forsook Peter, and God used these experiences to mold him.

When we endure pain, most of us doubt God’s love, or even question our salvation. Peter reminds us that suffering isn’t punishment from God. It is temporary. Even though God didn’t cause the pain, He will refine us through it.

If Job and Peter could find purpose in their pain, then there must be something to what they are saying. The mystery of suffering is never fully expressed. But it does seem that suffering leads us to pray more—whether out of anger, protest or petition. And thus, in the midst of tragedy, our relationship with God can improve.

Above all, Peter wants us to remember that we are not alone. When we cry out to Christ, He understands our pain and weaknesses because He endured the same thing. One day, our suffering will end. We will be united with our suffering Lord and those who came to know Him because we suffered well.

Suffering does not last forever. Not only do we follow Christ’s example by suffering, but we also follow in His resurrection. One day, God will raise us up out of our suffering.

A Prayer to Follow Jesus into the Unknown..Tiffany Curtis

 A Prayer to Follow Jesus into the Unknown

By Tiffany Curtis

“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” - Matthew 14:13-16

You are most likely familiar with the classic Sunday School story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two fish. When we think about this story, we often emphasize the incredible miracle that Jesus performed to provide sustenance for the following crowd. But there are also important details to be found in the moments leading up to Jesus’ provision. 

Let’s set the scene: Jesus had just learned that His close friend and family member, John the Baptist, had died. And not only had he died, he had been beheaded while in prison. Imagine the emotional turmoil this would cause. Upon learning this, Jesus knew it was time for Him to withdraw for a moment; to take time to sit in peace and mourn His loved one before continuing with His ministry. He went to a solitary place; however, as we see in verse 13, “the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.”

Imagine trying to escape, to have privacy for just a moment during such a hard time, yet you are followed by a mass of people who, most likely, aren’t aware of what you’re going through. 

The following crowd might sound like a nuisance in this story, but I think we can learn so much from those persistent people. They knew there was something special about Jesus, and they didn’t want to miss out on it; even if that meant literally dropping everything to follow Him out of town as He left. Think about it: Jesus left the city and went to a “remote place,” which means the crowd also journeyed to this remote place. They left their homes and their jobs. As we know from the story, many did not come prepared with enough food. They just followed. 

This would be really hard for some of us – trust me, I know. I’m a planner. I would not classify myself as spontaneous and I don’t like surprises. I like to know exactly what’s happening today, and how I can best be prepared for it. Would I have dropped everything to follow Jesus, not knowing where, or how long, I would be gone? Would I have that kind of faith?

Is there anything in your life that would be hard to give up in order to follow Jesus? Maybe it’s a feeling of security that you don’t want to give up. Maybe you’re happy where you live right now and you’re afraid of where He will call you to go. Let’s examine our own lives today and figure out if there’s anything holding us back from following Jesus into the unknown like the crowd did that day.

It can be scary, but we are called to have this kind of faith. The best part is, where Jesus leads He provides. Let’s recall again the turmoil Jesus was going through. He could have chosen to ignore the crowd – to hop back on the boat and find another location or have the disciples shoo them away. But He didn’t. He actually did the opposite: He had compassion on them.

When we follow Christ into the unknown, He sees us. He won’t turn us away; He will welcome us with open arms. And if we failed to prepare – if we didn’t bring any food with us like the crowd that followed Him – He will provide.

Let’s pray:

Lord Jesus,
Thank you for showering your compassion on us. We know that in any circumstance we can come to you, and we will not be turned away or ignored. Thank you for caring about us deeply and understanding our needs.

Help us to have faith like the crowd that followed you. No matter what we have going on, give us the courage to drop what we think is important, and instead give our whole selves to you. Help us to identify what is holding us back from fully committing our lives to you today. You call us to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Allow us to trust you fully with all four of those and to follow you, even if the destination is unknown. We know that wherever you lead us, you will provide.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.