The Guiding Light

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”  Matthew 5:14-16

Earlier this week, I was emotionally ‘lost.’ I received some distressing news regarding an incident at my daughter’s school, and it left me at a loss for words.  There was a wide range of emotions that I felt unsure which was the correct one.  Ultimately, it got to a point where I just had to fall on my knees and pray to God.  “Why was this happening,” I asked.  How could I see Him amidst all that was going on?  There were lots of questions, and yet, I had no answers.  Ultimately, I just started walking forward trusting in Him, and with each step, I felt God was with me.  With each word I spoke and direction I went, His spirit dwelled in me, and where there was once doubt, a renewed confidence replaced it such that those nearest to me felt the same things.  It was as if He guided me forward, and through His light, it showed His light to those around me.

When we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord of our life, He provides us with guidance to walk where others will see Him through us. In today’s verses, Jesus speaks of those who follow Him as the light.  Some might jump to a conclusion asking, “How can I be the light when Jesus is the light of the world?”  They are of course referring to John 8:12a, and would only have gotten half of the story referring to Jesus being the pathway to eternal life.  However, once we were given the gift of grace through Him, we too were given a ‘light.’  This is not only referred to by Jesus here but also in the beginning of Acts saying, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (1:8) The importance of this is very simple.  We are given direct power through the Holy Spirit to not only connect to Christ but also be His representative in the world.  Thus if we trust in Him, our steps are guided by Jesus Christ himself, and those who know Him will see it through our actions, words, and deeds.  This is the light Jesus speaks of, and we should feel empowered filled with the confidence knowing He is with us every step of the way.

God gives us authority to act on His behalf. This does not mean we substitute ourselves for Him (i.e. being His equal, judging others, taking out vengeance, etc.), but instead, we are to be living examples of Him.  The Apostle Paul said, “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!” (Ephesians 5:8) Thus, let us take this light given to us and let it shine for all those near and dear to us to see.  What is God prompting you to act on?  How can you trust God more to walk by faith?  My prayer is that we trust God to be our guiding light for others to follow that same light.  Amenl

Tues Devi: Operating from strength

Hello,

I started reading through Joshua this week, where I was reminded that we as followers of God are operating from a position of strength, and not weakness. Now, when Joshua took over leadership from Moses he was not new to being a leader of Israel – in fact, he was one of the two who tried to get Israel to go to the promised land earlier…but the rest were fearful and didn’t do it – and that generation passed away while they remained in the wilderness. But as Joshua takes over, his first mission from God is not small. It is to go and take the promised land, which was filled with enemies of Israel and people that wanted to protect their lands.

The people of Israel had a new leader, and were facing new challenges- Joshua is faced with a motivational challenge. Where does he go? He reminds them to operate from a position of strength because of who their God is. Look at the 2 times in chapter 1 that he specifically does this:

Joshua 1:7 ”Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” (NASB)

Joshua 1:18 ”Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous.” (NASB)

I hope you have a blessed day, as you operate from your position of strength in God.

Will Hill

Solid Rock

Psalm 40:1-2

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.

Lately, I’ve been dealing with some emotions that I’m not used to feeling.  I’ve been stressed not knowing what to do about a few areas of life.  Things would get said, or not said, and I would take it all personally.  I was certainly in a slimy pit, crying out to God. 

While I don’t have all the answers on what to do with the areas that I have been trying to figure out, after spending some time in prayer, I felt as though I still had a firm place to stand.  That place is on Christ the solid rock. 

Are you struggling with some things in life that make you feel like you are in a slimy pit?  Maybe it’s home life, or work, or balancing them or something totally different.  No matter what you are facing, the Lord is there for each of us. 

My prayer for each of you today is that you will feel the Lord being that solid rock on which you can stand.

Thursday Devotional - Beautiful Feet

As a continuation from last week, the good news of Jesus Christ providing salvation and forgiveness of sins and His righteousness is available to all who call on Him. For those of us who have already called on Him (believed, placed our trust), we have the privilege and obligation to share the good news with others. We can be beautiful feet! 

Romans 10:14-15           “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”         Romans 10:14-15

Has the Lord shown you individuals in your life (even here at work) that need to hear the good news? 

Have you and I prayed for them and an opportunity to share?

How have you and I prepared for the opportunity?

How have you and I trusted God for the boldness and confidence needed?

What a blessing it is to be able to see the Lord working in someone’s life as they hear, believe, and call on His name! It's been a huge blessing to see James place his trust in Jesus as his Savior and to watch his faith grow this past year and a half. At 5 years old, he is unashamed to talk to others about his Savior, which is a great encouragement and motivation to us! He has beautiful feet! Do you and I?

Alice 

Putting In The Work

 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?  Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.  James 2:14-17

When my wife and me starting dating, I used to buy her things to make her happy.   The silliest thing that I used to do was when she was mad at me, I would buy her Haagen Daas Ice Cream.  Chocolate Chocolate Chip was my ‘go to’ flavor, and whenever she got it, she would let out a little smile letting me know that all was forgiven.

As we grew in our relationship, I would still do things for her, but something changed.  More often, I found myself doing things for her not because there was a motive or something to gain out of it.  It became more about how good it would make me feel inside.  For example the other day, she invited me into the store where she worked, and said, “I want you to smell this fragrance.  It’s smells so good!”  So, I wandered over to the perfume section, and she sprays a sample for me.  “Don’t you just love it,” she asked.  “Yes, honey,” I replied, and before I knew what hit me, I was walking out the door with the gift package for that fragrance in hand.  As I looked back at the smile on her face, it did not bother me one bit as I loved allowing her to sucker me into this, but more importantly, I loved doing it for her.  This is what faith by works is about.  It is never about the act itself.  It is about the ‘why’ behind the act.  It is as if you enjoy ‘putting in the work’ because it’s not like work at all.

God wants our work to be out of love for Him.  The verses today are one of the most debated verses in scripture.  Some faiths are founded on these verses noting that we are called to put in the work to show our love for Christ.  This is backward in my opinion.  As I spoke about the love for my wife, the things I do for her are not to earn her love.  Instead, the things I do are because of the love I have for her.  It is unconditional.  There are neither expectations nor am I looking for something in return.  I simply do it out of the joy inside my heart, and the fact that she loves me, while making it even better, is not relevant.  Our love for God should be similar.  We do for Him and others unconditionally because we have fully experienced His love for and grace given to us.  We cannot help but show it to others because like God’s gift, it was given freely without expectation.

God’s love for us is infinite and beyond our understanding.  Like scripture, our goal is not to just absorb its words.  It is to allow it to breathe life into our heart and spirit to make it indeed living.  This is the true depth behind the words of James; to know God on such a level that our faith is filled with an abundant love where our works are not just proof of our faith.  It is the end result of it.  So as Paul says, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Ephesians 3:19)  What is God’s love inspiring you to do today?  How can you make your faith be more unconditional?  My prayer is that our love of Jesus Christ motivates us to put in the work.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Yield sign

Proverbs 16:2-3 “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weights the motives. Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established.” (NASB)

Hello,

I was thinking last night and this morning about how we tend to put our heads down and plow through any obstacle possible once we have made up our mind about something. We feel so set that the outcome is right or a good idea or needed, that we ignore any signs as we get underway. It brought to mind yield signs while driving – the road may not be closed, but we need to use caution and watch for other factors.

I love the verses in Proverbs 16. Verse 2 talks about motives – before we even start we think we are pure in motivation, but have we really let God sort that out? Once the motive is checked, what about the plan? Are we trying to just do everything our way, or will we yield to the manner in which God wants to do it? (Side note – ‘commit your works’ is not just about praying for success as you start, but about being committed before to put them before the Lord and let Him direct things).

None of this is about inaction, but rather about good action that is placed before God and yielding to His ways.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

The Lord is with you

Deuteronomy 31:8

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

This weekend I read this verse in a post pointed toward graduates.  With it was a quote from Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh, “You are BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem, and SMARTER than you think.”  While this was all pointed toward the graduate, I felt it was good for each and every one of us as we navigate the various seasons of life that we face. 

For me, I’ve been in a season of trying to figure out what my next move is.  At times, I question where I am going and may even get discouraged however I always find myself going back to the Lord is always with me and I have no reason to be discouraged.  No matter what way the path takes me, he will always be with me.

My prayer today is that you will feel the Lord near you in everything that you do.

Thursday Devotional - Imputed Identity

Last month the kids and I memorized Luke 18:19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good – except God alone.” We were focusing on God’s attribute of being Good. Only God (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) is Good.

We can’t ever be good but we can accept Christ’s imputed righteousness. Romans 10:4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

We aren’t righteous (having perfectly upright moral conduct), but God looks at us through Christ’s righteousness when we put our trust and belief in what He’s done.

Romans 10:9-13 ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Belief in Jesus as the resurrected Lord is the only way to receive righteousness. Receiving Jesus’ righteousness means being fully acceptance by God! When I don’t believe in Christ’s imputed righteousness, I downplay my imperfections, or focus on my failures, or get overwhelmed in my striving for righteousness. When I believe in Christ’s imputed righteousness, I humbly go to Him with my failures, accept His forgiveness and rejoice in my full acceptance by God!

Christ’s righteousness becomes the basis for our identity.

We don’t need to prove ourselves! We’ve been accepted!

Alice

Our Spiritual War

He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Matthew 26:37-39

There is a spiritual war going on.  I say this understanding that this goes much deeper than just the things we see.  This is something we must feel.  I have felt closer to God lately reaching out in prayer seeking His wisdom and guidance, and for that, He has given me moments of clarity.  The war I see is always related to what I want versus what God wants.  More times than not, we are wanting the same things, but at times it boils down to wanting the same thing we both cannot have; control.  Do I have control or does God?  When I am responding to an attack, am I doing so through my own lens or a God inspired lens?  When it is my own, I immediately feel liberated, but often it is not lasting and can leave me with a level of anxiety, tension, and maybe even anger.  When I respond through God’s lens, it requires painful work, but I later feel love, strength, and inspiration.  These do not flee but instead become building blocks for something more lasting.

So, why is there a struggle?  It’s my favorite question exemplified by Paul when he says, “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 if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.” (Romans 7:15-16)  The key to solving any issue is to be aware what the problem is, and it is through that awareness we can solve it.

Prayerful connection to God always puts us in the best position to see the world through His lens.  Today’s verses speak of worn and battle-weary Christ praying before He must make the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.  I found myself feeling for Him and His condition.  Those initial verses are important to note because even Christ himself grew tired are as we often are when struggling and fighting through our spiritual wars.  He said, “Let this cup of suffering be taken from me.  Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  I wondered why is He praying this prayer?  After all, He is God, and He already knows what must be done.  You see, that’s the beauty of this prayer; His selfless surrender to God.  It’s underlines the very spiritual struggle we must deal with today. We have this cup of suffering, a cross to bear, or a surrendering to God.  We do not want the cup for we know what it encompasses.  But for us to fully embrace the grace, love, and peace that only God offers, we must want what He wants more than what we want.  This is what perfection of Christ looks like.

God is a choice.  We may see it as a seemingly simple one, but as noted here, it Is anything but simple.  However, today’s verses are not filled with sadness.  Instead, they are to inspire and encourage you of the goodness of God and the love He has for each and every one of us.  So instead of worrying about the suffering, trust in Jesus Christ for He said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23b)  What ‘cup’ are you holding today?  Where can you give more control to God in your life?  My prayer is that we both acknowledge and deal with our spiritual war.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Need or practice

Philippians 4:19-20 “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (NASB)

Hello,

This weekend I did some praying and reflecting on the needs we have as we face daily challenges. We pray for patience, wisdom, peace, endurance etc. But what do we mean when we pray for those things? Do we pray for them and then sit back and wonder if they will be given? Or, do we pray expectantly – trusting that God will do what he says in Philippians 4?

What struck me the most was that while I do pray expectantly, I miss the second part…..the part where I act on it. Sometimes I believe we get focused on our need for patience/wisdom/peace/endurance and forget to trust in God’s provision by action. I think about the patience thing with my kids. I pray to be patient, but find myself 5 minutes later ready to bite their heads off! Did God provide patience? Was His supply enough? He did supply it – I have to practice using it. I didn’t have a need deficit, I simply didn’t use what was given to me.

I hope this makes some sense to all of you, and encourages us to trust in God’s provision of our needs – and practice using what He has given.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill