Friday Devotional - Is It Best Jesus Left?

Jessica is out sick today and still doesn't have power back, so please pray for her! I am posting a devotional in her absence...

Have you ever wished you lived during the time Jesus lived on earth?  Have you ever thought it would be easier to make decisions if you could ask Jesus questions face-to-face rather than having to rely on the Holy Spirit?  I have.  In the following passage, though, Jesus tells His disciples that it’s better to have the Holy Spirit inside of them than for Him to remain on earth with them.  

John 15:26-16:7  ²⁶"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. ²⁷And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.  ¹"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. ²They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. ³They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.  ⁵"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' ⁶Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. ⁷But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

I love how Jesus was so careful to prepare His disciples for His departure (John 13, 14, 15, 16, Acts 1, etc.)!  They certainly didn’t remember it all, even though Jesus waited until right before His death to tell them most of these details. However, as Jesus promised in John 14:26, the Holy Spirit would remind them of everything He taught. 

Jesus also warned the disciples of times of suffering (vs 2).  He was specific, yet promised to provide the Holy Spirit to be with them through it all.  This reminds me to be so thankful for the Holy Spirit!  There will never be a day I need to feel alone because He will always be with me until the day I do join Jesus face-to-face!  

How well do you and I value and use the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Alice

Our Journey to Adoption, Part XIII - Name Change

Sarah’s birth name was Serenity. When we first met James and “Serenity,” James couldn’t say Serenity so he called her Sissy. We used that name for her, too, especially after they moved in permanently with us. As we met with our adoption worker, she talked to us about possibly changing Serenity’s name. I was concerned about the affect it would have on the kids, but our worker reassured us and encouraged us to change it to something that would fit with the rest of our family names. Plus, since the kids were young enough, they would adjust quickly. The short amount of adjustment “pains” now would save years of questions she might get down the road.

After using the name Sissy all summer, we finally got word we could start talking to the kids about their upcoming name changes and what that would mean. I was nervous to have the first conversation, but James didn’t blink an eye! In fact, that night at bedtime he asked “so what’s my new name going to be again?” (He got a new middle and last name and “Sissy” got a new first and last name. We called her “Sissy Sarah” for the Fall and we gradually/naturally dropped the “Sissy” over time.)

Jesus gave the disciples a new name, too, to represent their change in status.

John 15:12-17 ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

Has Jesus given you a new name to better represent how you fit into His family? What does Jesus call you and me? Are we His seekers, His followers, His servants, or His friends? His friends know his business, know His expectations, know where He is working and readily join in His cause. We can call Jesus our friend, but can He call us His friend? Do you and I know His Word and His commands and His character well enough to be able to be called His friend? If so, like the disciples, you and I will bear fruit that will last!

Alice

The Bar Of Quality

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:1-4

My wife sent me something that said, “Marriage is a gift from God to us.  The quality of our marriage is our gift to Him.”  I immediately felt inspired by those words.  The wording spoke to something far deeper than just a relationship between married couples.  It speaks to our humanity; our need to be connected to our God and to others.  Wouldn’t our lives be so much better if we strived to make relationships with others a gift to God?  In Romans 12:1 Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”  For us as Christians to live our lives looking to please God, we cannot do so without engaging and spending our time with others in healthy and authentic relationships.

What we give of ourselves for God’s sake must include valuing the relationships we have with others.  We can have a great impact giving ourselves selflessly for the greater good of others.  Furthermore, it is in the precious time that we spend with others that our relationship with God is unveiled.  Think of someone who spent time with you in your time of need.  How valuable was it to you?  What did it mean to you?  The times people remember most are not the best of times when all is well.  It is when things are not all together and they are at their worst.  Jesus, when sharing of His Kingdom, spoke of those who would join Him saying, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”  (Matthew 25:35-36)  Quality of a relationship is never about things always being perfect.  It is about embracing all that comes with it sharing the unconditional love Jesus Christ shows us.

Our relationship with Christ is the standard by which all relationships should be based on.  If we do not have a relationship with God where we cannot give as God gives, love as He loves, and encourages as He encourages us, we cannot have healthy relationships with others.  Thus, it is impossible to honor God unless with have fellowship with others that is authentic and looking at the interest of others above our own.  It would only make sense for as John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  That’s what He did for us.  Why would you not give to others as He has given for you?  What relationship in your life requires greater selflessness?  How can you honor God more in your relationships with others?  My prayer is that we focus raising the bar in the quality of our relationships with others.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Where love belongs

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world not the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (NASB)

Hello,

Things all around us call for our time and attention. Family, work, entertainment – and within each of those areas we are pulled in separate directions as well. How do we handle all the pulling? Well, most of us put together some kind of list (mentally if not physically!) and then prioritize based on numerous factors. My question to us today is what is driving priority? I think this section in 1 John is a great check for us against our priority setting. What is motivating us? What are we giving our love to? We know that love is not about words. It is about what is lived out through time and attention. Are we spending too much of our love on the things of the world?

Our love belongs on the things that are not from this world, but of and from God.

Have a blessed day

Will Hill