Loving Jesus Style

  Scripture: Acts 17:24-28a (NIV) 24  “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands 25, And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26  From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28  ‘For in him we live and move and have our being. Devotion:             Paul’s message to the Athenians gathered at Mars Hill continues in today’s scripture. Paul’s primary emphasis is the difference between the God he is preaching and the gods the people of Athens worshipped. First, Paul declares that...

  Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV) 19  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20  for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body. Devotion:             In these two short verses, Paul tries to bring the Corinthians to some awareness of the state of their souls in Jesus Christ. If we have truly given our lives to the Lordship of Jesus, things will have to be different. Our 21st-century culture, even, or perhaps especially, our Christian subculture, misses the mark badly in this regard.             The chant “My body, my choice” rings loudly in the streets. Our culture has lost its way, and the church has done little, if anything, to correct its delusion. The church in many congregations congratulates herself on how much like the culture she has become...

  Scripture: Matthew 5:44-45 (NIV) 44  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Devotion:             The double commands found in verse 44 above are the most difficult commands to obey in the Bible. They are counter-intuitive. The last thing any human wants to do to someone who hates us (with or without cause) is to show them Christlike love in return. Praying for the well-being of such a one is not a natural act. It is clear, however, from the Greek text that loving and praying for those we do not like is an imperative, a command, not a suggestion.             Since it is a command, we must find a way to accomplish it. The Lord’s commands are notoriously difficult f...

  Scripture: Romans 8:18-21 (ESV) 18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Devotion:             Paul is writing here to encourage the Roman believers and give them hope. We need this same hope in our lives today. The good news is that the hope Paul offers the original hearers of this word and the hope we need in the present is fulfilled in these words. The present sufferings we suffer, and the glory Jesus came to bring are for God’s people today. The Son of God has been revealed through the...

Scripture: Revelation 11:15-18 (KJV) 15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. Devotion:             Every Sunday, in thousands, if not millions, of places, Christians gather and worship....

  Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3 (ESV) Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2  For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3  By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Devotion:             The writer of Hebrews gives us a brief introduction to faith in this short passage. The author did not intend that this should be an exhaustive definition, but rather a short introduction to the topic. He expands on this definition by giving examples of what this faith looks like in verses 4 through 40 of this chapter. Let us consider these first three verses to see what they can teach us about faith in their own right.             First of all, we read that faith is the “assurance of things hoped for.” Here the writer ...