Loving Jesus Style

Scripture: Galatians 3:27-29 (ESV) 27  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. Devotion: What does it mean to put on Christ? Paul uses this metaphor to describe the radical transformation that takes place when we are baptized into Christ. Baptism is not just a ritual or a symbol, but a powerful act of God, a divine intervention that unites us with Christ in his death and resurrection. Our old identity no longer defines us, but by our new identity in Christ. This new identity transcends all the divisions and distinctions that the world makes. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. These categories are not erased, but they are no longer the basis for our status, value, or belonging. We are...

Scripture: Romans 8:16-17 (ESV) 16  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17  and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Devotion: What does it mean to be an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ? It means that we have a glorious inheritance that awaits us in heaven. It means that we are part of God’s family and that we share in his love, his grace, his power, and his glory. It means we have a hope that surpasses anything this world can offer. And most importantly, it means that we are not alone. We have the Spirit of God living in us, confirming our identity as God's children and our destiny as co-heirs with Christ. But being an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ also means we share in his sufferings. We will face trials, persecutions, hardships, and temptations in this life. We will have to deny ourselves, take up our c...

  Scripture: Psalm 32:8 (NIV) 8  I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.   Devotion: God has a unique, tailor-made plan for your life and He longs to guide you in His ways. He is not a distant or indifferent God who leaves you to figure things out on your own. He is a loving and personal God who cares about every detail of your life and wants to bless you with His wisdom and peace. But how can you hear his voice and follow his direction? Psalm 32:8 gives us some clues. First, God says he will instruct you and teach you. This means that God wants to communicate with you through his word, the Bible. The Bible is not just a book of stories and rules; it is God's living and active word that reveals his character, his promises, and his will for your life. As you read, study, meditate, and memorize the Bible, you will learn more about God and his ways, and you will be able to apply his truth to your...

 Scripture: John 14:27 (ESV) : “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (ESV)   In this verse, Jesus speaks directly to His disciples during the Last Supper. He knows that soon He will face betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. Yet, amidst these impending trials, He offers them a profound and transformative gift: peace. This peace is not just for His disciples, but for each one of us, a personal and intimate gift from our Savior.   The peace that Jesus bestows is not a fleeting or superficial offering. It transcends the peace that the world can provide, as it is not limited by time or circumstance. The peace of Christ is more than a mere facade of tranquility, more than a warm smile and a firm handshake on a Sunday morning. It's like a calm sea that remains undisturbed even in the midst of a storm. Once you have this peace, it becomes an inte...

Scripture: 1 John 5:13-15 (ESV) 13  I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15  And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. Devotion:  The Apostle John writes with a pastoral heart in his first epistle, particularly in the concluding affirmations of chapter 5. Verses 13 to 15 serve as a beacon of assurance, illuminating the path of every believer with the promise of eternal life and the confidence we can have in approaching God. Verse 13  begins with a profound purpose: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” This statement is not merely informative; it is transformative. It has the power to shift the believer’s per...

  Scripture: Psalm 121:7-8 (KJV) 7            The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. 8            The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore. Devotion: Life's journey, with its uncertainties and challenges, often leaves us feeling vulnerable and anxious. Yet, in the midst of our travels, we find solace and strength in the promises of God, as beautifully encapsulated in Psalm 121:7-8. These verses offer a profound assurance of God’s unwavering protection and guidance, speaking directly to the struggles and fears each of us faces in our daily lives. As we delve into these verses, we are reminded that the Lord is not just a distant figure, but our Keeper, a vigilant guardian who neither slumbers nor sleeps. His watchful eyes are always upon us, shielding us against the myriad form...

Scripture: Psalm 130:1-6 (NIV) 1  Out of the depths I cry to you,  Lord ; 2      Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 3  If you,  Lord , kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4  But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 5  I wait for the  Lord , my whole being waits, and in his word, I put my hope. 6  I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.   Devotion: In today’s scripture, we witness the psalmist's emotional journey, crying out from the depths. They begin by expressing their desperation, their voice echoing from the depths of their soul. We all traverse through moments of darkness, pain, and uncertainty. In those times, we can turn to God, knowing He hears our voice and will act on our behalf. The psalmist acknowledges the weight of our sins, recognizing that if God kept a record, none ...

Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:16 (ESV) 16  And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. Devotion:             Today’s scripture verse, the pinnacle of the prophet Nathan’s oracle about King David, holds profound significance. Consider the historical context: imagine how David and his contemporaries in 1,000 B.C. would have perceived these words. Would they have assumed that David’s descendants would always occupy the throne and rule over Israel? This seems likely. Yet, the reality that the kingdom would be divided soon after David’s death, with no direct lineage of David to rule, might have led them to believe that this prophecy had failed.             Other prophets throughout the ages saw this and bemoaned that David’s offspring were not worthy to occupy the throne. They might have thought that God would...

  Scripture: Acts 20:35 (ESV) 35  In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Devotion:             These words from the Book of Acts serve as a direct challenge to each one of us in the church community. As followers of Christ, we bear a significant responsibility in our current society, where the number of needy people can be overwhelming. We often find ourselves, like the lawyer in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, trying to limit the number and kind of people who qualify for our “compassion.” However, this scripture reminds us that it is our duty, as followers of Christ, to help the weak and needy, regardless of their number or circumstances.             Confronted with this scriptural truth, we ...

Scripture: 1 John 4:18 (ESV) 18  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Devotion:             This scripture proclaims a truth that is not just relevant, but crucial in today’s culture. If there is one quality that is desperately needed in America today, it is true biblical love. We seem to have forgotten how to love and trust one another. Such love and trust are not just the glue that holds society together, but the very foundation on which it stands. This decay of love for one another has occurred gradually over many years. The Covid pandemic really accelerated this loss by instilling fear and caution in our interactions, telling us that every person we met was a potential carrier of the disease and should be avoided.             Fear drove us to extraordina...

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:12 (ESV)   O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Devotion:             Many people despair at the state of our nation and, indeed, the world today. Everything seems to be going wrong at once, and no matter your news source, everything is up for grabs. There are wars and rumors of war across the globe—unrest on college campuses and general discontent with the direction the country is heading. We ask with the chronicler what God would have us do in these unsettled times.             The historical situation that prompted this heartfelt plea for help is this: The tribe of Judah was just told that they were about to be invaded by a great army of their enemies. At this time in their history, they were milit...

Scripture: Jonah 2:1-2 (ESV) Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2  saying,         “I called out to the Lord , out of my distress, and he answered me;        out of the belly of Sheol, I cried, and you heard my voice.   Devotion:             In this scripture, we find the prophet Jonah inside a great fish. Jonah had disobeyed God and wound up being tossed off a ship that was carrying him into the sea. God, however, was not content to let Jonah die for his foolishness and dramatically rescued him. Jonah’s rescue proved to him that God indeed hears prayer and sometimes chooses to act in ways that seem impossible to our modern understanding of the world. We all disobey what we know to be God’s will for us from time to time, sometimes purposefully, as Jonah did.         ...

Scripture: Isaiah 31:1 (ESV) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses,                         who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong,                         but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!   Devotion:             Let us turn to the prophet Isaiah for more wisdom. This scripture warns those who seek to rely on the strength of military power alone to provide safety. No one who trusts in weapons of war to bring peace will prevail in the long run. Today, our world seeks a mighty fighting force equipped with the latest war-making technology and machinery. Those who seek protection from...

Scripture: Proverbs 21:30 (ESV)          No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel  can avail against the Lord. Devotion:             This proverb speaks loudly to the spirit of this age in America. Our cultural moment is full of the plans of mere mortals that directly contradict God's will as revealed in His inerrant, infallible Word. The Lord decreed in Genesis that humankind was to be fruitful and multiply. The culture promotes death from womb to tomb. People of goodwill seeking only to honor God by obeying the clear commands written for us in scripture are ignored, silenced, or worse in today’s culture. Here are some of the ways the culture promotes death.             Let us begin in the womb. Our culture promotes abortion as a positive good. Since Roe v Wade was overturned and the matter has returned to the states to decide if and when ...

Scripture: Philippians 2:6-11 (ESV) 6  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Devotion:             The final creed/hymn we will examine is found early in the letter to the Philippians. Theologians have described it as a hymn of kenosis, a term that means self-emptying. This hymn was likely a familiar part of the early Christian liturgy, and its inclusion ...

  Scripture: Romans 10.9 (ESV) if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Devotion:             These words Paul addressed to the church in Rome are a precious confession of the simplicity of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Sometimes, we allow the Christian faith to become complicated. We are, despite our protestations to the contrary, much like the Pharisees of Jesus Day. We like to multiply the things necessary for salvation without Biblical warrant. It is good for us to remember the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. A thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into His kingdom. Jesus responds that the thief will be with Him in paradise that very day.             However, in some churches today, membership standards are so low that eve...