Loving Jesus Style

  Scripture: Ezekiel 47:1-5 (NLT) In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 2  The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway. 3  Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4  He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5  Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through. Devotion:             Ezekiel here is having a vision of the temple with a new river flowing out of it. Since there are no rivers in Jerusalem this r

  Scripture: Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) 36  “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38  This is the great and first commandment. 39  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Devotion:             I have a wish. It is that every few years or so people would forget everything they think they know about Christianity and go back to kindergarten class in Sunday school and begin again with the basics. We might avoid a lot of heartache and grief that way. When our “advanced: and “mature” way of thinking about the Christian faith would be stripped away and we would be left to learn the basics and put them into practice.             Jesus in this passage takes his questioner back to the bare essence of what the Christian life is all about. Jesus reduces the wh

  Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 (ESV) 9  What gain has the worker from his toil? 10  I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12  I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13  also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. Devotion:             Most people’s knowledge of Ecclesiastes probably begins and ends with the verses we saw in yesterday’s blog post. However, Ecclesiastes is a rich source of wisdom for God’s people to mine. Today’s scripture asks and answers the question: What is the value of work? Everyone has a job to do here on this earth. How does God want his human creatures to relate to the task that God has assigned to them?          

    Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 (ESV) For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:             2            a time to be born, and a time to die;                         a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;             3            a time to kill, and a time to heal;                         a time to break down, and a time to build up;             4            a time to weep, and a time to laugh;                         a time to mourn, and a time to dance;             5            a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;                         a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;             6            a time to seek, and a time to lose;                         a time to keep, and a time to cast away;             7            a time to tear, and a time to sew;                         a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;             8            a time to lov

  Scripture: John 17:20-23 (ESV) 20  “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21  that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22  The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Devotion:             Today marks the end of “The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity”. This week churches of all denominational stripes come together in prayer that we may be united in Christ despite our differences in beliefs and practice. Together we hold up the teaching found in John’s gospel above as an ideal for which we can strive.             The devil has certainly been effective in his campaign to spread disunity in the body of Christ. That is

  Scripture: Acts 4:36-37 (ESV) 36  Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37  sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet. Devotion:             In this blog post we are going to examine the life and character of one Joseph who was nicknamed Barnabas. Everything that is said about this man in the Book of Acts gives evidence that his nickname was true to his character. How many people in today’s church could earn such a name? Many Pastors leave the pastorate each year discouraged and feeling like abject failures. If only they could have found a Barnabas in their congregation who knows what these men of God might have accomplished for the kingdom.             Let us look at some of the people Barnabas encouraged and stood behind in the stories of Acts:             26  And when [Saul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And

  Scripture: Luke 17:3-6 (ESV) 3  Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5  The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6  And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Devotion:             Today’s scripture is a real challenge to us in the 21 st century church in America. In our culture we typically do not depend on our faith. We are a people of action, of do it yourself. It is hard for us to lean on our faith and depend on that to carry out our goals. Faith seems to us to be an old-fashioned idea. In our minds we know that we are to have faith, but in our actions, we often look to “just do it” rather than have faith in God to do things his way.             The origi

  Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NLT) When I first came to you, dear brothers, and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2  For I decided that while I was with you, I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3  I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4  And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5  I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. Devotion             In this scripture Paul lays out the secret to success in proclaiming the gospel. The power of the gospel does not rest in any human talent or skill. It rests solely on the power of the Holy Spirit to move a soul to the point where it can receive the good news. Paul here gives good guidance on how we should go about witnessing to others about the truth of the gospel.             Many shy away from spe

  Scripture: Ephesians 6:18-20 (NRSV) 18  Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19  Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel 20  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. Devotion:             Paul closes out his chapter on spiritual warfare and the armor of God with an invitation to pray. Although prayer is not considered part of the armor of God described in the earlier verses. It certainly is to be used by us in conjunction with taking up each piece of armor. Prayer is the proverbial glue that holds the armor together, so that the wearer is fully protected from assaults by the devil and his crew.             First of all, we are to pray in the Spirit. Our prayer is sometimes dry and mechanical following rote patterns and using trite phra

  Scripture: Ephesians 6:14-17 (ESV) 14  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15  and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17  and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Devotion:             Commentators have used a wide variety of ways to describe the armor of God. My take follows a different path than most. Instead of concentrating on the pieces of armor and what body parts they do or do not cover we will be examining the characteristics of each piece of armor and why they are so vital for a Christian to be able to stand and fight the enemy. This thinking is drawn from Eugene Peterson’s the Message translation below:                         “Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can

  Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13 (ESV) 10  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Devotion:             Christianity is meant to be a fighting religion. Not like Islam that teaches its followers to use actual physical weapons to achieve victory for Allah. Christians are called to fight spiritual battles. Battles that are fought not with guns and knives, but with spiritual weapons like prayer and the proclamation of God’s word and in finally giving of our very selves over to God as living sacrifices.             Ve

  Scripture: Exodus 15:11 (ESV) 11           “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? Devotion:             Today is Friday and rather than deal with any theological or ethical topics, I choose to spend this last day of the work week for most of us in praise and worship. Meditating on specifically on God’s holiness. The English Standard Version, my Bible software tells me, that the Greek and Hebrew words that are translated “holy” occur almost 700 times. If repetition is any indicator of importance, then we would do well to meditate on God’s holiness for a while.          What does this word, so often heard in churches actually mean. From the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary here is the first entry: ho•ly \ ˈhō-lē \ adjective ho•li•er; -est [Middle English, from Old English hālig ; akin to Old English hāl whole—more at whole ] before 12th century 1:    exalted or worthy of comp

    Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (ESV) 6  So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7  for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9  So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.   Devotion:             Many Christians are under the false belief that there will be no judgement awaiting them when they get to heaven. However, as Paul makes clear in this passage that there will be a time of judgement even for Christians. The main difference between the judgement of Christians and the judgement of the rest of the world is that our salvation, our eternal destination, is not in question. We will be judged as Paul says here, by whether our deed

  Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) 13  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Devotion:             Temptation to sin is common to all humans. Even Jesus was tempted (see Mark 1:12-13, Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13). Temptation itself is not sin, however, only Jesus passed every temptation without sin. We may pass certain tests and fail spectacularly at others. So, it is to be human. From today’s scripture we are assured that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to deal with the temptation. How is it then we so often fail in our efforts to overcome temptation?             Their maybe many reasons  we fail to meet the test. First, if we look back to the first temptation in the Garden, you will see that the serpent confused Eve as to the actual command God had given the

  Scripture: John 15:12-13 (ESV) 12  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Devotion:             The context of this scripture is Jesus giving last minute instructions to his disciples in the upper room before they eat the Passover meal and go out to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus will be arrested and ultimately killed. It is more than just an exhortation to love one another. Although it is that. It is an invitation to come and die with and for Jesus. The church in modern America is honestly not very good at either of these things. Not only do we fail to love one another, we would not even consider dying for one another.             The current pandemic has illustrated this perfectly. With our admonition to each other to “be safe” we deliberately contradict the words of our savior to be willing to die for one another. The earliest Christians ministere

  Scripture: Psalm 118:24 (ESV) 24           This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.   Devotion:             Today’s Christians seldom truly rejoice. Maybe it’s just me but I sense that we have been beaten down by culture and we lack a true passion for the Lord most of the time. We simply go through the motions of doing things for the Lord. Our prayers lack faith. Even our singing sounds like a funeral dirge most of the time. What, I ask myself, is our problem? I think the answer lies in our attitude toward God.             I think most Christians, at least in America, find God boring. We endure our one hour a week devoted to him as if we were doing God a favor by showing up. As a result, we are missing out on the joy of belonging to Jesus. We lack our connection to God through the Holy Spirit. This leads to us lacking in our lives the fruit of the spirit in our everyday lives. If this is the case with us, what can we do about it? How do