Loving Jesus Style

Scripture: Jonah 1:17-2:3 (NIV) 17  Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2  From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 2  He said: “In my distress, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead, I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3  You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. Devotion: The story of Jonah is well-known to many of us. We know how he tried to run away from God's call to preach to the wicked city of Nineveh, how he boarded a ship that was caught in a storm, how he was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish, and how he finally obeyed God and delivered his message. But do we ever stop to think about what Jonah felt and learned in the belly of the fish? The Bible tells us that Jonah pray...

  Scripture: Colossians 3:15-17 (NIV) 15  Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since, as members of one body, you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16  Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts 17  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Devotion:             These verses offer a profound invitation and command to Christ's followers. They call us to let the peace of Christ arbitrate in our hearts, to be thankful, to let the word of Christ dwell richly among us, and to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Our journey through these verses begins with a powerful appeal to let the transformative...

  Scripture: Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)   5  Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”   Devotion: In a world that constantly urges us to seek more, Hebrews 13:5 offers a counter-cultural message of contentment and divine assurance. "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" We find ourselves in a society that often measures success by the things we accumulate. Advertisements, social media, and even our peers can subtly make us feel inadequate if we don't constantly strive for more money, possessions, and accolades. However, this societal pressure often leads to a cycle of dissatisfaction. No matter how much we acquire, it's never enough. In stark contrast, Hebrews 13:5 offers a counter-cultural message of contentment and divine assurance, empowering u...

Scripture: Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV) 6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Devotion:             These verses above are often quoted but have yet to be lived out. Why is that? One primary reason for this disconnect is that Christians more often conform to the world than we are transformed into Christ's ways. The world, through our media, tries successfully to get our eyes turned toward the stories that keep us anxious and unsettled. If Christians are not careful about what media we pay attention to, we can often fall prey to their schemes to keep us anxious and depressed.             One only has to pay attention to the statistics about anxiety an...

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: 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: 1 Peter 5:7 (ESV) 7  casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Devotion:             This brief scripture contains a powerful truth. God wants us to cast all our fears and anxieties on Him. This sounds simple, but in reality, it may be one of the hardest things to do found in all of the Bible. For some reason, we humans can become very attached to our fears and the anxieties that they produce. We would rather take medication to calm our fears and anxieties than deal with them by giving them over to God. We like the illusion of control this gives us over our bodies.             As a result, we are among the most medicated people in the world. We pop anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pills as if they were candy. It gives us a feeling of control over these unwanted feelings. I am not saying that there are no legitimate uses for the...