1 Corinthians 8:4-6 Disciples’ Literal New Testament
4 Therefore concerning the eating of the foods–sacrificed-to-idols— we know that an idol is nothing[a] in the world, and that there is no God except one. 5 For even if-indeed there are ones being called gods, whether in heaven or on earth— as-indeed there are many[b] gods and many lords— 6 yet for us there is One God the Father, from Whom are all things, and we are[c] for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we are through Him.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
This life we live, this life we have been gifted by God with is marked by a single defining choice: who or what will we choose to center our whole lives around?
This singular choice takes each and everyone of us down a wide or narrow path of decisions that will shape who we are, what we feel, who or what we value, and what we will, by that choice, have accomplished at the end of all our days.
To center our lives around ourselves or the things of this world leads only to destruction. But, to center our lives around meeting with God fills each moment with the glorious abundance of God’s love, provision, and transcendent peace.
1 Corinthians 8:5-6 Amplified Bible
5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, [a]who is the source of all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things [that have been created], and we [believers exist and have life and have been redeemed] through Him.
Weekly Overview:
This life is marked by a single choice: who or what will we center our lives around? This choice takes each of us down a path of decisions that shape who we are, what we feel, who or what we value, and what we will have accomplished at the end of our days. To center our lives around ourselves or the things of this world leads only to destruction. But, to center our lives around meeting with God fills each moment with the glorious abundance of God’s love, provision, and transcendent peace. May your life be marked by union with your Creator as we explore what it means to center our lives around meeting with God this week.
Scripture: “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” 1 Corinthians 8:6
Devotional:
If there’s one name for God that has the power to dramatically transform the lives of believers, it’s that we can call God “Abba” or “Father.” To see God as our Father changes everything. To know God, experience God, to live our lives with the assurance God is our “Abba” Father is an absolute true game changer.
“If you took the love of all the best mothers and fathers who have lived in the course of human history, all of their goodness, kindness, patience, fidelity, wisdom, tenderness, strength, and love and united all those qualities in a single person, that person’s love would only be a faint shadow of the furious love and mercy in the heart of God the Father addressed to you and me at this moment.”
― Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Even while we were in sin and separation from God, he loved us enough to pay the highest price to have us. (Romans 5:8-10)
John 15:13-17 Amplified Bible
13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. 16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you. 17 This [is what] I command you: that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another.
So great was his depth of love for us that Jesus laid down his own life as the atonement for all our mistakes, faults, failures, weaknesses, and frailties.
If God loved us then unconditionally, he loves us now unconditionally.
If God would choose us then, he chooses us now.
If God desired us then, he desires us now. (Hebrews 13:8)
If in the beginning God created us in His Image, In the Image of God He created them (Genesis 1:26-28)
Genesis 1:26-28 Amplified Bible
26 Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
And that Creation process has continued completely unabated ever since then, with God in absolute creative control from the first moment of our conception.
Psalm 139:13-18 Amplified Bible
13
For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
14
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
16
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].
17
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18
If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
Under God’s full observation and protection – without a single moment of sleep.
Psalm 121 Complete Jewish Bible
121 (0) A song of ascents:
(1) If I raise my eyes to the hills,
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from Adonai,
the maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip —
your guardian is not asleep.
4 No, the guardian of Isra’el
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 Adonai is your guardian; at your right hand
Adonai provides you with shade —
6 the sun can’t strike you during the day
or even the moon at night.
7 Adonai will guard you against all harm;
he will guard your life.
8 Adonai will guard your coming and going
from now on and forever.
If we’re going to center our lives around meeting with God, we must understand the nature of his love for us.
Psalm 23 Complete Jewish Bible
23 (0) A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
2 He has me lie down in grassy pastures,
he leads me by quiet water,
3 he restores my inner person.
He guides me in right paths
for the sake of his own name.
4 Even if I pass through death-dark ravines,
I will fear no disaster; for you are with me;
your rod and staff reassure me.
5 You prepare a table for me,
even as my enemies watch;
you anoint my head with oil
from an overflowing cup.
6 Goodness and grace will pursue me
every day of my life;
and I will live in the house of Adonai
for years and years to come.
We must begin to relate to him as our good and loving Father above all else.
We must cast aside any notion that he is angry with us, far from us, or void of affection or desire for us.
We will only be drawn to our heavenly Father to the degree that we take him at his word and trust in his love for us.
Take time today to receive the overwhelming, unconditional love of God for you. Allow his love to reorient your perspectives and beliefs.
Respond to his great love by opening your heart, having fellowship with your Creator, Sustainer, and all-loving Abba, our everlasting heavenly Father.
In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on the goodness of God being your perfect Father. What does it mean for your relationship with him if you would truly see him this way? How are you to reorient your perspectives in light of his word?
“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
“And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” Matthew 23:9
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17
2. In what ways have you viewed God other than a loving Father? In what ways have you seen him as a taskmaster, distant Creator, or angry or passive Father?
“Is your own personal prayer life characterized by the simplicity, childlike candor, boundless trust, easy familiarity of a baby crawling up in Daddy’s lap?
An assured knowing that the daddy doesn’t care if the child falls asleep, starts playing with toys, or even starts chatting with little friends, because the daddy knows the child has essentially chosen to be with him for that moment?
Is that the spirit of your interior prayer life?”
3. Ask God to help you encounter the depths of his love today. Now is as good a time as any to take all the time necessary to receive his presence and rest in his goodness. Open up any hidden parts of your life that aren’t bearing the fruit of his unconditional love and receive all the affection, affirmations he has to give.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:3
You are the child of a good, near, and loving Father.
Seeing God as your Father not only impacts your perception of him, but also of yourself and your neighbors. You are all loved. You are liked. You are enjoyed.
The God who only thinks, feels, and says truth values relationship with you enough to send his only Son to die for you.
Never let the world or the enemy shake the foundational love of your heavenly Father. No faults, failures, weakness, or sins could ever change the fact that you are loved, accepted, and valued. Through Abba Father, May you find peace today where there has been only hatred, and loneliness, pressure, and dissatisfaction.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 