Tag: God's Promises

Our Courage and Our Compassion to Do the Will Of Him Who Sent Us, To Actually Accomplish All of His Work. John 4:34-38

Where do you find the strength to continue your service to the Father?

Clearly, some things in which we invest our time prove futile. Still, others are worse than futile; they are depleting as well as futile.

However, consciously doing what we do to honor the Father, to follow his will, enables us to experience his empowering presence.

Rather than leaving us depleted, we find new strength and vitality.

Accomplishing the will of God and doing the work he created us to do blesses us as we bless others. That’s why Jesus reprimanded the evil one with the truth that God’s word nourishes more than bread.

So we need to ask ourselves each day, “What do I need to obey? What will help me live in God’s will for my life today?”

Then, as we do that, we too can actively versus passively, rejoice in the nourishing presence and thirst quenching power of heaven.

John 4:34-38 The Message

34-35 Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!

36-38 “The Harvester isn’t waiting. He’s taking his pay, gathering in this grain that’s ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That’s the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.’ I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Lift Up Your Eyes and Actually Look to Actually See

John 4:34–35 come at the end of Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 and as the disciples come out, she then goes running back into town to talk about who she has met and what he had summarized about her life.

Jesus is having this conversation with the disciples.

They are saying, “Hey, you haven’t eaten.”

He responds, “Oh, I’ve eaten. I have much better food than you’ve eaten. My food is to do the will of him who sent me, to finish his work.”

Basically what sustains Jesus is obeying the Father, accomplishing His will, doing the mission He sent me to do, here in John 4 “to bring living water to a woman who never met or knew me, I had never before met in my life, at a well.”

Then Rabbi Jesus says,

“Open your eyes and look. There’s so much work to do. There are so many people,” the harvest language here, “Who are in need of the grace and mercy and presence of God, the living water that Jesus has come to offer.”

Rabbi, Teacher Jesus says, “This is your food. This is your sustenance. Giving your life, making this living water known to those who are thirsty.”

This Text Wants Us To Spread The Gospel To Others

These Samaritans, they came back to the well with her, they’re ready to hear it.

These verses are a plea for the disciples and us: Open our eyes and actually and authentically look, do not say later, the fields are ripe for harvest and oh, I pray for this perspective maybe one day, maybe some day in the future in my life, in each one of our lives, that we would all have open eyes, that we would realize all around us there are definitely people in definite need of Jesus’ own living water.

There are people in need of salvation in Christ all around us right now today.

We will always be surrounded by people, all of us, in different parts of the world where we live and we work and we carry on with our daily lives, there are people around us who are authentically in need of the grace of Christ, so God, help us to open our eyes, see that they are white for harvest, that they’re ready to hear.

Certainly, not everybody is gonna respond favorably when we share the Gospel but God helps us to believe when we share, many are ready to hear the message, they want to hear God, the Way, the Truth, the Life of God through Christ Jesus.

Rabbi Jesus is saying “the Father in Heaven has already wired their souls to want Him, to need Him, to feed from Him, to drink from Him, to need grace from Him.”

By His courage and compassion Rabbi Jesus, has made that grace authentic, made it available, made it actually drinkable through His death on the cross.

He has made His living water genuine, eternal satisfaction possible, in God.

What of Our 21st Century Courage and Compassion?

Although God has His pulpit in heaven, He also has His “servants” on earth.

It’s clear from Scripture that in the mystery and kindness of His purposes, God has determined to use our feeble voices to enable others to hear His voice.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, our words of witness, our words of testimony about His living Word further His plans and change people’s lives and futures.

The question, then, is this:

Are we (actively versus passively) (authentically versus haphazardly) stepping forward into this privilege, or are we authentically holding back from doing it?

Following His encounter with the woman at the well, Jesus encouraged His disciples to open their eyes and “see that the fields are white for harvest.”

If we, like the disciples, actually look up to see the actual harvest before us, then we too must actually, authentically proclaim the word of Christ, declaring with genuine urgency and joy; “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Our saying this takes authentic courage and genuine confidence in the Gospel.

The gospel message runs completely counter to the prevailing worldviews.

It is the prime “#1 most wanted” enemy of much contemporary thought.

Claims for final truth in Jesus are not simply ignored; they are opposed, they are mocked, they are scorned, giving of the utmost offense and they are destroyed.

Our confidence, however, rests in the fact that the gospel message was given to us by God whose confidence in His Son to accomplish the task was at its utmost.

We did not invent it and by the Word of God we must not modify nor reinvent it.

Instead, look up, to see: “all authority in heaven and on earth” is Christ’s, and He has commanded us to “go … and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-19).

While we need confidence in our message, we also need compassion in our tone.

Jesus came as a humble servant.

He rode into town on a lowly donkey and spoke with gentleness and humility.

When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion, because He saw them as sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).

Only by the enabling power of His Holy Spirit, can we ourselves authentically demonstrate the same care, same compassion as we also recall we were once “foolish, disobedient,” “led astray” before Christ sought us out and transformed us (Titus 3:3).

Difficult days and challenging seasons have undeniably created an increased willingness in the hearts of those around us to talk about what weighs them down, what concerns them to the utmost about the brokenness in our world.

These authentically Dangerous and Disconcerting, Uncertain times must move you and me to be ready to seize upon any opportunity to proclaim to our family and friends, and neighbors “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2), 100% confident that the Holy Spirit of God can use our efforts for eternal gain.

What About our 21st Century Patience, Forbearance?

1 Timothy 1:15-20 The Message

15-19 Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I’m proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.

Deep honor and bright glory
    to the King of All Time—
One God, Immortal, Invisible,
    ever and always. Oh, yes!

I’m passing this work on to you, my son Timothy. The prophetic word that was directed to you prepared us for this. All those prayers are coming together now so you will do this well, fearless in your struggle, keeping a firm grip on your faith and on yourself. After all, this is a fight we’re in.

19-20 There are some, you know, who by relaxing their grip and thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith. Hymenaeus and Alexander are two of them. I let them wander off to Satan to be taught a lesson or two about not blaspheming.

When we hear the words patience and forbearance, we probably think of the virtues that enables us to wait.

That’s truly one way of looking at it, but Spirit-led patience is also much more.

Patience is longsuffering.

It involves more than passive waiting; it is active forbearance.

It is a deliberate willingness to put up with disagreeable things in pursuit of higher goals.

The best example of patience in the Bible is God himself.

A number of times, God is described as being “slow to anger” and “abounding in steadfast Love” (see Exodus 34:6; Psalm 103:8).

This phrase captures what true patience is.

Patient people do more than just wait.

They actively restrain their rightful anger and frustration.

For a higher purpose, they put up with things that they know are wrong.

This is the attitude our longsuffering God has toward sinful people.

For Paul, the “immense patience” of Jesus meant that God put up with all his wickedness for a long time before showing mercy to him.

Paul calls himself “the worst of sinners,” reflecting back on the time of his life when he persecuted Christians (see Acts 7:54-8:3).

But God waited Paul out, had other plans for Paul (Acts 9:1-31; 13:1-28:31).

That could easily be the testimony and witness of every single believer.

How wonderful that God’s love rests on his own capacity for goodness, and not our own capacity for intolerance, impatience, divisiveness, and utmost hatred!

Be bold. Be loving. Be active. Be prayerful – for only in Jesus can our darkness be turned to light – only in Jesus is there a true fresh start and a whole new future.

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

Let us Pray,

Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Ultimate Source of all good and perfect gifts, Just like we were surrounded in a desert by people and we have water and we would with urgency say, “Our work is to get this water to as many people as possible. God, help us to live that way. Help us to live today, this week, that way. Help us to live our lives with that kind of urgency for the harvest fields around us and God, just like you worked in that Samaritan woman at the well, we pray that you would work in many hearts, many, many hearts through our lives, that you would draw many hearts to know the life, eternal life, satisfaction, rivers of living water that are found in you. God, may many people … Even today, we pray that people today would drink from that water as a result of our lives living with urgency for the spread of your grace. My true God, may it be so we pray. May that be our food today. In Jesus’ name we pray.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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What a Long-Suffering and Gracious and Restorative God we Each Pray To. Hosea 6:1-3

Hosea 6:1-3 shares of Israel’s desire to return from their misery and repent from their sin.

The Israelites didn’t realize the impact and consequences of their sin, but recognized no matter how far they strayed God was the one who would heal and restore them.

Hosea 6:3 says, “Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”

In verse 3 the Israelites pressed into acknowledging the Lord.

They had the same assurance that you and I can have; just as the sun appears every morning,

God always does too.

Despite how far and wide you or I have strayed, God will authentically respond to you as you seek Him.

Hosea 6:1-3 New King James Version

A Call to Repentance

6 Come, and let us return to the Lord;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will [a]bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
3 Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

What A Long-Suffering And Gracious God We Have

God rebuked the people of Israel for their apostasy and idolatry, pronouncing a severe judgement upon them and causing Amos the prophet to mourn that His people were destroyed for lack of knowledge of the God of Israel, while He also is bewailing their marked and severe disinterest in the God of their salvation.

And yet the stark and serious warning broke into a comforting song of hope, that one day God would return, revive and restore His erring nation and pour out His blessings upon them like dew onto a parched desert, or as the spring showers falling over a hot and dry and dusty and thirsty land. (Psalm 63:1-2)

God knows that the disobedient Israel will one day return to His open arms of love, for they are all like a flock of straying sheep without a shepherd and the wounds and pain that have been inflicted due to the centuries of idolatry and apostasy will be over, when they come to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, Savior.

And He will bind up their wounds, mend the broken-hearted, with His soothing ointment and He will anoint their nation with the oil of gladness, when they call on the name of the Lord and recognize their God and Savior – for then they will look upon Him Whom they have pierced – whom they have crucified and buried.

His dealings with Israel is a great comfort to all of God’s children, for we know that despite the times when we also wander away from the Lord; getting swept into worldly ways or adopting a careless attitude, His initial response may well be discipline or chastisement, but He is also long-suffering towards us, even when we stray from His path of righteousness and follow our own foolish ways.

What a long-suffering and gracious God we have – for as He has dealt wisely with us, will continue in that wisdom, in grace, truth toward His erring nation.

So will Deal deal with Christians who have wandered far from His outstretched arms of love and truth or when faith wears thin and life seems too much to bear.

No matter how far any of us have strayed, His long standing promises to the church are as sure and praise-worthy, His promises to Israel. His chastening rod may hurt or wound us, but His promise of grace will truly help and heal.

Prayer for Restoration – Our Daily Prayer Unto God

6 1-3 “Come on, let’s go back to God.
    He hurt us, but he’ll heal us.
He hit us hard,
    but he’ll put us right again.
In a couple of days we’ll feel better.
    By the third day he’ll have made us brand-new,
Alive and on our feet,
    fit to face him.
We’re ready to study God,
    eager for God-knowledge.
As sure as dawn breaks,
    so sure is his daily arrival.
He comes as rain comes,
    as spring rain refreshing the ground.” (Hosea 6, The Message)

The exact moment sin reared its impossibly hideous, ugly head, in the form of a snake, in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3, brokenness likewise entered the scene.

Undoubtedly, we live in a broken world filled to overflowing of broken systems, overwhelmingly stressful situations, and people who could care less about God.

Sin leaves a vast ripple effect that continues year after year, generation after generation. It affects every individual. You cannot walk through life unscathed.

This is no different for Christians as it is for non-Christians. 

Matthew 5:45 says, “…He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Just because we are Christians does not and never will mean we are exempt from trials of all degrees and heartaches of every measure known but to God.

Sometimes with and without awareness, we have chosen a destructive path.

Other times, God makes us dwell in darkness (Lamentations 3:4-6 The Message).

4-6 He turned me into a skeleton
    of skin and bones, then broke the bones.
He hemmed me in, ganged up on me,
    poured on the trouble and hard times.
He locked me up in deep darkness,
    like a corpse nailed inside a coffin.

It’s not uncommon to forget God can still restore us when we are in the muck and the mire of a trial – our situations sometimes cloud our view of all God is. 

I don’t know what you, the reader of this devotion may be facing today, but I want to remind you the truth is God is still in the business of restoring!

He can still restore a broken relationship, shattered marriage, limp bodies, prodigal child, special needs children, tattered hearts, and scrambled minds.

With frustrated man, frustrated women, frustrated humanity, it is impossible to restore such as those, but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Truth is God does not always restore the things we have in mind the way we have that restoration all acceptably socially, culturally, politically defined.

Instead, God, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit restores our peace, joy, hope, and contentment, despite our uncertain situations – regardless of what ways and means our God chooses, He still redeems, repairs, restores, resurrects!

In addition to this, let us please never forget God always has the very final say.

By His Sovereign Will,

By God’s own Authority,

By God’s own Power,

Let it now be our declaration that no matter what threatens our souls,

We have the faith that according to the truths revealed in the Word of God,

When God speaks, Pharaoh relents, the chariots disappear beneath the waves and the storm is compelled to be silent, the seas will part for His Children, the lame are healed, the crippled will walk, the deaf will hear, and the will blind see.

He has the authority over everything because He is the creator of all things. 

If we are going through a tough season, keep pouring your heart out to God.

He is not weary of your tears.

He will not grow weary of your tears.

In fact God will collect your tears and reveal them to you at the suitable time.

Psalm 56:8 The Message

8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
    through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
    each ache written in your book.

He knows the words you cannot seem to utter.

He sees the pain no one else can see.

But also please remember to remind yourself God can still do exceedingly and abundantly more than you can ever ask, do, or ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20). 

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

Psalm 56 The Message

56 1-4 Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,
    stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
    but somebody beats me up;
They make it their duty
    to beat me up.
When I get really afraid
    I come to you in trust.
I’m proud to praise God;
    fearless now, I trust in God.
    What can mere mortals do?

5-6 They don’t let up—
    they smear my reputation
    and huddle to plot my collapse.
They gang up,
    sneak together through the alleys
To take me by surprise,
    wait their chance to get me.

7 Pay them back in evil!
    Get angry, God!
    Down with these people!

8 You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
    through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
    each ache written in your book.

9 If my enemies run away,
    turn tail when I yell at them,
Then I’ll know
    that God is on my side.

10-11 I’m proud to praise God,
    proud to praise God.
Fearless now, I trust in God;
    what can mere mortals do to me?

12-13 God, you did everything you promised,
    and I’m thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
    my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
    in the sunlit fields of life.

Creator, Father, I ask You for a fresh vision for what breakthrough will look like in my life. Help me to pursue healing while I wait for my miracle. Show me how to rest right in the middle of the storm. Help me to enjoy the feast You prepare for me, right in the middle of the raging battlefield. I want my whole life to testify that there’s a God in heaven who knows my name and who will get me safely home. Fill me afresh with the wonder of Your long-suffering love and indomitable power. I am so very determined to win this battle with fear and anxiety. Help me to discern when to rest, when to feast, and how to actively engage my faith as I wait for You to breakthrough. May my life display Your power. Do the impossible in and through me, I pray. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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How Well Are We Dealing With Indwelling Sin? Romans 7:14-16

1. Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

3. O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

Romans 7:14-16 The Message

14-16 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I cannot be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes all too obvious that God’s command is necessary.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Okay … We Never Like To Admit We Are Sinners

OK…so we don’t like to admit it.

Still, we must.

We are all born sinners.

We’re sons of Adam and daughters of Eve (CS Lewis, Narnia Chronicles).

No one needs to teach any single one of us how to be selfish, to put what we want ahead of what others (and even God) may want – we all have our PhD’s.

Born from our mother’s womb with an immediate need to independently insist on satisfying what we want (our first milk) apart from the word and will of God.

We do not know better, we have no awareness of anything outside of ourselves.

It’s what our first parents Adam and Eve did in Genesis 3; it’s what every human being, save Only One – Jesus, has done in his/her walking days on planet earth.

When we do, inevitably tough stuff happens.

Self-inflicted tough stuff.

Self-inflicted impossibly tough stuff.

All kinds of rough and tough stuff which diminishes us and often hurts others.

Self-centered lust conceives sin, and sin birthed ends in death (James 1:13-15).

13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer. (The Message)

The good God intended in our lives inevitably fails to happen; and the bad God knows it is best to avoid, inevitably, uncontrollably, raises and takes its place.

Without Jesus’ propitiation for it, His redemption of us from it, His resurrection power to defeat it, His Spirit’s power to replace it with righteousness, we simply automatically default back into it.

Dr. Tony Evans describes older automobiles that required power-steering fluid to enable steering a car virtually effortlessly.

[But] “when your power steering fluid got low, you’d have to force the wheel to turn…to pull and tug. The pull of the wheel back to center was so strong that without power steering, when you’d take your hands off the wheel, it would snap back to neutral position”

Paul calls it sin centered, or which “dwells” in, my flesh.

Without redemption and the Holy Spirit’s power, our flesh steers us back into our sinful living, into doing what we hate.

Too much tough stuff, impossibly rough stuff, for which we all need God’s help.

Now, Our Challenges Dealing With Indwelling Sin

Colossians 3:3-8 The Message

3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

5-8 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

If becoming a Christian meant we no longer sinned, Paul would have been wasting ink when he wrote, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.”

It is more than a little possible to embrace a form of externalism that makes us look really good to people on the outside when really we know that what the Bible says is true: that while we are saved children of God, we are also sinners.

How is it, then, that sin continues to wreak havoc?

It is because while we are indeed in Christ, who liberates us from the bondage of sin, we are still very much, unavoidably so) locked deep into, within, our flesh.

That’s the problem:

we each still experience “the desires of the flesh” that “are against the Spirit … for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17).

We are justified in Christ; all of the guilt that attaches to our lives is dealt with in our Savior Jesus.

We have died to sin in Christ so that it no longer has a tyrannical rule in our lives.

But although sin no longer reigns, it still remains and rages.

It no longer defines us, but it still clings to us like our skin does.

We therefore need to learn how to admit to ourselves, to learn to not to ever underestimate the presence and the catastrophically nature, the seriousness of sin; instead, we must be disciplined to watch out for its subtleties, insinuations.

To fight the good fight against sin, we must come, through our reading, studies, praying through the Word of God, to understand its addictive, enslaving power.

As the saying goes,

“Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Sin, then, must be attacked at the point of entry before it takes root within our hearts.

The only way to tackle sin is recognize we need to kill it, without compromise, so as to prevent all future damage, seen or unseen.

We will only be able to overcome sin when we are authentically motivated to “turn our eyes to Jesus, look into His face” and take strong measures against it.

Yet we will still sin, we will still make a serious mistake if we think we are the ones who can overcome sin’s indwelling power.

Since Christ “is our life,” our battle against sin is not to be faced in our own strength but in God’s mighty power; and since Christ “is your life,” your battle against sin is not a battle for salvation, for He has already secured that for you.

So now we need to commit to putting our sin to death, and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to overwhelm us with His wonderful love and fullness so as to create within us the deeper desire to do that which God’s word calls us to do: to seek out, find, and kill off all that “is earthly in you.”

Rethinking Sin

Romans 7:21-25 The Message

21-23 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

Many, if not actually all of us will still tend to think of sin in all -or- nothing terms: we either are sinners, or we are not.

Our problem is that while God does change us, we still carry that lifelong tug toward temptation around our waists and our ankles like a prison ball, chain.

Even the most experienced Christians are still tempted every single day to covet and lust and dishonor God and others—and lots more – which is kept private.

So what’s missing?

The 12 step recovery movement helps us in looking at this struggle.

Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 step recovery groups have helped millions of people come to terms with addictions that won’t go away.

The idea is simple: while addicts won’t ever be completely done with their addictions in this life, they can still choose to work to become free from it.

From a Christian perspective, addicts learn to let God lead them into a new life so they are no longer at the mercy of their addiction.

A recovering alcoholic will say that while they are still an alcoholic, they have not had a drink in a decade, they still introduce themselves, admit to being an alcoholic, but a much healthier one – a “more aware alcoholic,” one might say.

What if we decidedly looked at the stories of sinners in the Bible that way?

What if the sins of David and other believers were somehow part of a process of God allowing us to hit bottom, finally turn to his almighty power to be set free?

What if we reframed our thinking, viewed the Christian community as, say a network of small to medium sized fellowship “sinners anonymous” groups?

How would such “bible study, prayer meeting fellowships” change our thinking and our daily approach to our dealing with the scourge called “indwelling sin?”

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

Let us Pray,

Lord, though we often pretend we can master our sin struggles, we really need to be mastered by you. Surprise us into a deeper mercy than we might expect. My Heavenly Father, keep me ever mindful of the truth that there is an internal war with sin that is seeking to wound me, draw me back into my former fleshly ways. Thanks be to God, Who delivers me from this inner conflict, through Jesus Christ my Lord, my Savior.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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How Can We Use All Our Creative Talents to Thank and Glorify God? Psalm 116:12-19

When in our music God is glorified,
And adoration leaves no room for pride,
It is as though the whole creation cried:
Alleluia!

How often, making music, we have found
A new dimension in the world of sound,
As worship moved us to a more profound
Alleluia!

So has the Church, in liturgy and song,
In faith and love, through centuries of wrong,
Borne witness to the truth in every tongue:
Alleluia!

And did not Jesus sing a Psalm that night
When utmost evil strove against the light?
Then let us sing, for whom he won the fight:
Alleluia!

Psalm 116:12-19 The Message

12-19 What can I give back to God
    for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
    I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
    God welcomes those who love him.
Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
    your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
    and pray in the name of God.
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it in company with his people,
In the place of worship, in God’s house,
    in Jerusalem, God’s city.
Hallelujah!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

What Shall I Render Unto the Lord?

The Psalmist expresses the depths of his love for the Lord because God hears and God answers unto His children when they call to Him.

In this Psalm, his song of deepest praise, the Psalmist recalls the many troubles and sorrows he has already encountered, then unleashes upon all his readership exactly how gracious and exactly how compassionate the Lord has been to him.

The Lord heard his cry for help, the Lord rescued him from death and despair.

And as the Psalmist remembers the merciful kindness and patient grace of the Lord towards him, he cries out,

“How can I repay the LORD for all the good He has done for me?

What can I give to the LORD for all he has done for me?

What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me?”

The Psalmist knows there is so much he wants to do to say “Thank You, God!”

Yet also within this psalm, the Psalmist knew, as we do, that there is nothing that we can do to exactly repay the Lord for all His grace and love towards us.

There is no amount of payment or reward that we can offer to God that could possibly pay Him back for the miraculous, wonderful things He has done for us.

There is nothing we can do, but we can surely offer Him our sacrifice of praise.

We can pour out our whole heart of gratitude to Him for our great salvation.

We can tell others, we can shout and sing to others of the wonders of His grace and mercy, and we can render unto God our hearts, to seek to do His will with a willing and obedient heart that is overflowing with love for our gracious Savior.

Oh! I wish I could influence God, but God is never influenced by man’s foolish attempts to repay Him for what He has freely given as an eternal gift of grace.

There is nothing we can do to repay the Lord for all His goodness and loving-kindness He has shown towards us, but we can live a life that is pleasing to Him by trusting His Word and seeking in all that we say and do to live a godly life.

We can render unto God our gifts and our talents, to walk in spirit and truth, submitted to the guidance and the leading of the Holy Spirit, and letting the love of Christ shine through us in thought and deed, to the glory of the Father.

We Can Use All Our Creative Talents to Glorify God

Psalm 138:4-6 The Message

4-6 When they hear what you have to say, God,
    all earth’s kings will say “Thank you.”
They’ll sing of what you’ve done:
    “How great the glory of God!”
And here’s why: God, high above, sees far below;
    no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

It is written in the very first line of the Bible: “In the beginning God created…” (Genesis 1:1, emphasis added).

Creativity begins with God.

He had a plan and had a good design for the cosmos and spoke it into being.

We have a written account of how creation came to be, and how the very first people were made by God. God spoke, made, and revealed it all through the written word – He was behind the entire creative order that we see around us.

When we look at the intricacy of a snowflake or a leaf or a spider web, the symmetry of a butterfly, or the perfect location of the earth’s position in the rest of the solar system, we witness to all the handiwork of our Creator God.

He also planned that we would be made in His image (Genesis 1:26), so it is no surprise that we get to experience the wonder and joy of creativity ourselves.

With all of the wonders and miracles of this creative potential surrounding us every single day we live, how can we use our creative talents to glorify God?

Give All the Glory to God Alone

Whatever we do, we are to do it to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

That includes our creative endeavors.

As the apostle Paul shared,

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24).

In Colossians 1:16 it says: “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”

It is through Jesus that everything has been made and it is all for Him (John 1:3).

God made the universe through His Son (Hebrews 1:2) and it is by faith that “we understand the universe was formed at God’s own spoken command, so what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

It’s right, it’s good, it is an abundantly authentically joyful thing, to always give all of the glory to the only One who made it all, for whom it is all for.

It also fulfills the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Luke 10:27).

What we create should not ever be worshiped, nor should we glorify ourselves or others in ours or theirs creative pursuits.

That does not mean that we do not enjoy or appreciate what we create, what they create but we remember to keep our love, affections in their rightful place.

Participate in God’s Masterpiece

We have the immense privilege of joining with God in His creative purposes for the world.

It was God’s wonderful idea to create people and to get the first man to name the livestock, the birds and the wild animals (Genesis 2:20).

God “brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19).

This was God’s idea to involve us, not an idea of our own making.

God made the first woman as a helper, creating her from the rib of the man, and he named her too (Genesis 2:21-23).

They would work together in the world.

God invites us to participate in His grand design on earth, and invites us into actively participating in mission and ministry for His own kingdom purposes.

We are made in His image and formed by Him, God has a plan and a purpose, establishing our steps (Proverbs 16:9).

We can use our creative talents for good or for ill, but as we look to Jesus, our desires will become more and more like His.

Using our gifts of creativity enables each of us to singularly, uniquely, express a critically important part of who God has designed us all to be (Psalm 139:13-16).

That will definitely look different for each person, as we are all individuals with unique gifts, talents and abilities, yet we are, each and every single one of us, all “fearfully and wonderfully made” shaped, by Him in His Image (Psalm 139:14).

Love Others with Our Creativity

It is important to remember the first two commandments as we create: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.

Loving the Lord always comes first.

We need to spend time with Him regularly; it is vital to build and nurture a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

As we do this, it will transform our longings, desires to love and serve others. 

God loves the people whom He created, and He designed us to be in community together.

As we create to the glory of God and out of love for Him, it will spill over into how we use our gifts, talents, time and creative resources for edifying others.

This might look like caring for those in need, volunteering our skills, designing something to the best of our ability with utmost integrity, photographing or painting beautiful landscapes to show God’s work on display, so much more.

There are endless opportunities to be creative.

The people in our homes, communities and the wider world can be unbelievably and miraculously blessed, truly uplifted, inspired by our God-given creativity.

Manage Our Creative Talents Well

We are to steward what God has given us and remember that all good gifts come from Him (James 1:17).

Even as we are diligent and disciplined with our time, resources and creative talents, we can continue to learn and develop and mature in our creativity.

As we look to Him who is the giver and provider of all we need, we worship Him alone, rather than anything that we create.

Throughout the Bible, there are examples of humans using their gifts and abilities to create things to worship other than God.

We saw it when the Israelites created a golden calf to worship (Exodus 32) and in the construction of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-4).

In both cases, they made a god or a name for themselves, demonstrating the skill, but also the deep-rooted malignant pride too characteristic of mankind.

Even idolizing people made in the image of God lends itself to the worship of the creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).

There is risk and temptation to pursue and follow created things and step into idolatry, rather than to the single minded single directed worship of our God.

Therefore, we must bring our creativity before the Lord, knowing it is Him that we are serving, and we should use our gifts and talents respectfully and wisely.

Embrace the Skills Given to Us

God gives skills to different people.

We are all given certain abilities, even if it may take us a little while to discover or develop what they are.

In the building of the Tabernacle, there were many who had different skills given to them by God which would be used to complete it:

“All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded” (Exodus 35:10).

It is a beautiful picture of some of God’s people who were “willing and whose heart moved them” and brought materials and offerings to God for this work (Exodus 35:21-22).

Men and women all participated together, and there was a fervent willingness, highly developed skill involved to make what God had commanded come to be.

Are we also willing to offer our skills in whatever way is needed for God’s glory and purpose?

God Equips Those Who He Calls

God also equips those whom He calls to a specific task.

In the building of the Tabernacle, the Lord chose Bezalel of the tribe of Judah, and filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding, knowledge and all kinds of skills, to make artistic designs (Exodus:35:30-34).

He also equipped him and Oholiab of the tribe of Dan to be able to teach others. God is the one who fills us with the skills for the tasks that He has called us to.

The creative process means walking through trials and frustrations at times, but can also develop our perseverance and character.

God can use our creativity to shape and transform us into the likeness of Jesus as we seek to use our creative talents for His glory.

He is interested in our hearts.

As we create, we can ask Jesus to help us honor Him in our pursuits.

We can use our gifts and talents and our creativity to build up believers, spread the good news to those who do not know Jesus, support those in need, and use it as a way to provide an income for our families and programs of our churches.

As we surrender, yield to God, continually thinking “not my will but yours be done,” He takes our creative offering, transform it for His glory and purposes.

God saw the two loaves and five fish, and He was the One who filled the crowd.

Give Him your imagination, your creative talents, your need to express your gratitude, no matter how big or small, let Him deeply satisfy your every need.

As pastor and theologian Reverend Dr. John Piper said:

“God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him.”

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

Let us Pray,

My dear loving Heavenly Father, I just want to thank You for loving me so much that You sent Your Son to die for me so that I might live with You forever. Thank You, Father, for the innumerable ways that You demonstrate Your love, protection, and provision toward me. I pray that I may have an attitude of gratitude toward You in all I say and do so that You are praised and glorified in my life. Remember all those artists, inspire their diverse creative gifts, those whom you have placed among us, for are they not, O Lord, the fellows of your inspiration? Do they not, Lord God, bring to your people great proof of your divinity and our part in it? In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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To Whom Shall We Go? John 6:60-69

1. Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

2. Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
by the living Word of God I shall prevail,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

3. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord,
overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

4. Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
listening every moment to the Spirit’s call,
resting in my Savior as my all in all,
standing on the promises of God.
(Refrain)

John 6:60-69 The Message

Too Tough to Swallow

60 Many among his disciples heard this and said, “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.”

61-65 Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this rattle you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”

66-67 After this, many of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”

68-69 Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

What If We See A Vision of the Ascended Savior?

John 6:60-65 Amplified Bible

60 When many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This is a difficult and harsh  and offensive statement. Who can [be expected to] listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, aware that His disciples were complaining about it, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble and take offense? 62 What then [will you think] if you see the Son of Man ascending to [the realm] where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh conveys no benefit [it is of no account]. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life [providing eternal life]. 64 But [still] there are some of you who do not believe and have faith.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He was saying, “This is the reason why I have told you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him [that is, unless he is enabled to do so] by the Father.”

“Jesus Saves! Jesus Saves! Jesus Saves!

It may seem easy, at first, to line up, follow Jesus when we hear His promise of forgiveness, mercy and grace and salvation, and the promise of new life for us.

We naturally latch onto Jesus’ words of encouragement and reassurance.

The words are a source of great comfort, a source of Shalom Shalom we have been searching for, been reaching far into the depths of the vast universe for.

They are strange words at first because no one has taken the time to teach us, no one has taken the time to converse with us, nor even introduce them to us.

They are the “gotcha” words meant to immediately draw our attention away from all of the unholy hullabaloo which surrounds and swirls like a whirlwind.

Yes! Undoubtedly, these words will gain our attention at there spoken sound.

We will look at each other in wonder – “did we actually hear them?” gravitate towards the speaker of such unheard of words – highly curious – not really are we focused on anything of consequence beyond just the hearing and the talker.

What are they supposed to mean to us?

What are they meant to inspire us to do?

Are we just supposed to stand there and listen to someone give a short speech and then when they are done – then what – walk away for whatever reason?

We have heard these “motivational speeches” before – “Take them or Leave?”

Walk away, inspired or uninspired or disappointed, discouraged because we have no idea what was said or its implications means we have to commit to something we are sure we are no where near convinced of its true necessity?

And besides, the speaker is only going to go their own way and make the same speech somewhere else down the road – like any politician we have ever known.

“Get Out the Vote!” “Get Out and Vote for Me” “Because “Promises, Promises!”

Except, in our text, Jesus is not trying to be some sort of short term, mouthy political figure, another self absorbed, egotistical Temple Leader or any divine cheerleader waving those first century pom poms in all, every which direction.

He is the Savior who gave his life for our sake.

In our Bible reading for today, Jesus has pointed out the victory he would win, explaining to them that salvation comes only through his “flesh and blood.”

But that is not a message that sits easily with us.

In any age, it is a message anyone would scratch heads, mightily struggle with.

Because we have this innate, natural desire to try to save ourselves rather than to rely, try to understand, on the daily bread of life that Jesus gives “for the life of the world”—by laying down his own life, his own flesh his own life blood.

Jesus comes right out with these assembled disciples, demands total surrender to his authority and unto the gift of the salvation we cannot earn for ourselves.

The ascension makes clear that Jesus has this authority.

It reveals to the unspiritual and spiritual mindset that he is truly God, and it is from that place of undeniable authority He sends the Spirit to all who believe.

As followers of Jesus, we listen not only to His words that are easy to hear; we listen also to his words that call for our harsh, difficult, challenging obedience.

We are summoned to put our whole trust for salvation not in ourselves but in Jesus’ flesh and blood, given willingly by our heavenly Lord at a severe cost.

Jesus calls us to give of ourselves willingly for his sake. Can we accept that?

Can we take the not too difficult teachings and be inspired, and empowered?

Can we take the all too difficult teachings and be inspired and empowered?

To remain faithful, faith-filled, steadfast, immovable disciples for Jesus Christ?

Or do we shy away?

Quietly, indiscreetly, return to the peaceful non threatening confines of home?

To Whom Then Shall We Go to “hear” Words of Life?

John 6:66-69 Amplified Bible

Peter’s Confession of Faith

66 As a result of this [a]many of His disciples abandoned Him, and no longer walked with Him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve [disciples], “You do not want to leave too, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life [you are our only hope]. 69 We have believed and confidently trusted, and [even more] we have come to know [by personal observation and experience] that You are the Holy One of God [the Christ, the Son of the living God].”

Here is the mark of the true believer: Peter Cannot and Will Not Quit on Jesus!

When Jesus looked at them, when Jesus said to them, Will you go away also? 

It is clear that Jesus would have let them go their own way if they had wanted to.

He does not hold anybody against their will.

Responding to his Rabbi’s words, Peter says three wonderful things:

First,

Peter says, in effect, Rabbi, Teacher, Messiah, we have been thinking about it.

Rabbi, Teacher, Messiah, we have investigated the alternatives.

You are not easy to live with.

You embarrass us.

You frighten us.

We don’t understand you at times.

We see and hear you do things that simply blow our minds.

You offend people who we think are important.

You burn bridges best left intact for those of us who remain with you.

We have looked at some alternatives, but I want to tell you this,

Rabbi, Teacher, Messiah: We never found anyone who can do what you can do, who can dare to say what you can say with the same or with an equal authority. 

“Rabbi, Teacher, Messiah, to where shall we go, to whom shall we go?” 

“You have two things that hold us together, two things no one can dare deny, and the first is your words.”

“What you say to us has met our deepest need, has delivered us from our sins and freed us from our fears.”

“Your words, Lord, are the most remarkable words we have ever heard. You teach what no one else does, they explain us, they explain life to us. They satisfy us. Nobody speaks like you do, nobody understands life like you do. That holds us!”

Secondly, Lord, we have seen your character. 

Notice how Peter puts it: We have believed, and have come to know. 

That statement implies a process which has perhaps gone on over the course of months and years.

Peter is saying, 

We have carefully watched you, and we have come to see that there is nothing wrong in you. You are the Holy One of God, you are the Sinless One. You fit the prophecies; you fulfill the predictions. You speak with authority. You have drawn us, compelled us. You are the incomparable Christ, thus there is no place else to go.

I have found this to be, authentic, genuine, faithful and true of real Christians.

Those who steadfastly continue on always feel this way about Jesus.

They know their own failures, their own weaknesses.

They know that despite the many times they cannot nor do not understand what is happening to them, yet they cannot leave, they are compelled to stay.

This is the testimony of those who walk faithfully with him and follow him.

I have often said the best definition of a Christian is someone who cannot quit. 

Do we find being a Christian just too hard sometimes?

Are we ready to throw in the towel and walk away from your faith?

I had a phone call once from a young man, a relatively new Christian who said, 

“I cannot make it. I cannot understand it. I cannot apply it to my life. I cannot continue to be a Christian. It’s too hard. It’s too complicated. Everyone hates me now. No one wants to be a friend. I blow it all the time. I’m going to hang it up.” 

I had heard that kind of thing before, so I said to him, 

“That’s a good idea. Why don’t you do that? I think you’re right. Hang it up.”

“There was a pause on the line, then he said to me, You know I can’t do that.” 

I said, “I know it. Of course you can’t. You can’t quit. You wont quit. Who can you go to? Where can you find answers, resources such as you have drawn on?” 

This is what Peter is saying to Jesus.

This is what Peter is saying to us as believers today

This is what Peter is saying to the Body of Christ, the Church, today!

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
through eternal ages let his praises ring;
glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
standing on the promises of Christ my Savior;
standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 139:1-12 The Message

139 1-6 God, investigate my life;
    get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
    even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
    I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
    before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
    then up ahead and you’re there, too—
    your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
    I can’t take it all in!

7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
    to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
    If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
    to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
    you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
    At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
    night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.

Father, hallowed be thy name! Help us to believe! Holy Spirit, strengthen us for obedient living! Lord Jesus, speak your words of authority to us, that we may accept and follow you. Lord, there is nowhere else to go because only you have the words of eternal life. Help me to cling to your words, to search them out and understand them and obey them and believe that they alone are the words that give life. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

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“God, How May I Know What Your Will For My Life Is?” John 7:16-19

1. Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.

2. Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.

3. Take my will, and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.

John 7:16-19 The Message

16-19 Jesus said, “I didn’t make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn’t it, who gave you God’s Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Is Jesus For Real?

Do you ever wonder if Jesus actually was what he claimed to be?

Do we have trouble at times struggling with understanding what he is saying in these tremendous passages, especially in the Gospel narrative of John?

Well, if that is the case, Jesus tells you what to do: Practice what he says.

Obey his words.

Repent of your sins.

Come to Him.

Cast yourself upon his mercy.

Believe in his forgiveness, and go out in obedience and treat people the way he says to.

Then we will know from an inside knowledge that no one can take away that what He says is true, because His authority, teaching, is in line with the reality we are seeing of God at work through us.

This is a sacred principle that runs all through our life: We all learn by doing.

A doctor may learn all that the medical books can teach them, but until they get their hands into their clinical specialty, area of expertise, surgery or dispenses medicines to people who are in critical need of their service, never really learns.

The same is true in any field: We all learn by Our Doing.

When we do what Jesus says, we practice obedience and discipline ourselves, we begin to understand with a deep conviction that He knows what life is all about.

This explains the phenomenon of certain people who become Christians—some of them early, some late in life—and who immediately practice what they have learned through study of God’s Word, and then grow with astonishing rapidity.

They subtly become “more” grown up, capable, well-adjusted whole persons, seemingly almost overnight, while others who sit under the teaching of the Scripture for years hardly seem ever to grow at all; they are still childlike in their behavior, emotionally upset, anxious, timid, stagnant and fear-ridden.

This is because they are not doing what they hear.

They are only maintaining themselves in a “milk and cookies” Christianity.

Those who put into practice the truth they hear begin to grow immediately.

Now, it is graduating into whole hearted “meat and potatoes” evangelism.

They have entered the place called the tried, true, “Will of God For Their Lives.”

Ways to Know God’s Will for Your Life

When I was a young (in the faith) Christian, I seemed to continually wrestle with knowing to know what God’s will was for my life.

I wanted more than anything to follow His plan.

Interestingly, now that I’m “older” (currently 62 years old), I still wrestle with knowing and doing God’s will in my life.

Over the years of “near continual discernment” I have come to learn that this is not just something that many young persons does early in life; it is that lifelong pursuit, through study, prayer, in order to stay in the exact center of His plan.

So, then, how can we authentically, faithfully know God’s plan for our lives?

Over the past twenty-some years that I have been in both lay and lay pastoral ministry, I have discovered several vital keys to genuinely knowing God’s will.

Here they are:

1. Walk with God.

Proverbs 3:5-12 The Message

5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
    Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
    your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
    give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
    your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
    don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
    a father’s delight is behind all this.

For starters, if you are authentically interested in knowing God’s plan for your life, then you must genuinely learn to walk faithfully, faith-filled, with God.

You need to engage, work literally all of the soils of your life cultivate, develop and sow, plant the seeds of a harvest, then bear fruit – a relationship with Him.

Matthew 13:10-17 The Message

Why Tell Stories?

10 The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?”

11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward a welcome awakening. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again:

Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.
    Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.
The people are stupid!
They stick their fingers in their ears
    so they won’t have to listen;
They screw their eyes shut
    so they won’t have to look,
    so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face
    and let me heal them.

16-17 “But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance.

Christianity is all about working the soils, relationship rather than just religion.

And so you must cultivate your relationship with God.

We must seek to know Him through our labor, not just seek to know about Him.

We will cultivate that relationship best by spending time in His Word, taking time for prayer, and taking every opportunity you can to be involved in church and fellowship gatherings small group Bible study and prayer, opportunities.

When we seek “work these soils” cultivate these disciplines in, within our life, God will begin the first steps, plant the first seeds, to revealing His plan to you.

2. Surrender your will to God’s.

Romans 12:1-2 The Message

Place Your Life Before God

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Far too many times when we say we are seeking God’s will, what we are really wanting to say to God is this: “OK, God, here’s what I’m planning to do.” “Now I need you authentically, faithfully [automatically] to rubber stamp this, all right?”

I must break into your Theology to tell you that this is not really going to be an effective thought or planning, process in discovering and finding His true will.

Before God will begin to allow the seed to germinate, reveal His will to you, you must be committed, faithful, to doing whatever it is He desires for you to do.

God will likely be slow, not as we understand slow, but God understands slow, to show you His true plan if He knows you will likely not do that plan anyway.

Jesus was willing come to die for us, so shouldn’t we be willing to live for Him?

When we surrender to Him, that is when He really begins to direct our steps.

3. Obey what you already know to be God’s will.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 The Message

The Way He Wants You to Live

12-13 And now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!

13-15 Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Many people seem to want to know what God’s plan is for their lives, but they overlook the fact that 98% of His will is already delineated carefully through His Word – God is very authentic, clear about many, many aspects of His will.

Honor, respect those leaders and authority figures who work so hard for you, who have been given by God, the true responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your faith journey, in your wisdom and understanding and practice of obedience.

Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part to get along with others.

Warn the “freeloaders” to “get with the plan for the community” and start earning their keep, “get along with God’s plan for His Kingdom” and to laboring for God.

Gently encourage and inspire and empower the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet, showing them places where they may rest.

Be patient with each person, attentive to their individual needs.

Be careful that when we get on each others nerves, we do not snap at each other.

Look for the best in each other and always do your best to bring out their best.

Be Cheerful – no matter what!

Pray all of the time.

Thank God – no matter what happens!

If we do not practice His Presence, obey the things God has shown us clearly to be His will, why then would we think He would reveal any further information regarding His plan for our lives?

Practice Obedience and Practice His Wisdom are critically important first steps.

4. Seek godly input.

Proverbs 11:14 The Message

14 Without good direction, people lose their way;
    the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.

One key component to finding God’s will is to seek the input of godly advisors in your life.

If you don’t currently have 3-4 godly mentors, then I would highly recommend that you seek them out right away.

Think of it this way: you should understand that you are basically a composite of the five people you spend the most time with.

So, then, it is vital that you choose those five people well.

If you choose to surround yourself with godly advisors, they’ll be instrumental in helping you discern God’s plan for your life.

But if you surround yourself with people who are far from God, your hope of finding His best for your life will be greatly diminished.

The church is designed to help you greatly with this.

I would encourage you to be in church every single time the doors are opened.

The more you involve yourself with a community of believers, the greater your chances will be of finally finding authentic godly men and women who can help you discern God’s will.

5. Pay attention to how God has wired you.

1 Peter 4:7-11The Message

7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

God has created you and me to fulfill a specific role in this world.

There is no one else who can achieve completely what God has purposely created us to do.

God has gifted every one of us to perform a special mission for which we alone were created.

How amazing is that?

Wow!

So, when you seek to discover God’s will for your life, pay attention to how He has gifted you.

His plan for you will always be directly related to the gifts that He has bestowed upon you.

The great news is that you will automatically be good at whatever it is that He has called you to do!

6. Listen to God’s spirit.

John 16:12-15The Message

12-15 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’

I experienced a major turning point in my own prayer life when I learned simply to shut up while I was praying.

That may sound odd to you, and it seemed odd to me at first.

You see, I used to do all the talking when I prayed to God.

But then, several years ago, I read Bill Hybel’s book, Too Busy Not to Pray.

That book completely changed the way I approached God through prayer.

Since reading that book, I have added a significant component to my prayer life: listening.

I take time to “very carefully” listen to what God might have to say to me.

Practically, the way I go about this is to bring a notepad with me when I sit down to pray.

Then I contemplate at the top of several thoughts things like the following:

  • “What is the next step in my career?”
  • “What is the next step in my ministry?”
  • “What is the next step for my family?”
  • “What is the next step for my marriage?”
  • “What is the next step in my education?”
  • “What is the next step in my finances?”

During my prayer time, I meditate on questions such as the above.

Often, God will start flooding my heart with ideas and information regarding one or more of those questions.

Sometimes, not all of the time I write as fast as I can as He speaks to my heart.

What a glorious experience to sense His Spirit on me, guiding my thoughts and words, guiding my personal studies of the bible, writing of these devotionals.

Through experiences like this, He has shown me many times with great clarity what His will is for my life.

I long for those experiences when He speaks to me like that.

Those times are truly, authentically, life changing.

7. Listen to your heart.

Psalm 37:3-6 The Message

3-4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed,
    settle down and stick to your last.
Keep company with God,
    get in on the best.

5-6 Open up before God, keep nothing back;
    he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
    and stamp you with approval at high noon.

In addition to listening to the Spirit, I also recommend listening to your heart.

I love this passage, because it shows me that, when I am walking with the Lord, He will actually let me do many really cool things that I actually love to do!

When you are close to Him, He actually begins to shape your desires so that you desire the things that He has already called you to do.

So then, His plan actually becomes a super-exciting adventure.

I always have the most fun in life when I am doing God’s will.

And that is because He shapes and transforms every single one of my “wants” to always wanting to do all those things for which He has actually created me.

8. Take a look at your circumstances.

Acts 16:6-10 The Message

6-8 They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas.

9-10 That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.

God often clearly demonstrates His desired plan for our lives by His lining up circumstances in obvious ways.

And He also shows us what His will is NOT for us to do in that same way.

It is not His will for you to take the job that is not offered to you.

If you are of short stature it is not likely that God has created you to play 60 plus minutes of professional American NFL football.

But then again, there is the opportunity to play sports like professional soccer and be successful at a host of other amateur, professional sports opportunities

Over the years, I’ve discovered God is pretty good at opening and closing doors.

He even did that for the Apostle Paul and his entourage in the Book of Acts. 

So, even Paul had to face closed doors in his ministry.

God often uses closed doors to show us clearly what He does NOT want us to do.

And He also uses open doors at times to show us what He DOES want us to do.

Of course, this does not mean that every single open door is definitely God’s plan, but it surely and certainly does help to give you some basic direction.

A Closing Thought:

Psalm 27:7-10 The Message

7-9 Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:
    “Be good to me! Answer me!”
When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”
    my whole being replied,
“I’m seeking him!”
    Don’t hide from me now!

9-10 You’ve always been right there for me;
    don’t turn your back on me now.
Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me;
    you’ve always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left me,
    but God took me in.

The next time you begin to ponder God’s plan for your life, I would encourage you to study and pray over the Word of God and mull over the above eight keys.

In fellowship with your brother and sisters in Christ, use these principles to help you to hone in on His plan.

And when you earnestly and fervently seek His will alone, you will 100% find it!

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

Let us Pray,

Psalm 84 The Message

84 1-2 What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
    I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,
    where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

3-4 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
    sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
    singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
    How blessed they are to live and sing there!

5-7 And how blessed all those in whom you live,
    whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
    discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
    at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!

8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, listen:
    O God of Jacob, open your ears—I’m praying!
Look at our shields, glistening in the sun,
    our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.

10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
    beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
    than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
    generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
    It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Being Anointed and Taught by the Holy Spirit of God. 1 John 2:20-21

We have perfectly powerful guidance in Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

The pairing of God’s written word and the very God who authored the word have the power to lead us into a life of all wisdom, understanding, and revelation.

But we must choose to live this life in light of eternity.

We must choose success in heaven over success in the world’s eyes.

Scripture and the teaching of the Holy Spirit only have power in our lives if we follow their leadership and principles.

Choose today to be a doer of the word instead of a hearer only and discover freeing and empowering wisdom that has the power to transform your life.

1 John 2:20-21 Amplified Bible

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One [you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit], and all of you know [the truth because He teaches us, illuminates our minds, and guards us from error]. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie [nothing false, no deception] is of the truth.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

As believers in God and our Savior Jesus, we have been given the Holy Spirit as an Advocate, Helper, Intercessor, Teacher, Friend, and Seal for the promised inheritance of eternal life with God.

His living presence, guidance, and wisdom ministering, working in and within our lives, are our greatest gifts while here on earth.

Through Holy Spirit, we have access, we have a direct line, and an unbreakable connection with our heavenly Father.

Through him we receive spiritual gifts to empower us.

And through him we are able to bear the incredible fruit of abundant life.

In our response to these gifts of presence, and purpose, open your heart and mind to all the Holy Spirit would give you, show you, and lead you to this week.

God’s Holy Fire: ‘The Promised Coming’

John 14:26-27 The Message

25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

We have in the Holy Spirit the same Teacher who faithfully breathed the perfect and practical words of Scripture to imperfect men across thousands of years.

And Jesus said in John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” 

Not only did the Holy Spirit teach the disciples, but he also longs to teach us.

He longs to reveal to us the depths of God so that we might learn what it is to be a true follower of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit longs to show us the wisdom of God, reveal His Ways, His Truths, His Life, so that we might live and minister to and into the Kingdom of God as men and women empowered and inspired by God rather than nearly complete fools who only seek and find their knowledge only in the matters of the world.

Let us take a few steps back into His Humility, let’s open our minds and hearts to receive the wisdom that can only come from God himself in the Holy Spirit.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:10, “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” 

The Holy Spirit who dwells within us searches the depths of God and longs to reveal to us the ways of our heavenly Father.

He longs to teach us what it is to be a lover of God in a world set in opposition to the ways of God.

He longs to reveal to us the greater wisdom of God’s plans above our own and show us the folly, Psalm 14:1 foolishness, that comes from living for the world.

Being Taught by the Holy Spirit

1 John 2:20-21 The Message

20-21 But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it. I haven’t been writing this to tell you something you don’t know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn’t breed lies.

The Holy Spirit desires to be your Teacher today.

The questions before you and me today are:

Are you and I willing to be his diligent and disciplined student?

Are you and I willing to submit our submit and surrender our understanding to the Holy Spirit, to live and move and minister and build in light of his teaching?

Are you and I willing to appear foolish for God at times when the world doesn’t understand the wisdom of God, to speak, teach above that misunderstanding?

Are you and I willing to live wholeheartedly and steadfastly unashamed for the gospel, the pleasure of our heavenly Father over the fleeting opinions of man?

If we will surrender ourselves to the humility of Jesus, open our heart and mind today to being taught only by the Spirit, will we discover, explore a wealth of truth having the power to set us free from the bonds and burdens of this world?

The undefinable measure of truth coming from diligently studying Scripture will begin to change your life as the Holy Spirit reveals to us how these words written thousands of years ago are entirely 100% applicable to your life today.

Receiving the teaching of the Holy Spirit is as simple as submitting our lives to Him one day at a time, making time to listen to Him, study the word with Him.

As important, helpful, as gifted and inspired as they are, we don’t all have to be pastors, ministers, theologians, or scholars to understand what the Bible says, to speak, to teach, to live, what the Word of God for His Children means .

The Holy Spirit will be our teacher the way he was for the disciples.

He will teach us how Scripture applies to our life, guide us into the way of truth.

It’s incredibly important that we make time to study Scripture, but it’s equally important we all read the Bible along with the Spirit instead of apart from him.

The Bible is an immensely comprehensive, thoroughly practical message meant to greatly impact the lives of those who read it under the influence of the Spirit.

It’s a manual for living life in the abundance of relationship with God, not a book to be read apart from the reality of God’s nearness.

Scripture is meant to guide us into direct connection, direct communication with our heavenly Father, not substitute real, direct relationship with him.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” 

Trust in the leading, ministering and teaching of the Holy Spirit today.

Lean into and upon His wisdom instead of your own.

Acknowledge the reality of his nearness in your life.

And discover knowledge that has the power to fill you with abundant life.

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

Let us Pray,    

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the Holy Spirit’s desire to be your teacher.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26

“But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.” 1 John 2:20

2. Choose to be a student of the Holy Spirit. 

Choose to follow what He reveals to you to be wisdom over the ways of the world.

Choose His opinion over man’s.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” 1 John 2:27

3. Spend time studying Scripture with the Holy Spirit. 

Pray and ask the Spirit to reveal to you what wisdom He wants to show you.

Ask Him to show you the meaning of the words you are reading.

Allow Him to apply Scripture directly to your life.

“These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5

We have perfectly powerful guidance in Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

The pairing of God’s written and living word and the very God who authored the word have the ultimate power to lead, guide and direct and move each of us into a life of all wisdom, understanding, and revelation.

But we must choose to live this life in light of eternity.

We must choose success in heaven over success in the world’s eyes.

Scripture and the teaching of the Holy Spirit only have power in our lives if we follow their leadership and principles.

Choose today to be a doer of the word instead of a hearer only and discover freeing and empowering wisdom that has the power to transform your life.

O Father, I join my heart with the words of your servant David, who said: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Please transform my thinking and my living by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. 

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Born of God: Our Believing, Receiving and Rejecting the Light. John 1:9-13

Not everyone rejected Jesus.

In fact, everyone who believed in him and accepted him was given an incredible gift: They were made children of God!

The same is still true for us who believe and accept Jesus.

This special gift is something that God alone can give.

It is also something about which both Jesus and our author John will have more to say.

Today, however, think about what it means to be God’s child!

Our Father paints the sunrise and displays his artistry again at sunset. He set the boundaries of the universe, which we cannot begin to see.

He is the greatest Father anyone could ever have, and he chose us to be his children!

Our adoption into the Father’s family is something God did for us to include us as his children.

We couldn’t make ourselves part of God’s family any more than children can accomplish their own birth or their adoption.

We are God’s children because of his love and grace and Jesus’ sacrifice.

In fact, Jesus came as the Father’s Word of grace and truth and life so we can be children of God, born from above!

John 1:9-13 The Message

9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:
    Every person entering Life
    he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
    the world was there through him,
    and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
    but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
    who believed he was who he claimed
    and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
    their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
    not blood-begotten,
    not flesh-begotten,
    not sex-begotten.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

In the Beginning

In the prologue to his Gospel, John presents the Lord Jesus Christ as “the Light” that shines in darkness, it was John the Baptist who bore witness of His Light.

The Light of Christ is offered to everyone, yet not all wanted the Light of Christ to shine upon them, and they rejected Him.

Those who embraced Christ, those who believed Christ, were given the blessing of peace with God, and freedom from the bondage of sin, and eternity with the Father in heaven by the work of the Son (John 1:5-9, 14:6).

The inescapable truth is that this self same mindset is with us and among us even in in these last days before His promised return to make all things new.

Why do people choose, decide to not receive the offer of forgiveness and rest offered freely by the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28-30; John 10:28-30)?

There are several reasons given in the Scripture, and none of them are valid excuses or explanations in terms of where we stand before our Sovereign LORD.

From the Beginning

Genesis 3:8-13 English Standard Version

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [a] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[b] 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

From the beginning, the world in general did not and still does not want to receive the Light, even though it is a free gift from God to HIs fallen creation (John 1:4, 9-10, 8:12, 12:46) Whom He made in His image (Genesis 1:26, John 1:3).

He came into HIs own land and among His chosen people Israel (Deuteronomy 7:6, 18:15-18; Jeremiah 2:7).

Both John, Luke and the Apostle Paul writes Jesus’ own family did not believe Him until after HIs resurrection (John 7:5; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8).

John also lists other reasons why Jesus’ teachings and claims were rejected, and again, not one of them are the least bit excusable.

He tells us that there were some who deliberately loved darkness more than light, which is in line with what the Apostle Paul says about the condition of sinful humanity and their rejection of God’s glory, existence, and direction (John 3:19-20, 5:42-43; Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-18, 23).

Some were just plain fearful of what others would think of them, or what might happen to them, how they would be punished, how they would be disciplined, how their families would just flat reject them if they followed Jesus, preferring their approval over the welfare of their souls (Mark 8:38; John 7:13, 9:22, 12:42-43).

Some were badly taught by their teachers, or deliberately misinformed about the facts concerning Jesus, but there is no account of any of them taking the effort to check out the truth about Him, save for Nicodemus (John 3:1-21, 7:40-43).

Many of HIs disciples could not nor would not understand the depths of His teachings and simply quit following Him (John 6:6) instead of thinking about them and consciously expanding their knowledge of the deeper things of God.

In the context of our 21st century attitudes of Christ, things haven’t changed.

We want easy belief and shallow teaching that sooth our emotions and tickle our ears, preferring to remain deaf to His call to salvation (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

This goes hand-in-hand with another lame reason why people chose to reject Jesus, and that was they loved their traditions and history (John 9:13-16 Amp).

Controversy over the Man

13 Then they brought the man who was formerly blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was on a Sabbath day that Jesus made the mud and opened the man’s eyes. 15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” 16 Then some of the Pharisees said, “This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner (a non-observant Jew) do such signs and miracles?” So there was a difference of opinion among them.

People, as a whole, will rush to flat out reject, flat out resist, do not like any kind of change, accept any truths, but their own alternative methods of doing things.

They have long been comfortable and complacent with things as they are and anyone who suggests any kind of change usually does not end very well for the people who dare to rock the boat or shake the system in order to make it better.

Jesus came along, vigorously casting out the money changers in the Temple, declaring the religious work and manner of the Pharisees and other officials was no better than rotting corpses in tombs and were hypocrites headed to hell (Matthew 21:12, Matthew 23:27, 33, John 2:14-16).

He cursed cities that saw His miracles, yet rejected Him (Matthew 11:21-23), chastised His apostles for their unbelief and dullness of mind (Mark 8:14-21), and sharply, publicly, rebuked officials who tried to discredit Him by asking about taxes to Caesar and the issue of the Resurrection (Luke 20:19-40).

People who tend to dwell on “gentle Jesus, meek and mild”, need to re-read the Gospels and see that He was not nice and sweet all the time, but laid it on the line in terms of waking up all people to the fact of accountability before God, the reality of sin its consequences, that He is the ONLY way, truth, life, to salvation (John 14:6).

What if “our God worshipping church” today was “our God worshipping church” in the 1st Century?

I would even dare to say that if the Rabbi Jesus showed up at the average house of worship today and did the exact things He did in the Gospels, the cry for His betrayal, his arrest, his death, would be as loud as those who lived in His day.

However, God’s plan for our salvation would remain God’s plan, and Jesus’ resurrection would still take place to the world’s regret and the devil’s fears.

What about those who receive the Light of Christ?

John tells us that by giving our lives over to Jesus, we have the authority to be called sons and daughters of God, heirs and joint heirs with Him, a wonderful manifestation of the love of Almighty God (John 1:12; Romans 8:14-17; 1 John 3:1).

The privilege of being born of God is not by physical descent, or the work of our flesh, or virtue of power by our will, but is a spiritual rebirth made possible by the Sovereign, merciful, and benevolent act of the Spirit of God alone (John 1:13, 3:5; Titus 3:5).

We receive this free gift by repenting of our sins (Psalm 51:1-17) and asking the Lord Jesus to forgive us and save us (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-13), and that we each choose to come to God, give our lives fully over to Him as Lord and Savior.

We belong to Him from that time onward into eternity.

We are to serve Him by sharing what He has done for us with others (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 4:12, 19-20).

We are to reading and studying HIs Word to grow spiritually (John 17:17; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21).

We are to find and support a body of like-minded believers who teach the Scriptures faithfully and who confess Christ as Lord (Hebrews 10:24-25).

We are to follow the Lord’s example by a public confession of faith in Christ and be baptized as a sign of obedience and affirmation to follow Him. (Acts 2:43-47)

Believing and Living as Children of God

John 1:12-13Amplified Bible

12 But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name— 13 who were born, not of blood [natural conception], nor of the will of the flesh [physical impulse], nor of the will of man [that of a natural father], but of God [that is, a divine and supernatural birth—they are born of God—spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified].

John’s gospel tells us that to receive Jesus is to believe in his name.

To believe in Jesus’ name is to acknowledge that Jesus is the Word become flesh.

Others may pass him by, others will pass him by, think him a stranger, or, even worse, call him an impostor and blasphemer–but believers will see his glory.

Psalm 27:8 Amplified Bible

8 
When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

The Psalmist David, recognized the need to seek after God’s face everyday in prayer and in the reading and the diligent personal study of The Word of God.

John wants us to look on the face of Jesus until the conviction becomes so rooted in our hearts that we are looking into the human face of the living God.

Perhaps for us, in this day, age, this face of God comes most into focus when we see it “eye to eye” (Luke 22:60-62), “face to face” wearing the crown of thorns.

It is said of God no one can behold his face and live. I always thought this meant no one can see his splendor and live. But perhaps, even far deeper, it meant that no one could look upon his true sorrow and live. Or perhaps his sorrow is his splendor.

Believing is more than seeing.

It also involves following and even carrying on a sort of love affair.

Believing is a verb, and in our Scripture reading it is followed by the preposition “in,” suggesting that it unites us to the one in whom we believe.

It is through this union that we His Children are ushered into the family of God.

I pray that if we are seeking the Light of Truth and we have come across this devotion, I invite and implore us read and study and pray the Word of God, to repent of our sins, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and eternal life.

Consider please, quit stumbling around in the darkness and turn to Him today.

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

Let us pray,

Psalm 84 The Message

84 1-2 What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
    I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,
Always dreamed of a room in your house,
    where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

3-4 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
    sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
    singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
    How blessed they are to live and sing there!

5-7 And how blessed all those in whom you live,
    whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
    discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
    at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!

8-9 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, listen:
    O God of Jacob, open your ears—I’m praying!
Look at our shields, glistening in the sun,
    our faces, shining with your gracious anointing.

10-12 One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship,
    beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches.
I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God
    than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin.
All sunshine and sovereign is God,
    generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn’t scrimp with his traveling companions.
    It’s smooth sailing all the way with God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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When We Need a Friend. Growing in Our Friendship with the Holy Spirit. Genesis 14:13-16

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love.  Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created.  And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. ​Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Holy Spirit, please become my best friend. I will submit to Your will. I will ask for Your input and wait for Your guidance. I will listen for Your voice and trust You as You speak to me. Amen.

Genesis 14:13-16 The Message

13-16 A fugitive came and reported to Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living at the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. They were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household—there were 318 of them—and chased after the captors all the way to Dan. Abram and his men split into small groups and attacked by night. They chased them as far as Hobah, just north of Damascus. They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

On Those “Rare” Occasions When We Need a Friend

The Holy Spirit would drive one thing home to our hearts through Abram’s experiences in this passage.

We do not lead our Christian lives in isolated seclusion—we are each members of one another, the Body of Christ, and in circumstances of this nature, one Christian can often be the means of deliverance of a weaker brother or sister.

From our text, there was nothing Abram could do to deliver Lot from Sodom.

Sodom represented an inward choice in Lot’s heart to live in the materialistic, sensualized atmosphere of Sodom.

If a child of God chooses to be materialistic, sensual, commercial, and greedy for things of the world, not much can be done for him or her.

Only Lot could take himself out of Sodom.

But from this circumstance that threatened Lot’s very life and liberty, Abram’s heart and soul and his personal resources were amply sufficient through prayer.

Admitting To One Another Our Need For a Friend

James 5:16-18 The Message

16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

James 5:16b tells us, The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 

There is another translation of that verse which I have read that is excellent: 

The earnest, hot-hearted prayer of a righteous man releases great power. 

That is certainly the case in this incident.

The prayer offered in faith, we are told in the same chapter of James, will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up (James 5:15).

Many have been puzzled by this verse, but if we carefully read and study the context, we see clearly that the source of the affliction here is one which has arisen because a child of God has become involved, entangled in deliberate sin.

Such a one is to call upon the elders of the church together and confess his or her faults, and then the prayer of faith of the righteous will save the sick, and the Lord shall intercede, through the Holy Spirit and raise him or her up again.

It is indeed deep, wonderful experience, this power of prayer for someone else.

The history of the church is replete with instances of such deliverances through faithful prayer.

A wise and experienced ministry leader, speaking to a small group on the tough subject of intercessory prayer, addressed the matter of overwhelming sin that so grips the human heart as to enslave the life and frustrate all activity for God.

He gave some very wise words of advice. 

Perhaps some younger Christian, he said, may find themselves in such a circumstance, and the things they are doing is so shameful that they cannot bring himself to confess it publicly; then let him seek out some older man of God, someone he can trust, and asking the Holy Spirit into the fellowship, lay the whole matter before that person and ask him to pray concerning this. 

It is wise counsel, indeed.

When Lot could not possibly help himself, Abram, separated in heart from the wildly sinful Sodom-like attitudes that rendered Lot so powerless, was able to lay hold of God and affect a great and mighty witness, testimony of deliverance.

Friendship with the Holy Spirit

As believers in God, we have been given the Holy Spirit as a Helper, Teacher, Friend, and seal for the promised inheritance of eternal life with God.

His presence, guidance, and wisdom in our lives are our greatest gifts while here on earth.

Through him we have access to direct connection with our heavenly Father.

Through him we receive spiritual gifts to empower us.

And through Him we are able to bear the incredible fruit of abundant life.

Open your heart and mind to all that the Holy Spirit would give you, show you, and lead you to in these days and this week and the weeks and months ahead.

Psalm 25:14 The Message

14 God-friendship is for God-worshipers;
They are the ones he confides in.

In friendship with the Holy Spirit we begin to experience a sense of wholeness and joy unattainable through any other relationship or aspect of life.

Rapid and wonderful transformation results when you discover the wealth of love that comes with continual, real friendship with the living God.

In friendship with God comes peace, security, honesty, healing, and freedom.

As you live your life in step with the Spirit, you experience what Adam and Eve experienced as they walked with God himself in the Garden of Eden.

You discover the vast reservoir of love, affection, and perfect help that’s available to you in the Holy Spirit.

Open your heart today to receive a fresh revelation of God’s desire for friendship with you through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” 

God longs for an eternal friendship with all of His Children.

And through the Holy Spirit we have a continual connection with God available to us.

The Spirit desires to do life with you.

He wants to guide you, speak to you, and love you.

He wants to satisfy your longing for relationship and can do so in greater ways than you can imagine.

John 14:16-17 says, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

By God’s grace we have been filled with God himself.

We have dwelling with us the same Spirit who authored Scripture, raised Christ from the dead, empowered the disciples, and in the beginning, hovered over the waters at the creation of all things.

And Scripture says that He longs to help you!

Jesus calls Him the “Helper.”

How incredible is the grace of our God to offer us relationship with the Holy Spirit!

How great is his love that God would send his Son to the Cross at Calvary to die that we each might have abundant life for all of eternity, including right now!

So, how do we grow in friendship with the Holy Spirit?

How do we allow him to satisfy our desire for relationship? 

Psalm 25:14 says, “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” 

And Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” 

Friendship with the Holy Spirit starts like any other true friendship.

We must respect, love, and make time for the Holy Spirit.

We must learn what He likes and dislikes.

And we must apologize when we do something that grieves Him.

The Holy Spirit has feelings like any other person.

But He is also full of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and unconditional love.

Friendship with Him comes about by following his leadership, making time to ask him how he feels about things, and following his guidance away from a lifestyle of sin into the righteousness available to you through Christ Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is waiting right now to guide you into friendship with him.

He’s excited about the idea of pouring out His love and affections on you.

He longs to lead you away from the sins that hurt you and grieve him.

And He longs to guide us toward a life of walking with Him in relationship.

Spend time in fervent prayer being filled with the Holy Spirit afresh and making room to explore, discover the enlightening reality of His presence in our lives.

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

Let us Pray,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s desire for friendship with you.

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

“The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” Psalm 25:14

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to pour His love out on you. 

Ask him to make the reality of his nearness known to you.

Be filled with desire to live your life in relationship with this real, tangible God who loves you.

3. Ask the Holy Spirit what he likes and doesn’t like. 

Open your life and let him speak to you about whatever is causing you trouble.

Ask Holy Spirit how He feels about our relationships, situations, thoughts, and “eternal” perspectives we have – the Holy Spirit loves to speak to us, to help us.

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17

Often we separate out what we think God cares about and what just seems to be normal, worldly parts of life.

But God wants to be involved in every part of our lives.

He wants to be there for us in everything we do.

He wants to fill us with grace and joy to do all the things set before us, from taking out the trash to washing dishes to leading thousands of people in prayer.

Are we able to aid and and assistance unto our brothers or sisters in Christ with helpful counsel from the Word of God and with fellowship and fervent prayers?

Have we engaged in faithful fervent prayer for those in sinful circumstances?

Invite, allow the Holy Spirit to come in and work in every area of your life and may we discover the wealth of knowledge, love your God has to share with us.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love.  Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created.  And You shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolations. ​Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Out Of The Darkness: “God Said” Let There Be Light, Let There Be Day One. Genesis 1:3-5

In the beginning, there was God.

And God spoke all of creation into being.

God created ex nihilo (God created out of nothing).

God spoke, and light appeared.

By the power of His Word, land, air, and sea were formed out of nothing.
There is power, wonder-working power in the wonderful Word of God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

He created all things and the Word was light.

He was the light that lightens every man that comes into the world.

There is light and life and power, wonder-working light and life and power in the wonderful Word of God.

Genesis 1:1-5 Amplified Bible

The Creation

1 In the beginning God ([a]Elohim) [b]created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was [c]formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, [d]“Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and [e] He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was [f]evening and there was [g] morning, one day.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

“I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,”

The first verse of Genesis begins with the greatest observable fact known to man: the existence of the universe, the heavens and the earth, (Genesis 1:1b); and it links to that the greatest fact made known by revelation:

“I Believe in the existence of a God who creates.”

There is thus brought together in this simple verse at the beginning of the Bible the recognition of the two great sources of human knowledge:

nature, which is discoverable by the five senses of our physical life; and revelation, which is discoverable only by a mind and heart illuminated and taught by the Spirit of God.

These things “are spiritually discerned,” says the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2:14 Amplified).

14 But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters].

Both of these sources of knowledge are from God, and each of them is a means of knowing something about God.

The scientist who studies nature is searching ultimately for God.

One Christian scientist declared, “I am thinking the thoughts of God after him.”

That is an excellent way to describe what science basically is doing.

Also, those who seek to understand the Bible, to grasp its great themes and to understand the depths that are revealed there, are likewise in search of God.

Nature is designed to educate and teach humanity certain facts, truths, about God, but revelation is designed to lead us to the God about whom nature speaks.

So the two are ultimately complementary.

They are not contradictory in any sense, but definitively complete one another.

Genesis 1:3-5 – The First Day: “And God Said …”

Repeatedly throughout Genesis 1 we read those words, “God said,” followed by an act of creation.

God speaks and it is there.

God creates by speaking.

What does this mean?

In seeking an answer, we must be governed by what Scripture tells us.

Several passages come to mind.

One can think of Psalm 33:8 and 9. “By the word of the LORD, the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of His mouth … He spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood forth” 

(compare also Psalm 148:5b, “…He commanded and they [His created works] were created”).

God created by His word.

What was involved with the creation by the Word is made clearer as we go to the New Testament.

As the reader of Scripture knows, “the Word” is a name for the Son who was involved in the work of creation! 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” (John 1:1-3, 14; cf. 1 John 1:1-3; 5:1; Revelation 19:13).

The reference to the Word in creating is further also illuminated by 1 Corinthians 8:8, 

“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.” 

One can also think of Colossians 1:17 and 18, “For in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities – all things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (cf. Revelation 3:14).

If we read the words “and God said” in Genesis 1, in the light of Scripture, then what is not immediately obvious in Genesis 1, becomes more clear elsewhere.

God’s creating by the word involved the Son.

The word that God spoke was not without content.

It was a powerful and living word.

The word by which He called into being things from nothing was powerful for it was spoken in and through the Son. 

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

“‘Let there be Light’ and there was Light”

After God’s creation of heaven and earth, His first work of creation was light.

Light as we know it is part of creation. It was made. God spoke and it was there.

The importance of light is evident, not only from its place in God’s work of creation, but also from our own experience.

Who can imagine the possibility of life without light?

It is significant that light was created independently of the sun, moon, and stars which were created on the fourth day.

Although I hope to be coming back to this in a future devotion, suffice it for now to note that I would have thought there was a time when men said that this was a scientific error, but I guess men do not, would not, speak like that anymore.

Rather than my trying to ridicule or dismiss this order, or try to explain it, or put it on “social media” trial we should carefully try, consider the implications of this sequence of God’s first creating light and later the sun, moon and stars.

This order of God’s creation work reveals to us that all light comes from God.

God spoke into the prevailing darkness, light was revealed, the light – made it.

Light does not come in the first instance from the sun, the moon or the stars.

Light is a gift of God, not of the sun!

What a tremendous revelation!

What a tremendous gospel revelation this is for our naturalistic age in which people speak so freely and so scientifically of the sun, moon stars, as if alone, in the absence or dismissal or ridicule of their Creator, makes all of life possible.

For this reason people can even fret about the future horror of a spent sun.

For Israel this order of God’s creating activity was also of great comfort over against the host of pagan religions which regularly worshipped the sun.

It is not the sun, which is a part of creation, but the Creator, the Creator’s Son, who alone gives light, who alone is the Light (John 8:12) who is to be adored.

Jesus Is the Light of the World

12 Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, “[a]I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

“And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:4).

God’s work was pleasing in His eyes.

It was as He wanted it to be so that the light could serve the purpose for which it was made.

Notice that the phrase “God saw that… (it) was good” was not used with verse 2 where we read: 

“The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” 

God’s creation was not yet as He wanted it.

The earth was not yet suitable for the purpose for which God had summoned it away from the prevailing darkness of chaos, ultimately then called it into being.

The fact the created light was pleasing to God doesn’t mean an end to darkness.

No. God makes a separation between light and darkness.

Each gets its proper place in the Created order.

God had made both (Psalm 104:20 Amplified; Isaiah 45:7 Amplified).

20 
You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night,
In which prowls about every wild beast of the forest.

7 
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing peace and creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things.

Both are absolutely needed.

Both are absolutely required.

Think, for instance, of how darkness helps in sleeping!

What the place of light and darkness is, is clear from verse 5.

“God called the light Day and the darkness He called Night” (Genesis 1:5a).

It appears from this verse that the light which God had made functioned in a way similar to the sun; that is, it was not always going, required to be daytime.

Also nighttime was to have its regular place.

It has been suggested that this could point to a light source outside and beyond the world with the earth rotating.

In any case, the fact that God assigned names to the periods of light and periods of darkness is significant.

This reveals God’s power and sovereignty.

Think of Psalm 74:18a, “Thine is the day; Thine also the night.” 

God made the separation between light and darkness and God gave each their name and God made known to man of these names through His spoken Word.

“And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:5b); that is nighttime and daytime making one day.

From Exodus 20:11 Amplified we know God created heaven and earth in six days.

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

We may therefore probably assume that the first day began in darkness with God’s work of creation in the beginning (vv. 1, 2).

This darkness was followed by the creation of light.

The first day ended with the coming of evening, which was counted with the following day (Genesis 1:8; similarly with the other days, vv. 13, 18, 23, 31).

In view of the way the first day was made, it is understandable the Bible reckons a day from evening to evening (e.g., Leviticus 23:32; Psalm 55:17; Luke 23:53-54).

32 It is to be to you a Sabbath of complete rest, and you shall humble yourselves. On the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall keep your Sabbath.” (Amplified)

17 
Evening and morning and at noon I will complain and murmur,
And He will hear my voice. (Amplified)

53 And [after receiving permission] he took it down and wrapped it in a linen [burial] cloth and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had yet been laid. 54 It was the day of preparation [for the Sabbath], and the Sabbath was dawning. (Amplified)

There was a Day When Everything Was New

Genesis 1:1-5 The Message
Heaven and Earth

1 1-2 First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

3-5 God spoke: “Light!”
    And light appeared.
God saw that light was good
    and separated light from dark.
God named the light Day,
    he named the dark Night.
It was evening, it was morning—
Day One.

Once, the whole world was new.

Out of nothing, God spoke, God created the heavens and the earth.

The Bible describes the process of creation:

God spoke, and the world came into being.

And what God made was good.

It shone with delightful diversity, reflecting the richness of God’s character.

We do not always see the goodness and brilliance of God’s creation because sin and brokenness obscure our vision, bring decay to what was once brand-new.

Every day, our complete delight in the newness of God’s work just wears off.

So, daily, we need our attention called back to the character of the Creator.

Genesis tells us that God can and does bring goodness and light out of chaos, and in this way God blessedly assures us that the world is firmly in his control.

In all of the coming coming days and years ahead of us, we will all, without any exceptions, face times when the newness of our abundant blessings wears off, when the brokenness of our lives keeps us from receiving each day as a new gift.

When that happens, let’s remember that God spoke, God made all things good, and let’s just trust that He has the power to make all things new and good again.

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

Let us Pray,

Creator God,

As we are made in Your image, we give You thanks for the seed of creativity You planted within each person. We praise You for the clean lines of the sculpture, the complexity of the musical concerto, beauty, eloquence of the poet’s spoken words.

Grant us, we pray, the greater capacity to more fully appreciate creativity where we don’t always notice it: the perfectly clean and useful lines of a row of coat hangers with our wardrobes of praise hanging up neatly and orderly in our closets, say, or the complexity of a computer that brings the world to our doorsteps, crashes (some days) but most days does not, or the beauty in a text message carrying everyday news.

Forgive, us we pray, for those times when we have sadly squandered with aimless disregard our capacity to create, and for those times we have used our creativity as a force for destruction rather than reconciliation and reparation. Help us truly to live in deep appreciative awe of the creativity that you’ve already planted within each of us.

Give us the patience and courage to nourish that creativity, and the strength and truest persistence to express it, witness to it, everyday. In Your name we pray.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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