Believe

Devotion

1-22-10

Believe

John 11:40

“Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Today is a very special day for me, because 31 years ago my husband and I joined together as husband and wife. Our journey has been one that has shown God’s grace, mercy and love along with the many promises He kept.  The verse above is one that I can say to you is a promise He kept in my life and one that He will keep in yours.  It is this verse that has drawn me to the entire book of John.  The man who was the last eye witness of Jesus, the only disciple who died a natural death and a man who lived his life through the power of the word, “Believe”. 

Believe, the meaning to this word the Lord taught me many years ago when I was on my face, crying to the Lord for the salvation of my husband.  Believe; the action of being still as you wait with the confidence that God will do exactly what He says He will do.  Believe; the knowledge and absolute trust and peace in God because He has promised He will be with us, take care of us and provide our every need.  Wow! It is amazing how much meaning comes from that one word and yet the fullness of it can only be truly understood by the one who lives their life BELIEVING, not only in Christ, but BELIEVING in what He can and will do. 

 

For all of us right now money is tight and many are struggling with the reality that they may not have a job in the next six months to a year.  Health insurance is a joke and non-existent for many.  Lives are so busy just trying to make ends meet that relationship building is put on the back burner along with sleep, eating right, exercise, ministry, and sadly, time with the Lord in the study of His word and in prayer, as well as not sharing His message of salvation. Little lives are dieing by the thousands through abortion and those we should honor are stuck away in care centers often forgotten. Because of daily struggles, broken families, and bad health some think that God is punishing them for something they did.  But that, my dear sisters, is a lie of the enemy. What most fail to understand through all these things is that God is still in control and has a plan for our lives.  All He wants you to do is “Believe” He will, not just get you through it, but He will give you victory.

God has every intention to do things that will reveal His power and bring Him glory so that those who see His mighty work will believe in Him for their salvation.  However, because He has every intention to do the things that bring Him glory than we can be sure whatever is going on in our lives will have a good outcome.  You see He wants to bless us while He is getting the glory.  There is not one single thing you have gone through, are going through or will go through that God is not with you through it.  He knows what is happening and He has His arms out reached to comfort you, to encourage you, to lead you and even to discipline you.  So take the time to memorize John 11:40 and say it throughout your day to remind you to believe His faithfulness.

 

There is nothing that makes our Lord sadder than to know that one of His followers do not trust Him completely. Do you? Do you believe that whatever happens in your life, whatever you are going through right now, that God will use it to bless you and to bring others to salvation?  Believe, my dear sisters, believe and you will see the glory of God.

 

Defined By His Love

Defined By His Love

John 13:34-35

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

 

As women, one of the most tendered areas of our lives is our hearts.  Not the beating organ that pumps the blood, but the heart or the center of who we are and the emotions that often set the pace for how we respond to others.  The Lord told us He will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7) if we will give them to Him. Why is this important?

We are to have the heart of God beating in us to enable us to love others unconditionally.  Our sinful flesh will all too often get in the way of obeying this command from God to love others and so we must lay down our hearts before the Lord and then ask Him to pick them up anew; Allowing Him to keep it beating in harmony with His. Then we will be ready for the greater work He has called us to do. 

 

What is that work? In the Love Dare Devotional Book I really like how this question is answered.  “Our love for each other is supposed to be how people distinguish us as Christ’s disciples (Look up John 13:35, write it down. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________)  It is the root and ground of our existence (look up Eph. 3:17, write it. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________), meant to be expressed with passion and fervency (I Peter 4:8 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________). It is a quality that we are to ‘abound’ in more and more (I Thessalonians 3:12 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________), always getting better at it, becoming increasingly defined by it.”

 

Wow, defined by His love; that is powerful! Now what if this love God commands us to have is rejected?  What if it has been defiled?  What must we do?  Give an example of a time when you showed God’s love to someone and they rejected it. How did you feel and how did you handle it?  Be honest! _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We must pray for the one who has rejected or defiled the love we have shown.  Look at Ephesians 1:7 and write it down. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This verse shows us the model of Christ’s love that was rejected and yet remained faithful. We too must show love anyway. We need to check our own hearts to make sure they are beating with His Heartbeat of forgiveness, mercy, grace, unconditional love and praying for those who mistreat us (Read Luke 6:27-28).

 

God’s heart beats with Forgiveness, Mercy and Love for each of us, so much so that He died for us, and He wants us to choose His heart to beat within us for others as well. How we choose will determine how He will use us and how effective our ministry and witness will be.  So the questions we need to ask ourselves are: What is my choice today?  How is my heart beating, with my own heart’s desires or with His desires? Is my heart beating with the unconditional love of His heartbeat? Who do I need to forgive? Am I willing to forgive? Write down the name of at least one person you need to forgive, why, and when you are going to take the step to forgive them. Ask for God’s help. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The final question to ask is this; “Is my life being defined by His love?”

 

Be honest with yourself, because the truth of your answer will be clearly seen by others and God.

 

Review

Devotion

1-20-10

Review

Today’s devotion is a review of the first chapter of John we have been studying. Reviewing is important before we move on to chapter two because we want to be sure we understand the foundation of the book, the foundation of who Jesus is, what He did, whom He called, what He revealed, what He said, and why He said and did everything He said and did. So let’s take a walk back over the chapter and see what you remember.

 

Before you begin, stop and take the time to pray, laying before the Lord any sin that is hindering you from hearing from Him, asking the Lord for wisdom, understanding, and discernment of His word. Ask Him to help you remember His word and to apply it to your every day life.  When you are finished praying go to John 1 and read the entire chapter, then answer the questions below.

 

In the beginning was what? _____________________________________________

 

Who was with God? ___________________________________________________

 

Who was the Word? ___________________________________________________

 

Who brought all things into being? _______________________________________

 

Why did He come? ____________________________________________________

 

What was in Him? _____________________________________________________

 

This life was the ____________________ of men.

 

Where does the Light shine? ____________________________________________

 

Who did not comprehend the Light? ______________________________________

 

Who was the witness who came to testify about the Light? _____________________

 

What or who is the true Light? ___________________________________________

 

Who did not know the Light? ____________________________________________

 

What happened when the Light came to His own? ____________________________

 

What did He give to those who receive Him? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Those who receive and believe, what do they get? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

What became flesh? _______________________________________________________

 

Where did the Word dwell? _________________________________________________

 

Who was the Word? _______________________________________________________

 

The Word/Jesus is the only begotten of whom? _________________________________

 

Full of __________________________________________________________________

 

What did John do? ________________________________________________________

 

The Law was given through Moses, what was given through Jesus Christ? ____________

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Who did the priests and Levites think John might be? ________________________________________________________________________

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Who did John say he was? __________________________________________________

 

What did John call Jesus when he saw Him? ___________________________________

 

John baptized with water, what did he say Jesus baptized with? _____________________

 

________________________________________________________________________

 

Two disciples were following Jesus and one of them went to get his brother to tell him about Jesus.  Who was it? __________________________________________________

 

What was his brother’s name? ______________________________________________

 

Jesus went to find someone, who was it? _____________________________________

 

What did Jesus tell Philip? ________________________________________________

 

Philip became a follower and then he went to tell someone, who was it? ______________

 

When Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus what did Jesus say about him? ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

 

What caused Nathanael to believe who Jesus was? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Jesus told Nathanael that if he _______________ he would see greater things.

 

 

 

 

Summery of John chapter One

 

• We have learned that Jesus is called the Word, the Light, Teacher, the Messiah, and the Son of Man all in just the first chapter of John.
• We know the Word is Jesus because verse 14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He was the only begotten of God.
• We have also learned that the world and His own people did not know Him or receive Him.  But to those who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He promised they would become children of God.
• This chapter also showed us that as believers we are not born of blood or of the will of the flesh but of God.
• We learned the importance of testifying or sharing Jesus with others.
• Jesus calls all of us to testify of Him because He uses us to tell others in whom He is calling for His service.
• Verse 43 showed us that Jesus seeks us out and says to us, Follow Me.
• If we believe, we will see greater things, because God reveals more to those who trust Him.

 

 

God bless you and we will begin chapter two tomorrow.

With His Heartbeat

Your sister in Christ

 

How The Lord Works

Devotion

1-19-10

How the Lord Works

It seems that every child I have had the honor of introducing to Jesus has surpassed me in their walk with the Lord.  The challenges I faced as a child became the lessons I would teach to others and in turn allow me to introduce them to Jesus and follow Him.  The amazing thing about this is that they each now have more powerfully advanced walks with the Lord and an understanding of His word today, than I did when I was their ages. They have become teachers, social workers, investors, entrepreneurs, youth minister’s wives, etc and they use their lives to serve God right were they are. Now they are introducing others to Jesus. But then again that is how the Lord works.

 

It is much like our school teachers.  They work endless hours preparing, teaching, grading, encouraging, inspiring, and disciplining children. Yet, they receive little honor or pay for what they do. Often they feel used up and unappreciated; however, all it takes is to have that one child who takes the lessons they’ve learned, from the teacher who introduced them to a person or a subject that powerfully changed their lives, so that they grew to become pastors, missionaries,  leaders of our country, great men and women of God, Nobel Peace Prize winners, doctors who found a cure for a disease, a soldier who saved another man’s life, a mother who raised godly children, a great author, artist, musician, an inventor or perhaps they become teachers themselves, and they reveal the source of their success as being the teacher that inspired them. This is when teachers understand how meaningful their jobs have been. But then again, that is how the Lord works.

 

In the book of John, Jesus shows us this same kind of teaching taking place when Andrew learns that Jesus is the Messiah and goes to tell or teach his bother this truth.  Andrew introduces his brother, Simon, to Jesus and therefore Simon receives Jesus and Jesus blesses him with a new name, Peter.  Peter becomes a great follower and teacher of Jesus. This must have made Andrew happy to know his obedience to tell his brother about Jesus fulfilled God’s plan to use Peter.  In that same chapter Jesus finds Philip who goes to tell or teach Nathanael that Jesus is the Messiah. Nathanael believes and Jesus is in awe of his belief and tells him he will see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Philip must have felt a since of joy knowing he had taught and brought Nathanael to Jesus. Do you see how Andrew and Philip were used to teach, to introduce Peter and Nathanael to Jesus and in turn those two men were chosen by God to be used to reveal His glory.  But then again, that is how the Lord works.

 

He uses each of us as teachers of some kind, all called to introduce Jesus to someone else.  We do not know who the person we introduce to Jesus may be in God’s plan, but we can be sure that they are chosen by God for something even greater than we know.  Someone you know right now needs to hear that Jesus is the Messiah because He wants to change their lives, to show His glory through them, to raise them up for a special calling in His ministry and to give them life.  You too were chosen by God and He used someone else to introduce you to Him. Because this is how the Lord works.  He uses us to tell others so they can be used by Him to save a lost world.  He uses me to tell you, so He can use you to tell someone else, so they can be used to do something powerful for Him. Wow! I love how the Lord works.

Let’s take a closer look at this idea of introducing others to Jesus.  Read John 1:40-51 out loud.

 

In verse 41 what did Andrew tell his brother? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

After telling his brother he had found the Messiah what happened? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

So the two steps that were taken were: First he told him about Jesus and second he introduced him to Jesus.  This is a perfect outline for you and me.  First we must go and tell others about Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us, then we introduce them to Jesus, lead them in praying to Him the prayer of salvation.

 

Now take a look at how Philip met Jesus.  Who went to Galilee and found Philip? (v43) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Wow, Jesus, Himself, found Philip and said “Follow Me.” This is very important, so let’s not miss this point.  No matter who introduces us to Jesus, Jesus has sought us to follow Him.  Even though Andrew and Philip brought Peter and Nathanael to Jesus it was the Lord who inspired them to go and get them.  Jesus already knew Peter and Nathanael would accept Him because He was seeking them through using Philip and Andrew, just like He uses you and me to bring others He is seeking to know Him.

 

To make this point clearer take a closer look with me at verse 48.  Write it below.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

What was Jesus’ answer to Nathanael’s question as to how Jesus knew him?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Did you see that? Jesus said “Before” Philip called you. Jesus was already working on Nathanael’s spirit even before Philip got to him.  Yet, He used Philip to tell Nathanael about Him.

This is what the Lord does when He sends us out to tell others.  He has already prepared the hearts of those He wants us to tell.  He has a plan and we are part of it. 

 

Jesus asked Nathanael a question in verse 50, what is it? _________________________________

It pleased Jesus to know that all it took for Nathanael to believe was in knowing that He saw him even before Philip came to him. Because of his belief Jesus promised him he would see even greater things.

 

Do you believe? Do you know the Savior? Did you realize He already sees you and is willing to accept you right where you are? If you have never met Him let me introduce you to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  If you do know Him, go and teach, go and tell, introduce someone to Him today, they may be the one who reaches your loved ones.  After all this is how the Lord works.

He Will Bring You Home

Devotion

1-18-10

He Will Bring You Home

The text came Friday afternoon; Mark would be leaving soon, being deployed to Haiti. A massive earth quake had left the country in ruins and thousands of people were dead. The USA was sending in troops to help with relief efforts, search and rescue, as well as helping to keep order. Mark would soon be headed out for his first deployment and the emotions that came with it were deep. 

 

Mark was a young man when Joyce met him.  He had been dating a precious young lady named Cindy, whom Joyce had known for years. They had a wonderful relationship and Joyce often had opportunity to mentor and encourage Cindy. Now Cindy was in a relationship with Mark and more than ever she wanted Joyce’s advice. Before she knew it Mark and Cindy were getting married and Mark and Joyce had developed a special bond like mother and son. As time passed they were blessed with their first daughter and then a second daughter.  Then Mark, with his wife’s support, made the decision to join the Air force.

 

It wasn’t long before Mark and Cindy were standing in front of Joyce, with tears falling down their faces, saying good bye as they loaded up to move onto the base in a different state where he would be stationed.  As the years passed they stayed in contact with each other.  Mark or Cindy would call with a question from the Bible or with a problem they were dealing with.  Mark often called Joyce mom because she had become more of a mom to him than his own mother.  Joyce was proud of him and it made him happy.  He told her one night, as he explained he would be deployed into the war in a few months, that it was an honor for him to not just defend his country but to protect her. Joyce’s eyes filled with tears as she listened to him share his heart with her and at that moment she realized what a precious gift God had given her through Mark and Cindy. Her own heart was feeling like a proud momma. Mark and Cindy had become her Spiritual children.

 

Joyce received a second text, “Breaking news, Mark will be leaving in 20 hours.” Joyce called Cindy to see how she was doing with the idea of Mark leaving. She was a strong godly woman with an incredible amount of faith and she was confident he would have the Lord watching over him.  Yet, the ache in her heart of him being gone from her and the girls for 60-120 days was very deep.  Even through he wasn’t headed into the war yet, he was leaving and in any military situation there is always the possibility of not returning home. Joyce felt her pain and longed to talk and pray with Mark before he left.  So when he returned home around 11pm, midnight Joyce’s time, he called her.  They talked, cried, and prayed together. She reminded him that he would not be alone and that the Lord was going before him to prepare the way and would be his rear guard to protect him. “I am so proud of you Mark; you are going to make a difference in the lives of the Haiti people. I pray the Lord will reveal to you those who need Jesus and you will see the opportunities that await you.  Oh, and if there is a news crew around, be sure to poke your head into the camera so we can see you.”  Mark laughed at her request then with a tearful farewell they hung up.  The next text Joyce would receive would tell her he had left. 

 

Cindy and the girls stood at the door waving good bye as tears flowed down their faces.  Their oldest daughter didn’t want to let her daddy go and Cindy’s ache grew deeper watching her daughter’s pain.  With a deep breath Mark stood tall and gave his little girl a salute and she saluted back. The door on the car shut and Mark was on his way.

 

Later that evening as Joyce was singing in choir practice she looked at the clock and realized that Mark would soon be boarding his plan to fly out so she sent him one last text.  It read, “If you are able to get this, remember Jeremiah 29:11 and Eph 6:10 putting on the armor of God! I love you so much Mark my spiritual son.  I am proud of you n love u 4ever n ever!  Hug n kisses till u come home I will tie a yellow ribbon on the tree in my yard. XOXOXO God is with you.” Tears were gently falling down her cheek when her phone rang, to her surprise it was Mark.  He had received her text and wanted to hear her voice one last time before getting on his plane.  He thanked her for her the verses, for her prayers and most of all for her love.  Both were at peace in knowing God was in control and would bring him home again.

 

The story you just read is a true story, names are changed to protect the identity and location of the young service man.  It is a story many are dealing with today as so many of our men and women are serving over seas in the war and now in Haiti.  Let’s pray for these men and women and their families.  Though it is the job they signed up to take, their hearts and emotions are just like the rest of us and need our compassion, understanding, love, prayers and our support. 

 

Some of you may be fighting your own wars right here at home.  If you are or know someone that is in a battle, remember the verses Joyce sent to Mark.  Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” What God says He will do, He will do.  You have a hope in Him, just like Mark has a hope of returning home to his family, you have a hope of overcoming the war you are fighting.  Don’t fight alone though.  Joyce reminded Mark to put on the armor of God.  He will fight for you as you defend yourself with His word.

 

Look up Ephesians 6: 10-17 and read it out loud.

 

Where does your strength come from? ______________________________________________

 

Wearing God’s armor will enable you to stand firm against what? ________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

What does God’s word say is the real struggle you are dealing with? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

In verse 13 He tells us to “take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” how does He say you can stand firm in verses 14-17? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Dear sisters, it doesn’t matter what war you are fighting in life.  It could be a war between countries or a war between husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, etc. Every battle we are deployed into is dealt with in the same manner according to God’s word.  We fight the good fight (II Tim. 4:7) wearing the armor of God (Eph 6:10-17) and He will go before us and be our rear guard (Isaiah 52:12).  When we know whom we are fighting and how to fight, you can be sure He will give you victory and bring you home.

 

To all our military men and women and to their families, I leave you this verse as a promise from God.

Isaiah 52:12

“But you will not go out in haste, nor will you go as fugitives; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

 

He will bring you home!