Loving Jesus Style

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13 (ESV) 13  Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?  14  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, Devotion             Today’s scripture provides us encouragement for those times when we bear punishment for following Jesus and acting according to his commands. Peter first asks the rhetorical question “who is there to punish you for doing good.” For the most part it is true that living a life of grace and peace will usually not get you into any trouble. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, providing shelter for the homeless, etc. will not usually get you into any trouble with anyone. Whether in Peter’s day or ours these actions are good things to do.             However, there are things that Peter’s original readers/hearers would have done that would be seen as dangerous and unacceptable. Simply preaching the gospel message would earn you the ire of Jewish people

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV) Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. Devotion:             Paul here is giving us guidance for what to do when we have some illness or hardship that God sees fit to let us suffer under. Prior to this Paul had been boasting of visions he had seen in the Lord. While we do not know what the precise “thorn” it was that he was afflicted with we do know from the context that it was enough to cause him to plead with God to take it away from him.             Paul ultimately heard the Lord’s answer to his petition, and it was a divine no to his request. Therefore, Paul suffered from this undisclosed p

Scripture: Judges 21.25 (NIV) 25  In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. Devotion:             This scripture relates to a time when the last of the Judges who had ruled Israel had died and the people had no one to lead them. Things were bad. There were wars, killings, rapes, and kidnapping of women. General disorder and crime ruled the streets of ancient Israel. There was a power vacuum, and the worst elements of society took over the country and made living very hard. The people eventually cried out to God and against God’s wishes he installed a king over Israel.             Today, we do not have kings anymore for the most part. But our leaders refuse to really lead the people, so crime rules our streets in many places. Businesses have been forced to close down because there is so much shoplifting, they cannot remain open. Homeless people and drug addicts are a common sight in our big cities. Human waste and used drug needles litter the ground every

Scripture: Hebrews 2:1-4 (ESV) Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2  For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3  how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4  while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Devotion:             The writer of Hebrews calls us to pay attention to what we have heard. He means the gospel of Jesus Christ. In our culture it is hard to pay attention. There are so many distractions that tempt us to lose focus. Drifting away from the gospel is frighteningly easy to do. We often pay closer attention to our phones and social media accounts than we do to the things of God. The fact is the gospel is easily displaced by th

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) 17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Devotion:             Today’s scripture is one that is meant to encourage us in our walk with the Lord. There is much to be concerned with in this world right now, but this verse promises us that we are being made new in Christ. Our whole outlook on life changes. Our outlook does not change overnight but over time we come to view this world with new eyes. God longs for us to see the world the way he does. As something that was created and pronounced “very good,” was spoiled by sin and is now has been redeemed by Christ’s work on the cross.             We may not see the signs right now of change in us or in the world, but they are coming. God first will wait until the full number of the redeemed is accomplished. Then once God is ready the world will undergo a sudden change. Where every knee will bow to the Lord either voluntarily

Scripture: Romans 1:16-17 (NIV) 16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Devotion:             Today, many Christians hide their faith around co-workers and friends. While this has clearly been a problem since the beginning of the faith. It has been worse especially during times of government harassment and criminalization. In Paul’s day, there was major persecution against Christians. It would have been easy for Paul to give up preaching the gospel and just try to blend in with the crowd. Being out and proud as a Christian in Paul’s day could land you in prison or even get you killed. So why did Paul and so many others proclaim this message of good news loudly and plainly if there was such resi

  Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV) 10  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  12  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  13  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Devotion:             As Paul prepares to wrap up his letter to the Ephesians, he urges them to be strong in the Lord. Trying to stand up to the evil that is coming our way every day it seems is impossible without the aid of the Lord. We must rely on God’s strength alone to carry us through the onslaught of evil that is in the world today. We must ask the Lord for his strength because by ourselves we would simply be too weak to handl

  Scripture: Jude 24-25 (ESV) 24  Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25  to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Devotion:             Living as we do in an age where hardly anything seems to be going right. It is easy to get discouraged and lose hope for our world and ourselves. These last two verses of the short letter of Jude help us to regain our bearings in this crazy world. The letter of Jude has been warning the people about false teachers who were seeking to lure people away from Christ. It is a letter designed to keep disciples then and now on the right track in their faith.             Jude first explains that God is able to keep you from stumbling. The verb keep in the Greek has the sense of watching over or guarding someone. What a great comfort to know that the God w

  Jesus Heals A Centurion’s Servant Scripture 8:5-13 (NRSV) 5  When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, appealing to him 6  and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress.” 7  And he said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8  The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed. 9  For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 10  When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11  I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12  while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13  And to

  Who Will Hear the Word of the Lord? Scripture: Jerimiah 6:10 (NIV) 10  To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed  so, they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. Devotion:                      Our culture today has had warning enough that it is on the wrong track. Recent polling shows an overwhelming majority of people believe this country is on the wrong track. It seems that a deep darkness is settling across our beloved country. You would think that perhaps some at least might turn to the church for a source of light in the descending darkness. But, alas, the people do not see much light in the gospel message as it is preached in our churches. As Jerimiah says their ears are closed and they cannot hear the good news of the gospel no matter how it is preached.             In our culture the word of the Lord has become truly offensive to many people. The crowds look and can onl

  Scripture: Joshua 5:13-15 (ESV) 13  When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14  And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15  And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Devotion:             Our country is polarized. We are a divided nation. Those who follow republican and democrat politics barely even speak to one another. The two sides talk past each other and do not ever truly listen and try to understand what the other is saying. Meanwhile truth is the true loser in this world. Both sides claim it, but neither is able to prove that

Scripture: Psalm 139:13-14 (NRSV) 13    For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14    I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.   Devotion:                          The psalmist is describing for us the growth and development of an unborn child in its mother’s womb. All of us were put together like this. Modern ultrasound technology has shown us magnificent pictures of the growth that takes place out of sight in the womb. Doctors can now see better than ever if there are any problems and, in some cases, treat those problems even before birth. David, the writer of this psalm, is given a vision of what takes place during human growth and development.                         The wonder of pre-natal growth and development is truly something to praise God for. Even though we know so much more about what exactly happens in the womb now than what David knew when he wrote these words our

Scripture: 15:12-14 (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.  14  You are my friends if you do what I command you. Devotion:             Jesus, as he was giving his disciples one last session of teaching before he was arrested, tried, and crucified gave them a commandment. It was not necessarily a new commandment. Other teachers had advised their disciples to love one another, Even Jesus had given this command before. So why repeat what you have already said? Jesus wants his disciples past, present, and future to realize the absolute necessity of loving one another. Jesus wants to make it plain to all of us just how much he loves us. He loves us enough to give up his very life.             All of Jesus life up to this point had been about loving people. Now he was about to sacrifice his very life to show us just how deep his love for us is. This action is no

  Scripture: Genesis 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Devotion:             Today we meditate on the beginning and its importance to our Christian belief. Beginnings are important. I was just blessed with the birth of my first grandchild. Now even though I have not had the opportunity to physically hold my grandchild in person, through the modern arts of photography and video I still feel close to this little one. To me he is perfect. His beginnings have been incredibly good. He even lets his parents sleep in peace a little each night. My grandson is truly created in the image of God.             But great beginnings are not only important for new life. Beginnings are important in every enterprise humans undertake. From building complex machines to building skyscrapers 100’s of stories tall it is the beginning that will determine success or failure.             When we look around at the universe, we see that it has a very firm foundation. I

Scripture: Matthew 7:28-29 (ESV) 28  And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,  29  for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. Devotion:             The scripture above comes at the end of the sermon on the mount. The gospels record 14 other times after Jesus finished teaching his hearers were reported to be astonished, and another 11 times they were reported to be amazed. Jesus was an excellent teacher. How many teachers labor day after day in their classrooms and no one is amazed or astonished by their efforts? How many pastors and teachers work hard to produce sermons and messages that leave no one amazed or astonished?             One thing Jesus had was a habit of healing people and then turning that moment into a teachable moment. Today’s church leaders lack the power to do the same. But Matthew in the scripture above declares that Jesus taught with authority. Jesus did not need to appeal to any higher aut

  Scripture: Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV) Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11  that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Devotion:             Paul in this scripture declares that he has counted everything he gained by being an apostle as loss so that he may know Christ and his resurrection. In these words, we can pick up the faint echo of Jesus’ own words “take up your cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). It appears from these words that in order to follow Jesus seriously we must be

  Scripture: Genesis 18:17-19 (NRSV) 17  The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18  seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19  No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” Devotion:             The story told in today’s scripture proceeds the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It tells us that the Lord often warns us that he is about to execute judgement on a land. Some in the church today say that the Lord no longer does this. God has stopped communicating with us in this way. I, however, am open to the Lord seeking to warn his people of impending danger and judgement even today. If God so loved the world that he would send his one and only son to die for our sin, God certainly loves us enough to se