Spiritual feedings

1 Peter 2:1-3

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,  now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

When a woman has a child, you hear it preached everywhere that breast milk is the best thing they can feed that child.  Not every mother has the ability to do this however when we think about the reasons why this is best, it does make scene.  This milk is pure. 

So as Christians, the best source of feeding for us too is that which comes straight from the Lord.  To me, this means we need to be in the word.  While attending Bible Studies and reading devotions form different sources is great, the most pure feeding we can get is that from God.  Time in his word and time in prayer with him. 

How are you doing today on your spiritual feedings?  

Thursday Devotional - Born and Adopted Twice

Several weeks ago James announced he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart! Excitedly, Joe and I stopped and talked with him about what that meant! James knows who God is, knows he can talk to Him at any time and loves to pray. He also knows that Jesus died on the cross, but we weren’t sure he had a good grasp yet on what sin is and why Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins. So, we talked about sin and asked several questions about his understanding. Suddenly, he looked up at our elephant lamp and started asking questions about the elephant. That was the end of our sin conversation, at least for the moment!

We’ve had several more conversations with James and Sarah about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, what sin is, that Jesus isn’t still dead, that followers of Jesus want to obey Him, but we still sin and need to ask forgiveness for our specific daily sins, etc. 

Well, Monday at dinner Sarah looked outside at the darkness and said she was scared. I asked what she could do about being scared and she said “go to church.” James then interjected and told her she could talk to God and Jesus. I confirmed “Yes!”

Then, James stopped eating and said he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. Unprompted, he said “Jesus, will you come into my heart?” [pause] “Jesus said yes!” We then talked through what having Jesus (through the Holy Spirit) in our hearts means - He forgives our sins and helps us love and obey Him. James was able to tell me what some of his recent sins were. At some point in the conversation I asked James what he wanted Jesus to do for him (to test the genuineness of his faith) and he said “forgive my sins!” So, I said he could also pray and ask Jesus to forgive his sins and help him love and obey God. He immediately and voluntarily prayed on his own in his own words about all that!!!

I hugged James and told him he was a child of God! After dinner was over, James got down and hopped to the bathroom to wash his hands, chanting “I’m a child of God! I’m a child of God!” Yes, I believe James’ faith is genuine. He has been born again and adopted into God’s family!

John 3:3  In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:14-15  Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Ephesians 1:5-8      ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us, with all wisdom and understanding.

James has been born and adopted twice!  

Alice

Net Value

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.  1 Peter 1:17-20

Coming from an accounting background, I understand the concept of ‘Net Worth.’  You take your assets, and subtract your liabilities to come up with your net worth.  For many of us, we tend to look at net worth in a more humanistic way.  We ask ourselves, “How much value do I bring to society?  To those closest to me?  To myself?”  Many of us have no problem seeing how much ‘worth’ they have.  Others struggle.  I would consider myself the latter, but there is a catch.  You see as a follower of Christ, I understand that I have infinite net worth even though I myself at times feel at a deficit.  It is that gap between the infinite value of Christ on your side and your own self-worth where you find that word ‘humility.’  You are humbled when you realize the distance between your own feeling of worth and God’s value He has for you.  I realize just how much God has given me.  I once wanted all these material things; a nice house, a car, and other things.  All those wants, and yet, I was a broken man who consistently fell short of Christ’s glory and still do.  And yet, He loved me enough to bless me with all of these things and a wonderful wife who I describe as God knowing what I needed before I even knew it.  Then when I gave my life to Him, I truly understood all He had done for me.  I do not say these things to either brag or boast for I am in no position to do either.  However, I witness this praying it enlightens you as to the many blessings God has given that perhaps you might take for granted.

We are infinitely worthy because our Heavenly Father values us so.  When we gave our lives to Christ, there were angels rejoicing, and we are reminded He has watched over us each and every day of our lives.  He nurtured by protecting us from harm and teaching us lessons unbeknownst to us.  We grew in our faith, and learned to appreciate how an awesome God would come to love people like us.  I do not have a magical answer as to why He loves us so.  In fact, I still at times wonder why He loves me.  What I do know is that He has come to my rescue and moved me out of Harm’s way so often that if I were not spiritually aware, I would have thought of myself as the luckiest man alive.

God always tips the scale in our favor when we reach out to Him.  Tipping the scale does not necessarily mean we get what we want.  It does mean that He always looks out for our interest and what may seem to be disapproval or indifference to our prayers is actually God setting the stage for that which you truly want and need.  That is why He is a God of abundance.  He gives us unlimited power through Him, and it is that which we can claim with confidence we are incredibly valuable to God.  So let us never forget to be humble both in acknowledging where we are and understanding how worthy He is.  How can you greater align your own value and God’s value?  What can you do to instill God’s value into others?  My prayer is that we acknowledge our shortcoming to embrace the worthiness of ourselves through Christ Jesus, and thus, enjoy our ‘net worth’ to God.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Wisdom

Psalm 4:1-7 “Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding, for I give you sound teaching; Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Then he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; Keep my commandments and live; Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; Love her, and she will watch over you. “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding.” (NASB)

Hello,

As my wife and I work to raise our 3 kids this passage certainly strikes home. We give instruction frequently. We repeat it, we explain it, we give examples…and repeat it again. Sometimes this is tiring and frustrating, but we keep going. We keep going because we know of the long term benefits of it. We keep going because new situations are new opportunities to learn.

Then the challenging part hits……..the same here holds true of us and God the Father. He wants us to gather wisdom and understanding. He makes sure we have every opportunity to know and remember His instruction.

So, the next time you start to get frustrated at someone else not getting the wisdom and having to repeat it…..think for just a moment about you and God. What instruction has He given that you are struggling with?

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill