Thursday Devotional - Selfless King

Leading up to yesterday, I helped organize a big event here at work (the technology unconference). I tried to coordinate volunteers for the day. It was interesting how few people volunteered to be a volunteer. Then, only about half of the original volunteers actually volunteered. Thankfully, many of the volunteers did more than their share and took on extra tasks or went above and beyond what we asked them to do. Also, the planning committee shuffled around to cover holes.  

On the contrary, Jesus didn’t just volunteer to selflessly sacrifice 3-4 hours of his time, but was innocently killed for you and for me! He was crucified as “The King of the Jews.”

John 19:14-18         ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. ¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

Jesus selflessly died, fulfilling God’s plans.

Death for someone else (especially someone who is innocent dying for someone who isn’t innocent) is the most selfless act of all!

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal King and Savior? No one else will ever do what He has already done for you. If Jesus is your King and Savior, how are you and I selflessly sacrificing so God can accomplish His plans through us?    

Alice

Imperfect Perfect You

If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:6-10 

I spent some time reflecting on the idea of perfection under God.  Looking at myself, I am far from perfect, and yet, God loves me for who I am.  My life is flawed with various failures not only with my family and friends but also with God Himself.  Yet, those who know still view me as someone who loves God and they aspire to model their life after.  I’ve prayed asking God why should I carry a flag that I feel ill equipped to carry.  Why should I be worthy of praise?  Then I was reminded of the many stories of Paul.  One sermon reminded me that Paul was the symbol of how not to be a Christian, and he often boasted of his failures.  Yet, Paul was bold in his faith, and God undoubtedly used him to advance the Gospel to what it is today.  Furthermore, He used Paul’s imperfections and made him seem ‘perfect.’  Now I fall well short of Paul, but in striving to be more like Christ, I find myself inspired by those stories.  While I may have a way to go in my journey, the distance traveled has brought me closer to Jesus than I could have possibly hoped for. 

We must always trust in God that even in failure He will find perfection in us.  In Paul’s dare I say ‘rant’ to the Corinthians, he speaks of his weakness even as God had shown him revelations of Heaven.  Paul focuses not on his vision but instead on his imperfection that is a subtle reminder of how weak he is without Christ.  His words are reminders to even the best of us.  None of us have this perfect life.  We do not always do those things as we should as Paul points in Romans 7:15 (I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.).  But in Paul’s flaws, he reveals that we have already achieved something more special than anything; God’s grace.  From that, we grow strong.  It is through that grace that our tragedies become our triumph, and as one preacher said, we move from victims to victors. 

God wants you.  Not the pristine perfect you.  The messy, ugly, never felt good enough you.  We do not gain strength through always being the perfect follower.  We gain God’s grace and strength in facing our imperfections and fighting through them to be better than we were the day before.  Furthermore if we look at others as Jesus looks at us, we will not see people’s flaws.  We will see the future brothers and sisters in 

Christ that with His love can indeed be conquerors in His kingdom.  Let us commit to dusting ourselves off from our past failures, and focus on Jesus to indeed find new strength to overcome.  What is the thorn holding you back from embracing God’s true strength?  How will you trust God more instead of trying to be perfect for Him?  My prayer is that we indeed embrace and dare I say celebrate the imperfect perfect you.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Inward look

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (NASB)

Hello,

Most of the devotionals I write that talk about perspective encourage a long term look, and an others first focus. However, I think we need to remember something about ourselves – our own well-being spiritually is crucial. I have been reminding myself lately “For my family to be at their best, I must be at my best”. As we look to lead our family (or friends) in a spiritual manner, we need to ensure that we are where we need to be. Where do we need to be? We need to be in a continual position of transformation. While our salvation happened at one moment in time, our growth and commitment is a daily thing.

I encourage all of you today to remember, that if you want those around you to be at their best – you should be at your best, found through continually putting yourself in a position of obedience and allowing your mind to be transformed.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Upright in heart

Psalm 32:11

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
    sing, all you who are upright in heart!

I’m sure each and everyone one of us can think of a time when life was just full of stresses.  For me, this past week has been like that.  I was putting in extra hours at the beginning of the week to meet some deadlines, we had lots of things going in the evenings that still had to be taken care of like vet appointment, a CPR class that my husband had signed up for, and more. 

Top things off with my son complaining every day about having to go to day camp.  He kept saying he was being picked on and then yesterday some things happened and he ended up in some trouble. 

This just topped my stress levels off.  This morning, I sat down to read from my Bible and Psalm 32 was put before me.  It talks about David going through various things and the Lord protecting him.  Verse 11 is what really stood out to me, if we are upright in heart, we have reason to rejoice.  Even through all of the stresses of life, our God is always there, always giving us strength and protecting us. 

For that, today I will rejoice.  My prayer for you today is that even if you’ve been dealing with various stresses and trials, rejoice in the Lord as you are still upright in heart.

Thursday Devotional - Who Has Power and Control?

Last year Sarah enjoyed “riding” a tricycle at my parents’ house that had a long pole out the back. At 2, she felt independent steering and pedaling, all the while someone was giving her power from behind.

Like Sarah, Pilate thought he had power and control, but the only power and control he had was given to him by God.

John 19:5-11 ⁵ When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷ The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

No one has power or control unless God allows it. Like Pilate, you and I might think we are in control, but God is the only Almighty One who has absolute and unlimited power over all.

And when things seem out of control, we can remember that God’s purposes will prevail in spite of the chaos and evil. What comfort does that give to you and me today?    

Alice

Tues Devo: Glory

John 17:1-5 “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (NASB)

Hello,

As Jesus prepares to be betrayed and crucified, he spends some time with His disciples and begins to talk more directly and in less parables (we see this mentioned in the end of John 16:29 “His disciples said, ‘Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using figures of speech.”) This prayer starting in chapter 17 comes right on the heels of that comment. (*the prayer goes for the entire chapter)

What stood out to me in this prayer was the amount of times Jesus uses the word glorify. The word glorify means to cause to be or treat as more splendid than normally considered. It also means to praise or admire. Jesus asked that He Himself be glorified – a request that normally we would see as selfish and self-serving. But, He immediately puts the purpose behind it – so that the glory of the Son would reflect right back and bring glory to God the Father. Jesus looked at His role as being in a position to glorify and point to the Father. The accomplishment Jesus points to was not about Himself (despite being perfect) but was about doing what was laid out and instructed by the Father – this brought the Father glory.

I hope this is a challenge for each of us. How are we bringing the Father glory? Are we doing what is laid in front of us by Him? Is our glory found in Him getting glory?

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Victory

Picture it with me if you would, 300 kids, all jumping around and singing:

V-I-C V-I-C-T-O-R-Y V-I-C V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

When I think of the Bible saying that we are to become like children to enter the kingdom of God, this image that I experienced this last week is the perfect image.  Now you may be trying to figure out how a pep rally is the perfect image of becoming child like to enter the kingdom of God.

This past week I was able to use my volunteer hours to volunteer for my church’s VBS.  It was humbling to work with 300 kids that have such pure hearts and love the Lord.  Our theme for the week was Victory through Christ.  Victory in overcoming the tomb.  Victory in having the courage like David to fight the giants in our lives. 

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:57

Today, I want to have you think about how Christ has had victory in your life and I encourage you to get excited and praise him, like that of a child.  Be joyful, be excited.  Praise him and share that excitement with those around you.

Thursday Devotional - What is Truth?

If you had a private one-on-one meeting with Jesus what would you ask Him? What would you want explained or defined? I have several things I would want to know and understand.

Pilate had a private one-on-one meeting with Jesus and even asked Jesus an important theological question.

John 18:37-38         ³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.

It appears Pilate was a relativist. Maybe it was because he constantly heard different people’s perspectives on all sorts of issues. However, he had an opportunity to hear straight from Jesus what truth is and passed it up! How sad and foolish.

What about you and me? We get inundated with news, people’s opinions, all kinds of statistics, and “new” research. What information is really true? Only God’s Word is 100% trustworthy. Are you like Pilate? Do you pass up the opportunity to hear truth directly from God? Do you spend more time watching and reading news articles than reading truth from God’s Word? If so, we’re just as foolish as Pilate.

Many of us chart our daily steps and hours of sleep. What if we charted the amount of time reading, studying and applying the Bible, versus time spent taking in information from the world? Truth is available to us! Let’s not foolishly pass it up.   

Alice

No Matter Your Title Or Clothes

Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” 

And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” 

They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. 

Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. 

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  John 8:25-32 

I was in a discussion with a group of people that included a Jesuit priest.  The priest made a statement about being a Christian.  He said, “There’s no need to tell everyone how Christian you are.  Just act like one: love, forgive, be merciful, help the poor.  They’ll get it.”  Someone replied, “I agree with you father.  But it’s kind of funny that you said that with your collar and credentials.”  Having gone to Catholic school but not being a Catholic, I knew where the gentleman was going with his response.  “It’s easy to say that as a priest.  As for the rest of us, we will just go on with our lives, thank you very much.”  I just could not let that go.  So I chimed in saying, “Truth is truth no matter your title or clothes.”  When the multitudes chimed in agreement, I knew I hit the right cord, and the discussion had ended because even the gentleman opposing could not argue the point further. 

Following Christ's truth is an act.  Not a statement.  In today’s verses, Jesus tells a crowd who He is, and there is clearly a decent among the group if Jesus is or is not the Messiah.  Like in the aforementioned discussion with the priest, Jesus spoke truth of being the Messiah, and many believed.  However, many does not constitute as ‘most’ or ‘all,’ and thus, there were those who had other thoughts.  “It’s easy to say that, Jesus, but anyone can say they are the Messiah,” had to be the thoughts of the dissenting portion of the crowd.  Notice Jesus did not focus on the ones who had already dismissed Him.  He focused on the ones that understood the truth.  He thus solidified the relationship with them saying to abide in His word to become disciples and know He has liberated those who believe in Him from sin.  When you hear Jesus’ truth, one cannot respond just in word.  It is selfless acts of commitment to Him, and this is the truth that both Jesus and the Jesuit are making.  As a line from one of my favorite movies said, “These are the facts of the case, and they are indisputable.” 

Embracing Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior is an act of love, and it is that love that defines who we are as Disciples of Christ.  Whether we forgive, show mercy, or help others, it is for love that all these things connect.  In the closing of Ephesians, Paul, talking about wearing the armor of God, said, “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.” (Ephesians 6:14a)  Let us stand boldly in the truth that Jesus is indeed our savior, who frees us from sin and died so we may have eternal life.  How can Jesus Christ’s truth inspire you today?  What falsehood must you replace with God’s truth?  My prayer is that we acknowledge truth is truth no matter our title or clothes.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Walking

Ephesians 5:1-5 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (NASB)

Hello,

It is easy to talk these days – or type – and get our feelings out there. We take a strong stance and count on slight aggression and vague statements about being supported by other facts to keep others at bay. We put all the attention to the arguments and words…..and whether it is intentional or unintentional – we distract attention from our actions. How are our actions these days?  

Paul makes some very strong statements about what we do. He instructs us to do more than just verbally show love for God – but show that love through what is done. It is about the walk – not the talk. But Paul doesn’t stop at the generalized “show God’s love” – he gets detailed later and challenges our behaviors.

So, how is the walk? Is it imitating God, full of love? Is it consistent in your behaviors, not just on Sunday?

I hope this challenges all of us to walk a little closer with God, and show His love.

Will Hill