Loving Jesus Style

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV) 26  Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27      So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him; male and female he created them.   Devotion:               This scripture has so much to teach us today it’s hard to believe it was written several thousand years ago. The creature called man were the only creation that God somehow had a discussion among the heavenly court. Humans were made in the image and likeness of God. What an amazing creation we are. Made just a little lower than the angels of heaven.               Our creation was the pinnacle of God’s creative work. We were creatures with highly developed brains. Our bodies while not the largest, fastest, or fiercest animals in the beginning we somehow managed

Scripture: Matthew 10:26-31 (NLT) 26  “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 27  What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! 28  “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29  What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30  And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 31  So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Devotion:             We live in days of darkness and fear for those who dare to call themselves Christians. Through some very patient and shrewd moves the spirit of the anti-Christ captured most all of the power cen

Scripture: Luke 6:43-45 (ESV) 43  “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44  for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45  The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Devotion:             Jesus in this short story introduces what many would call an obvious truth. He states that good fruit comes from good trees and bad fruit comes from bad trees. This truth is obvious to anyone who reads and thinks about what Jesus is stating here. There is a fundamental difference between trees and people, however.             A tree or a plant that grows up to bear bad fruit will always bear bad fruit, there is no way I know of to change that fact. Good trees bear good fruit; however, disease may affect the plant causing it to be

Scripture: Philippians 4:10-13 (NKJV) 10  But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11  Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Devotion:             Today’s scripture captures Paul in a mood of thanksgiving. He has just received a gift from the church at Philippi. Paul rejoices because it has been so long since he has received a gift from them. Not that he is complaining, Paul knows the hardship and affliction that the church of Philippi has been enduring for the gospel’s sake.             Paul, himself, has undergone tremendous persecutions in his own journey. He has been beaten, imprisoned unj

Scripture: Luke 12:35-38 (NRSV) 35  “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36  be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37  Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38  If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. Devotion:             Being ready. There are many things that we get ready for in life. For example, your first date, the first time you get to drive the family car all by yourself. Your first day of school. Your wedding day. This is the kind of first thing common to all humans everywhere.             Jesus is not saying that his believers never get to sleep at all. That is not what he means when he says to be constantly ready. Rather he is telling his servan

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV) 16  Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Devotion:             I recently completed a dissertation for a ThD degree. I began the work with the quotation above. As I came to study these words more carefully, I came across the phrase “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. These words left me surprised because I had never thought about what it might mean to teach disciples everything that Jesus had commanded before.             Sure, the church goes out and make

  Scripture: Luke 12:29-34 (NLT) 29  “And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. 30  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. 31  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. 32  “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. 33  “Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. 34  Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Devotion:             This scripture explains to us why we are not to be anxious about anything as followers of Christ. Luke tells us that the unbelievers are anxious about all these things. What they will wear, what they will eat. Their l

Scripture: Psalm 34:4-5 (ESV) 4 sought the Lord , and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5      Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.   Devotion:                         Today, we meditate on a psalm of David. This psalm was written on the occasion of David obtaining his freedom from Abimelech. David had pretended to be insane in order to secure his freedom. Therefore, David breaks into a psalm of thanksgiving and praise. He celebrates his freedom by rejoicing and praising God who has delivered him from captivity. What are some lessons we can employ from David’s reaction in this psalm.               First when we find ourselves captive, we are to seek the Lord. It does not have to be physical captivity. Time and again I find myself held captive by my sins. Entangled in a web of my own making. Unable to make my way out and despairing of my own life. Until I call out to the Lord. He answers me and frees me from

Scripture: Colossians 3:12-17 (ESV) 12  Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13  bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do . 14  But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17  And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Devotion:             This passage presents us with a detailed instruction as to how we are to live the Christian life. It is without equal in all the New Testament writings in its cla

Scripture: Romans 13:13-14 (ESV) 13  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Devotion:             Today’s scripture instructs us to walk in the light. We are to avoid what the unsaved world does in the darkness. These are grave warnings to Christians to avoid participating in the evil which pervades the world. This scripture has a great history of warning the saints not to be drawn into the sin that so easily entangles those who are not wary. Let us consider the story of St. Augustine for whom these scriptures spoke into his sin weary life: One example is Augustine. “In his Confessions Augustine tells of his conversion to Christianity (viii.12). In A.D. 386, at a time when he was deeply moved by a desire to break from his old way of living, he sat weeping in the garden of a

Scripture: Romans 13:11 (ESV) 11  Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  12  The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Devotion:             Paul’s words from his letter to the Romans is just as potent today as they were to its first readers. Our culture today is just as fallen (if not more so) than Rome was in Paul’s day. Today we live in an age that has been blinded to the things of God by powerful forces of darkness and evil. The church has been acting like a sleepwalker moving through this dark age mostly oblivious to the danger that surrounds it. The cultural elites of this age hope that the church will continue in its semi-comatose state so that they can completely take over the culture without a fight.             Paul urges the church in Rome to realize that the approach of that blessed day of t

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) 13  And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. Devotion:             Today we conclude our meditations on Paul’s great chapter on love here in 1 st Corinthians. We have seen many facets of love as it is proclaimed in the Bible. We have hopefully grasped some of the wonder and majesty of God’s redeeming love for humankind. Paul, in this brief verse, draws a fitting conclusion to this wonderous proclamation of the greatness of love as he sees it.             This verse draws our attention to three great virtues of the Christian’s life here on earth. Paul declares that love is the greatest of these virtues. Why, we ask, does Paul proclaim love as superior to faith and hope? It could be that Paul sees love as superior to these other virtues because it is more permanent. We see in the scriptures that faith becomes sight (2 Cor. 5:7) and no one hopes for what they can see (Romans 8:24). Love remains forever.   

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 (NIV) 8  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  9  For we know in part, and we prophesy in part,  10  but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  11  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  12  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. Devotion:             Today, we will look at a comparison between love and everything else. Paul is stating his purpose for this section of scripture in verse eight. Love never fails. Everything else will fail us but love never will. Elsewhere in scripture we read that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), so it makes sense that since we know that God never fails then neither wi

  Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV) 4  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Devotion:             In this scripture passage we see Paul attempting to define love in terms of what it is and what it is not. What love affirms and what it rejects. These comparisons and contrasts are useful to the Christian today because our culture has so perverted the meaning of the word love that these characteristics of love are barely recognizable. The word love has along with most everything else, has been sexualized. Our culture has so ruined the word love that we as Christians almost need a new word that conveys the meanings Paul gives for it in today’s passage.             Let us briefly review what Paul says in this sh

          Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (ESV) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Devotion:             In these familiar words of Paul, we begin to see what is required of God’s people as they seek to live out their lives for Christ. These words indicate to us the importance of love in our everyday lives. What kind of love does Paul refer to here and in the rest of this chapter? It is not romantic love, or even brotherly love. The Greek word used is agape. Its meaning in English translation is a love based on a sincere appreciation for the object of that love. It is not a mere feeling or a self-generated state of mind.             Fi

Scripture: Jerimiah 6.16 (NLT) 16  This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’   Devotion:               Today’s scripture in a call to follow the ways of God. In this scripture, God is offering Israel a chance to forsake the evil ways it is following. God pleads with His people to return to the ways set out for them in the Mosaic laws. The ways of peace and rest. Israel however rejects that way and chooses to go its own way. This breaks the Lord’s heart and moves him to punish his people for their freely made choices.               What can this verse teach us today? I believe that our culture today has passed the point of no return. Unless God intervenes directly and causes a revival to radically change the course that we are on disaster awaits us. Still God is more merciful than I can im

Scripture: Colossians 1:21-23 (NIV) 21  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23  if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. Devotion:             In this scripture we find Paul encouraging the church in Colossae to hold fast to their Savior Jesus Christ. Paul recalls their state before they heard the gospel of Jesus and responded to it. They were alienated from God and pursued wicked behavior. It is good that we can still hear these as words to us in the 21 st century. We are encouraged by our culture to think that we have no need of the salvation offered in Christ or that we are such oppressors that we have no hope of salvation by any means.             We need reminders that we are not good enough to qualify