Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – Enabling Fruit Production (2/22/24)

For Valentine’s Day, the school sold roses and messages that could be delivered to kids in their classrooms. We ordered one for each of the kids, but a couple of them came home broken or wilted. Without the roses remaining on the vine, they didn’t last long!

The same goes for us. If we don’t remain attached to our spiritual vine, we won’t last long either and will certainly not accomplish anything glorifying to God.

 

John 15:5-8  ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 

We can’t bear fruit by trying hard enough. We must remain connected to Jesus, His words and His commands. Then, He will grow the fruit through us. As we remain in Jesus, we will also desire things that are in line with His will and purpose.

 

What part of your and my day is spent with Jesus? Where could you and I spend more time with Him and His Word so our work is truly fruitful for Him?  

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – Giving Perfect Love Gift (2/15/24)

 

I didn’t realize when I took this picture that it looked like a heart! The kids spent hours one snow day last year building a huge igloo! I thought it was an appropriate Valentine picture.

With Valentine’s Day yesterday, what’s the best love gift you’ve ever received?

 

I think the Holy Spirit is the best love gift we could ever receive here on earth! He’s permanent, never wears out, never stops working, can’t be stolen, can’t be damaged, is always in perfect condition, is always ready and has full power!

 

John 14:15-21         ¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 

Jesus commands us to love him and keep his commands. He also gives us the means to do that through the gift of the Holy Spirit! The indwelling Holy Spirit enables believers to lovingly obey.

What is your and my relationship with the Holy Spirit? Does He live within you? What evidence is there that the Holy Spirit lives in you and me?

Love, Love, Love!

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?  Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.  Philippians 2:1-5

It’s St. Valentine’s Day, and of course, love is in the air.  One might think it is stating the obvious that I would write about the topic of love.  Well, there were many topics that I thought of writing about.  I thought about how humble it is to be . . . loved by God.  Then I thought about how my wonderful wife is such a shining example of . . . God’s love for me.  Then I reminded myself that I must be true to God’s word because . . . I love Him.  And to be funny, God decided to instill one of my favorite Beatles song in my head, “All You Need Is Love.”  No matter how I tried to get around it, I found myself back at love.  So here I am choosing to talk about the obvious: love.  What could I possibly say about love that is not already known?  Nothing really, but I can remind us of what God’s love is all about.  It is a gift to be given much like the candy boxes and red roses today.  It is not shallow or something you say in passing.  It is a feeling that can be overwhelming and the greatest you can ever experience.  So today, I want to share this reminder on Valentine’s Day.  Love is a verb.  Not a noun.

Godly love is an attitude that goes beyond just the words.  Someone once told me that they loved me because God commands us to love each other as we love ourselves.  I agreed that is true, but that is not what Godly love is.  Today’s verses give insight as to what Godly love truly is.  You cannot have love for your brother or sister unless you know them.  Yes, you can love people, but God did not intend for us to love others like a check mark on our ‘Being A Good Christian’ checklist.  Godly love forces us to do better.  It requires an attitude that says, “I will love on someone today as if they are my brother or sister.”  Now I am not going to hug strangers as if they are my oldest brother.  I will, however, make a deliberate and sincere effort to get to know them.  We must learn to dig beyond just the surface and get to know people beyond just a simple hello.  Godly love requires that we be involved in the discussion, and share in others’ successes and failures.  It is not easy, but since when did anything worthwhile ever become easy?  Now before someone says there are some things that comes easy to them that they enjoy, I would then say God expects much more of you.  Godly love is in a way is like spiritual growth.  It stretches beyond the boundaries of what we ourselves normally could reach, and expands our ability to be more like Christ.

We should always be encouraged by the love Jesus Christ has for us.  Whether you have a significant other to celebrate today with or not, know that He said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)  Jesus calls us friend even as we are not always His.   That’s special and should be celebrated on a day like today.  So let us make an effort to truly love others as He, who sacrificed His life, first showed love for us.  Who can you show greater love to?  How will you commit to displaying more Godly love to others?  My prayer is that we embrace the spirit of today, and from a more Godly (and Beatles) perspective, be all about love, love, love!  Amen!