Tag: faith

John 11:25-27 New American Standard Bible 1995

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are ^[a]the Christ, the Son of God, even ^[b]He who comes into the world.”

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.

The Resurrection and the Life

After delivering a sermon and a devotional about Jesus’ resurrection to a group of new youth, young adult leaders at a weekend retreat, the Pastor was asked,

“Do you mean that if I don’t believe in the resurrection, I can’t be a Christian?”

When the Pastor said that believing in the resur­rection is at the very heart of Christianity, the room went quiet and the students turned away disappointed.

In his fifth “I am” statement, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

According to science, it’s easy to reject Jesus’ claim, because people have not actually observed nor witnessed anyone ever coming back to life.

Nevertheless, Christians believe on the third day following his crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead.

Jesus’ resurrection sealed the victory over sin and death.

The resurrection is so essential, Paul says, that if God didn’t raise Jesus from the dead, our faith is useless and “we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

1 Corinthians 15:16-20 The Message

^16-20 If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ weren’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

By faith, however, through the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts, we believe that God did raise Jesus from the dead.

And we enjoy new life in Jesus and look forward to life with him for­ever.

This is no myth or fanciful escape from the present; it is simply the very central truth at the heart of being a Christian.

Do you believe Jesus is the resurrection and the life?

Resurrection Culture

John 11:25-27 English Standard Version

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[a] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

We serve a God of powerful and miraculous transformations.

All throughout Scripture God takes those whom the world deemed the lowest, the hopeless, and the helpless and uses them to change the world.

You are not beyond transformation.

God longs to break off that which inhibits you from experiencing fullness of life.

He longs to heal you, deliver you, and set you free.

Through the indelible reality of the resurrection of Jesus, we have been given the opportunity to live life in a new way. 

Romans 6:4 says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” 

The power of the resurrection is not just over our deaths, but over our lives.

God didn’t just pay for our freedom for all of eternity, but for right now—for this very moment.

He’s calling you and me to live a resurrected lifestyle.

He’s ushering us into a resurrection culture.

Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” 

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 even says, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 

Your life is changed because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Because Christ rose from the dead, you have been raised from spiritual death.

In these days of hardcore division and conflict and cancel culture, too often we are content to live our lives apart from the present reality of new life in Jesus.

Too often we are satisfied living according to how we so readily advocate, and accept and we define the sins of the flesh when we have been given a whole new way of living according the very Spirit of God who dwells within us as believers. 

Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” 

We have been freed from condemnation through the new law of the Spirit ratified by the death and resurrection of Christ. 

“There is therefore now no condemnation.” Let that sink in for a minute.

Through the grace of God, not by anything you could ever do, you have been freed from condemnation.

The only one who could ever truly condemn you is now your heavenly Father.

You are the child of the only righteous Judge, and he has offered you continual and uncompromising pardon because of his love for you.

And past being pardoned from condemnation, Romans 8 tells us that we have now been crowned as co-heirs with Christ. 

Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” 

Because of the life we have been given in the Spirit, we are “fellow heirs with Christ.” 

I’m not sure we even fully understand all that means for us.

So often we live as if we are automatically forced into submission to the world.

We live according to the principles of the flesh rather than life in the Spirit.

You have been freed from slavery to sin.

You have been freed from the condemnation of the world.

Christ defeated the enemy at the cross, and through him you have obtained total and complete victory.

You are now crowned with Christ and given his authority to see heaven come to earth through your life.

And most importantly, Romans 8 concludes by telling us of the incredible love available to us in our resurrection and victory with Christ. 

Romans 8:37-39 says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

There is nothing you or anyone else could do to separate you from the love of God.

Through the undeniable reality of Christ’s resurrection, you have been offered unchanging and unshakable love.

Living life in the Spirit is living with the constant knowledge that you are and will forever be loved.

Spend time today allowing the Word and presence of God to empower you, to mightily stir up your desire to live according to the Spirit rather than the flesh.

In what ways can the reality of Jesus’ resurrection shape how you live today?

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, may your life be forever changed as you spend seriously quality time discovering God’s heart for transformation.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the life available to you in the Spirit. 

Allow your desire to walk in fullness of life to be stirred up by God’s word.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” Romans 8:16-17

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

2. Reflect on your own life. 

Where are you still living your life according to the flesh? Where do you feel condemned or unloved? Where do you feel conquered rather than a conqueror?

3. Ask the Lord to guide you into life in the Spirit today. 

Life your live with a renewed mind according to God’s word.

As you go throughout your day, know that you have the choice to live your life differently.

You are not bound by the way you’ve lived your life in the past.

There is “newness of life” available to you every single day through the power of the Spirit working in you as a believer.

Yield to the Spirit’s leadership and live in light of the freedom purchased for you by the death of Jesus.

Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life, and in you we have new life and the hope of eternal life. Help us to work through our unbelief’s, Work in our hearts and our lives today as we serve you and look forward to spending eternity with you. Amen.

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Psalm 91 New American Standard Bible 1995

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶ Of the pestilence that ^[a]stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
⁸ You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
^9 [b]For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
¹⁰ No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your ^[c]tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹² They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the ^[d]serpent you will trample down.

¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in ^[e]trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ “With ^[f]a long life I will satisfy him
And ^[g]let him see My salvation.”

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.

Safe and Sound

If you know how big and scary and difficult the world is, this psalm is for you.

These are powerful words of comfort: God is our shelter; God will cover us with his feathers spread wide, and under God’s wings we will find refuge.

Birds do that by instinct; they see a threat and spread their wings, forming a canopy of protection.

Their offspring run for cover and huddle there until the danger passes.

Reflecting on the relationship between God and ourselves, the psalmist says God will protect us in a way like that.

We can find refuge under his wings. Surely God will shield and protect us.

But it also happens that sometimes a threat doesn’t pass us by, and we don’t feel protected at all.

The promise is not that pain and tragedy will magically flow around us, but that ultimately nothing can, will, ever separate us from the reach of our God’s arms.

We live “in the shelter of the Most High”; we rest and find comfort “in the shadow of the Almighty.”

We do not fear because the all-powerful God of heaven and earth is here with us, walking alongside and standing beside us, in front of us and behind us, as a mother hen who will never abandon her young.

We’re safe in God’s care, and he is always with us.

When the Terror Comes and the Arrows Start Flying

June 2023 that terror came and the arrows started flying right at my own heart.

Up and until my 3 bypass open heart surgery in July 2023 I was a doer by nature.

I loved setting goals, scheduling, and keeping life tied up in a tidy little bow.

Now, all these seven months later my goal-setting took on a new life of its own.

At this phase of my rehabilitation, with all the good things I wanted to do, I give myself one pep talk after another and I have tried to convince myself I could do it all, with a lot of rest, little help from my trusty goal-planner (wife), of course.

Soon, my morning prayer and Bible reading were pushed to the forefront to make room for more God-given steps forward toward reaching those goals.

Yet, still, too easily, I would become winded, exhausted, utterly unmotivated.

All my wife’s careful planning would go by the wayside devolving into my naps.

I had become so accustomed to consulting the pages of my agenda at the start of each day that I didn’t realize how it affected my relationship with the Lord.

Now, instead of waking up looking forward to spending a few minutes in God’s presence, I was reaching straight for my planner to see what needed to be done.

My choice to start each day with my own strength began affecting every part of my life. I needed to be willing to set aside my agenda and learn to abide in Jesus.

In the Gospel narrative of John, in the Upper Room discourse, Jesus had over emphasized the essence of abiding when he described himself as the vine and his followers as the branches.

In John chapter 15, we see the word “abide” used several times.

John 15:1-11 New American Standard Bible 1995

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He  ^[a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already ^[b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit ^[c]of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.  ⁶  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so ^[d]prove to be My disciples. ⁹ Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  ¹¹  These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

ABIDE: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3306/kjv/tr/0-1

Our taking a much deeper dive into Scripture to carefully look at the original meaning behind Jesus’ message reveals this God spoken life-changing truth.

There’s no better place to be than abiding in him. 

Psalm 91:1 illustrates this truth well, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

Jesus also knew our tendency toward striving, so in his message to his people, he added,

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 

We can do nothing of value apart from Christ.

Only average, tasteless fruit comes from a branch separated from the richness of his love.

I believe Jesus knew how hard it would be for us go-getter types to “abide.”

We want to do good things and share the love of Jesus through serving others.

But goals, absent God, can become idols, stealing the focus of our hearts.

The amazing truth I have discovered in this long course of my cardiac rehab is that learning to re-discipline myself to abide in the Lord draws me into a deeper awareness of the Holy Spirit working in our (mine, my wife’s) maturing lives.

Through these difficult and challenging heart agenda weighted times, it helps us stay patient with each other, love each other more and aligned with his will.

God enjoys our fellowship with him, and in those precious times of awareness, our faith filled connection to him will grow in miraculous and unexpected ways.

One way we have found we can learn to abide is by setting the planner down for a while and just sitting with God for a while.

No prayer requests, no specific agenda, just spending time being present with the Creator of the universe.

Sitting in God’s presence isn’t easy at first.

It takes a continual return to total dependence.

It means opening our hearts to what God wants to do in us, again and again and again, it involves picturing ourselves setting aside our fears, resting amidst the vastly strong arms of a loving Father, as his shadow offers protection, respite.

The more we learn to abide, the more we will long to abide.

So before we return to our agenda’s and to-do lists for the day, let’s commit to spending time simply learning about, praying over and then practicing abiding.

Even five minutes a day will cultivate a deeper connection. As we lean into God’s transforming presence, may we trade our agenda for all the Father has for us.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Father and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 91:11-16 New American Standard Bible 1995

¹¹ For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹² They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the ^[a]serpent you will trample down.

¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in ^[b]trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ “With ^[c]a long life I will satisfy him
And ^[d]let him see My salvation.”

Lord God, protect and shelter us, we pray. Gather us under your wings and shield us. Be our refuge in every storm of life. Be our only daily agenda In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Father God, You weaved me together on my Mother’s womb, Your thoughts of me and my future so infinite. Forgive me for the times I’ve gotten so busy with my own goals that I’ve forgotten to spend time in your presence. You are a good and faithful God, but in my rush to get things done, I forget to abide in you. Help me to lay down my own agenda and simply enjoy being connected to you. Thank you for reminding me to spend time with you as I learn how to abide. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

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.

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John 14:18-23 New American Standard Bible 1995

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ^19 [a]After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. ²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will  disclose Myself to him.” ²² Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with 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.

Do you know how God chooses a place to live?

He looks for someone who is obedient to him, and then the Father and the Son come to live in that person through the Holy Spirit.

Not only do they live there, but they also reveal their presence.

In other words, Jesus has gone to heaven to prepare a place for us, but he comes to live in us until we can come to live with him.

Our invitation for him to come and live in us is our love for him, shown in our obedience.

There is nothing more important for us than to understand the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

There is a very mistaken concept among Christians that Jesus came to show us what God was like and how he would behave among men.

This is far from the truth, for Jesus did not come to show us how God behaves.

It is true that he came to reveal the Father in his character, but in his activity he came to reveal humanity as God intended humanity to be.

In everything he did we see humanity acting as God intended us to act, from the very beginning.

At the very heart of that manifestation is the key and secret of human life.

The principle on which he lived is the principle on which God intended man to live and by which we are to live.

Throughout our Lord’s ministry he reminded us continually of that great principle, not only by his words, but by his deeds.

You put Christ back into the Christian and you put God back into the man.

This is the revolutionary claim of Christianity.

Unfortunately, it is often obscured in our day.

This is why there are so many false claims and so many attempts to substitute something dramatic, something which would appeal to the human heart to distinguish Christianity from other faiths.

The radical claim of Christianity is that Jesus Christ offers to live his human life all over again in you, in the midst of the situations that you daily face.

There are few who seem to step out into this kind of living, but wherever it is attempted, strange things begin to happen.

Not that the life becomes suddenly spectacular and people go around doing miracles and other wonders, but in the quiet daily experience of life, in the various decisions that come to us, there is a quiet trust in the wisdom of God to meet our need, and things begin to work out in unexpected ways.

Extraordinary things follow ordinary activity, as God begins to work in human life.

This is the secret of human life, as our Lord had demonstrated it, making it 100% available to us as we by faith receive Jesus Christ, that his life may be lived again in us.

Love is much more than a feeling or an attitude: love is an action.

When we love, we show it by our deeds.

As disciples of Jesus, our love is shown by our obedience to the things Jesus taught.

Of course, that obedience brings an incredible blessing — Jesus reveals himself to those that obey him!

Jesus loves His people, and He wants us to love Him back. 

Jesus wants to make his home within us, that we should reveal him to others.

This has been the message in the Bible from the beginning. 

He has already made the first move – He left everything and he came to us.  

Philippians 2:5-13 New American Standard Bible 1995

⁵ Have this attitude ^[a]in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be ^[b]grasped, ⁷ but ^[c]emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death ^[d]on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  ¹¹  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

¹² So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work  for His good pleasure.

The very human response to such a divine revelation of humility is up to us.

The revelation of Jesus Christ living in my humanity, guiding my humanity.

Revealed to the Jesus Christ living and guiding the humanity of the next person.

However small and inconsequential or large and in charge that may be in them.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 8 New American Standard Bible 1995

The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have ^[a]displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
² From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established ^[b]strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

³ When I ^[c]consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ^[d]ordained;
⁴ What is man that You ^[e]take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
⁵ Yet You have made him a little lower than ^[f]God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
⁶ You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
⁷ All sheep and oxen,
And also the ^[g]beasts of the field,
⁸ The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

God, Author of my life, final judge of my humanity, Convict me of my sin, not for my condemnation but so that I might repent and learn the new ways of righteousness. Let me walk each day in closer harmony and fellowship with you. Let your Holy Spirit live, work both in me and through me so I might experience the true joy of life.

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.

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Matthew 16:24-26 New American Standard Bible 1995

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wishes to save his ^[a]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[b]life for My sake will find it.  ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

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.

Self-denial

Let us just come right out and say it – Believers in Christ face the daunting challenge of being desensitized to the utter filth in the world around them.

The line between what is holy and unholy too often becomes fogged, unclear.

In the midst of the corruption and sin in our world, how can we be re-sensitized to live holy lives for the Lord?

Jesus explains, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves…”

And what does it mean to deny ourselves?

It means putting to death our sinful nature and putting on the spiritual nature of new life in Christ (Ephesians 4:14-5:20).

We cannot ever hope to do this task on our own, but all of this is made possible because Jesus came to live among us, as fully human, and to die in our place so that we can be completely freed from the slavery of sin and the curse of death.

In Christ we are called to put sinful ways behind us—all immorality and all impurity such as hatred, discord, jealousy, envy, rage, selfish ambition, greed, drunkenness, brawling, gossip, slander, and any kind of malice.

Instead, Paul writes we are to walk “in step with the Spirit” of God, bearing good spiritual fruit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance [patience], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-25).

Jesus is our example.

He gave up his whole life for our sake, so that we might live.

Will we give up our old, corrupt nature to live the full life God wants us to enjoy?

In Christ we can!

A Prayer to Surrender All

Matthew 16:24-26 Easy-to-Read Version

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his followers, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me. ²⁵ Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me will find true life. ²⁶ It is worth nothing for you to have the whole world if you yourself are lost. You could never pay enough to buy back your life.

I often think about what it must have been like to live in the days of Jesus.

Even more, what it must have been like to encounter Jesus face to face, witness the miracles, to listen to him speak, try and anticipate his next journey, touch His cloak, or better yet, to walk and be one of His followers or beloved disciples.

The personal relationships that Jesus built with each of His disciples is truly touching.

The beautiful thing is that today we get to experience it all and can almost hear their conversations and interactions as we read, study and pray through each account in the New Testament.

Jesus’ teachings were not only intimate as He gathered the disciples and the people around and shared wisdom and truth with such love and grace, they were also a direct message to us as well!

Yet, some of the lessons must have been difficult to hear and understand, just as we struggle to read and decipher His Word today.

I specifically think of the verses noted above for instance.

We see parallel verses in Mark and Luke, where Jesus is informing the disciples that if they wish to follow Him, they must deny themselves and they must take up their own cross on a daily basis. (Mark 8:34-35, Luke 9:23-24)

Jesus has reminded the disciples of the price they will pay for following Him.

The cost is denial of self and to bear their own cross.

This is the high price we all must pay when we seek to follow Jesus and fully surrender our lives to the one and only God.

So, what exactly does that look like?

First, we are called to deny ourselves.

That means to disown our own interests, desires, and natural tendencies and replace them with what God loves and honors.

It’s essentially a mindset shift that chooses and craves to be more like Jesus – His attitude, His mannerisms, His faithfulness.

Second, we are called to take up our own cross. 

The cross was a bold instrument of execution in Jesus’ day.

It was meant for pain and torture along with public humiliation.

As followers, we must be ready (and willing) to undergo suffering and shame.

That is because this world will mock, ridicule, reject, and torment those who claim Christ as Lord.

Lastly, we are to follow Him by surrendering all.

Jesus is the direct access and path to a good, righteous, and abundant life beyond this one (John 14:6).

When we follow His way, truth, and life examples, we fully surrender our lives to Him and seek His will and way.

So, we must discipline our spirits to daily ask ourselves, are we surrendering all to Christ in order to follow Him?

Well, are we?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 42 New American Standard Bible 1995

BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the choir director. A ^[a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer ^[b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul ^[c]pants for You, O God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and ^[d]appear before God?
³ My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and ^[e]lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

⁵ Why are you ^[f]in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
^[g]Hope in God, for I shall ^[h]again praise ^[i]Him
For the ^[j]help of His presence.
⁶ O my God, my soul is ^[k]in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the ^[l]peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
⁸ The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning ^[m]because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰ As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
¹¹ Why are you ^[n]in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
^[o]Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The ^[p]help of my countenance and my God.

O Lord, our souls thirst for you, the living God. Guide us to live for you. Our only hope is in you, our God, the Creator and Author of our whole entire lives and Savior. Amen.

We humbly submit ourselves to You, Lord and seek Your face. We surrender our heart, mind, soul, and physical body all to You. We ask that You give us a means to seek only after Your heart and the plan and purpose You have for our lives. Align all our desires and passions to Your passions and allow us to be shaped and molded to be more and more like Jesus. Grant us such a measure and degree of wisdom and strength to bear the cross and sufficient power to resist the evil ways of this world. Please forgive us where we fail and cave under pressure, while offering us the courage to still fight the everyday battles. Be in our midst through each and every situation, showing us areas in our lives where we can improve and bring glory to Your holy name. Alleluia, Amen

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.

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James 2:14-17 The Message

Faith in Action

^14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

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.

Believing and Acting

A wise person has said that we should imagine our faith and actions written up in a feature story splashed across the front page of every known newspaper.

What would that look like?

Myriads and myriads of scandals erupt because high profile Christians don’t behave like the believers they vigorously claim to be.

But the tension between our walk and our talk brings dishonor to our Lord.

There are many times when believers deserve to be called hypocrites.

In those moments, our faith and deeds show a rather severe disconnect.

James speaks bluntly to this contrast between believing and acting.

Our trust relationship with God must show itself in acts of obedience.

Just nodding in agreement to a biblical teaching doesn’t transform the way we treat our next-door neighbor.

What about your faith?

Is it authentic?

Does it show others that you have a living relationship with Christ?

Real faith turns the misunderstood contrast between faith and works into a dynamic combination of genuine faith and real action.

Receiving God’s Word through Action

Faith and action go together.

Understanding and works are tethered—joined together at salvation through the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.

James 2:14-17 asks us,

Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

The poor, orphaned, widowed, and lost don’t just need a word from God.

They need us to act on our beliefs and love and serve selflessly with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Gathering together as believers to worship is just a part of what God intends for us as his children.

If we are to receive all that God has for us, if we are to walk in the abundant life God intends, we must resolve to be doers of the word.

James 1:23-25 gives us a window into the life of a believer who never puts action to his faith.

Scripture says,

²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

Your identity as a disciple of Christ undoubtedly comes from relationship with God, but it is meant to be lived out in your deeds.

God longs for you to live a life of good works in response to the unconditional love you’ve been given.

He longs for you to live in selfless humility sharing with others what he’s done in you.

We’ve separated Christianity from the world.

We’ve separated Sunday from Monday, the sacred and secular.

Jesus lived in line with God’s love every minute he was here.

He broke the rules in healing on the Sabbath.

He ministered almost completely outside of the walls of the synagogue.

He brought the good news of God’s grace to all who would believe everywhere he went.

His life was in no way segregated.

Jesus’s turning the water into wine at a party was just as holy and spiritual as his standing up, reading of Isaiah in the temple, proclaiming his fulfillment of the prophecy regarding the Messiah.

His love was put into perfect action through every word, miracle, step, glance, and prayer.

With Jesus as our perfect example, let’s live in accordance with God’s will.

Let’s blur the line between faith and works until the two become one.

Let’s regard meals, conversations, rest, family time, and parties as important and holy as worshipping inside the walls of our churches. Let’s live as Jesus did and reveal His love as an action instead of just an idea we talk about on Sunday. 

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire for your faith to produce good works.

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:14-17

2. Ask God where he would have you put faith into action. 

It could be the completely random act of buying flowers for your wife, or your finding a new way to honor your husband, taking your children on a special trip, or offering encouragement to someone around you at meal at work or at school.

Ask the Spirit to give you specific ways in which he desires you live out the love you have received.

3. Ask God for the strength and courage to live out his word. 

Follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit into the good works he has prepared for you today.

The Spirit has an incredible ability and power to guide a willing heart into action for God.

Receiving the knowledge of God’s love for the people around you will open up doors in your own life to better know the fullness of God’s heart.

You will be more deeply blessed by serving others than you could ever be blessed in being served.

God pours his love and grace out on those who minister in line with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

It’s truly an honor to be used by God to further the advance of his kingdom in the earth.

You were made to live out the truth of the gospel.

So choose today to act upon the leading of the Spirit.

Choose to be a doer of the word.

Psalm 100 New American Standard Bible 1995

All Men Exhorted to Praise God.

A Psalm for ^[a]Thanksgiving.

100 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
³ Know that the Lord ^[b]Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and ^[c]not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

⁴ Enter His gates with ^[d]thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.

Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, renew my heart, refresh my heart, change and transform my heart so my trust in you becomes a powerful, and active display of your grace and power. Help me to serve you by serving, caring about others. Amen.

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.

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