Daily Devotion for June 7, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read 1 Corinthians 13.

This chapter comes in the middle of three chapters where Paul is addressing how to deal with differences among the members of the church. To put it simply, the key is loving one another, no matter what. We use the word love every day in some way or the other. According to one list, it's the 387th most commonly used English word. But do we really know what it means? This chapter shows us the foundation of life with God is love.

This scripture tells us that no matter how much we believe something, no matter how smart we are, no matter how strong we are, no matter how awesome we are, if we do not have love, then those other traits don’t mean anything. God wants us to live a beautiful and God-honoring life, but love must be first in our life. So, what does that look like? We are patient; we are kind; we are not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. We rejoice in truth and not in wrongdoing. We must receive God's love so that we can share it with others.

Personal Worship Option:

Reflect on the depths of God’s love for you. Take a piece of paper and draw a heart. Write all the attributes of love found in this chapter in and around the heart. How many of those flow through your life? Ask God to increase each of these in your life.

Daily Devotion for June 6, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Ephesians 4:29 - 5:2.

This letter written by Paul to the Ephesians is encouraging and at the same time is instructing us to live as people of light. Paul tells us to walk in the way of love as God’s people. As Christ’s followers, we strive to adopt a lifestyle of imitating God, showing kindness, com­passion, and forgiveness. We try to learn to forgive because we know that God has loved and forgiven us. We are people who have been forgiven and will continue to be, so we must be forgiving. If we do not appreciate God’s forgiving us, we have little motivation for forgiving others. Forgiven believers with grateful hearts readily express kindness and compassion for others.

There are many Bible passages that talk about love, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. It is our task to try to grow our faith so that we can also grow in becoming more like Christ in our actions. It is hard to be kind to someone whom we haven’t forgiven. We won’t show compassion until we grow aware of how much we’ve experienced God’s love and compassion in our own lives. As Jesus’ followers, we’re called to share the love that he has shown for us. Doing so builds healthy relationships, honors our Creator, and grows his king­dom.

Personal Worship Option:

Forgiving God, thank you for your love and forgiveness. Help us to show kindness and compassion to others because you’ve shown it to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Daily Devotion for June 5, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Acts 10:34-48.

This week we are focusing on allowing the Holy Spirit who is God to guide us when we have differences among us. In today’s scripture Peter discovers God at work in people he thought couldn’t possibly know God.

A popular fast food restaurant has a video titled “Every Life Has A Story”, as part of its training for new employees. This brief, almost 3-minute video helps the trainees see that every customer has a story (beyond what is visible) worthy of compassion, kind hospitality, and second-mile service. It also ties the stories of each customer together to help the trainees see that in many ways we are all connected.

In today’s scripture beginning in verse 44, the Holy Spirit continues to surprise and teach Peter that salvation through Christ is for all people. And the Holy Spirit opened the eyes and the ears of the circumcised believers who had come with Peter. They were all “astonished” that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out “even on the Gentiles…..So Peter ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Then later in Acts 11, we read that Peter was criticized back in Jerusalem by the circumcised believers for eating with the Gentiles.

All of this is woven within a greater story of Peter’s God-given vision and his invitation from Cornelius’, a centurion from Caesarea, to come to his house where there was a great gathering of relatives and close friends. Cornelius, in verse 33 tells Peter, “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

So, Peter retells this whole story in Acts 11 and after telling his story, the uncircumcised believers from Jerusalem declare, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

Personal Worship Option:

Holy Spirit please open our eyes to see and our ears to hear that you show no partiality of people. The love of God made known to us through Christ the Son is to be offered to all people. Help us offer this love today to someone beyond our own “comfort zone.” Amen.

Daily Devotion for June 4, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Galatians 5:14-26.

Learning to walk takes practice. The more steps a toddler takes, the more proficient he or she becomes, until walking is a normal part of life. This same principle is true spiritually. When we are first saved, our steps are small and uncertain, but as we practice and mature in Christ, walking by the Spirit becomes a normal and essential part of our life.

The first step in walking by the Spirit is to be fully persuaded that we can’t live the Christian life by human effort. Until we grasp this truth, we’ll rely on our own strength, repeatedly fail, and find ourselves confessing the same old sins without ever mastering them.

The second step is to recognize that the Holy Spirit is the one who overcomes our sinful desires and gives us victory as we rely on His power. The way to do this is by asking the Spirit to help us understand God’s Word and will. We also pray that He’ll give us a sense of revulsion at sin in our life and infuse us with a desire to know, love, and obey Christ more each day. Our goal should be that when temptation comes our way, we surrender to the Spirit and do what He desires step-by-step.

Personal Worship Option:

Lord Jesus, I pray that each step I take today be in your Spirit. Amen.

Daily Devotion for June 3, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Acts 15:7-14, 19-21.

The early church did not always get it right, but they certainly did in this case. The Pharisees made the case that, since Jewish persons had been required to follow all the laws and traditions established for the Children of Israel, so should these Gentiles who desired to be Christian. Peter had struggled with this issue, and he would struggle with it again. But here, he is brave to stand and remind his fellow Jewish Christians how God had sent him to the home of the Gentile centurion, Cornelius, to share the Good News of Christ. Peter had seen the Holy Spirit come upon Cornelius and his household, reinforcing that we are saved by grace, not by works just as we are.

A lesson for us comes when we see how the whole assembly grew quiet and listened as Paul and Barnabas told about how God was moving through them among the Gentiles. By this time, James, the brother of Jesus, had become the leader of the church in Jerusalem. It is amazing to see how James was led by the Spirit to decide so quickly to accept the Gentiles without making them become Jews first. And it is even more amazing to see how readily the council accepted and implemented his decision.

Personal Worship Option:

Almighty God, give us the courage to stand and speak for you when needed and the humility to be quiet and listen to others. Send your Holy Spirit among us to help us make decisions and to guide us as we implement them. Amen.

Daily Devotion for June 2, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Psalm 8.

This is one of my favorite Psalms because of the worshipful statement of praise that begins and ends it. It reminds me of going to the ocean or seeing some towering mountain. Every time I visit the ocean, I am just like a little kid when I first arrive. My mouth drops open, and I say “Wow!” And then, in the evening, while walking along that water, I look up at the starry sky and say it again: “Wow!” Or when I see any other “big” scene in nature, like a mountain peak or a huge waterfall, I once again marvel at all that God has created.

Like the Psalmist in this passage, I am also reminded in these moments of just how small I am in the midst of all this vastness. Then verses 6-8 remind us of the huge responsibility God has given all of us as humans - to care for all that God has created.

This summer, look for those opportunities to just be in awe of God, whether you see it in something big, something small, in some part of nature or in another person.

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Personal Worship Option:

Henry Van Dyke wrote the words to one of my all-time favorite prayer hymns. Here are two verses of it for you to pray today:

Joyful, joyful we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love; hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away. Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All thy works with joy surround thee, earth and heaven reflect thy rays, stars and angels sing around thee, center of unbroken praise. Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea, chanting bird and flowing fountain, call us to rejoice in thee.

Daily Devotion for June 1, 2024

 

Devotion:

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Read Isaiah 55:6-9.

It is good to be reminded every so often that God’s ways are not our ways. When we have done something really bad to mess up our life, it’s good to know that God’s ways are not our ways; that we can be forgiven and can be given new life. When we get to thinking that God is primarily for “me and my kind” it is good to know that God’s ways are not our ways; that God is connected to all people of the earth, in an amazing diversity of languages and cultures. When we get to thinking that God is “on our side” about any particular situation, it is good to be reminded that God’s ways are not our ways; that throughout the Bible, God surprised those who thought they had God all figured out. When we reflect on how often us humans have messed up the world since the beginning of time, it is such a relief to know that God’s ways are not our ways.

So, let’s give thanks today that God’s ways are not our ways. But let’s also be reminded that Jesus Christ came to teach us the ways of God and invite us to learn and live those ways. And as we do that, the world becomes more what God intends it to be.

Personal Worship Option:

Offer this prayer or one in your own words about this devotional: Holy God, I am thankful that your ways are not my ways. And thank you for your invitation to learn your ways, so that I can help others come to know, love and serve you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.