Devotional message for the week of 11/16/08

The Fruit of the Spirit - joy

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the spirit is...joy

What is the first thing that the nonbeliever can see about a professed believer? It could be argued that one's emotional state is the first impression that an observer can pick up. If we, as Christ followers, have no joy we don't send a very appealing message to those watching. If we are to convince the unsaved that we have something that they should want, we should act like it.

This is not to say that we should, at all times, have an ear to ear grin on our faces. Times will come in our lives that are nothing to smile about. But if we have the joy of Christ inside us, the way we handle the bad times will be different than the way someone who doesn't have Christ would handle them. We can show that we have an overall joy in our lives even as we go through down times in our lives. It's in these times that we will be watched the most.

It can be quite easy to put on a happy face and act like life is perfect even though we know it isn't, but real joy isn't about putting on a facade to fool everyone. The Lord's instructions are not to fool anyone. It is about living out the joy that is within us. Look to Christ as an example.

A few scriptures that offer some help in this area are Matthew 6:27, John 15:11, John 10:10, Romans 8:35, 2 Corinthians 4:9, Psalm 5:11, Psalm 28:7. There are many more that would also offer guidance.

Pray for America's newly elected President

Whether you voted for Barack Obama or not, he will face many challenges as America's new President and will need every prayer we can offer up. Please join with me in praying that God would give him guidance and wisdom in this new position.

I'd like to suggest joining Pastor Ed Boston's prayer group on the Presidential Prayer Team website at the following URL.

http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/site/TR/Events/Ambassador?px=2051691&pg=personal&fr_id=1000

Thank you and God bless,

Matt

Visit Christ Disciples at: http://christdisciples.ning.com

Devotional message for the week of 11/2/08

The Fruit of the Spirit - love

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the spirit is love...

Paul starts out the portion of his letter to the Galatian Christians on the fruit of the spirit by stating that love is one of the quality traits we should bear as followers of Christ. One should think there is no coincidence in the fact that this is the first trait listed in the fruit of the spirit. Love is a major theme in God's Word.

Why is it that love is so important in the life of a Christ follower? Why would love be so important to be listed first among the fruit of the spirit, mentioned so many times throughout the scriptures, and spoken of so often by Jesus Himself? Because without love, everything else is worthless.

Many wedding ceremonies include a reading from I Corintians 13. We call it "the love chapter". A wonderful chapter it is, but we often hear it quoted starting in verse 4. This is where the characterisitics of love are given. Look just before that verse to find what Paul says on the importance of love. "...if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned; but have not love, I gain nothing."(2b-3)

Did you catch that? If we have the faith to move mountains, but don't have love in our hearts, it's worthless faith! All too often we place more importance on faith and works than on love. The fact is, that those works and that faith ought to be based in love. When we perform kind acts, it should be out of love, not duty. When we sing songs of praise to the Lord, it must be out of love for Him, not obligation.

When Jesus Christ was questioned as to the greatest of the commandments, He listed near the top "love your neighbor as yourself"(Matthew 22:39). If we can keep this commandment, almost everything else we're instructed to do will come as a natural biproduct.

They will know we are Christians by our love. Let it show.

Devotional message for the week of 10/26/08

The fruit of the spirit

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.

The life of a Christ follower is one that should be noticeable by the fruit we bear. Unbelievers and believers alike should be able to spot where our allegiances lie just based on the fruit they see in our lives. If we claim to love God, but do not love others; what sort of message do we send the world? If we claim to have the joy of Christ, and yet treat every event in our lives as a disaster worthy of depression; what will they think about Christians? Will they want to follow this God we serve?

Having said all that, it isn't easy to just bear fruit as though it were a chore that we can put on our to-do list. We cannot check kindness off our list just because we helped someone today. The fruit of the spirit is an ongoing goal. Each day, we awaken anew, and we must be ready to show the Lord to others. We do this in our actions, in our attitudes, in our reactions to situations, and yes, in our words. In each and every situation we face throughout the day, we must be concerned with what God's will is. We must be concerned with how to bring glory to His name with everything we say and do.

The fruit of the spirit is a personal journey, part of our walk with Christ. Each of us must directly communicate with God in an effort to become more like Him. We must read His Word, we must serve His people. In doing so, we grow closer to knowing Him, and in knowing Him we become more like Him. How could we help but want to be like the One who created us, if we learn even just a little about Him?

While this list is extensive, we should pay attention to each individual aspect of the fruit. We will find that looking in depth toward each one of these aspects can be a full study in itself. Read about the fruit of the spirit again. Let the characteristics listed soak in. Spend some time focusing on each one. Pray that you may be able to live out this fruit.

Devotional message for the week of 10/19/08

We need each other - Part III

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

It is one thing to say that we need to belong to a group of believers so that we can learn from each other, pray for each other, and share life together. It is quite another thing to go where this verse of scripture sends us; outside ourselves. This verse is a call to put ourselves last, which can be easier said than done.

One thing that each of us would find if we were to live our lives this way is that we would be more satisfied in life if we did so. We may think that if we lived our lives for others first that we would miss out on things that we want, but the reality is that we would not miss them because we would be so incredibly fulfilled.

But putting others first is not about what we get out of it; it's not even ultimately about the others that we are serving. In the act of service and in our humility, we are glorifying God. In serving His family, we are serving Him. In serving non-believers, we are pointing them to Him.

This week, take a challenge. Pick one person and pray for them each day. If you feel they have a need, do your best to fill it. Count them better than yourself. Look to their interests. Glorify our Heavenly Father.

Devotional message for the week of 10/12/08

We need each other - Part II

Hebrews 10:24-25 ...and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Fellowship with other Christ followers is essential to our spiritual success and our spiritual well being. We cannot operate alone in this mission, and it was never God's intention that we do so. We read all throughout the Bible about people of faith who worked together to accomplish the Lord's will. The recurrence of the phrase "one another" in the Word is no coincidence either.

In fact, most of the people of faith that we see acting alone, with God's guidance only, are those were were in exile, captivity or those who lived under persecution. Unless these are our circumstances, the Lord has called us to act as a team to bring about His will.

Not only do "many hands make light work", and that is a good enough reason to utilize teamwork, but we read that one reason to meet together is that we "stir up one another to love and good works". In other words, we can be each other's motivation at times. We all have times that we really could use a push in order to be motivated to accomplish our tasks.

We also see in this same scripture that another purpose of meeting together with other Christians is that we can encourage one another. When it seems that nothing is being successful and we feel like we should quit, sometimes it just takes the encouraging word of someone to get us back to work. We, the Body of Christ, can be that to each other...if we will not forsake working together.

Devotional message for the week of 10/5/08

We need each other - Part I

Genesis 2:18 Then the Lord said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."

In the very beginning, when God was creating the world, He did not think it was ok to leave the man he created by himself. He saw fit to create a helper, whom He called "woman" to accompany the man. Notice in this translation that the scripture says the woman was "fit for him". God did not just place anyone alongside Adam, He made someone just for Adam.

Even though the Almighty God of the universe can do all things and makes no mistakes, it was not good that man should be alone. If it was not ok for Adam to be alone; why should it be ok for us today?

So many who proclaim to be Christians say that they can worship God on their own, the Church is filled with hypocrites, they're too busy on Sunday, they don't get anything out of going...etc, etc etc. The list of excuses is long. But the reality is this: we need each other. Can we worship God on our own? Of course. But can we do life on our own? Not at all. The truth is, we need each other, not just for worship on Sunday mornings, but for uplifting one another in prayer, working as a team on missions, encouraging each other, feeding the hungry, teaching the immature, guidance, accountability, etc, etc, etc.

As you can see, the list of reasons why we should be part of a group of believers goes on just as long, if not longer, than the list of excuses given not to be a part of such a group. We hold each other up. Like Adam, it is not good for each of us to be alone, and like Eve, there are many who are "fit" to be part of our walk with the Lord.

Plug in.