Most people embrace the assumption that God saves good people. So be good. Be moral. Be honest. But for all the talk about being good-what level of good is good enough? It's an essential question; at stake is our eternal destination.
Paul said in Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." We contribute nothing. Zilch. Salvation of the soul is unearned…it's a gift. Our merit means nothing. God's work merits everything.
Paul's message in Galatians 3:13 is this, "Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself." Translation- Say no to the rules and lists. Say no to slavery and performance. He asked, "Do you know what this means?" And I ask, "Do you?" If you don't, I know the cause of your fatigue. You need to trust God's grace.
From GRACE
Luke 11:1-28
Teaching about Prayer
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:[a]
“Father, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
3 Give us each day the food we need,[b]
4 and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.[c]”
5 Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, 6 ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ 8 But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.[d]
9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “You fathers—if your children ask[e] for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? 12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! 13 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Jesus and the Prince of Demons
14 One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed, 15 but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan,[f] the prince of demons.” 16 Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
17 He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 18 You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? 19 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 20 But if I am casting out demons by the power of God,[g] then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 21 For when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— 22 until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.
23 “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
24 “When an evil[h] spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”
27 As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”
28 Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”
Footnotes:
11:2 Some manuscripts add additional phrases from the Lord’s Prayer as it reads in Matt 6:9-13.
11:3 Or Give us each day our food for the day; or Give us each day our food for tomorrow.
11:4 Or And keep us from being tested.
11:8 Or in order to avoid shame, or so his reputation won’t be damaged.
11:11 Some manuscripts add for bread, do you give them a stone? Or [if they ask].
11:15 Greek Beelzeboul; also in 11:18, 19. Other manuscripts read Beezeboul; Latin version reads Beelzebub.
11:20 Greek by the finger of God.
11:24 Greek unclean.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Read: Matthew 1:18-25
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[a] quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[c]
which means ‘God is with us.’”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
Footnotes:
1:19 Greek to divorce her.
1:21 Jesus means “The Lord saves.”
1:23 Isa 7:14; 8:8, 10 (Greek version).
INSIGHT: When the angel spoke to Joseph about Mary’s baby, he said that the child’s name would be a clue to His identity: “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Jesus would also be called “Immanuel,” which means “God with us” (v.23). Jesus came to rescue us.
Longing For Rescue
By Bill Crowder
She will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. —Matthew 1:21
The movie Man of Steel, released in 2013, is a fresh imagining of the Superman story. Filled with breathtaking special effects and nonstop action, it drew crowds to movie theaters around the world. Some said that the film’s appeal was rooted in its amazing technology. Others pointed to the enduring appeal of the “Superman mythology.”
Amy Adams, the actress who plays Lois Lane in the movie, has a different view of Superman’s appeal. She says it is about a basic human longing: “Who doesn’t want to believe that there’s one person who could come and save us from ourselves?”
That’s a great question. And the answer is that someone has already come to save us from ourselves, and that someone is Jesus. Several announcements were made regarding the birth of Jesus. One of them was from the angel Gabriel to Joseph: “She [Mary] will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).
Jesus came—He did so to save us from our sin and from ourselves. His name means “the Lord saves”—and our salvation was His mission. The longing for rescue that fills the human heart ultimately is met by Jesus.
Shout salvation full and free,
Highest hills and deepest caves;
This our song of victory—
Jesus saves! Jesus saves! —Owens
Jesus’ name and mission are the same— He came to save us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
The Delight of Sacrifice
I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls… —2 Corinthians 12:15
Once “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a “doormat” without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, “I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren…” (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Attracting People to Your Jesus - #7337
Well, I guess all of us began our training for public speaking back in Kindergarten or maybe First Grade. Remember when the teacher had you do Show and Tell? You had to bring some object to school and tell about it or what it represented. I can still remember the scramble around our house a lot of mornings as one of our three children would remember, of course, with one foot out the door, "Oh boy, I've got Show and Tell today." So we'd race around the house trying to find something they could show. See, the teacher wasn't interested in us just showing up with a story that day. No, you had to have something concrete. Telling was not enough to make it. If you showed up with your show, you had to tell about it too.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Attracting People to Your Jesus."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew chapter 5, verse 15; the words of Jesus. "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." We're supposed to attract people to Jesus. How do we do that? It says, "With your good deeds." You lead with deeds. In other words, evidence of the life change Jesus Christ makes; the difference He makes in someone who knows Him.
Peter said in 1 Peter 2:12, "Live good lives among the pagans that though they may accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us." He's talking here about a total change of heart toward God. Why? Because of the good deeds they see in you. So in a way, the lost people around us are like those teachers, the Show and Tell people. Don't just come with something to tell. Show me! Prove it to me. Let me see evidence of it. Show me how it works. It's like this is what will stimulate conversation about Jesus.
Peter again says in 1 Peter 3:15, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." In this case, the "show" is a positive, hope-filled, optimistic outlook on life. It will make people say, "Well, how do you get like that?" But see, you have to tell. If you just took some unusual object to Show and Tell, everyone might think it's interesting, but they wouldn't know what it was. Words are necessary. You know, that lost person you know at work, or in your family, or at school, they can watch you for the next twenty years, but they're not going to say, "You know, Joe is such a nice guy, I'll bet Jesus died on the cross for me." No, you're going to have to tell them that. They're not going to figure it out.
But you do have to show it or no one will be interested in what you have to tell. It seems like believers tend to overdo one or the other doesn't it? Some just show Jesus by the way they're living but they never tell about Him. Or others witness real aggressively. They tell all the time, but they're not winning the right to be heard; like specializing on good deeds in the lives around us. Like what? Well, being there at the hospital, the wedding, the funeral home. Remembering special occasions in their life like birthdays and making those things really special. Or just asking the second question. Everybody says, "How are you doing?" Why don't you ask the second one, "Are you really?" It's the second question that shows you really care. Maybe it's just making each person feel really important when they're with you.
Here's an important question, "What difference could I ask Jesus to make in me that these people would notice?" What kind of difference would mean something to your family? Or your coworkers? Your teammates? And here's a second question, "How could I show love to these people in a way that would mean something to them?" Most people won't be interested in all the religious things you do, and the meetings you go to, and all the beliefs you hold. But they can't ignore one changed life and your strong love for them - the living proof that you've got a living Savior.
We learned when we were very young that they've got to go together - Show and Tell. If you never tell them, they will never know what Jesus did on the cross for them. If you never show them, they'll not listen when you tell them. Lead with deeds. They'll open the door. But then you bring Jesus in through that open door.
