Thursday Devotional - Fear of Authority?

I lost our temporary license plate a couple Saturdays ago. It was wedged inside the back hatch, but it flew out when I drove home with the back open (after buying a bigger bike for James at a garage sale). James told me something flew out, but I didn’t realize what it was until we got home and took the bike out. After going back and looking for it a couple times, we couldn’t find it. So, we drove the other car the rest of that day. There wasn’t a way to get a new tag until Monday. However, Joe and I needed to go separate places Sunday afternoon. We thought about driving our car and hoping the police didn’t see. However, I decided to call the police Sunday morning (the non-emergency line 😊) to see what our options were legally. I found out that we could get a ticket for failure to display, but we could legally drive our car since it was registered and had insurance!

I know this was a seemingly little thing, but I think there are lots of areas where we tend to plead ignorance or make excuses for breaking a law.  Paul points out how God established the authorities and we’re not to rebel against them. When we disobey or make up our own rules, we are really rebelling against God.

Romans 13:1-4a                 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.

As believers, we are to submit to governing authorities for God’s glory and our good.  

Where have you and I rebelled against a governing authority or wanted to rebel? Who would we really be rebelling against?

When have you and I submitted to a governing authority when it wasn’t convenient or when we disagreed, but saw good come from it or a blessing of some sort?

God is Sovereign. He has all power, rule and authority over every person and all of creation. He is the One who establishes governing authorities for His perfect purposes. There is nothing outside His control, including all rulers. Let’s demonstrate a righteous and godly response to those whom God has placed in authority over you and me.

Alice

Infinite Power

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  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 3:14-19

The other day, I was in a situation that bothered me.  Deeply.  I tried to put my feelings into words at the time, and they seemed to escape me.  Taking more time to pause and reflect, I was able to articulate what was happening.  In my mind, I had gotten comfortable in my faith believing that everything was happening because it was God’s will … until I didn’t agree with it.  Then I had begun to question whether God was with me or better yet was I with God.  When God makes us uncomfortable, He is trying to make something change from within.  A pastor once called it a ‘Holy Discontent.’  It means something within our spirit is so disruptive we cannot shake it and it will not let us go.  It was scary, and it made me want to run away and hide.  So, I began to just pray about it, and was reminded of one important aspect in my faith journey.

My goal is to try understanding what God wants me to do, and then draw on His strength to act.  He asks me to tune out the noise and trust Him.  That way, I move forward without worry or concern.  There is an inner determination and infinite strength telling me that where I am going is beyond my current condition, and if I focus on Him, I will get there.  This is what spiritual growth sounds like.

When you allow God to lead you, spiritual growth is attainable.  I love what Paul says in today’s verses.  First, there are the words that talk of the greatness of God.  Words such as ‘glorious, unlimited resources’ and ‘wide, long, high, deep’ describing Christ’s love for us.  Next, it expands on what God will give us.  ‘Empower, inner strength, experience, and strong’ are all words further underlining God’s gifts that we should expect for our trust given to Him.  Finally, the end result from all of this are the words, “Made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”  While these are simply words of prayer from Paul, they should be music to our ears when we are going through something difficult or challenging.  They remind us that when we cannot see a way out of circumstances, God always has a way for us.  Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”  This is what Paul understood as he prayed over the Ephesians for bigger things beyond what they could see.  Through Christ, we have strength where there is seemingly none left, and love for us when we feel alone.  We can be neither defeated nor denied for there is something better ahead for us.  We only need to claim victory in His name.

There is nothing you cannot overcome with the Lord’s help.  Our spiritual growth is not about our current circumstance.  It is about learning to see beyond our current circumstance to a future God intends for us.  Therefore, let us connect to that inner strength Paul spoke of looking beyond today and seeing our bright and glorious future.  What circumstances are affecting your view of God today?  How can you allow God’s vision for your future dictate the decisions of your current situation?  My prayer is that we remember to draw upon the infinite power of God.  Amen!

Tues Devo: Got it, use it

Hello,

Quick writers note – this week’s is heavily inspired (stolen?) from what I heard at church this weekend.

How often do we sit and wait for God to act, before we participate? How often do we ask God to provide what we believe is enough to do what He is calling us to do?

Our role is not merely faith that God can/will – but faith that is demonstrated in action. 2 stories from the Bible illustrate this:

2 Kings 4:1-7 “Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”” (NASB)

Matthew 14:14-21 “When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” They *said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.” (NASB)

When we read the story with Elisha, we see that the widow had all she needed to pay her debts, and provide for what was needed going forward – she just had to start pouring. God did not just provide the rest without her partaking in the action.

As we see Jesus with feeding the five thousand, someone brought what they had and gave it to Him. He didn’t say “bring me what you have and I will multiply it”, someone had to hand it to Him first.

I was challenged this weekend to not wait until I had what I thought was enough, but to use what I have and let God do what God can do. I hope this encourages you also.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Ask, Seek and Knock

Have you ever been at a point that you found yourself asking God for something that may have seemed silly?  That was me last Friday.  My husband had went to run an errand to drop off a check for something while I was working.  He came back and I could tell something was wrong.  He said that as he was driving there, the check blew out the window.  This was along a busy road and he was pretty upset, figuring it was completely gone.  This was just as I was about to take a lunch break so I told him that I would go back out with him and look. 

I walked up one side of the road, praying hard.  Asking God for a miracle to find this check.  At one point, while I’m praying, I thought to myself, this is silly, it’s just a check that can be cancelled.  Still, I knew it was upsetting to my husband so I prayed more. 

Matthew 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

I continued down the other side of the street, and just as I was about to give up as I was at the end of where it should have been, I saw it.  It was in a ditch, stuck between a couple of blades of grass.  God had answered my prayer. 

No request is too small or too silly for God.  With that in mind, the answer we receive may not always be the answer we are looking for.  Sometimes you will get a response that makes you think that the prayer was not answered, that is not really the truth as sometimes God uses these opportunities to get us to trust him.

My prayer for you this week is that you will ask, seek and knock.  The Lord is listening.

Thursday Devotional - Let the Almighty Avenge

When James won’t stop bothering Sarah, even after Sarah asks him to stop, she has sometimes resorted to pushing him away, biting, or pinching. Her revenge is often worse than the original “harm.” She is the one who then gets in trouble! I keep reminding her how she can handle those situations – she can nicely ask him to please stop, she can move away or she can go to another room. If none of that works, then she can tell an adult (usually Joe or me 😊) so the adult can address the situation. The adult could then administer the appropriate discipline for James.  

On a grander scale, Paul challenges us to overcome evil with good and not take vengeance into our own hands for personal offenses. We’re to let God avenge. 

Romans 12:17-21 Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Romans 12:17-21

Paul isn’t saying we are to let evil continue and let people get away with evil. Two weeks ago we read in Romans 12:9 that we are to hate evil. Also, in the next chapter (ch. 13), Paul talks about governing authorities and their role (with laws/punishment/consequences, etc.). Paul says above not to repay evil for evil. We’re not to engage in evil to get back at someone doing evil. Screaming at someone who is screaming at me, doesn’t usually solve the problem. Cutting someone off in traffic because they cut me off doesn’t help (and puts us all in more danger).

Where do you and I have a desire to repay evil for evil?  How does it help you and me to know we’re to leave it to God to avenge? He’s the most just and can handle it!

Alice

Like vs Share

Mark 16:15

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

We started a new series at Church this week and I found it very relevant to life and something I thought all could relate to.  We live in a social media world.  Be it Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or whatever other platform you might be on.  We often will like something we see posted if we think it is cute.  If we really like it, we might even share it.  It is the sharing of things that make them go viral, not the liking of them. 

We also live in a world where Christianity is losing ground.  Many churches are struggling to grow.  The Gospel simply is not going viral.  Why? It’s rather simple.  As Christians, we often “like” the Gospel, yet we don’t often share it.  If we are simply liking it, we are keeping that to ourselves.  This is not what we have been instructed to do however.

While it is good that we live the Gospel in our own lives, if we do not share it, we are neglecting the instruction to, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Today I want to challenge you to share the Gospel!  Maybe you like a devotion that you read here.  Did you know that you can share it with others that are not within our workplace?  Now you do!  You can share this link with anyone to allow them the chance to also read our daily devotions:  https://trdailydevotional.blogspot.com/

I would love to hear the various whys each of you share the Gospel this week.  Let’s not just like it, let’s make it go viral.

Thursday Devotional - Harmony without Humility?

Can there be true harmony without humility? I don’t think so.

In the United States, we are very individualistic and self-centered. We also teach children from a young age to take pride in who they are, where they came from, what they can do, etc. Instilling appropriate confidence is one thing, but we tend toward conceit more than just confidence. Then, we wonder why we as adults struggle to be inclusive, collaborate, and resolve conflicts. We can’t be prideful or conceited AND live in harmony. Harmony comes from humility, as Paul points out in the following passage.

Romans 12:14-16  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.

What relationship in your and my life lacks harmony right now (especially with fellow believers)? We can’t control the other people, but we can examine ourselves and ask God to help us recognize where we can be more loving and humble versus prideful and arrogant.

Paul gives us some practical ways to be humble and harmonious by sharing in the joys of and sympathizing with the hurts of others.

So, we can begin our harmonious and humble living by looking for ways to genuinely rejoice or mourn with someone else this week!

Alice

Not Guilty

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.  They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”  John 8:4-11

This week, I served on a jury.  I had the unique perspective of being foreman for the group.  Thus, my job was to not only come up with a reasonable decision on my part but also help facilitate the others in the coming up with the verdict.  Thus, our job was to look at evidence, which in this case was almost entirely circumstantial, and decide guilt or innocence.  As I thought about the various testimonies brought into the discussion and angles of exhibits, it made me think of my life and all the wrongs I have done.  It was not that I was dwelling on them and carry them like luggage.  Instead, it was thinking where I would be if I hadn’t had Jesus Christ as an advocate for me.  Unlike in a jury case, there is only one prosecutor, judge, and jury in my life.  God knows all I have done, and has presented a flawless case where one can only find me guilty as charged.  I confessed to being guilty as charged.  However, we have Jesus Christ as our defendant, and through Him, I am somehow found blameless.  The crimes that I am guilty of are left without punishment as Jesus Himself paid the price for it.  I am grateful that I have been given another chance to prove myself worthy of His gift of grace even though I can in no way do enough to either repay or earn it.  What an incredibly humbling thought!

Jesus frees us from the burden of our past to allow us to see a future.  We all have had moments where we regretted an action or done things we were not proud of.  If you were once like me, you lingered with thoughts of your past transgressions never being free and feeling less worthy than others.  Some of you despite dedicating your life to Jesus may have that one incident or thought that continually hovers over your head.  Others have people much like followers of Christ who want to hang your sins over your head like a crown of thorns or like jurors who have made the decision of your guilt.  This is not the life God intended for you.  This is why the story of this woman put before Christ is so important.  The Pharisees, having already in their minds found the woman guilty, put her before Jesus to either justify their beliefs or discredit Jesus entirely.  Note there is not even a denial from the woman in the story.  Jesus’ answer has a two-fold purpose for us.  First, it is to remind us that all fall short of God’s glory, and we must not be judgmental of other sinners (i.e. like the Pharisees).  Second, it is to lift the burden of our past to allow for us a brighter future.  This is Jesus’ purpose in our lives.  We are given a new life, where we are to follow Him given a higher purpose to ‘sin no more.’

God’s gift of grace through Jesus Christ is one of the greatest blessings in our walk of faith.  We are no longer burden by the guilt and shame of our past and our given a new life.  While we as mature Christians should know this, we are always susceptible to falling into old habits and believing we are beyond redemption.  But even when we fail the Lord promises to be with us saying, “”But with everlasting love, I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.” (Isaiah 54:8b)  So whether it is past transgressions before accepting Christ or overwhelming guilt that has hindered you after, be joyful in knowing your debt is paid, and God wants for you an amazing relationship with Him on your journey to eternal life.  What burdens do you need to cast on God today?  How can you move beyond your past toward His future for your life?  My prayer is that we understand that while we are guilty of sin, we are given new life as Jesus Christ finds us ‘Not Guilty.’  Amen.

Tues Devo: Not us, through us

Luke 9:12-14 “Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, ‘Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place’. But He said to them ‘You give them something to eat!’ And they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people’. For there were about five thousand men. And He said to His disciples, ‘Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.’” (NASB)

Hello,

Feeding of the 5,000 – not a new story! One you have likely read or heard so many times, that it is tempting to breeze through it when reading. But this time, something caught my eye that has not before. We tend to focus on the miracle of the feeding, the person who gave what they could to Jesus and His ability to do more with it etc. But this is the first time where I noticed some uniqueness about the front of the story. The disciples noticed and stated the need for the people to eat on their own. As they see the need, Jesus told His disciples to feed the people. In the end, they did feed the people….they passed out the food and made sure everyone got fed – but it wouldn’t have happened without the power of Jesus at work.

Here is what I see that I relate to in my life: I see the need around me – then I have a rough idea for how it could be met, but my plan is limited in impact. You see, we often look to filling needs in our own strength and ability – and miss the chance to invite Jesus in and let His power and ability work through us.

If the disciples handle the feeding in their own strength the story is strange! The people rush the markets of nearby cities, sending them into chaos without planning for such an amount of people and then they become scattered from the presence of Jesus.

Instead, we see the power of God and then (read the rest of Luke 9) Jesus uses the crowds presence as a reason to go to the other side of the lake and pray – which leads right into Him walking on the water, where Peter also walks (for a minute) on the water.

When we see the need – don’t go in your own strength, but let the power of God work through you.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

Be a light

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

At church we just completed a series that talked about how we often share our lives but most of what we share is a lie.  Not that things aren’t true but that we are only sharing the positive so we make our life look so much better than it is.  We don’t share the struggles and the ugly as much.  This got me thinking about witnessing to others.  If someone cannot relate to you, why would they listen to you? 

Sometimes in life, sometimes daily, we are going to struggle with different things.  We were forwarded that in this would we would have troubles.  Sometimes we are going to mess up.  Should we hide all of that?  I don’t believe we should.  If we allow others to see that our lives are not perfect, they will be able to relate during their struggles as well. 

The key, as Christians, is how do we deal with those struggles.  Do we turn to Christ and trust in him?  Do we let our light shine and show that even through the struggles, Christ is there to get us through those times? 

I am certainly not saying that everything should be put on social media or blasted to the entire world.  If you have a fight with your significant other, you don’t bash them for all the world to see.  Yet maybe you’re having a rough day with your child, you could post a simple post that says you could use a prayer for patience or whatever it is. 

My challenge to you today and this week is to look for the opportunities to be real.  Don’t live your best lie, live your best life.