Loving Jesus Style

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (ESV) 10  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11  For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13  each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14  If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15  If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Devotion:             Everyone knows that when starting a building it is necessary to have a solid foundation. Any building built with a weak foundation will not survive any storm or disaster. If you have a g

2 Corinthians 4:7-12 (ESV) 7  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9  persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11  For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12  So death is at work in us, but life in you. Devotion:             In this devotion we are going to look at the contrast between the light of the gospel in Jesus Christ and the weakness of those of us who believe. The treasure which verse 7 mentions is that gospel light. It is full of the glory of Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is the light which every believer is to shine into the dark and dangerous places in this world. And it

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)  make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Devotion:             We look today at Peter’s 2 nd letter for a challenge for all of us to grow in Christ. Peter gives us a list of eight qualities that are given to deepen and improve our faith. He tells us first of all that we are to “make every effort to add” these eight qualities so that we will be effective and productive disciples of the Lord. Too many Christians think that once they have simple faith in Christ and so are saved, they need not expend any energy of their own to improve their service to Jesus. Clearly Peter is calling t

Scripture: Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV) 1  The heavens declare the glory of God the skies proclaim the work of his hands 2  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3  They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4  Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.   Devotion:             Scientists have discovered that the stars and planets in the Universe do indeed make noise. While they do not make noise that we can hear they still speak. Only recently have we begun to decode the language of the stars. The Lord has put us in a very noisy universe. It seems science cannot understand what all this noise is about yet. The believer understands this cacophony of sounds to be the very universe praising its creator. What sounds like an avalanche of sounds to the astronomer is really the heavens praising the Lord.             Astronomy has given us the ability to listen in on what

Scripture: Revelation 1:17-18 (ESV) 17  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Devotion:             We have just celebrated Easter Sunday. Now we need to live an Easter faith. We need to take a minute to let the true meaning of this day sink into our minds, and souls. As we see in the scripture above to actually see Jesus as he really is, in all his heavenly glory, should cause us to faint with fear. To see and believe that Jesus is raised from the dead is a difficult but necessary thing for us to do as Christians. If we can just have faith as big as a mustard seed, we can experience the wonder of our sin being washed away forever.             If we genuinely believe and have been changed by an Easter faith our lives must be different. Nothing will be able to stop us from livin

  Good Friday Christina Rossetti Am I a stone, and not a sheep, That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross, To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss, And yet not weep? Not so those women loved Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee; Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly; Not so the thief was moved; Not so the Sun and Moon Which hid their faces in a starless sky, A horror of great darkness at broad noon – I, only I. Yet give not o’er, But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock; Greater than Moses, turn and look once more And smite a rock.

  Scripture: John 13:3-5; 12-15 (ESV) 3  Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4  rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. . . 12  When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. 14  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Devotion:             The Gospel of John records this story of the foot washing as preparation for the Passover meal that was about to be celebrated that night. It was frequent

Scripture: Matthew 26:14-16 (ESV) 14  Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15  and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16  And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. Devotion:             Some churches observe today as “Spy Wednesday.” A day to reflect on the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. The question that looms over us today is: Why? Judas had been walking with Jesus for the better part of three years. He was hand picked to be one of the twelve original apostles to be included in the inner circle of Jesus disciples. We search for a reason for this betrayal. The scriptures give us few hints.             In the passage before us it appears that Judas was seeking only money as he asked for what he would be paid and collected his 30 pieces of silver without delay. The gospel writers Luke and John suggest that Satan may have influenced Judas into his act

Scripture: Matthew 27:57-61 (ESV) 57  When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58  He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59  And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60  and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. Devotion:             Jesus was dead. We have a tough time wrapping our minds around that concept 2,000 years after the fact. Think of how confused, dejected, and sad his close followers would have been at the time. They had followed Jesus. They had seen the miracles he had performed. They had hoped that he would be the one who would defeat the hated Romans and lead Israel to a glorious future.             All that promise now wrapped in a burial shroud, laid

  A thought-provoking poem for Holy Week- Make no mistake: if he rose at all It was as His body; If the cell’s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit, The amino acids rekindle, The Church will fall. It was not as the flowers, Each soft spring recurrent; It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the Eleven apostles; It was as His flesh; ours. The same hinged thumbs and toes The same valved heart That—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then regathered Out of enduring Might New strength to enclose. Let us not mock God with metaphor, Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence, Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded Credulity of earlier ages: Let us walk through the door. The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache, Not a stone in a story, But the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of Time will eclipse for each of us The wide light of day. And if we have an angel at the tomb, Make it a real angel, Wei

Scripture: Ephesians 4:29-5:2 (ESV) 29  Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 5  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Devotion:             Paul when writing to the Ephesians in today’s scripture, teaches us how we are to speak with our neighbors. He begins by saying that our speech should build one another up not tear each other down. In our culture today it seems as if much of our speech is designed to do the latter. Listen for just a few

Scripture: Acts 2:22-24 (ESV) 22  “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23  this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24  God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Devotion:             There is an old saying that there are two things that are inevitable, death and taxes. Well taxes may be in fact inevitable Jesus it seems approved of taxes. (See Mark 12:12-14 and Matthew 17:24-27). He seems to have held that taxes were a part of life. In fact, he called Matthew a tax collector to be one of his inner circle. But what about death?             Jesus had a different attitude toward death. Unlike us who accept death as a natural part of life. Jesus always held an attitude toward death

  Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:12 (ESV) 12  Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, Devotion:             Why do we as Christians seem surprised when we feel even the slightest opposition to the gospel message? We take it personally whenever a new law is passed that affects our religious freedom. We draw an indignant breath at every story of a believer either here in the states or around the world suffers in the slightest for our faith.             The scripture above I believe we can take as a promise to us as Christians. While it does not issue from the lips of our savior himself. We can trust Paul’s words here. Paul knew what it was like to be persecuted for his faith. He had suffered beatings, imprisonments, and all manner of evil done against his person because he dared proclaim that Christ was Lord and Caesar was not. He knows what he is talking about when he talks about persecution for the sake of his faith.             Before he was

Scripture: Galatians 5:19-21 (The Message)             It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. Devotion:             I want to take a fresh look at Galatians 5 today. By using the Message version, we hopefully will get a fresh reading of these familiar passages. Many of us know this chapter as the one in which Paul outlines for us the fruit of the Spirit. In this chapter Paul contrasts the differences between the flesh life and