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

Thursday Devotional - Where's Your Zeal?

We often describe James as very eager. He is zealous and passionate about so many things! However, he often needs redirected. 😊

Last week we saw how Paul grieved (in the first part of chapter 9) over the Jews’ lack of belief. Here, he continues to share his heart’s desire and prayer for their misdirected zeal.

Romans 10:1-4       Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ² For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³ Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

(Romans 9:31-32   but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.)

Paul says Israel pursued righteousness by the law instead of by faith and submission to God. They were zealous, but not with the right focus!

Do you know anyone who is eagerly and passionately striving for something you know they will never attain or master? Maybe they have the wrong focus. Maybe it’s a kid with a particular sport. Maybe it’s a teen or adult pursuing a relationship that won’t turn into anything or won’t satisfy like they think.

What are you and I zealous about? If we eagerly and passionately pursue God through faith in Christ, our zeal won’t be wasted. He will give us lasting satisfaction!

Alice

Understanding The Process

So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?  You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.  I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.  Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws.  Galatians 4:9-12a

When I was a child in elementary school, I learned how to do algebra quickly.  In fact, I got so good at it that I would do it in my head.  That carried me all the way to freshman year in high school, where I started to struggle.  The thing was I could figure in my head the answer because it became second nature to me.  However, I was not able to understand why that was the correct answer.  I had to learn the process that went with it.  Thus, I was slower than my peers that year.  However, once I understood the process, I was doing college level math by my senior year.  This very much reminded me of my journey with God.  When I was saved, I became His child, but I did not jump from ‘saved’ to Heaven.  I needed to understand why He valued me and to serve Him out of love and not obligation.  We know Heaven is the final destination and ‘answer to our math question,’ but we still must go through the process of learning His purpose for our lives here in this world.

We must focus on process of growing through Christ.  Many accept the gift of grace failing to go further to understand who He is.  They carry on just knowing that He saved them, but focus on doing things as an obligation toward salvation.  In those cases, we fail in our relationship with Christ because we do not deepen it or to Paul’s point, “earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.”  Others focus on feeling emotionally connected with God without building enough substance Biblically.  They experience little change in their life, and thus, they eventually fall toward spiritual stagnation, which eventually diminishes the emotional connection altogether.  However, a true life changing spirit filled journey is not only action-oriented but also creates a transformative change of heart.  Paul was bringing this awareness to the Galatians.  He encouraged them to live a life free from the bondage of obligations and to replace it with one of love for God.  If we love God, we surrender ourselves to Him, but it is not surrendering to bondage.  Instead, it is freedom from the bondage of sin, guilt, disappointment, sorrow, and any other inhibitor of joy you can think of.  We become selfless driven to act on His behalf and love others as He loves us.

To know God is simply not enough.  We must be willing to invest our time and energy into growing that relationship.  Paul’s fear was clear in today’s verses.  We should not settle for a life continuing as is and just accepting grace, and we should not do what God says just because it is written.  Let us live free focusing on learning more about who God is and letting our love for Him drive us toward obedience.  What steps in your journey might you have ‘skipped’ past?  How will you continue to build on your foundation of Christ to forge a deeper relationship with Him?  My prayer is that we embrace our journey of faith looking to understand the process.  Amen.

Tues Devo: Memory

Hello,

The memory is a powerful thing. Our memory influences decisions about what to do or not do again. Clear memory adds in motivation, and an aligned rationale (true whether we are influenced to start or stop – and whether it is good or bad). We can use our memory to help us push through challenging times. We can use it to not lose sight of whom we are aligned to, and where we are going. There are several instances in scripture of God remembering. I know He can’t forget, but I see this term with Him as meaning “taking action because He didn’t forget”.

Some examples:

Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.” (NASB)

Genesis 19:29 “Thus is came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived” (NASB)

Genesis 30:22 “Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.” (NASB)

I pray we are all encouraged to spend some time remembering whom we follow and what He has done for us today.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill