Walk in the light

1 John 2:9-11

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.  Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.  But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

My dad is not one to speak up often.  He is a quiet man that rarely speaks his mind.  Well, recently there has been some feuding between two of my siblings.  That was when my dad posted the above scripture to Facebook.  As I read this scripture, of course I thought about my siblings and the issues going on there, however my thought didn’t stop there.  I started to think about my brothers and sisters in Christ.

As Christians, we share a heavenly father, making us siblings within God’s kingdom.  We are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those in our earthly families. 

If you hate a brother or sister in Christ, you are walking in darkness.  We are called to the light.  We are called to live in the light.  We are called to love our brothers and sisters, therefore nothing can make us stumble.

Do you have a brother or sister (heavenly or earthly) that you need to reconcile with so you can walk in light?  I encourage you to do so now.

Thursday Devotional - Final Passover

Jesus paid our debt in full when He died on the cross. In fact, the Greek for “it is finished” is “paid in full.” Last week we saw how Jesus persevered to the end, declaring “it is finished,” to fulfill God’s plan. Even the timing of when He died and what happened after His death continued to fulfill God’s plan.

John 19:31-37         ³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵ The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” ³⁷ and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

The Jewish leaders were so concerned about being outwardly clean in order to celebrate the Passover. Crucified before them, though, was the only truly clean and perfect Righteous One. All their previous Passover celebrations pointed to this final Passover sacrifice.

As God had commanded Moses and the Israelites not to break the bones of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:46), so God made sure His ultimate Passover Lamb’s bones weren’t broken.

As God had commanded Moses and the Israelites to spill the Passover lamb’s blood and take shelter under it (Exodus 12:6-7, & 13), so God made sure His ultimate Passover Lamb’s blood was spilt so you and I could take shelter under it.

Jesus was the perfect and final Passover Lamb. Have you accepted Him as your Passover Lamb who died in your place, taking the judgment you deserve? If so, you and I have shelter under His blood for forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and His robe of righteousness!  

Alice

A Time For Prayer

So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.  Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.  He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.  He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.  James 1:16-18

I struggled for words today.  Inspired by someone sending me verses, I was led to the first chapter of James, which evolved into this prayer, and I hope it lifts your spirits as God and His word did mine.

Father, I come to you for there is none greater than you.  You are the Alpha and the Omega, the all-knowing, the all-seeing, and the all-present.  You are the great I Am.  I am unworthy of the love and grace you have shown me, and I praise you because you are worthy of praise.  I do all I can not to your grace but in the hope that it is a shining example of the heart I have for you.

God, I come to you this morning because frankly, I am at a loss for words and wisdom. I am tired and disheartened by a world that has become comfortable with what is wrong and leaders who will say anything to appease us.  There are people who have turned a blind eye to the suffering of others, and others who lash out violently because they have lost their way.  If they can't be violent, they speak with such ill will that I find myself defending those who I may not even agree with.  How could this be?  I am not sure Lord, but I lean on you now more than ever.  I trust in your word and its ability to give strength at times that I am weak.  To give me courage when I am fearful, and to love when all that may come at me is bitterness and hate.  Help me to love you more such that it not only is a shining example of the love you have shown me but also inspires those to be thankful for your gift of grace.

Heal us Lord.  Heal our sharp words and replace them with Psalms of encouragement.  Take our anger and replace it with an abundance of love and kindness.  Remove our sense of isolation, and push us to engagement and togetherness.  When I cannot see a way out, give me your vision and wisdom for where I cannot make a way, you can.  Father, I am so humbled to be your servant.  Let my words be of comfort to others who are hurting.  Let them know that you are always there.  Always listening.  Always loving!  See through my faults, and use them as encouragement to others that through it all, we all can indeed be conquerors.

Finally, Father, I thank you.  I thank you because you have thought of me even before I knew a thought.  You nurtured me all this time with wonderful parents and brothers.  You placed me in the care of an amazing family that taught me who you were, and then watched me as I wandered in the wilderness until I found you again.  You gave me the perfect wife, three wonderful children, and seven grandchildren.  You gave me this incredible job with amazing people that inspire me every day to do better.  All this love, Father.  I did not deserve it, and yet you somehow loved me enough to give them to me anyway!  I am forever grateful.  I pray that my words are encouragement to others to embrace what they have, and to be courageous to be the people You want them to be.  Thank you for your love.  Thank you for your grace.  Thank you for your blessings.  And thank you for the blood you shed on the cross; a price that I could never repay but I humbly try to each and every day.  In the glorious name of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Common life

Hello,

In the reading of everything that happened this last weekend in Virginia, I have been thinking about how little regard we seem to have for human life. We have forgotten that being human is the common bond. Hatred ought to only exist in one form – towards sin. I came across a writing by Tim Keller, a Pastor and author from New York. I want to snag from him some scriptural references that he made. (you can find his full article on the gospel coalition web page)

-The Bible is clear that racism is wrong: Acts 17:26-27 “and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;” (NASB)

We also see in here that it is God’s desire for all to come to know Him.

-In Genesis God sets a high standard for taking the life of a person, and the reason is that we are all in His image Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.” (NASB)

-Jonah puts the work of God behind his interests for his country – not wanting to see them repent. When they do, and Jonah sulks over it God says in Jonah 4:11 “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 person who do now know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” (NASB)

-In the New Testament as the work of Jesus is being spread throughout the world we see that it breaks down racial barriers, not creates them: Galatians 2:11-14 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, ‘if you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (NASB) Paul goes on from here in this chapter to lay out salvation by faith in Jesus being available to all.

-Paul in Galatians 3:28 says “There  is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (NASB)

-Later in the letter to the church at Ephesus Paul discusses the Jews/Gentiles topic and says “But now in Christ Jesus you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier fo the dividing wall.” (Eph 2:13-14, NASB)

You want to help push for peace? Recognize our common human bond as created in God’s image and share His love in real and practical ways – and talk about it!

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill