Weekly Devotional

10/15/2018

faithful ones

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“Well done good and faithful servant…"(Matthew. 25:23)

These are the words we want stringed together at the end of our lives as we stand before our Righteous and Holy God.

These are also the words we should want to hear daily.

Faithfulness is daily.

Our walk with the Lord and in the Lord doesn't promise us earthly benefits. This path will be one with warfare and struggles, but He assures us of the Joy that is set before us in being with our Father, forever, in Heaven. What great reward! What great Hope!

It’s this Hope that pushes us to be faithful. It’s what allows us to “count it all joy when we face hardships and various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result so that we may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing” (James 1: 2-4).

The truth is, we don’t drift into faithfulness. We must daily choose to fix and gaze our eyes on Christ, the author and perfecter of our Faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Faithfulness looks like opening our Word when everything in our flesh wants to sleep more or get other things done. It looks like heading over to Bible Study when we rather be alone. It's in our loving and bearing each other’s burdens even when we've been hurt by others (Galatians 6). It's in our joyfully serving in our local church, loving the fellowship with one another-no matter what our personality type. It's in our commitment to prayer, not giving up or losing heart even when our prayers haven't been answered.

He delights in our faithfulness.

Sadly, we live in a world that is allergic to faithfulness. If something (or someone for that matter) doesn’t feel good or it’s uncomfortable, then move on to the next thing. If it’s not feeding your desires, why stick with it? Why struggle when there are so many options to experience freedom? This is the stream we have to swim up against. While faithfulness doesn’t come naturally to us, it’s a daily pursuit that is built as we rely on the Holy Spirit to draw us nearer to God.

Our faithfulness to Him strengthens as we focus on His faithfulness to us. His Word reminds us that when we were deep in our sin, having no desire to know Him or love Him, He died for us (Romans 5:8). He extended His grace and mercy when we didn’t (and never will) deserve it. What’s more astounding is that He is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him because He can’t deny who He is (2 Timothy 2:13). It’s His character to be faithful. This shows us that it was never on the basis of our works or our faithfulness to Him that allowed us to encounter such love. It has always and will always be about Him. He can’t go against who He is. This is encouraging to our faith.

We are quick to associate His faithfulness to us based on our faithfulness to Him, leaving us in an unstable relationship with the Lord, always wondering if we are loved by Him or secure in Him. We lack the true peace and joy that is assured in Him when we are constantly looking at our relationship with Him like our other human relationships. We must realize that God is not man that He should lie. For those of us who love and fear Him, He doesn’t deal with us according to our unfaithfulness (Psalm 103:10) because if that was the case, He wouldn’t have dealt with us at all. He deals with us according to His loving-kindness. According to His love. According to His faithfulness (Isaiah 63:7). We need to rest in these Truths.

His unfading faithfulness conforms us to His image, daily sanctifying us in Him so that our lives will grow brighter and clearer in representing Him.

May we treasure His faithfulness to us. His Word is filled with the richness of every faithful promise to those who love and fear Him. May we also treasure those in our lives who are faithful to Him. They are ones whom we should look to and glean from. Their faithfulness is a testament to His goodness and never-ending love. May we pursue to emulate that faithfulness as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths.

Passages to read/meditate/memorize:

Isaiah 63:7
Psalm 103:10
Romans 5
James 1:2-4
Hebrews 12:2
Galatians 6
2 Peter 3:18
2 Timothy 2:13

Questions to reflect on:

1. Write down the ways in which you have seen God’s faithfulness over your life.

2. How have you remained faithfulness to the Lord? What makes it easy or hard to do so?

3. Take this week to meditate on the Scriptures (like the ones above and others) that show you and remind you of God’s faithfulness to you.

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10/8/2018

an important question

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“The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup..” (Psalm 16:5)

There is a saying that when one door closes, God opens another. It sounds good but what if He doesn’t? Does He love us any less? Is He less good?

There’s this widespread belief in the Christian culture that compels us to believe that God’s love and goodness towards us is mainly seen through what He does for us (opportunities, open doors, favor, etc), rather than what He has already done for us once and for all (suffered, died and rose from the grave to give us new life in Him) and what this truth means for us daily and how that defines how we see and live our lives.

I would venture to say that most of us seek to glorify God with our lives. At the same time, I would also venture to say that we have our own idea of what giving God the glory with our lives looks like. Perhaps we want to excel in areas that we are gifted in. We want to take opportunities and be all that we believe God has called us to be. However, what if God chose to exalt Himself through you in ways that aren’t necessarily the "victorious story" by man’s perspective? The story that says when it looked like there was no way, God made a way. What if His way wasn’t our way?

As I’ve gone through this surgery procedure, my prayer has been,“God please heal me.” But the more I sat with God and read His Word, I began asking, what if God doesn’t heal me? What if God gives me this discomfort for the rest of my life? What if I hear the things I don’t want to hear from the doctors? Would Christ still be enough? This has been the question ringing loudly in my mind as I’ve been going through this process. And I believe this is one of the most important questions we will have to ask ourselves on a daily basis. The answer matters greatly.

Living in a world that daily attempts to sell us cheap facades of fulfillment, it lures us into believing that He isn’t enough. Or even more tempting, we buy into the lie that says we can have Him BUT we need more for real fulfillment.

We know God’s word tells us that all things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28) but have we interpreted that to mean that everything will be comfortable?
Our good is not about our comfort. Our good is about His glory. His glory in our life may mean that no doors we expected to open will open. His glory may mean that a dream set in our heart may never come to pass. His glory isn’t ours to determine. But we can rest assured that His glory is always our good. And if we choose to cling to Him, He helps us see that good through His eyes.

Is God trying to make sure we only have a hard-suffering life? Of course not. It’s not healthy to fall on that end of the spectrum. What I am saying is that if we find ourselves being fully content in the Lord when things are going well or even so, holding on to God only during the times He “comes through” for us, then we have based our relationship on superficial allegiance. We will never be satisfied by that relationship.

Being a Christian isn’t a life paved with golden opportunities and good feelings. It’s not a life that promises everything we desire in this earthly life will come to pass. I don't want to let you go on thinking that even if it's what you heard in church. It wouldn't be the truth,nor would it be loving.

This life in Christ is a life that is built on a sure foundation, not easily swept away by the fleeting lusts of this world. It's a life filled with unspeakable joy found in the darkest of times which makes the world confused. It's a life covered by God's presence. It's a life strengthened by adversity. It’s a life that knows that this life isn’t the end. There is more to look forward to. Praise God!

Sisters, the hope is that whether we find ourselves on the hill or in the valley, may we choose to say “Christ you are enough for me.” He delights when we find our deepest satisfaction in Him and Him alone.
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths.

Passages to read/meditate/memorize:

Psalm 16
John 6:35
Philippians 4:11
2 Peter 1:3-4
1 Corinthians 8:6

Questions to reflect on:

What are some desires you have that have not come to pass? And if they don’t, how will that affect your relationship with God? Be honest.
Have you found yourself buying into the belief that Christ isn’t enough? What have you chased because you believe that?
Is it hard for you to say that Christ is enough for you? Why? And what are ways to deepen your relationship with Christ so that He becomes your all?

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Devotionals to draw us
closer to the
ONE Who is devoted to us.

faithful ones

an important question

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Devotionals to draw uscloser to the​ONE Who is devoted to us.

faithful ones

an important question

Archives

Devotionals to draw us
closer to the
ONE Who is devoted to us.