All tagged Devotion
A married man says he loves his wife, and I hope that is true, but how do we gauge whether we are honestly loving her as we should? The only true measure is to compare our love for her against the love of Jesus for His bride... the Church. Comparing ourselves against other men is to make a flawed comparison; only when we go to scripture and use Jesus as our model are we able to truthfully understand the love we should have.
When we have fully accepted the Holy Spirit to reside within us we are declared to be a child of God... not by human birthright, but by power which comes through the resurrection of Jesus. It is at that moment in which our spirit receives the entirety of the power promised to us. Are you prepared to submit fully to The Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and our Father’s will?
When you enter your time of devotion and reading the scriptures, is your intention to study the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God, like a scientist would study a specimen in a lab? If you are a pastor are you looking for eloquence and inspiration that can be used in your sermons? If so then you are treating your relationship and faith as if they were something you might own, and not the love of your life that you should be immersed in, and changed by.
How much of ourselves have we given to God in love? Do we conform to His will in all things, or only as much as we think it will take to please Him? Jesus was the most amazing and incredible man to have ever lived, and yet He subjected Himself in His entirety to God... He leads us in understanding the true nature of God’s expectation of us. He demonstrates what it means to be a loving Child of God.
Do you devote time and other things in your life to God? If you do, then are you giving these things to Him forever, or just until you need them again? Perhaps you don’t understand what devoting means when taken in this context. What I am referring to here are those things which you commit to God, or Jesus Christ. For many of us it probably begins with a morning time of prayer each day. Have you given Him 15 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour? Have you truly dedicated it to Him, or just loaned it to Him? If you have made this a promise, Have you lived up to that commitment or just prayed when it was convenient?