Archive for March, 2010

Read 3 John

Some people love being in charge.

Even in the church.

Or should I say, especially in the church.

Unfortunately, almost every church I know has bullies. Almost every church has self-righteous people who care more about their own personal agendas than the advancement of God’s kingdom.

Even this church.

I’m not saying that they are necessarily in positions of leadership here, but there are people, possibly even reading this devotional, who if given the chance to have more influence at Southside, would abuse that influence for their own personal agenda.

Just like Diotrophes did.

We really don’t know a whole lot about Diotrophes other than what John tells us in this brief letter, but what he lets us know is that he sought preeminence in the church.

And John didn’t like it. And neither did Jesus.

And when we seek preeminence and prestige for ourselves in God’s Church, then you better believe, Jesus won’t be happy with us either.

Instead, let’s be like Gaius and Demetrius. Let’s be content with being servants of Jesus Christ.

Read James 1:2-15

Temptation is never God’s fault.

Never.

It’s not like God sits on His throne in Heaven and dreams up ways to make us want something we should never desire.

Instead, temptation is our fault.

Always.

We are the ones who choose to entertain the temptation longer than we should. We are the ones who choose to move closer in the direction of the specific temptations that come our way. And we are the ones who ultimately choose to give into our evil desires.

We are the ones who need to quit blaming God and blame ourselves.

We are the ones who must refuse to give into the different temptations that come our way!

Read Ephesians 2:10

You were designed with service in mind.

And while I don’t know specifically what you’ve been made to do, I do know that you were designed with service in mind.

You certainly weren’t meant to waste your life by doing nothing.

God made you to make a difference. God created you to do good works and a big part of your life is discovering those good works He wants you to do and begin doing them.

Let me make this as clear as possible. If you’re a Christian, do you know why you’re still sucking air?

Because you are not finished doing the good deeds that God wants you to do.

You were made for ministry!

Believe it!

Live it!

Read 1 Corinthians 13

Love is a choice.

Love is not an emotion. Love is not a feeling. Yes, emotions and feelings are involved, but love is neither of these.

Love is a decision. It is first and foremost, a choice.

You either choose to love or choose not to love.

Paul says that love is “patient”, which means that love has the ability to be wronged over and over again and never retaliate. As you know, you have to choose to be patient. You’ll rarely feel patient.

Love is “kind”, which means that love is pleasant, that love is generous. Again, you have to choose to be kind. It’s rarely something you feel like being.

Love does not “envy” or “boast”. Love chooses not to participate in these two activities.

Love is not “proud” or “rude” or “self-seeking” or “easily angered”. Again, love decides not to be all of these things.

I could go on and on through every single verse, but I think the point should be clear at this point.

Love is a choice.

And the question is, “Are you choosing to love?”

Read Romans 12:4-8

I love our church.

It is an absolutely amazing place.

But at the same time, I don’t think we have any idea how amazing this place could actually be. I don’t think we are aware of what would happen if everybody started doing the one thing God has enabled them to do.

I mean, just imagine everybody serving with the right gifts in the right place at the right time.

Do you know what would happen if everybody would embrace who they are and the gifts God has given them, and allow God to use them?

I’ll tell you what would happen.

All the needs would get met.

Not only that, but nobody would be overworked in the process. Nobody would burn out. Nobody would feel like everything depends on them.

And in the process, a watching world would drop their jaws as they stand in awe of the God behind the gifts.

I love our church. I really do.

But I don’t think we’re operating on all cylinders just yet.

And I can’t wait to see what happens when we do.

Are you using the spiritual gift God has given you? Or are you sitting on it?

Read Romans 5

I’ve got good news and bad news.

Let’s go with the bad news first.

You were born a sinner.

I think you probably already knew that, but I figured I would go ahead and put it out there.

Sin is “in” you, and it’s been in you from birth.

And it’s not just in you, but it’s in me too.

We are all guilty.

And we’re all guilty because Adam was guilty. Ever since Adam’s sin in the Garden, sin has literally been passed down from generation to generation.

Ok, now let’s talk about the good news…and I have to say this is really good news!

Jesus Christ has canceled the power of sin and made it possible for us to “receive God’s abundant provision of grace” and “gift of righteousness”, now and forever! (v. 17)

Isn’t that the best news ever?

I’m not going to elaborate because I think the Scriptures speak for themselves, but I think we can all agree that the good news outweighs the bad.

What do you think?

Read Acts 23:1-11

God is not finished with you yet.

One of the reasons you’re still alive is because God has a mission for you to accomplish.

If you don’t believe me, ask Paul.

I’m sure that hanging out in prison has a way of bringing discouragement into your life, so when God showed up and told Paul, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome” (v.11), it’s probably exactly what he needed to hear.

In fact, I bet it sounded to Paul a lot more like this: “I’m not finished with you just yet!”

Now, let’s change the subject and talk about you for a second.

I don’t know what kind of problems have surfaced in your life in recent days, or what kind of obstacles you face on a regular basis (I’m pretty sure most of you aren’t in prison!)

But I do now what kind of God we serve.

And I know that He’s not out to get you, but that He loves you and is probably working behind the scenes in your life right now to prepare you for an amazing opportunity.

So don’t be discouraged. Instead, be ready to do whatever He asks you to do!

Read Acts 7

It’s important to forgive people even if they don’t ask for your forgiveness.

I can personally testify that it’s an extremely healthy practice and one that I have personally benefitted from on many occasions.

However, I must admit that it’s not always easy to forgive someone that doesn’t seek your forgiveness.

It’s one thing for me to forgive you if you accidentally step on my toe or show up late for an appointment. Go ahead and consider yourself forgiven, even if you don’t ask for it.

But if you personally attack my character, or mistreat a member of my family, or talk negatively about this church, I’m not thinking forgiveness.

Actually, I can’t write what I usually think in these kinds of moments.

And yet, as I look at Stephen, I can’t help but think that I want to forgive like he was able to forgive.

In the face of brutal persecution, he wants his Heavenly Father to know that he cares about his killers. In fact, with his very last breath he utters these words: ”Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (v.60)

I don’t forgive like that yet.

But I hope that with God’s help that I can get there.

Read Acts 1

For every one of Jesus’ original disciples that we know by name, there are nine others whose names we may never know this side of Heaven.

I’m not saying that 12 committed followers of Jesus can’t change the world.

I’m just saying that there were at least 120 fully devoted disciples in place when it was time for the church to be launched.

That’s 108 people most of us have never heard a sermon about, that’s 108 men and women who were crucial to making sure that the Gospel found its way all the way to you and me.

Some of us couldn’t handle not being in the 12.

In fact, if we weren’t a part of the 12, we would just pick up our ball and go home.

But I love that these “additional” disciples seemed to be content in their role. They seemed to be happy just being servants of Jesus.

And I think we ought to do the same today. Maybe you’re not on staff or in a leadership position. Maybe the average member of our church doesn’t know your name. So what? It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that you’re committed to Jesus and ready to do whatever he asks you to do.

And I think when enough of us have this mindset, we just might see what happens in Acts 2 a little more often.

Read John 20

John didn’t record everything that Jesus said and did.

But he did record enough of what Jesus said and did.

Granted, it’s not enough for some people. Because some people choose not to believe in spite of the evidence to the contrary.

But for me, John’s record is enough.

I’m convinced that Jesus is who He said He was.

The miracles, the conversations, the teachings, and most of all, the empty tomb, all point me to the truth that Jesus is the one and only Son of God, and the only way to our Heavenly Father.

Jesus isn’t just some great moral teacher. In fact, last time I checked, great moral teachers don’t claim to be God. And yet, that is exactly what Jesus did.

Instead, He is “the Christ, the Son of God” (v. 31).

So, let’s give thanks to the Father today for Jesus. Let’s rejoice that even though we don’t knoweverything that Jesus did, we know enough about what Jesus did.

And in case you didn’t know, what Jesus did, was more than enough to save us.