Showing posts with label Devotionals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devotionals. Show all posts
by Rick Warren
God formed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each has a particular role to play based on the way they were shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Each of us is uniquely designed, or "shaped," to do certain things.
Before architects design any new building they first ask, "What will be its purpose? How will it be used?" The intended function always determines the form of the building.
Before God created you, he decided what role he wanted you to play on earth. He planned exactly how he wanted you to serve him, and then he shaped you for those tasks. You are the way you are because you were made for a specific ministry.
The Bible says, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). Our English word "poem" comes from this Greek word translated "workmanship." You're God's handcrafted work of art. You're not an assembly-line product, mass-produced without thought. You're a custom designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece.
God deliberately shaped and formed you to serve him in a way that makes your ministry unique. He carefully mixed the DNA recipe that created you. David praised God for this incredible personal attention to detail God gave in designing each of us: "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous" (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT).
Not only did God shape you before your birth, he planned every day of your life to support his shaping process. David continues, "Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" (Psalm 139:16 NLT).
This means nothing that happens in your life is insignificant. God uses all of it to mold you for your ministry to others and shape you for your service to him.
God never wastes anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality, and life experiences unless he intended to use them for his glory. By identifying and understanding these factors you can discover God's will for your life.
The Bible says you are "wonderfully complex." You're a combination of many different factors: "The people I have shaped for myself will broadcast my praises" (Isaiah 43:21 NJB).
(I was reading this devotional today and it really spoke into my heart. It is so powerful to read the word of God in a simple devotional. We are "God's workmanship", His 'handcrafted work of art', a 'custom designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece'.
How awesome is that?
He shaped each of us for a wonderful and specific purpose - each of abilities, experiences, idiosyncrasies can be used for His glory when committed to Him.
The pain that we go through is not wasted. The joys of our victory in Him are not short-lived but are sustained because they are true victories in Jesus that we can testify of forever.
Hope you've been blessed - have a great week ahead! =)
by Os Hillman
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." - Colossians 3:23-24
"I didn't know you were in full-time Christian work," said my close friend as we were driving. "I didn't realize that," she went on. I responded, "Every person who has followed the will of God in their life is in full-time Christian work." God calls some to the mission field, others to be accountants, and others to be advertising executives, and still others to be construction workers. God never made a distinction between sacred and secular. In fact, the Hebrew word avodah is the root word having the same meaning of "work" and "worship." God sees our work as worship.
We have incorrectly elevated the role of the Christian worker to be more holy and committed than the person who is serving in a more secular environment. Yet the call to the secular workplace is as important as any other calling. God has to have His people in every sphere of life. Otherwise, many would never come to know Him because they would be separated from society.
I learned this lesson personally when I sought to go into "full-time" service as a pastor in my late twenties, only to have God thrust me back into the business world unwillingly. This turned out to be the best thing He could have done for me, because it was never His will for me to be a pastor. He knew I was more suited for the workplace.
We are all in missions. Some are called to foreign lands. Some are called to the jungles of the workplace. Wherever you are called, serve the Lord in that place. Let Him demonstrate His power through your life so that others might experience Him through you today and see your vocation as worship to His glory.
(I found this article simple and yet very relevant to each of us. Hope you enjoyed the read! =)
Hi all,
The last two weeks we discussed on Elijah and Elisha in our cell meetings. When I read this devotion today, I realised that it is very relevant to what we have been sharing in cell.
Do we have the hunger to have a greater anointing than our leaders, not to be better than them, but to accomplish more for God?
The devotion is shown below. Hope that it blesses you!
A Man Who Has God's Favor
by Os Hillman
"...Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you." - Zechariah 8:23
Few men of God have become extraordinary people of faith without the influence of mentors. A mentor is one who takes responsibility for the spiritual and, sometimes, physical care of another. It requires a commitment from the teacher and the student.
Elijah mentored Elisha. Elisha became one of the greatest prophets in the entire Bible. One of the primary reasons for this was Elisha's hunger. Elisha wanted a double portion of Elijah's spirit. It was this hunger that drove Elisha to be sold out to God's purposes for his life.
I have been privileged to have had many mentors throughout my spiritual life. In each stage of my maturity, God brought new mentors who had unique gifts that the previous mentor did not have. God has given me the hunger to desire a double portion of those positive attributes of my mentors. This desire is sorely missing among many today. I fail to see the hunger among many who could be used greatly in the Kingdom. Instead, the cares of this world distract them. It is an attitude of a la carte versus an attitude of pressing in to the full measure of what God might have for them.
Who are the people of God He has placed in your life? Are you learning from them? Are you seeking a double portion of their anointing? What prevents you from gaining from their wisdom and experience? God may have brought them into your life to prepare you to be a man or woman of God with great anointing. However, there is a time of training and waiting to prove out your own faith. Ask God today if there is someone He would have you mentor or be mentored by.
I mentioned in a recent post that I wanted to share about burnt offerings and it's been on my heart for awhile now but my schedule has just been too overwhelming recently. Before I completely forget what I wanted to say, I'm going to share it in this post although I haven't really thought it out enough yet.
The bible passage is from Leviticus 6:8-13 when God was instructing Moses on the burnt offering that is to be offered.
I won't copy and paste the whole passage but the lines that jumped out at me were:
"The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar."
"The priest ... shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar ..."
"The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out."
"The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out."
There have been many times when I've left camp, a conference or an event completely on fire for God only to start losing steam weeks or months later. I wasn't able to keep the fire burning. And in this short passage, three times it is written that the fire must be kept burning and must not go out.
Relating it to our lives, how do we stay on fire? How do we step on the altar as living sacrifices, put fresh wood as an offering to God and not crawl off the altar when it gets too hot or uncomfortable?
There were two things that spoke to my heart when I read this bible passage.
Firstly, fresh wood has to be added daily. Burnt offerings don't continue to burn forever on old fuel because the fire consumes what is on the altar. That means that there are things in our lives that we need to bring to the altar regularly; It doesn't mean that something sacrificed in the past will continue to be 'sacrificed' in our lives if we don't continue to lay it down.
Secondly, the ashes have to be removed from the altar or it will get in the way of the fire continuing to burn. Once offerings have become ashes, there's no point trying to burn it again. Many times we like to look back at the things we have done, the sacrifices we have made, and the times that God has used us powerfully for his purposes.
We forget to rely on new mercies everyday and instead try to rely on our past experiences and sometimes even our 'past anointing' to carry us through new periods of our lives. Just because God moved in our lives in a mighty way in the past does not mean that He will continue to do so in exactly the same way today, especially if we neglect to bring fresh offerings to the altar.
Don't hold on to the past. The past reminds us of God's faithfulness but it doesn't give us the power and anointing for the present. The only thing we can continue to hold on to are the promises that God has placed over us that are yet to come to pass in the physical.
Seek fresh manna, fresh anointing, fresh purpose for today. Forgetting what lies behind and just pressing on towards the goal, fully focused on our Lord, Jesus. Don't try to fall back on past accomplishments and achievements, past anointing or past experiences with God.
Although He is unchanging forever, He has something new for us every single day as He carries us through new seasons, from glory to glory. Don't restrict Him by looking backwards but realise that He has a wonderful plan and purpose for our life that will come to pass, and that is coming to pass.
I apologise if my points above haven't been as concise as I originally planned and hope that it captures the essence of what I wanted to share.
Keep the fire burning.
Put fresh wood...fresh offerings.
Clear away the ashes.
Don't let the fire go out.
by Max Lucado
Through Christ, God has accepted you. Think about what this means. You cannot keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you.
Rejections are like speed bumps on the road. They come with the journey. You’re going to get cut, dished, dropped, and kicked around. You cannot keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you. How? By letting his acceptance compensate for their rejection.
Think of it this way. Suppose you dwell in a high-rise apartment. On the window sill of your room is a solitary daisy. This morning you picked the daisy and pinned it on your lapel. Since you have only one plant, this is a big event and a special daisy.
But as soon as you’re out the door, people start picking petals off your daisy. Someone snags your subway seat. Petal picked. You’re blamed for the bad report of a coworker. Three petals. The promotion is given to someone with less experience but USC water polo looks. More petals. By the end of the day, you’re down to one. Woe be to the soul who dares to draw near it. You’re only one petal-snatching away from a blowup.
What if the scenario was altered slightly? Let’s add one character. The kind man in the apartment next door runs a flower shop on the corner. Every night on the way home he stops at your place with a fresh, undeserved, yet irresistible bouquet. These are not leftover flowers. They are top-of-the-line arrangements. You don’t know why he thinks so highly of you, but you aren’t complaining. Because of him, your apartment has a sweet fragrance, and your step has a happy bounce. Let someone mess with your flower, and you’ve got a basketful to replace it!
The difference is huge. And the interpretation is obvious.
God will load your world with flowers. He hand-delivers a bouquet to your door every day. Open it! Take them! Then, when rejections come, you won’t be left short-petaled.
God can help you get rid of your anger. He made galaxies no one has ever seen and dug canyons we have yet to find. “The LORD … heals all your diseases” (Ps. 103:2–3 NIV). Do you think among those diseases might be the affliction of anger?
Do you think God could heal your angry heart?
Do you want him to? This is not a trick question. He asks the same question of you that he asked of the invalid: “Do you want to be well?” (John 5:6). Not everyone does. You may be addicted to anger. You may be a rage junkie. Anger may be part of your identity. But if you want him to, he can change your identity. Do you want him to do so?
Do you have a better option? Like moving to a rejection-free zone? If so, enjoy your life on your desert island.
Take the flowers. Receive from him so you can love or at least put up with others.
by Max Lucado
Today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions.
Today’s jealousy is tomorrow’s temper tantrum.
Today’s bigotry is tomorrow’s hate crime.
Today’s anger is tomorrow’s abuse.
Today’s lust is tomorrow’s adultery.
Today’s greed is tomorrow’s embezzlement.
Today’s guilt is tomorrow’s fear.
Could that be why Paul writes, “Love … keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor. 13:5 NIV)?
Some folks don’t know we have an option.
Paul says we do: “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Do you hear some battlefield jargon in that passage—“capture every thought,” “make it give up” and “obey Christ”? You get the impression that we are the soldiers and the thoughts are the enemies.
It was for Jesus. Remember the thoughts that came his way courtesy of the mouth of Peter? Jesus had just prophesied his death, burial, and resurrection, but Peter couldn’t bear the thought of it. “Peter took Jesus aside and told him not to talk like that.… Jesus said to Peter, ‘Go away from me, Satan! You are not helping me! You don’t care about the things of God, but only about the things people think are important’” (Matt. 16:22–23).
See the decisiveness of Jesus?
What if you did that? What if you took every thought captive? What if you took the counsel of Solomon: “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” (Prov. 4:23).
You are not a victim of your thoughts. You have a vote. You have a voice. You can exercise thought prevention. You can also exercise thought permission.
Change the thoughts, and you change the person. If today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions, what happens when we fill our minds with thoughts of God’s love? Will standing beneath the downpour of his grace change the way we feel about others?
Paul says absolutely! It’s not enough to keep the bad stuff out. We’ve got to let the good stuff in. It’s not enough to keep no list of wrongs. We have to cultivate a list of blessings. The same verb Paul uses for keeps in the phrase “keeps no list of wrongs” is used for think in Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (RSV). Thinking conveys the idea of pondering—studying and focusing, allowing what is viewed to have an impact on us.
Rather than store up the sour, store up the sweet.
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