Temptation

Think about a time that you were so hungry that you just thought for sure you could eat a whole cow or something huge.  Maybe you had to fast for some blood work or for some other reason.  I remember back to when I was in labor.  They don’t allow you to eat anything or have hardly anything to drink because of the chance of needing to have a C-section.  I was STARVING by the time I had my son!

Matthew 4:1-3

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

When I had my son, it had been about 22 hours without any food.  Hours, not days!  Here Jesus was at 40 days and 40 nights without food!  Jesus was, being tempted to turn the stones into bread.  Could he have done it?  Certainly!  Instead, he responded by saying:

Matthew 4:4

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

As we go through this time of year, known as Lent, I want to have us think about the extraordinary things that Christ did, as an ordinary man.  While we will never measure up to him, we are told to be like Christ.  He came to this earth and faced challenges, just like each of us have.  He has walked a mile in our shoes.  

Today I want you think about what tempts you.  Do you easily give into that temptation or do you stand strong?

Thursday Devotional - Father Abraham

We talked last week about how God credits Christ’s righteousness to those who believe. We don’t earn it. The same was true for Abraham. He wasn’t righteous, but God credited him with Christ’s righteousness.

Paul goes on to explain this further.

Romans 4:9-12   Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. ¹⁰ Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! ¹¹ And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹² And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Abraham was credited with righteousness not because of who he was or what he did, but because of his faith in who God is and what God would do! (As Kent talked about yesterday, God is faithful and can be trusted to do what He says He will do.)

Most of us are not Jews. However, as Paul says, Abraham is the father of all who believe (remember the children’s song “Father Abraham”??).

My chiropractor is a Jew, but I don’t think he is a true son of Abraham, yet. However, yesterday, he was the one who brought up Jesus in our conversation! I continue to pray for God to use me (and now my kids, too) as witnesses for Him. 

Do you view God’s promises as gifts or as standards to attain? 

Are you a son of Abraham?

Those who place their faith and trust in what God has done and what He’s promised to do in the future are true sons of Abraham!

Alice

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence.  He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.

But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.  Genesis 19:27-29

We have dealt with a great deal of tragedy this week.  Whether it be our children in fear of their safety or our way of living being challenged and questioned, there is plenty of stress points that impact us.  There was a time where during these moments I would feel like the world was closing in on me all at once.  Yet today, I feel at peace.  Someone reminded me that God is always in control, and thus, nothing happens without His knowing.  Many of us have worries about tomorrow, and simply do not have answers to tragedies.  But I have faith that He will take care of things.  As I continue my journey of faith, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness, and it is in that I carry forward not only with confidence but also with faith that in the end He will help us to make things right.

We should all have surety in God.  As I was reading the book of Genesis, I got a great deal out of the story of Abraham and Lot.  Abraham was of course one of God’s truly faithful servants such that he could request certain things of God.  One was that He protect the city of Sodom if there were righteous people there.  After further reading, we realize that the ‘righteous people’ there were the people connected to Lot, his nephew who Abraham loved like a son.  This was the covenant God made with him.  When it appeared Sodom and Gomorrah could no longer be saved, angels were sent to save Lot and his family.  There are a couple of things we can draw from this story.  First, through prayer we can actually gain favor with God where He will intercede on our behalf.  Second, God is always true to His word.  His promises are without fail.  He is always faithful, and our goal is to trust in this even as things surrounding us may not quite seem under control.

God is always righteous and always right on time.  A hymnal that always keeps me grounded speaks of God in such a way.  It begins simply:

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

As the hymn says, He is never changing, compassionate, and of course faithful.  Let us move with confidence knowing God is always with us for we have asked Jesus Christ in our lives, and for that, we are truly saved.  What can you draw from Abraham’s faith into your own?  What surety can God provide in your life?  My prayer is that we remember who God is in times of uncertainty and indeed how Great is Thy faithfulness.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Into the mist

Hello,

We have had a ton of heavy fog lately – and it reminds me of a time back in 10^th grade when I was walking to school (uphill, both ways…..) on a very foggy morning. I kept looking at the fog as I was approaching it, wondering what it would be like to cross into this fog….but it never happened. I stopped, looked behind me and realized that I was already in this fog. I was so focused on what was coming next, I didn’t realize where I was now.

How true of this in our walk with Jesus also. We can get too focused on what is next, that we don’t take a moment to see where we are right now and look for the opportunities in that moment.

Now, there is nothing wrong with planning -in fact we are encouraged to plan as believers. But if all we are focused on is the future, and not right now-  we will be missing out.

Colossians 3:17 “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (NASB)

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Thursday Devotional - Faith and Righteousness

Did any of you take AP (advanced placement) classes in high school and then get college credit for it? You didn’t have to take or pay for the class in college, but were given the credits as if you had!

With God’s righteousness, we won’t ever meet His standards. However, for those who place their faith in His work on their behalf, He credits with Christ’s righteousness. He treats us as if we were righteous and have met His standards.

Romans 4:1-8     What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶ David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those
    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.
⁸ Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

For believers, our sin is treated as if the punishment has been paid. We didn’t pay for it, but Jesus did on our behalf. He paid our punishment and we get His righteousness!!! Fair, huh?! No. What love, grace and mercy!!!

Alice

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!

Tues Devo: Just a little bit

Matthew 16:1-6 “The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’” (NASB)

Hello,

I was reading through Matthew 16 this weekend, and had trouble paying attention to the end of the chapter after reading verse 6. Jesus is with His disciples after 2 events: 1) feeding over 4,000 people with seven loaves of fish and a few small fish (chapter 5) and 2) being tested here in the first bit of chapter 6 by the religious leaders.

Coming from the miraculous work with bread, a leaven comment is not out of place.

Leaven, or yeast as the modern day equivalent, is a strong ingredient. It doesn’t take much, and it spreads through the dough to have it rise. Without the leaven, the bread dough doesn’t change as much as with the leaven. But notice that the comment wasn’t directed at having an absence of leaven, but rather which leaven we are folding in.

It doesn’t take much mis-aligned teaching to sway and impact our choices – we have to watch and be careful of our sources. I think we see this a lot today from a culture perspective. We allow a cultural or political opinion (left or right – either direction) to start to drive our view of God and Scripture. We need to really put a guard up for our sources of influence, and vet them against Scripture – not our feelings or opinions.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Jesus Always

A friend shared a devotion the other day that I enjoyed so I thought I would share it today.  I do not know the source so I apologize for not giving credit to the actual writer.

Jesus Always

My Love will never let you go!  It has an eternal grip on you.  You live in a world that is unpredictable and unsafe in many ways.  As you look around, you see landscape littered with broken promises.

However, My Love is a promise that will never be broken.  Though the moutains be shaken and the hill be removed, yet My unfailing Love for you will not be shaken.  The prophet Isaiah is painting a picture of dire circumstances: quaking mountains and disappearing hills.  No matter what is happening, My Love is unshakable.  You can build your life on it!

Sometimes My children believe I care for them but still find it difficult to receive My Love in full measure.  I want you to learn to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is My Love for you.  Ask My Spirit to empower you to know this Love that surpasses knowledge.  Break free from faulty self-images so you can view yourself as I see you – radiant in My righteousness, wrapped in luminous Love.

Isaiah 54:10

Though the mountains be shaken
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Ephesians 3:16-19

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Isaiah 61:10

I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Thursday Devotional - Faith and Superiority

As we talked last week, if we have true saving faith, then there’s no place for boasting. If there’s no place for boasting, then there isn’t any place for superiority either.

Paul points out in Romans that faith eliminates human prejudice, like between the Jews and Gentiles. God is God of both. He justifies both by the same faith.

Romans 3: 29-30         Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 

The Jews thought they were better. They worked hard to prove it, too. Superiority divides, but faith unites. Faith stops discrimination. God saves all sinners the same way, by grace through faith in Jesus. No believer is more God’s child than any other believer.

Are any of my sisters’ biological children more of a grandchild to my parents than my children? No! They may have come first (and biologically), but they aren’t better. My parents love all of them the same. How much more does God love each of His children the same?!!

 

Where do you and I think we are better or worse than someone else? 

Or who do you and I think is beyond receiving God’s justification?

Is there someone you and I would be upset to see in Heaven?

We were all guilty before God, yet God pronounced you and me not guilty, if we’ve placed our faith in Jesus!

Romans 3:22      This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.

Alice

Perfect Peace

Open the gates to all who are righteous;
    allow the faithful to enter.
You will keep in perfect peace
    all who trust in you,
    all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always,
    for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.  Isaiah 26:2-4

I would like to share something that many of you might be startled by, and I rarely share these stories because it’s hard for me.  Hard because I typically prefer not to touch topics based on race.  Someone decided they would, and would attempt to use God to point this out.  A gentleman told me that I should be thankful that (please forgive the language) white people gave me the gospel, and I should be thankful ‘his’ people had shown my people who God was.  I had a choice right then and there.  I could lash out in bitter anger.  Or, I could choose to respond with God’s heart and wisdom.  I chose the latter responding that even if his claim were true, God is big enough that I am pretty sure He would have gotten the word of Christ to me.  After that response, he said that I clearly have a hatred for white people because I would not acknowledge that fact.  I simply smiled ending the conversation saying, “That’s interesting.  I will make sure to tell my white pastor that.”  You see, it does not bother me that there are people who would hate me just simply because I am a black man.  As long as I find peace with God, I can respond with His love in my heart and wisdom in my mind.

Finding peace with God can lift you up beyond your situation or circumstance.  There are many who say God sees us all the same.  I agree with that idea with the understanding that while He sees us all the same, He made us different so that we would not see Him the same.  I’m sure there is that ‘What’s Kent talking about now’ thought in your mind.  Here’s the thing.  There are differences in races.  In fact, I would say that God intended us to be different culturally because He is too big to see from just one perspective.  He is peace to two people but for two different reasons.  One may be because He provides peace from an unjust world.  Another may be because He provides peace when the world doesn’t make sense.  Two different views, but yet, the same awesome and amazing God.  Remember our stories of how we came close to God are rarely the same, but yet, we all ended up under the same umbrella.  Perfect peace does not explain our journey.  It is our destination.

God is our perfect peace.  Whether it is due to our falling short in one area or suffering duress in another, God is always there to pick up, comfort, strengthen, and reinforce us.  Our difference does not make one more or less perfect than the other.  It makes us all perfect under Christ for He is the perfecter of our faith.  Let us all choose to embrace each other’s difference realizing this is what God truly intended.  How can one’s different story of faith be of encouragement to you?  How can you be more embracing culturally of another’s view of the same loving God?  My prayer is that no matter who we are, we embrace God’s perfect peace.  Amen.