All in Daily Devotional

What is the focus of our life? Is there something or someone that fascinates us beyond anyone, or anything we have ever known? Are we infatuated with the things of this world, or do our thoughts center on God and Jesus? Do we find our attention to be fixed on the divine, or on the physical world around us? The question I am hoping we will pose to ourselves today is this… Are we predominantly spiritual beings who are passing through a physical place, or physical creatures living out our lives in the world? Our answer will ultimately determine whether we are fascinated with Jesus or fixed on earthly things.

Are we making intercession for others? Do we even know how to pray in such a manner? I worry about this often as I watch us attempt to pray for one another. Are our hearts in worship as we lift up prayers for those in need? Is there anyone even attempting such prayer? There have been times throughout biblical history when there has been no true intercession. One of them is recorded in Isaiah, and we can read of it in this verse...

On the 24th of this month I wrote of encountering Jesus in front of a jewelry store. It was an unexpected encounter that taught me a great deal about myself and my faith. Today I would like to explore those sudden and unexpected appearances of Jesus in our lives a bit further. It is true that we don't know the date and time of the return of Jesus as predicted in Revelation, but much like Saul, we do occasionally receive chance encounters with Him today during our everyday lives.

Today we are exploring our obedience to Jesus without questioning His instruction. We will be looking at how we should obey Him without the need to weigh His guidance against our own desires. Sometimes we receive a Word from God and it isn't something easy or perhaps it is something we think is dangerous or would put us in a precarious position financially or possibly even spiritually... so we question His motive or our understanding. This doubt is not a modern phenomenon but goes back to the earliest times of faith.

Yesterday we spoke of being the friend of Jesus in the context of placing him before us in all things, but today we will look at what kind of friend the groom has chosen for His best man. What kind of friend should we truly be?

 

“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”

John 3:29 KJV

Do you move along in your life of faith and feel like you are making great strides in sanctity only to have some trivial thing reawaken the old sinful person you used to be? Well, we all have this happen from time to time, and our lives of faith are a constant struggle against our natural selves... so why do we keep falling into this trap, and what can we do to overcome this disappointing behavior?

I really love the story of Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This morning let’s concentrate on what those disciples said when they finally realized that the man they had been traveling with was actually Jesus; they said: "did not our heart burn within us." Let’s think about our own moment when it became clear to us that Jesus was truly the Son of God and had been sent to save us. Let’s think back on that faithful day when we walked with Him down our own road to Emmaus and how His gospel message came alive in us as our hearts burned.

This morning I am contemplating a single phrase in the King James translation of the Bible... it is one that was written by Paul to the Galatians, and is found in Galatians 2:20. It reads like this..."by the faith of the son of God." This is opposed to several modern translations which record it as "by the faith in the Son of God." So the question boils down to one word and two different translations... Our study is whether to us the word "In" or "Of" as we talk about our faith. This might sound tedious but the implications are great.

We are going to delve into an interesting topic this morning, friendship with God, and we will do so by asking ourselves three questions that are simple and wonderful in their divine implication. First, do we consider ourselves to be friends of God? Secondly, do we believe that this is even possible, and finally, if we are friends, or not, what are the ramifications of this to our faith?

Does God lead you in the way you should go, and if so, what awaits at the end of your journey? This is what I am pondering this morning. Do we know the Person of the one who leads us and if so, do we need to fully understand where He is leading us to before we join Him in the journey? When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him did they know where they were going? When He tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him do we really know all that awaits us?

How do we reconcile our physical and spiritual selves so that they both mirror Jesus Christ? Sometimes we are so wrapped up in conforming our physical selves that we forget the spiritual side of who we are... or vice versa. Let’s look at this today and see if we can reach an understanding regarding who we really are, and why knowing this is important.

When we perform our works of faith or even kneel to pray, who are we attempting to please? Are our eyes on Jesus and our hearts longing for God, or is there something or someone else who has taken the glory of our efforts? Was it ourselves? I am exploring the motivation behind the acts we do that we claim are of faith this morning, and how we can keep them directed rightly towards the glory of God.