Strange as it may seem, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that Christians actually have within themselves a portion of the very thoughts and mind of Christ. Strange is the word! If I have the mind of Jesus, why do I still think so much like me? Why do I still have the hang-ups of Max? Why do I still hate traffic jams?
God has ambitious plans for us. The same one who saved your soul longs to remake your heart. His plan is nothing short of a total transformation. Colossians 3:10 reminds us, "You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. This new life brings you the true knowledge of God." Let's fix our eyes on Jesus! Perhaps in seeing him, we will see what we can become.
From Just Like Jesus
1 Samuel 5
The Ark in Philistia
After the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2 They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon. 3 But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord! So they took Dagon and put him in his place again. 4 But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the Lord again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact. 5 That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.
6 Then the Lord’s heavy hand struck the people of Ashdod and the nearby villages with a plague of tumors.[c] 7 When the people realized what was happening, they cried out, “We can’t keep the Ark of the God of Israel here any longer! He is against us! We will all be destroyed along with Dagon, our god.” 8 So they called together the rulers of the Philistine towns and asked, “What should we do with the Ark of the God of Israel?”
The rulers discussed it and replied, “Move it to the town of Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel to Gath. 9 But when the Ark arrived at Gath, the Lord’s heavy hand fell on its men, young and old; he struck them with a plague of tumors, and there was a great panic.
10 So they sent the Ark of God to the town of Ekron, but when the people of Ekron saw it coming they cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!” 11 The people summoned the Philistine rulers again and begged them, “Please send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its own country, or it[d] will kill us all.” For the deadly plague from God had already begun, and great fear was sweeping across the town. 12 Those who didn’t die were afflicted with tumors; and the cry from the town rose to heaven.
5:6 Greek version and Latin Vulgate read tumors; and rats appeared in their land, and death and destruction were throughout the city.
5:11 Or he.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, April 10, 2015
Read: James 2:14-17 |
Faith without Good Deeds Is Dead
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
INSIGHT: James makes a strong connection here between invisible faith and the visible works that faith produces. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul declares faith to be completely distinct from works. There is no conflict between these two points, however, for Paul agrees with James in Ephesians 2:10, saying, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Paul says that salvation in Christ is rooted in faith apart from works, but that this faith will result in the kind of works for which God has made us in Christ.
Sharing A Burger
By Dave Branon
Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. —Hebrews 13:16
Lee Geysbeek of Compassion International told about a woman who had the opportunity to travel to a distant land to visit the child she sponsored. She decided to take the child, who was living in abject poverty, to a restaurant.
The boy ordered a hamburger, and the sponsor ordered a salad. When the food came to the table, the boy, who assuredly had never had such a meal in his life, surveyed the scene. He looked at his huge hamburger and over at his sponsor’s small salad. Then he took his knife and cut the burger in half, offered it to his sponsor, rubbed his tummy, and asked, “Hungry?”
A child who had next to nothing his whole life was willing to share half of what he had with someone he thought might need more. This child can be a good reminder the next time we meet someone in physical, emotional, or spiritual need. As followers of Jesus, our faith in Him should be mirrored through our actions (James 2:17).
We encounter people in need every day. Some around the globe, some simply around the corner. Some in need of a warm meal, others a kind word. What a difference followers of Christ, who have experienced His love, could make by doing good and sharing (Heb. 13:16).
Today, Lord, help me see beyond my own problems to the needs of others. Guide my hand to give instead of get, to offer instead of ask, and to bless instead of seeking blessings. May Your name be honored.
To be doing good is man’s most glorious task. —Sophocles
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, April 10, 2015
Complete and Effective Decision About Sin
…our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. —Romans 6:6
Co-Crucifixion. Have you made the following decision about sin—that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you– not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified— just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage.
Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, “Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me.” Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death.
This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life. Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life— to see the very things that struggle against God’s Spirit in you? If so, will you then agree with God’s verdict on the nature of sin— that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” (Romans 6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God.
Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, April 10, 2015
How A Christian is Seduced By Our Culture - #7370
It opened in theaters on Valentine's Weekend - Fifty Shades of Grey. A hundred million copies of the book have been sold. See, it's known for its portrayal of a young virgin seduction into sado-masochistic sex in a charming man's "room of pain." A friend told me that it was the talk of all the women in her office; forty and 50-year-old women "giggling like schoolgirls." Dying to see it. To see a woman submitting to sexual violence in the name of "exploring her dark desires."
The top ten advance ticket sales were from Bible Belt states mostly. A lot of anecdotal evidence and Facebook postings suggest a great "buzz" about that movie from people with Christian backgrounds.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How A Christian Is Seduced By Our Culture."
Christian. That's the ones of whom the Bible says, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). To whom God says in our word for today from the Word of God (Ephesians 5 beginning with verse 3), "Among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity...you are light in the Lord...have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness."
It's not that God is against sexual passion. Far from it. He invented it! To unite, to ignite the lifetime love of a husband and wife. "Rejoice in the wife of your youth," He says. "Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love" (Proverbs 5:18-19 - NLT).
But sex the Inventor's way always means honoring a woman, respecting a woman, uplifting a woman; never hurting her, using her, violating her. Ephesians 5:28 (NLT) says, "Husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies." "The two will become one flesh," Jesus said. A holy, tender, loving merging of two lives, expressed with the passionate merging of their bodies together.
But "Christian" interest in a morally bankrupt, "must-see" movie exposes much larger issues; more troubling issues, like the compartmentalizing of our faith. It's like one slice of pie you lather in whipped cream. So we've got a "Jesus slice" of our life now, and I pour all the "spiritual" there. Then there's the rest of my life where I do whatever I please. "Hey, I believe in Jesus. But this is my business. Jesus is my belief. This is how I treat my family, this is my love life, and this is my entertainment."
Nope. "You must be holy in everything you do" (1 Peter 1:15 - NLT). Everything. If I'm deciding where Jesus is in charge and where He isn't, then He's not Lord. I am. I have dethroned the Son of God and made me my de facto God.
Then there's our naiveté about entertainment. "It's only a movie. It's only a song. it's only a TV show." See, entertainment is our hellish enemy's "stealth bomber" that slips death into our soul under the radar.
James 1:15 - what a hammer this is! "Desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." We'd run from a frontal temptation to do this thing we think we'll never do. So the enemy of our soul just plants a thought, a desire, an indelible image. First, sin fascinates you. Then, it assassinates you.
The terrorist from hell says, "Watch this. It won't hurt." The Savior who loves you says, "Guard your heart...it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23). A little poison in the reservoir becomes death in the water.
There are a thousand shades of dark, inviting us to what looks like a party but ends up in a prison; a prison that Jesus Christ, Prince of Heaven, came to save us from. To show us we are more than a body to be used. We are a soul to be cherished.
This very day I would love to have you experience this most genuine, most lasting of all loves for yourself. Let your search for that love end today. Would you meet me at our website ANewStory.com and let me show you how?
You're too precious to degrade, too precious to defile; worth dying for.
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