Tag Archive for People of God

Building a People

2021-07-23 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

Jesus said to His disciples:

“Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:15-16, NASB)

The Apostle Paul wrote:

You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22, NASB)

If you had all eternity and all the resources of the universe,
what kind of home would you build for yourself?

God is building a home for himself.
That home is His people.
Our infinite, holy, all-wise, and endlessly creative God
is planning to live forever
with and in His people.

Imagine knowing such a people,
the home of an infinite God!
Imagine actually being part of them!

If God is investing all His energies in building a people,
that’s how I want to invest my life as well.
A material home will last a short time.
God’s people will last forever.

We believers are all together
in the same room,
waiting for God to finish the deliverance
He has so beautifully begun.
As we endure these final hours of
pain, darkness, grief, and death,
let’s encourage one another to the
hope and joy that are ours.
Let’s share songs, stories, and
acts of kindness that
remind us of God’s unfailing love.

Hymn: Revelation 21

From Every Nation

2019-09-06 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

[Jesus said:] “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places…in the kingdom of God. (Luke 13:29, NIV)

We were at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, which commemorates the place where the angel announced to Mary that Messiah would be born of her.

I was struck by the many languages, nationalities, and religious traditions that filled the church. They were like children on their first day in heaven, rushing from place to place, bubbling with excitement. Most had traveled long distances at great expense to be there.

What a vivid reminder that people come to faith in Christ through many avenues. Those avenues are as varied as the cultures and personalities of all the people of all the ages.

With each of us, our understanding of God is so partial and so marred by ignorance. But God’s goodness comes in many flavors, and His incarnation has so many beautiful faces.

Father,
You don’t rank individuals by
importance or
respectability, and
neither should we.
Each one is Your dearly-loved child, and
we should treat each one as such.

Hymn: God of All People
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Hear God’s Higher Call

2019-08-30 Devotional with Hymn, Magnificent God No comments

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. (1 Peter 2:9-10, NASB)

See your God for who He is and
all He is.
He is the Father of the entire human family.
He lovingly formed them all to be His very own.
He invested Himself in each and every individual.
Now realize that we are children of this Father,
this loving, universal Father.
He is so much greater than
our self-centered perspective and
limited minds.
He is grander than
our immature faith and
our love, still growing.

This Father is calling us beyond our
small,
fearful,
sectarian ways.
He is calling us to share
His broader mind and
larger heart.
He is urging us toward prayer that believes
He is all He says He is and
does all He says He will do.
He is leading us toward a faith that is simpler,
a vision that is higher, and
a love that is as universal as He is,
a love that is
boundless and
fearless and
free.

In this lost and needy world, He is calling us to live as
His children,
His Body,
His divine life made flesh and bone.
His compassion for His lost children is
calling us and constraining us to be
the light of the world,
the salt of the earth,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation.

His love is compelling us and empowering us to be
the People of God.

Father, as we follow Your Spirit,
we are many members
all working together as one Body.
We are the Body of Jesus Christ Himself,
living and loving in this world.
What an amazing reality!

Hymn: We Will Be Your People

Children of This Age

2018-11-23 Devotional Companion to Revelation, Devotional with Hymn No comments

A reflection on Revelation 18:1-8,
the fall of Babylon.
See also Matthew 5:3-12.

See a picture of the people who displease God,
the children of Satan,
the people whom God will destroy.
See them
glorifying self,
serving self,
lusting for comfort and luxury,
clinging to this world,
seeking their meaning and security in this world,
self-centered,
self-assured,
self-sufficient.

See a picture of the people whom God blesses,
the people who will rule the earth forever,
the people who will inherit all His eternal riches.
Hear Jesus describe them.
They don’t grasp for earthly possessions, but are
poor in spirit,
meek and gentle.
They mourn what God mourns and are
hungry to be like Him.
They are merciful, and
they make peace.
They joyfully follow Christ, even when it brings persecution.

Such people are not children of this age,
doomed to pass away.
They are children of the living, everlasting God,
His heirs,
His treasure. 

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Beatitudes Hymn
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The Christ of All Saints Day

2015-10-13 Devotional with Hymn No comments

from A Christ-centered Year,
free seasonal readings from LNWhymns.com

You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building…is growing into a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:19-21, NASB)

On All Saints Day, Jesus unites us with all God’s children of all nations and all ages.
He was speaking of us when He said,

“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.” (John 10:16, NASB)

In His final evening before His arrest, as He talked to His Father, He prayed for us:

“I do not ask on behalf of these [disciples] alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20-21, NASB)

He longed to make us all one with Himself,
one with the Father, Son, and Spirit.
To express this oneness, He speaks of us and thinks of us as
His friends, His family,
His temple, His body, His bride.
It seems that no one image could fully express His desire to be
together with us in the fullest possible sense.

In Christ, we are united with all believers of every time, every nation,
every language and culture, every situation and personality.
The lives and examples of all who have gone before us
are like a great cloud of witnesses,
watching, encouraging, and cheering us on.
In Jesus Christ we share with them the same Spirit,
the same love, and the same purpose.
Together we are being prepared as the holy, beautiful, glorious bride of Christ.

On All Saints Day, Jesus unites us with all God’s children and
points us toward our shared destiny in Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Christ and His Bride
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

Building a People

2014-08-10 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Jesus said to His disciples:

“Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” (Matthew 16:15-16, NASB)

The Apostle Paul wrote:

You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22, NASB)

If you had all eternity and all the resources of the universe,
what kind of home would you build for yourself?

God is building a home for himself.
That home is His people.
Our infinite, holy, all-wise, and endlessly creative God
is planning to live forever
with and in His people.

Imagine knowing such a people,
the home of an infinite God!
Imagine actually being part of them!

If God is investing all His energies in building a people,
that’s how I want to invest my life as well.
A material home will last a short time.
God’s people will last forever.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: We Will Be Your People
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics