Galatians 5:13 – “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”
I have often been confronted with the question of “What difference does it make to be a Christian?”
The argument being made was, “Well, if you are born again and have been forgiven of your sins, past and future, then what difference does it make what you do? Someday you’ll be in heaven, no matter how you live.”
I thought about it many times and ultimately came to the conclusion that the person asking this question is really just asking the wrong question. The question is not “Why not do as I please?” but rather, “Why not live as though I am free?”
Anyone can live a sinful life. That’s not hard at all. It actually is fairly easy. The fun part for a believer is that we don’t have to live an habitually sinful life to try and bring us pleasure. We are able to live a life that is consistent with freedom that brings us joy, happiness, and fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Today, shake your chains. Enjoy. You are free to live in God’s grace.
Psalms 85:8 “I will listen to you, Lord God, because you promise peace to those who are faithful and no longer foolish.”
Being patient while we wait on God to direct our path is oftentimes, for me, one of the most difficult places to be. When the world around observes us waiting to hear from God, it is often seen as failure. The world sees us as procrastinating in failing to make decisive and strong decisions in a quick and timely fashion.
But for us as believers, waiting on God to direct our path is the most blessed place to be. It tests our faith. It strengthens our soul. It ultimately prepares the stage of receiving God’s blessings.
Today, you are now or will be soon approaching decisions that need to be made about your future. It’s good to reason things in logic and knowledge, but ultimately, look to God to direct your path. This will require patience. But it will strengthen your soul. Wait and listen. He will speak to you.
Psalms 40.10 “I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness.”
To experience answered prayer is not, in and of itself, the end of our mission. If you have an important need, if you then pray for God to intervene, when God answers your prayer and you say nothing, then you blew it.
The greatest part of God answering your prayer is what comes afterward: That you tell everyone what God has done for you.
In the past, I’ve caught myself thinking that I should say nothing to others, as it may take away somehow from my experience. Such is farthest from the truth. If we don’t speak, the rocks will cry out and proclaim His power and greatness.
Christ tells us to ask for anything in John 14:13-14… “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.”
Pay attention to that last statement: “…so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.”
Don’t miss the reason God answers our cries for help. Yes, live in His wonder and glory. But praise God when He comes to your rescue. Tell everyone the great things He has done in your life. And preach the Good News that He is your Lord!!
Luke 23:1-2 NLT – Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”
I’ve found one of the first things that happens when you commit down a path to follow Christ is that the world will confront you. Ultimately, as you push further down the path following Jesus, the resistance will surface from the world. Almost inevitably, it will at some point be in the form of false statements. Accusations of your motives. Representations of your misconduct. Publication of the errors and missteps that you make in life.
Every opportunity to use false words as a foundation to derail your walk with Christ will be a way of life for you as a believer. Here, we see a perfect example of exactly what I am describing. The Jewish leadership accused Jesus of two very precise things: That Jesus was encouraging people not to pay their taxes, and that He was attempting to overthrow the government. These things obviously were misstatements, but they were pointed to affecting a vengeance upon Christ. These were things that the Roman officials and government would be greatly offended by, which is exactly why they used this method of false statements and attacks. Because it would hopefully incite vengeance against Jesus directly by the Romans. Not by the Jews and their leadership, but by the Romans who really could probably care less whether Jesus considered and claimed Himself to be a Messiah.
But Pilate asked Jesus one real single question. “Do you claim to be the King of the Jews?”
I love Jesus’s response. My interpretation of what He said was that “You said it; I didn’t.”
Clearly, even Pilate could see beyond the Jewish leadership and their lies.
The point, though, is that Jesus’s response is what’s so important. He didn’t stand and defend Himself with great oratory skill. He just bore His silence because He knew where He was destined to go on our behalf., to be sacrificed as the Lamb of God for the payment of our sins.
Today, if you’re doing what you’re supposed to as a believer, you will eventually, maybe sooner than later, be confronted with those who have one purpose: to derail and interrupt your journey with Christ. The secret is that you not be offended. That you are not brought to despair. Be at peace. Which is exactly where Christ will be with you.
Matthew 18.3-11 “Jesus said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You need to change and become like little children. If you don’t, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. “See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones. Here is what I tell you. Their angels in heaven can go at any time to see my Father who is in heaven.”
I remember some years ago reading one of Frank Peretti’s books. It was a novel that dealt not only with the plane of human experience but also with the co-existence of a spiritual realm of angels doing battle around us. These realms were interrelated and connected. They did not operate independently from each other. We would like to believe that angels who are aware and involved in our existence are around us.
Here, Christ says two revealing things: One, that we are to become like little children. Two, these children have THEIR angels in heaven.
The importance for us is that God is aware and concerned about our daily existence. He does not think of us for a moment and then move on to other issues and thoughts. He is not limited in His concentration as we are. He is all knowing and aware of us all the time.
I am convinced from scripture that I have an angel. I don’t pray to that entity, but I do call in prayer to heaven for God’s intervention and help. When I pray, heaven listens. That is the real lesson for each of us.
Thank God for His attention to you. Confidence and comfort that the God of this universe has you in His eye is the promise for you to hold today and tomorrow.
I Corinthians 6:7 “We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.”
You have heard the statement that a good defense is a great offense. For many believers, it really doesn’t matter. Primarily because they never get off the fence. Meaning they sit in the pew at church and never get passed praise and worship.
This passage states two actions: 1. We preach the truth, and 2. God’s power is working in us.
I have recently asked myself this question: “If I removed the pew time I spend at church from my life, what would be the substance left of my Christian experience?” This question does not invite you to quit church, but it does challenge you to get real about the genuineness of whether and to what extent God’s power is working in you.
I challenge you to fast and pray that God would show you the ministry you are here to fulfill. I pray that God will graduate you to new levels of substance and service for the Kingdom. And yes, go to church this Sunday.
Matthew 6:31-33 – “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”
Yesterday, one of my favorite clients came by to see me. He was interested in seeing me about his case. But when I stepped out of my office to greet him, he had already stopped in the hall to greet Sesena.
As usual, she was barking at him as a good security guard should. My client made sure, though, to let me know that he wanted to see Sesena’s tricks. Sesena will roll over, play dead, dance on her back feet, and do the famous carpet crawl.
She will only perform, though, if you are holding a treat. She knows there is no treat if I don’t see her tricks. And she wants that treat.
In our culture, we are often conditioned to believe that to receive something good, we are required to perform in a particular way to earn our treats, just like Sesena. As Believers, though, we are liberated from the chains that bind us.
We are not performers within the constraints of the law. We are free to serve. Not bound to slave. We do not earn our blessings. We serve to bring honor and glory to God. To make our image to be like Christ.
Today, do not let your duties dominate your thoughts. Fulfilling obligations will not bring God’s blessings. Seek Christ in your daily life, and all needs and more will be yours.
Isaiah 26:4 – “Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
I went to the hair stylist a few days ago. I sat down on the chair after which my stylist spread a smock around me and fastened it around my neck. After the customary greetings, her next question to me was, “How do you want to have your hair cut today?”
My response was, “I want you to make me look like The Rock.”
I definitely caught her off guard. I heard snickers from the chairs on both sides. Her response was quick and witty. “I think you need to go to the gym first”. Her timing was perfect.
Well, I still want to look like The Rock, but at the age of 66, I’m afraid that my time has been missed. I simply cannot hold out hope to aspire to that vision in the future.
As life goes on, not all of our dreams will come true about our physical appearance. At some point in life, we may simply have to settle for who we are, even though we strive to be something more.
But there is great news. As Believers, there is one Rock we can aspire to appear like, who is forever. Christ is our solid rock.
In our earthly form, we can only be Rocks for a short time, but in the reflection of Christ, we are Rocks forever. (But you still should keep up the exercise.)
Matthew 24:35 – Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. We all remember that little chant. I’m absolutely convinced it’s not true.
The first time Patti told me she loved me. The first time my grandchildren each called me Papa. All of those memories involve nothing more than words. But they all last forever.
Remember, the memories that will Define Who You Are will involve simply the exchange of words. Those are the memories that I believe will take us to Heaven. Your acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior was a matter of your words in prayer as you acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Today, remember your words will last forever. Make words of encouragement and Words of Love Today. You are making the memories in someone else today that may last forever even into eternity. Today, pick somebody, and with God’s prompting, speak words of encouragement and love into that person. Use words in others and yourself that will last for eternity.
Isaiah 53:6 – All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Last night, I got home with a list in my mind of things that I needed to do. It was a very short list. There were two things that I really needed to accomplish before I went to bed. Of course, the minute I got home, the phone started to ring, and I was on one conversation after another. Then a call came through the portal to speak to family members. Before the evening was over, I finally looked around as I was sitting on the couch, only to admit I had done nothing that I needed to accomplish. I had failed to do the things that were on my list and that I really thought were important.
Early in the morning, I began to think about my circumstance and how it was so illustrative of following Christ. We know what we’re supposed to do. We know what we need to do. We know what we should do, but we often become sidetracked by all the collateral issues in our life. We so often fail to follow what is really important and necessary in our walk with Christ.
It’s not because we intend to destroy our own path, but we fail to concentrate and prioritize that which is absolutely important: To read God’s Word and meditate during our day. To take the time to have a conversation with the Lord several times a day. To be constantly aware that the Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart all day, telling you how you can minister to another every day.
There is so much that we can do during any day, but there is very little that is truly critical to walking with Christ. He does not intend our walk with Him to be difficult. Remember, His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. More than anything today, He wants to walk beside you.
Today`s Devotion 