Daily Devotion, September 21, 2019

Devotion:

Read Philippians 2:3-8.

  For me, this is one of those key passages of Scripture that sums up what it means to be a Christian. This is what love looks like. This is what the life and ministry of Jesus Christ looks like. This is what being a Christian looks like.

  It’s about being unselfish. Being self-centered is the core of what sin is. So to live a life that is the opposite of being self-centered is to live a life opposite of sin. It is to live as Jesus showed us how to live. “Don’t be focused on your own interests, but on the interests of others” writes Paul. In the verse prior to this passage, he invites Christ’s followers to be “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” How are they to do that? By being unselfish, focusing on others.

  It’s about being humble: “consider others better than yourselves.” He goes on to write that even Jesus lived a life of humility, including his willingness to become a human in the first place, as well as submitting himself to the humiliating and excruciating experience of crucifixion.

 

  Living a life of humility, focused on other people: it is the life of love. It is what it means to be a follower of Christ. 

Personal Worship Option:

Think of the humble, unselfish people who have influenced your life. Give God thanks for their example. Meditate on how you can better follow it.

Daily Devotion, September 20, 2019

Devotion:

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.

Love is . . . there are numerous phrases that complete this sentence. Love is blind. Love is never having to say I’m sorry. Love is a many splendored thing. Love is something we struggle to define and to experience. However, in this passage of scripture there is no confusion as to what love is. Love is patient, kind, not jealous, boastful, prideful or rude. It does not demand its own way or keep a record of wrongs. Love isn’t happy about injustice and rejoices when truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith; it hopes and endures through every circumstance.  

These verses define the type of love that is to be the core of all relationships for followers of Christ. This is a tall order! This kind of love is directed outward toward others. It is totally unselfish! Only with the help of the Holy Spirit will we be able to set aside our own agendas to truly love the way God loves us.

Personal Worship Option:

Which of these expressions of love do you do well? Which need work? Open your heart to the Spirit’s leading as you commit to grow in love.

Daily Devotion, September 19, 2019

Devotion:

Read 1 John 3:16-18.

Today’s Scripture teaches that love without action is not love at all. In these three verses, we see love modeled and defined for us. John uses Christ as the great example of love. His love was demonstrated by His sacrificial death on the cross. He died, not for His sins, but for our sins. His sacrificial love was so great that words cannot express it. John urges us to lay down our life for our brothers, and our sisters, and even our enemies. It is pure love when we die to our own desires and needs, to give to others. To say I love you and then give nothing of yourself, is not just an empty comment, it is deception and is meaningless.

This leads directly to its definition. Love is self-sacrifice. Following the example of Jesus, it is understood literally to give your life. But self-sacrifice can also be understood metaphorically, as a mindset that places the interests of others before one’s own. If anyone has material possessions and sees brothers or sisters in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in them? Helping the least of these is not the only application of self-sacrificial love, but it is an especially clear one. The time, talent, and treasure you would otherwise give to yourself is being sacrificially given to others. If we fail to love the poor, then God’s love has not permeated our being, and our love for Him is incomplete.

Personal Worship Option:

Dear God, let us not love only with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. What the world needs from we Christians is not more talk about love, but simply more love. Help us to love. Amen.

Daily Devotion, September 18, 2019

Devotion:

Read Colossians 3:15-21.

I love the beginning of Colossians 3 in The Message “ So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it..”

Let love be your identifying characteristic as followers of Christ, Paul writes. Paul asks for peace to keep them “ in tune with each other” and says in verse 17 “Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”

Verses 18-21 are Paul’s teaching on the ways of living life as families. This was perhaps a radical new teaching as husbands were admonished in several of Paul’s letters to love their wives. In Ephesians 5, Paul says for husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it. 

In recent years, a lot of arguments have surrounded Paul’s teaching for wives to submit to their husbands. This was written in a different time as to the roles of women. But I believe we are to see the whole message here that our families are to love one another in all the ways Christ calls us to love.

“They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love”, a song written in 1966 by a Roman Catholic Priest Peter R. Sholtes, during his time as a Parish Priest on the south side of Chicago, was a call for all Christians to be mindful of our witness.

Similarly, I believe the Apostle Paul was calling the people of the church at Colossae to understand their witness for Christ included more than just words.  Resurrection life with Christ is different! Our witness includes the ways we treat others, including our families.

Personal Worship Option:

Family life together is not always easy. Sometimes we are “out of tune” with each other. Dear God, re-teach us your ways of love for our families. Grant us your peace, tune our hearts with your heart, and help us to always be thankful. Help us to love each other in sacrificial and unselfish ways. Amen.

Daily Devotion, September 17, 2019

Devotion:

Read James 4:6-10.

James is writing to Christians who were quarreling; committing murder and adultery; living by lust, greed, and envy. They were struggling to uphold their Christian faith and weren’t submitting to either Christ or their fellow Christians. The Greek word for submission is hupotasso which means to get under and lift up, or to put in order. When we submit to Christ, we “get under” or “lift up” his mission of grace, mercy, and love. Like the early Christians, we also struggle to uphold our Christian faith and submit to Christ and each other. Submission means we let go of our pride and humbly surrender to God’s will. We find good news in the first part of our passage today. “ But he gives us more grace.” God gives us his grace even when we sin. God gives us grace even when we disappoint him. God continually forgives us and gives us more and more grace. Why would we not submit to such a gracious, grace-giving God? This passage reminds us that when we draw near to him and humble ourselves, he will lift us up. He lifts us up by giving us spiritual blessings and peace that passes our own understanding. God models for us what he expects us to do for others: extend grace to others and lift them up.

Personal Worship Option:

Who do you need to lift up today? Is there someone you need to humbly submit to? Ask God to guide you as you extend grace and mercy to someone today.

Daily Devotion, September 16, 2019

Devotion:

Read John 17:20-26.

The first thing that strikes me in this passage is that Jesus is praying here for you and for me -- Christians who believe, not because we were with Jesus during his time on earth, but rather because the disciples who were with Jesus faithfully passed the Good News to the next generation. Then Jesus describes the way he and the Father are in one another, building to the point that Father and Son are indeed one. If we do not pay close attention to passages like this one, we may think of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as an ordered ranking. When God the Son came to earth in human form, God voluntarily limited God’s power and knowledge in order that we might more closely identify with the fully God and fully human Jesus Christ. But God the Father and Son are one and equal in all respects.

Head hurting yet? Mine is! This is heavy lifting! But the most amazing thing about the teaching in this passage is that the Son does not wish to keep his precious, intimate relationship with the Father to himself! He prays that we will be drawn into this fellowship and that both Father and Son will be in us and we in them. Jesus prays to the Father for this for us, and I cannot imagine the Father saying “no!” Only we can keep this prayer for us from being granted.

Personal Worship Option:

Reflect on this invitation from Jesus to share in the intimacy and equality between Father and Son. If all believers have this invitation, we should feel that same love and equality between ourselves and others. Pray with me for that kind of love for others.

Daily Devotion, September 15, 2019

Devotion:

Read Ephesians 4:14-16.

In yesterday’s passage, Paul urged all of us in the church to grow and become mature. Referring to that as he continues with today’s reading, he is saying we will then be grounded and established in sound teachings so we are not like babies in the faith, shifting from one enticing but false teaching to another. This is why good, sound, in-depth Bible study is so important. Studying together helps us to learn from one another’s backgrounds and experiences, and our study groups benefit by having facilitators or teachers who are gifted and who enjoy the hard work of preparing in advance and leading our discussions.

Christians grow individually and become more mature as we read and study the Bible, pray, worship, and use our gifts to serve others in ministry. Then all the ministries work together to become the ministry of the church. Like a body made up of many different parts, the church becomes a vibrant, living, and breathing body...the body of Jesus Christ in the world. Paul reminds us that the church builds itself up in love. Everything we do individually and as the church in the name of Christ must be faithful to Christ’s teaching to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Personal Worship Option:

Think about ministries you enjoy in the church that are done or led by others. In your time of prayer, give thanks today for their gifts and commitment to the church. Make a point to thank them personally with a phone call or when you next see them in person.