Devotion
Hope We Can Believe In David Jacobs
What is hope? And what do you feel when you are hopeful? The Apostle Paul asks that we are not ashamed for our hopeful thoughts and feelings. In Hebrews 6:11, it says: "And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end." The same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end. What is the basis for our hope? We have answers that we can believe in.
2 Thessalonians 2:16 - "Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,"
Colossians 1:23 - "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
1 Peter 1:3 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
All Christians have reasons to be hopeful: we have been given the gift of salvation from our Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe we feel that we don't deserve this and we should not be hopeful because of our sinful ways. It is right: we don't deserve it. We have been given it, however, and with this gift God also asks that we remain steadfastly faithful, filled with hope. The Scriptures and the life of Christ act as encouragement so that we might have hope (Romans 15:4). We owe it to God, to rejoice in His glory, to celebrate the life of Jesus, and to remember that we are surrounded by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
What is the opposite of being hopeful? Think about that for a minute: do you want your life to NOT be filled with hope? Do you want it to be filled with doubt and despair? Of course not, and neither does God. A hopeful life is a happy one. Paul knows this and asks us to rejoice in the name of the Lord. We must rejoice, lift our hearts, minds, and voices, rejoicing in his name. A hope that we can believe in! Amen.
Devotion
Don’t Judge
Frances Taylor
This is a pretty consistent theme in the New Testament. Jesus certainly makes it clear that judging is unacceptable. In more than one Gospel the message is clear: don't judge. We humans do it though! We judge for lots of reasons. One of the not so nice reasons is to make ourselves feel better. If we can judge someone to be worse than ourselves, it can make us feel superior. Often people caught doing something will turn and say that it's not as bad as what "so and so" does. Other times, we make a judgment and spread whatever we think we know about another's behavior as gossip. It gives us a sense of power to act like we "know" everything. And often we are wrong in our judgments. Spreading gossip can ruin a person's reputation often without any substance behind it. We also tend to make judgments based on color, race, gender, age, ethnicity, all sorts of things that bias us. If you were sick in a foreign country, would you trust the doctors? If you see...
Morning Prayer
Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Inspiration
Our victory, as believers, is not by our might or by the height of our intellect. Nothing in our own power can ever make us righteous. We are where we are, as children of God, as a result of the Spirit of God residing in us. The Spirit of God is able to reside in us so easily because Jesus Christ justified and sanctified us by his blood. Isn't that glorious?
Prayer
Dear God, I thank you that it is never by my might or power that I am saved and victorious in you. It is because of your son, Jesus Christ, that I am able to have access to the Holy Spirit who enables me to function as your child. Lord, may I always take heed to the guidance of your Spirit. In Jesus' name, I pray. ...
