Thursday Devotional - Faith and Boasting

Did James and Sarah do anything to become part of our family? Do they have any room for boasting about earning their new status as a Rea? Can anything they do make them more of a Rea or more a part of our family? No, no and no!

The same is true in the family of God. We don’t do anything to become a part of His family and have no room to boast about our status as a believer.

Romans 3:27-28           Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

True saving faith isn’t wishful thinking but trusting on God’s plans and promises and acting on that trust with courage. When I have true saving faith, I’m not boastful. I remember all I am, all I have, and all I’m capable of comes from God. I don’t earn faith or justification.

  

What do you and I cling to, to deserve a right standing before God?

Are you and I boasting in our confessions/prayers/works/faith or in God’s justification?

True saving faith results in gratitude, and not pride or boasting.

Alice

Fixing Our Disconnect

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.  This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.  Hebrews 4:14-16

Some things are easy to do and hard to maintain.  For example, I tend to be a pretty good time manager.  I have days, weeks, and months planned so that I can get tasks done.  Notice that I said, “I tend to be good.”  Every so often, I get caught up into things that drive me to where I am not as focused as I should, and as a result, my management of time goes awry.  I will lose my place and things seem to not be where it should be.  However, when I can sense things don’t look well, I devise a plan, and ask myself what I need to do to get back on track.  Then, I can fight my way back to where I should be via taking out more time or rearranging things.

This brings me to a situation we all can at times attest to; losing our connection with God.  I’m not talking about feeling like God is not there.  It’s that feeling where you do not feel in sync with Him and His will.  You are off in your thinking, and you react to things as if you do not even know He existed.  It is at that point we need to figure out our own plan.  What disciplines consistently connect us with God?  What is ‘Plan B’ if our normal ‘go to’ does not seem to work?

We should always be adaptive to changes in our lives to ensure we stay connected with God.  Now I am not saying to change daily rituals like prayer and bible readings.  However, we should be aware of when those very things become ‘things to do’ and not ‘time to experience.’  Sometimes our rituals may become just that; a ritual.  It is not true connection with God.  For me, I look to connect with people when things like reading the Bible becomes fruitless.  It helps me connect with God because it forces me to live out what He says, and that creates a connection when focusing exclusively on His word is not working.  You see, God should be something we feel in our head, hearts, and spirit.  We should gain knowledge through His word, and experience His love for others as well as ourselves.  Then, we must connect to our spirit through church, friends, Bible reading and other means.  That is how we maintain a firm grip onto what we truly believe in; a loving and forgiving God we are blessed to serve.

God is all knowing.  When you don’t feel connected with Him, trust that He knows that.  Don’t fall into the helpless trap of ‘I’ve fallen, and I can't get up!’  Remember God is there even when you may not quite feel or see Him.  Furthermore, know the great treasure that awaits us once we have finished our race; our place in Heaven with Lord Jesus Christ.  So, let us hold firmly to this belief.  What signs tell you that you are off track.  When disconnected from Christ, what’s your Plan B when Plan A doesn’t work?  My prayer is that we continue to focus our belief in Christ and not move to self-doubt as we move toward fixing our disconnect with Him.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Waiting is not always fun

Genesis 40:21-23 “He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put this cup into Pharaoh’s hand; but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.” (NASB)

Hello,

As I was reading more through the story of Joseph, the repeated theme of waiting in a not-fun circumstance struck me about Joseph. Almost all of his life was about the promise of what was next – but having to wait through tough circumstances to get there. In this story we see Joseph in jail interpreting dreams for 2 of the king’s servants. The cup bearer and the baker both were told by Joseph what their dreams meant. After he told both their dreams and the meaning he said to the cup bearer (who was to survive) that he wanted to be remembered….but he wasn’t. Later – this finally happened, and the cup bearer was able to be a part of his release 2 years later – 2 years of waiting in jail.

Don’t get discouraged – keep doing what is right before God. His time is not our timing, but His timing is best.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill