Monday
Reaching the Lost
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:18-19 NLT)
I defer my normal writing to a man that had a much better grasp of language and a much better ability to write.
“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for,” -- Charles Spurgeon.
Lord God, help us to be strong in our faith and lead us to those that need to see You. Lead us to those that need to feel Your touch. Lead us to those that need a kind word, a word of Your truth and love. Help us to be the disciples that we are called to be. We pray in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Tuesday
Do You Have It?
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes – the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life” (Romans 1:16, 17 NLT).
Do you have faith in an unseen God? We are saved by faith through His grace. Do you have faith?
Father God, help us to have faith, even if it's as small as a mustard seed. I ask and pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
Wednesday
Increasing Your Faith
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness (Colossians 2:7 NLT).
Growing deeper in our knowledge of God through His word reveals much to us. Growing deep betters our lives, increases our faith, and makes us realize how much we should be thankful for.
Lord God, help us to be diligent in reading Your holy word. Help us to delve deeply in scripture so that we can understand what You have for us to see, hear, feel and taste. Help us to seek the Holy Spirit in our understanding and guide us to a closer relationship with You. We ask and pray this in the mighty name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thursday
The Deception of Sin
Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:18-21 NLT).
How can we preach salvation to people that deny that they have a sin problem? I think that we must bring people to the realization of their brokenness so that God can work on their hearts. We are only the messengers, the field workers, the hands and feet of Christ. We can lead the lost to a knowledge of God and the way to accept Christ as their Savior, but we can't save anyone.
A military drill sergeant breaks a man to his lowest point, then out of that brokenness, he builds a solider, a fighter, a combatant. He builds a warrior.
What will it take to bring people to the reality of their brokenness, so that God can do an amazing work in their lives? I submit that what it takes is someone to love them enough to tell them the truth about the sin that is destroying their lives. It takes a man or woman of God to stand firm in God's word, truth and deliver the message with love.
We also must be truthful about the sin in our lives. Yes, all of us are sinners and broken, even the Apostle Paul stated that he was the worst sinner of them all. We must look deep into our actions, in-actions and the way we live so that we will see how far we are from God's will in our very own lives. I call it internal soul searching.
My challenge today is that all of us will see the need and go where God calls us to go. But before we go, we must take care of addressing our own brokenness and coming to conviction and repentance.
Dear Father God, help us to see the sin in our lives that is destroying the good things that You are trying to give us. We turn away from Your blessings to chase “our” particular sin. Our sin is disguised as fun, exciting, intriguing…which will end up being null and void. Your blessings will last for an eternity. Lord, help us to grasp this truth and open our hearts to Your will in our lives. Help us to repent of our sin and drop to our knees at Your throne. I ask and pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
Friday
Plans
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2 NLT).
If you want to find out what God has planned for you, you must turn away from the ways of this broken world that we live in; turn off the noise of distraction and listen to Him.
Dear Lord, help us to put the distractions of this world away and open our hearts and minds to what You want for us. We pray in Your Son’s mighty name. Amen.
Saturday
The Bible Doesn't Say Life Will Be Easy
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up (Galatians 6:9 NLT).
I've heard these words many times from new Christians, who are struggling with the pull of worldly desires, "Why is everything not going well, I gave my life to Christ, but I'm just struggling with everything. I thought things would be perfect now."
Folks, we aren't promised a perfect life in this world. What we are promised is eternity with Jesus when we leave this old, broken world. We are also promised that no matter what we are going through, that God is with us and will never leave us. A perfect life in this broken world is only possible by dealing with our problems while leaning on the power, strength, and love of Christ. That is as perfect as we can expect from our deceitful world.
We must remember to not give up, to keep doing good, to keep sharing Jesus, and to keep leaning on His perfect love.
Father God, give us Your strength to deal with the junk in our lives and this world. I ask in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sunday
Being Free
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives (Galatians 5:19-25 NLT).
Okay, let’s talk about free will and sin. I know, not much fun to talk about since we are all broken sinners, but we must look at God's word on these matters.
God gave us the ability to choose, good or evil; light or darkness; Satan or Jesus and from that Heaven or Hell. It's our choice. Pretty simple, but Satan throws many roadblocks in our path, and what should be simple, isn't necessarily so.
Have you made the choice? Are you going to choose sin and death or righteousness and everlasting life in Heaven?
Please think about it, seriously, this decision should not be put off. It has eternal consequences.
Dear Father God, draw those that are running from you into your magnificent arms. By the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
