Archive for Devotional with Hymn

One with Christ*

2013-09-15 Devotional with Hymn No comments

God’s goal and desire is to make us one with Himself. Each of us. All of us. That has always been His amazing purpose.

But for many believers, Jesus is like an unnoticed guest, shut up in some little-visited closet in a corner of their house. He has been there since they believed in Him and received Him. He longs to make Himself known to them, to be one with them in their daily lives and share in all their interests. But He will not force Himself on anyone.

They walk through their lives unaware of their Guest, ignorant of their marvelous privileges. They come and go, lay their plans, make their decisions, pursue their joys here and there, long for peace, stumble through relationships, and inwardly mourn their unsatisfying lives, all with little reference to Him.

Believer, hear this beautiful, life-changing truth: the Lord is with you! The Lord is in you! Throw open every door to Him. Make Him the center of every part of your life. Talk to Him. Thank Him. Consult Him. Trust Him. Lean on Him. Get to know Him.

But this picture of Jesus as a guest doesn’t fully express the reality. He longs to join His innermost life—His very breath—to our innermost life, to the essence of who we are. Through a living relationship, built on trust, He will come more and more into real union with us. His will becomes our will. His actions become our actions. His love, His passion, His holiness become increasingly ours—not in theory, not in ecstatic emotion, not someday and far away—but now, in living, daily reality.

Like every part of salvation, this happens by God’s love, through simple faith. It comes by turning to Him and trusting Him, one step at a time.

*”One with Christ” was inspired by chapter 17 of “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life”, by Hannah Whitall Smith, 1875.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: One in Purpose, One in Passion
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Justice

2013-09-08 Devotional with Hymn No comments

How do we know what is just and right in any particular situation? What is justice after all?

We usually think of justice as a certain standard of fairness, of right and wrong. We say that God is just because He consistently adheres to that standard.

But God is the creator and source of all. There is no separate standard of justice to which we compare Him. There is no outside set of rules by which He must abide in order to be “just”. He Himself is the standard of justice. Justice flows from His character and is seen in all His actions. We say that He is just because we see that He is always consistent with Himself. His actions are always consistent with His perfect wisdom and perfect love.

So how can know and live just lives?

We are just when we are like Him. Our actions are just when we act like Him.

We often think of justice and mercy as opposites…or at least as two competing values that must be balanced. We see justice as absolute rightness, and mercy as a kindly compromise with justice. But when we realize that justice and mercy are both descriptions of God’s nature, we see them not as opposites to be balanced. They are two facets of the same jewel. God is always merciful and always just.

Thus when we are called to seek justice in this unjust world, we are not called to a specific social agenda. We are called to think and live and be like God. We are called to be holy as He is holy, to live and speak the truth as He is the truth, to love as He loves. We are called to be His children, His ambassadors, His servants, His hands.

The Old Testament beautifully pictures our just and loving God, reporting His words and actions over many centuries. But He is most completely revealed in Jesus Christ. He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3). What is more, Christ enables us not only to see and know God, but to live in Him, and He in us. He gives us the Spirit of God so that by simple faith, we can live just and loving lives in this present world. Through His people, and above His people, God is creating the just world that He has promised.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Justice Hymn
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Ambassadors of His Love

2013-09-01 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that
one died for all, and therefore all died.
And he died for all, that those who live should
no longer live for themselves but for him who
died for them and was raised again.
All this is from God,
who reconciled us to himself through Christ and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us.
(2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 18, 20a, NIV)

The mighty,
amazing,
lavish,
burning,
boundless love of Christ
is making His appeal to a dark and dying world
through us.

Our daily lives are
His face,
His voice, and
His hands.

We are His ambassadors,
sent to show the world that He is indeed
complete forgiveness and
tender compassion.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Blazing Love
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Secure

2013-08-25 Devotional with Hymn No comments

We go our own way.
We make our own plans
for our own reasons,
pursuing our own goals.
Then we build walls, protecting ourselves from every interference.
We are secure.
We are self-sufficient.
We can handle whatever comes.

But the unforeseen happens—it always does—
and we discover that no walls can keep out the evil that floods this world.
No matter how strong we are, we are vulnerable.
No matter how watchful we are, we are insecure.
We cannot control the reality that engulfs us.

But when our false security is stripped away,
we can rediscover the security on which creation itself rests—
the security that keeps the days and seasons revolving,
untouched and unthreatened by human hatred or pride.
We can rediscover that no matter what knowledge we accumulate,
God is our only wisdom.
No matter much power we try to harness,
God is sovereign.

He is love, and we are His children.
That is the only security we will ever have and
the only security we will ever need.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Back to You
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Pray as One of His Children

2013-08-18 Devotional with Hymn No comments

When I first started using the Lord’s Prayer on a daily basis, I was struck by one fact: there was no place for intercession. There was nothing that allowed me to pray for the needs of others.

Then I noticed that throughout the prayer, it’s not “I” or “my,” but “we” and “our.” Yes, I can still pray for my personal concerns. “I” am included in the “we,” and my Father asks me to come to Him. But the point is this: My prayers can be as broad or as narrow as my concerns at the time. My petitions can be personal. They can be universal.

How broad are your prayers? Or to ask it a different way, how low are your eyes? Are they focused entirely on yourself? Are they raised a little higher to take in those few immediately around you? Or have you looked up and realized that you are surrounded by an entire world of need, an entire race that’s lost, desperate, hungry, and dying? God is our Father. Every person is His as well. He is deeply conscious of them. Are you?

There is nothing wrong with praying for personal and family concerns. But each of the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer challenges us to lift our eyes, our hearts, and our prayers toward other people near and far. God is our Father. We all need His will in our lives, His daily provision, His forgiveness, His protection from evil.

Pray to your Father not just as His child but as one of His children.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: God of All People
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Complete Freedom

2013-08-11 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Often we define freedom as the ability to do what we choose.
But even when we can choose, we are not free.
Though not bound by another human being,
our choices are bound by our own self-centeredness,
our weakness, and our addiction to sin.
These chains are the most binding of all.

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:12,16, NIV)

True freedom is the ability to choose the best,
to become all our Creator designed us to be.
True freedom is release from our addiction to sin.
It is a beautiful, constant oneness with Jesus Christ.
In Him we become all God’s love wants for us,
all His wisdom designed for us, and
all His unlimited power can make us.

That is true freedom!
Strenuous effort cannot win it,
strict self-discipline cannot achieve it, and
personal merit cannot earn it.
This freeing oneness comes only by simple, moment-by-moment trust in Jesus Christ.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Freedom in You
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Walk by Faith

2013-08-04 Devotional with Hymn No comments

We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Do you long for a quiet, rock-solid stability in your life? Walk by faith, not by sight.

When problems come, keep your eyes on God. Don’t be distracted by worries and difficulties.

When spiritual dryness comes, continue to walk by faith. Live out your faith, even when you don’t feel it.

When your knowledge and ability to reason hit their limits, continue to trust God. Keep your mind set on Him who is himself the Light and the fountain of all truth.

Let simple trust lead the way when knowledge and emotion cannot.

 

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: The Blood-washed Pilgrim
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God’s Gift-Wrapping

2013-07-28 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Have you ever noticed? Throughout the Bible, God’s greatest gifts come wrapped in disappointment and delay. Over and over again, His mightiest, most wonderful works are birthed with suffering and waiting.

Abraham was nearing 100 years of age before his long-promised son was born.

The Exodus was preceded by 400 years of slavery.

The birth of Christ came after centuries of seeming silence from God.

Jesus’ resurrection was preceded by His suffering, death, and three days in the tomb.

Revelation teaches that His return will come only after severe suffering and the apparent triumph of evil.

The Scriptures provide endless examples. God’s saints throughout the ages have testified to the same truth.

Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest
if we do not give up.
(Galatians 6:9, NIV)

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: By Faith
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Your Holy Temple

2013-07-21 Devotional with Hymn No comments

I will be careful to lead a blameless life…
I will walk in my house
with blameless heart.
I will set before my eyes
no vile thing…
I will have nothing to do with evil.
(Psalm 101:2-4, NIV)

Do you not know that your body is
a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you,
whom you have received from God?
You are not your own;
you were bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your body.
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV)

Father,
I cherish Your holy presence
always with me,
always in me, and
always enveloping me.

Help me never to entertain thoughts
that are offensive to You
or say words that are unloving
or take actions unworthy of the name of Christ.

By Your Holy Spirit,
by simple faith,
keep my heart, mind, and life pure,
fit for your use.

If a man cleanses himself…
he will be an instrument for noble purposes,
made holy, useful to the Master and
prepared to do any good work.
(2 Timothy 2:21, NIV)

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Prayer for Purity
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A Better Life Is Waiting

2013-07-14 Devotional with Hymn, Evangelistic, Prayer No comments

We all have hopes that drive us, things we look forward to. Some are long-term: a better house, a better job, a better life for us and for our families. Some are short-term and daily: more time off, less demands on our energies, more leisure.

But as time goes by, God keeps reminding me of one key fact. Through good times and bad times, successes and failures, no matter what happens or doesn’t happen, only one thing will make life happier. Only one thing will make it more meaningful, more peaceful, and more satisfying–all I want it to be. That one thing is not a job, a house, money, or more time off. Our only lasting happiness will always be this: enjoying God’s presence right now, in the present moment. In this life and through all eternity, our only true joy will be knowing Him.

Because of this, each of us has a better life awaiting us. It doesn’t matter where you are in your journey–whether you’re seeking God or you’re a new Christian or a mature believer. You have a better life awaiting you through a closer, more constant relationship with Jesus Christ.

I’m learning that such a closer, more constant relationship comes primarily through prayer. It comes through spending more of life turned toward God. Just as with marriage, communication is key to enjoying a closer relationship.

Perhaps nothing generates more fear, guilt, and uneasiness among people than the subject of prayer. We know we should pray more, but we’re not sure how. It seems so fuzzy, scary, and difficult.

But let me assure you: we were made for God. Talking to Him is simple and natural. Your educational level, your culture, your financial status, your personality–none of that matters. We were all made for God. You can talk to Him and have a close, personal, satisfying relationship with Him.

You have no reason to be afraid. God, your Father, only gives good gifts. All He ever asks of us is to trust Him one step at a time. And that first step is to turn to Him now.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Our Father in Heaven
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