Loving Jesus Style

Scripture: Romans 8:18-21 (NIV) I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. Devotion: This passage opens a window into a hope so vast that Paul struggles to compare it with anything we experience now. Truly, we await a future hope that is beyond description. God will not only save humans who believe and follow Him, but He will also set all nature in order. No more floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes will plague the world. No more will humans spoil God’s creation. We cannot even begin to imagine what is in store for us in a creation put right by its Creator. This passage i...

  Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Devotion: This scripture opens with a statement that immediately brings up a question. Who is in this great cloud of witnesses that surrounds us? Are they those Christians who have gone before us? Can those who have passed on see us? The text seems to say yes to both questions. What kind of exemplary lives should we then live if this is the case? We must then, as the next section of the passage states, rid ourselves of anything that would hinder us. A...

Jesus ascends the mountain and, like Moses before him, delivers words that will define a covenant people—but he speaks not as a mediator relaying another's law, he speaks with the authority of the Lawgiver himself. The crowds are present, but Matthew is careful to note that "his disciples came to him" (v. 1); this sermon is first and foremost catechesis for those who already belong to him, even as it invites the crowd to consider what such belonging costs and offers. The Beatitudes are not eight independent virtues to be pursued piecemeal, nor a ladder of achievement by which one climbs into divine favor. They form a single, cumulative portrait of the same person—the regenerate citizen of the kingdom—viewed from eight angles. The order is not accidental. It begins on the inside, with the soul's posture before God, and moves outward into relationships and finally into suffering. Read as gospel rather than law, the Beatitudes describe what grace produces in a life, ...

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3 (NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Devotion: Peter, in this verse, proclaims the source of our hope in this life. That Jesus not only died to take the guilt and stain of our sin away, but that He was raised to new and everlasting life in heaven with the Father. Here, Peter, the apostle, lifts our eyes to the very heart of the Christian faith. He blesses God not out of habit or ritual, but because something has happened—something so decisive, so world‑altering, that nothing can ever be the same again. God, in His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Peter wants us to understand that our hope is not built on sentiment or wishful thinking. It is anchored in an event th...

  Scripture: Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV) Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Devotion: How counter-cultural these words of Jesus must have seemed to the first disciples. They lived in a time when there was no thought of equality among persons. Even today, in our culture, we still have vestiges of the notion that some people are better than others. Think of what it would mean if the President of the United States were to think of themselves as a servant of all the people. In my opinion, we have had very few presidents who have thought of themselves in this way. We see throughout the gospels, Jesus serving others. From the ...

Scripture: 1 John 4:9-10 (NIV) This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Devotion: These words from the Apostle John show us the depth of God’s love for us. In His grace, He sent Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. We do well to ponder that statement. God shows us love in a way that we, for the most part, are unable to show to others in any self-sacrificial way. We are always selfish, loving others for our own purposes. God’s love is selfless, always giving Himself away for sinners. This scripture before us today clearly states that we have a relationship with God, not through any merit of our own, but through the self-giving love of the Father. The Father loved the Son so much that He could part with the Son only for our salvation. We are truly in debt to God because He paid a ...