All tagged jesus
My devotional reading in “The Power of Prayer” this morning was titled "God Called Men", and it was wonderful. Pastor E. M. Bounds wrote that all things are truly possible through God. Which I believe firmly, and that prayer leads us there. He was profound when he wrote these words:
"If God's people would pray as they ought to pray, the great things that happened in the past would happen again and again." E. M. Bounds
We consider Jesus to be many things; we call him the Son of God, our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, the Dove of Peace, Lion of Judah, Prince of Peace, Bread of Life, and so many other things, but who was Jesus if not a missionary to the world? That is the thought I would like for us to consider this morning, and bring to the forefront of our attention. This is something He was proclaimed to be in ancient prophesy, and at the moment of His conception.
Protection against sinning; wouldn't we all like an invincible suit of armor, or some impenetrable costume like a super hero wears that could protect us from sin? Well this morning we find that such a covering is real, and it is available to each of us. The Word of God provides us with the defense we need against sin. It even goes a step further and gives us instructions on how to mend ourselves in the event we are injured when caught without the advantage of our protection, or too immature in our faith to protect ourselves. God's word is power and it is invincible but we must clothe ourselves in it.
My personal devotional reading this morning was centered on prayer and the church, and was written by Pastor E.M. Bounds. He wrote "just as prayer generates a love for scriptures and causes people to begin to read the Bible, so does prayer also cause men and women to visit the house of God to hear scriptures explained." So often we think that believers are drawn to praying after having attended church, but that isn’t necessarily true. We are drawn to God, and prayer, in many ways by the Lord Himself, and our hearts are softened to Him as we come to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ… after having heard the gospel of Jesus by any number of ways.
Experiencing religion, and the dichotomy of man, will be our topic of study today. We will explore who we are, and those moments of religious experience that are so important and life changing for us. Moments like our new birth in Christ, baptism, communion, Christening, marriage, foot washing, receiving the Holy Spirit, and all the other experiences of faith that form our lives, as well as our faith, and worship.
This morning let’s delve into wanting ALL of God. The praying Christian shouldn't be satisfied with having a minimum commitment to their faith, but should desire to grow each day into a fullness of faith, and more complete realization of God's presence. Falling into the trap of living each day as if it were our first, and never growing in our belief, and depth of faith, is an easy one. By merely accepting our infancy in Christ, and being satisfied with that, will win us eternal life, but it is the burning desire to know and love Him more which wraps us more tightly in His loving arms and leads us to a more perfect existence.
My reading started with a quote from Martin Luther today that said: "The Christian trade is prayer." Then, was followed with a quote by Pastor E.M. Bounds which added these words to Luther’s statement... "But the Christian has another trade to learn... He must learn perfect obedience to the Father's will." This is different than simply attempting to perfect ourselves in God’s Word. Bounds tells us we must discern and obey God's will for us. Our perfection and obedience to the commandments and many other things of faith can be handled through our daily faith and prayers, but the first, and most important, prayer each day should be for the Lord to reveal His divine will to us. This is an all-important prayer, and until we have prayed it, our various other prayers are wounded. So we must seek out God's will for us before reaching a fullness in the "trade of prayer."
We are the children of God and He is our Father. Jesus taught us as much, even when He instructed us in prayer... "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9).” So often we find ourselves inclined to dwell on God as the creator, God the Defender, God the Provider, or one of the other various personality characteristics of God, but underpinning all of those qualities resides the one that is most founded in love... God the Father.
I read a devotional message titled "The World Turned Upside-Down" and it spoke of those in the faith whose walk with God allowed them to change the world in a mighty way. Of course when I read those words I immediately thought of Jesus who changed the Jewish faith, and all of mankind forever through his fulfillment of prophesy and the law. He removed the stain and hopelessness of sin once and for all, conquered death, and provided an avenue by which all mankind could come before God... sin free, righteous and holy.
The lost art of prayer was the subject of my devotional reading this morning. This has been a matter that has troubled me deeply, and one that I hope we have addressed in some detail over our nearly yearlong journey with Pastor E.M. Bounds each morning. No relationship survives without communication and that is true of ours with God as well. Paul wrote these words to the church of the Thessalonians:
To consider yourself consecrated requires a complete dedication of yourself to God. He does not give a measure of Himself to us; He gives us Himself totally. This morning I am contemplating the path to consecration and what that actually means.
In our lives we can endeavor to be holy, but holiness belongs solely to the Lord and only He can make us so. It is only by the movement and filling of the Holy Spirit that we are granted true holiness. Although we can seek to be holy, only through the Holy Spirit can we realize that goal. Scripture tells us much of God's holiness and it also contains our call to become holy.
Have you ever been shopping or at a restaurant and seen an older couple walking together that have the same stride, have the same mannerisms, the same inflections in their speech, and in some strange way even resemble each other? It would be easy to mistake them as brother and sister, but they are in fact husband and wife. This is what years of love and living together does... it joins us in ways that we often can't explain and that are so subtle we barely realize it’s happening. Our faith and holiness should unite us with Christ in much the same way.
07/09/2024
This morning we are contemplating the delays and denials we experience in prayer, but even more, we will visit the courage and persistence needed in such times. My morning devotional reading described these occurrences in prayer using these words:
Our devotional thought this morning surrounds praying as a holy act, and focuses on the subsidence of holiness in the church today. Our scripture verse tells us that unless we are holy then we will not see the Lord, and yet we, and our churches, spend an inordinate amount of time in the physical world. Even when we pray we tend to focus more on our wants and less on loving God and our neighbors, thanksgiving, asking for forgiveness, and other spiritual things. We need to lean into these things as we pray.