4/5/2024 0 Comments Eternal WorkmanshipIn the first part of the passage, we see that mankind was dead, disobedient, demonic, and destined for destruction. That’s the bad news. However, look closely. The good news begins in verse 4 with the words “But God”. We were dead, but God made us alive in Christ. We were not merely in need of a helping hand; we were not sinking swimmers in need of a raft; we were stone cold dead – spiritually lifeless, without a religious pulse. But He loves the loveless, gives life to the lifeless, and is merciful to those deserving none. There was nothing we could do to earn this salvation. We are saved by the grace of Christ through faith alone, not because of any works. This does not mean, however, that our good works are pointless. They are not the root of our salvation, but the necessary fruit of it. God has prepared good deeds for us and equipped us to do them. He desires for us to demonstrate the reality of a life lived in Christ by the way we conduct our lives. Let us now walk in a manner worthy of what He has called us to!
Questions for further thought: 1. In what ways do you see God’s eternal workmanship actively at work in your life? 2. In what ways have you been trusting in other things to save rather than the finished work of Jesus alone? Challenge: The universe does not exist as a series of random events. The One who carefully orchestrated the family line of Jesus is in absolute control over all things in order to accomplish every purpose He intends. Battle your anxieties with the truth, and entrust your plans to God’s wise and powerful control over the world.
0 Comments
4/4/2024 0 Comments He Will Finish It!The Lord will finish what He starts. Everything we are experiencing in our lives as Christians is changing us. The good and the bad, the joy and the suffering. God is using all of it to mold and shape us. The process is called sanctification, and God always means it for good. So often change is characterized as not such a good process, but that’s not a true statement in light of Scripture, is it? The truth is, change may not be pleasant or easy, but it is for our good and God’s good. It is also not complete. I so resonate with Paul when he says in Romans 7:15, “I do not understand my own actions. For I don’t do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” Have you ever felt like that? I don’t know about you, but I have tried the “try harder, do more” routine as I have tried to “be more like Christ” in my own strength. This ended up failing miserably. We aren’t finished yet and we are a work in progress through Christ’s power, not our own. God’s plan for us isn’t finished, but we still judge His work based on our limited view and unfinished plan. How comforting for us to know that until we take our last breath, God’s work in us is still in progress. He will finish what He starts!!
Questions for further thought: 1. What does it mean to you that God will finish what He starts? 2. Is there anything you have been unwilling to let God change in you? Challenge: Let the Lord thoroughly examine you that He would find those things that He could change for your good and His glory. Ask the hard question: Lord, what is it in me that you desire to change? Wait expectantly for an answer. He will finish it! 4/3/2024 0 Comments Sufficient for YouGod does not dispense grace the way a pharmacist fills a prescription: “Here, take two of these, and call Me in the morning.” He is the grace. He is the strength. His presence is the power. All we need comes through intimacy with Him. No matter what we face, He is the complete answer. “Sufficient for you is the grace of Me,” He promises. He doesn’t hand us what we need and then go somewhere else, off to solve someone else’s life crisis. He comes to stay. “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20b). God’s grace is completed in our weakness. And until you realize you’re weak and you recognize the need for His grace, you can never fully experience it. Even that understanding of your own need is a gift of grace. The perfect power of Jesus’ grace can’t be fully realized until weakness is rightfully acknowledged. The moment when you’re overwhelmed by your absolute helplessness is the moment you are ready to hear Jesus say, “Sufficient for you is the grace of Me.” In other words, “I am all you need.” Because He is the grace, you need Him. He will go with you every step of the way. He is a faithful friend, always with you. When a trial threatens to overwhelm you, when you feel a keen sense of your own weakness and insufficiency, remember His promise: “Sufficient for you is the grace of Me.” He is the grace you need.
Questions for further thought: 1. In what ways are you weak? 2. Why is that such a powerful promise? How have you experienced it to be true? Challenge: The perfect power of Jesus’ grace can’t be fully realized until weakness is rightfully acknowledged. God doesn’t send us grace, like a FedEx overnight shipment. He is the grace. Ponder these things this week in your prayer time with the Father. 4/2/2024 0 Comments Discipline is Love?I once heard it said that “God’s love is not a pampering love, but a perfecting love”. I also realize that is not just God’s goal just to save us, but to change us. Perhaps it is shocking to us, when reading the above passage, how tough Biblical Christianity is. Yet even more shocking, perhaps, is how soft and untested many Christians are who have not faced any sort of persecution. The writer points his readers squarely to Jesus, “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (v.3). We are to draw courage from Jesus’ steadfast example of honoring God no matter the cost. Believers should appreciate those who are changed and transformed into Christlikeness, thanking God for their example and for the grace of Christ evident in their lives. They have known the deep privilege of suffering discipline as the children of God. “The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons” (vv.6-7). May God use this passage to help those who face trials to see them as fatherly discipline toward “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (v.11). And may He move those of us who do not face persecution to pray for our brothers and sisters who do.
Questions for further thought: 1. Where are you facing trials right now? 2. (Even though they are hard) In what ways could looking as these trials as love from our Heavenly Father change your outlook on the situation? Challenge: When God is challenging and correcting our lives, it can be a painful process. Remember that He disciplines those He loves (Heb.12:6). Pray that you would be humble and teachable during the loving work of transformation. 4/1/2024 0 Comments Why Did Jesus Have to Suffer?Since we are just wrapping up Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I wanted to take time and reflect on what Jesus Christ accomplished for you and me at Calvary. No one disputes that Jesus Christ suffered on the cross. But the idea that His suffering was necessary has been the subject of scorn from those who have criticized and ridiculed Christianity through the centuries. The truth that Jesus had to suffer to pay for our sin is also what sets Christianity apart. Why you ask? It was essential for Jesus to suffer: To pay for the sin of mankind. First John 4:10 says, “[God] loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sin.” The key word is propitiation, meaning payment. It wasn’t enough for Him to die. Jesus had to pay a debt—our debt, for our sin. The payment was necessary. To satisfy the demands of God’s wrath. As much as God loves you, He hates your sin with a holy, burning hatred beyond comprehension. The only way He could embrace you in spite of your sin was for someone else—someone perfect and holy—to pay for it (Romans 5:1). To purchase the opportunity for our sins to be forgiven. No longer do you have to carry your sin. You can be forgiven. God laid all your sinfulness on Jesus as He willingly suffered and died upon the cross. The debt was paid, opening the door to your forgiveness. To provide the way to eternal life. To have a gift, you must choose to receive it (Romans 6:23). Do you know Jesus Himself is the gift of eternal life? His suffering is the reason that gift is possible. You can be forgiven and washed clean, because Jesus is the propitiation. He gave His life to restore your relationship with God. As the Father laid all the sinfulness of the world on His Son, Jesus suffered and died, offering forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe. AMEN!!
Questions for further thought: 1. Have you trusted in the payment of Jesus’ suffering and death for your sin debt to God? How do you know this? 2. With whom can you share the Good News of Jesus today? Challenge: Pray this prayer….Father, You sent Your only Son to pay a debt He did not owe, because I owed a debt I could not pay. Why You did that is hard to comprehend—Jesus did nothing wrong, while my heart is so often tempted toward sin. But Your love is greater than my sin. What an amazing gift You have given me. Thank You for bringing me into a relationship with You through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me to never forget the price and the power of His cross. In Jesus’ name, amen. 3/29/2024 0 Comments Eternal InheritanceOur eternal inheritance was certain before any of us had life and even before the foundation of the world. Those who have put their faith in Christ can be confident of this inheritance because God has already provided the first installment of it by sealing us with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of what’s to come; He is the downpayment of our eternal inheritance!
Questions for further thought: 1. In what ways have you been called to repentance because of this glorious truth? 2. What is preventing you from turning from your sin and placing your trust completely in Jesus right now? Challenge: Pray this aloud… Lord, help us not take for granted the awesome eternal inheritance that only comes through faith In Him (Jesus) (v. 11). May we have boldness and courage to share this great truth with a lost and dying world who desperately need the hope only found In Him (v. 13). 3/28/2024 0 Comments A Saint in Standing and PurposePaul uses two words to describe the Christians in Ephesus: saints and faithful. Every Christian is both. The word “saint” means holy one, and refers to someone who is set apart for God and His purposes. We are saints because of what Christ did for us. He made us clean and holy. In Ephesians 1:1, the word “faithful” does not mean “dependable” as much as “full of faith in Jesus Christ”. A Christian is a person made holy by God (a saint) and a person who trusts wholly in Christ (faithful).
Questions for further thought: 1. Do you consider yourself a saint? (This is not arrogant, remember who does the work) 2. Why or why not? Challenge: God knows the depths of our hearts and lovingly reveals what is hidden below the surface. Ask Him to use His Word to continue searching and cleansing you so that you can become the man or woman of God that He intends you to be. 3/27/2024 0 Comments A Living HopeIn this letter, Peter primarily approaches two difficult subjects: holiness and suffering. Peter would agree with Paul that holiness and suffering are vitally connected (See Romans 5:3-4). He knows that the holy will suffer and that the holy will be made more holy as they share in Christ’s sufferings. To take his readers into the commands of holiness and the demands of hardship, however, Peter must first take them to the power and assurance necessary for both. The power is found only in the Gospel. Consider how Peter rejoices in the Gospel in the opening paragraph to the letter. We are “born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3), “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” that is “kept in heaven” for us. It is important for believers to be reminded of our future hope so that we have the strength to obey and face suffering. We find strength knowing that we are forgiven for all eternity; and we are encouraged to hope in God through hardship, knowing that our souls are infinitely secure in Christ. AMEN!!
Questions for further thought: 1. In what ways can you consider your future inheritance even in your current suffering? 2. How might you pray for God’s strength, wisdom, and joy even in this season of suffering? Challenge: Our eternal security in Christ gives us strength to face suffering in this temporary world. Prayerfully reflect on the future promises Peter describes asking God to give you joy as you consider what lies ahead in eternity. 3/26/2024 0 Comments A Decision Only You Can MakePaul’s words in these verses are so practical we may gloss over their radical nature. Serving Christ isn’t just about obvious spiritual matters. There is no corner of our lives empty of opportunities to serve Him, no matter how menial or seemingly inconsequential the task He places before us. In fact, other than your decision to believe in Jesus Christ, the choice to serve Him will be more formative in your spiritual life than any other decision. Serving Christ also tethers your heart to the Cross. People are counting on you to be a faithful servant, whether they realize it or not. You have an awe-inspiring privilege to work in Christ’s kingdom. If you open your heart to this, you will begin to see an incredible array of service opportunities set before you each day. The life you were designed to experience begins with the decision only you can make and leads to an inheritance that is absolute: I choose to serve Jesus Christ.
Questions for further thought: 1. Where are you heartily serving Christ right now? 2. What have you found are the benefits of serving Christ? Challenge: Let us seek opportunities to serve Jesus and the body of Christ. Not because we have to, but because we want to. 3/25/2024 0 Comments What Christ Has DoneWebster’s dictionary defines the word inherit as “to come into a possession of or receive especially as a right or divine portion”. The word inheritance is used many times in the Scripture and seems to indicate the Lord will ensure the believer that he or she will receive a just, eternal compensation for his or her efforts, even if our human boss does not compensate fairly. As Paul writes to the young Christians in Colossae, we see the grace of the Father, the Gospel of the Son, and the love of the Spirit are enabling this church to experience and show the reality of Christ in their lives. The fruitful work of God in Colossae is the direct result of the church being delivered from the realm of darkness and transferred into the realm of light. Through Christ’s work on the cross, they have been rescued from and forgiven of their sin. Because of the transfer from darkness to light, Paul calls them to live a new life that pleases God and bears good fruit. Notice that the inheritance can be realized now through the knowledge, wisdom, and power that He provides in order to live the Christian life with patience, joy, and thanksgiving. Let us give thanks for the inheritance of grace that God provides through faith in His Son Jesus Christ!
Questions for further thought: 1. When you think of the word inheritance, what ideas first come to mind? 2. In what ways do you see the Lord providing you a portion of your inheritance right now? Or do you consider this just a future event? Challenge: Lord Jesus, we do know that we need to be different, and we need to be “in the world, not of it.” Help us to become more holy in the way you want us to be, as we know we neither understand nor can do alone. In your name, Amen. |
AuthorThis devotional is written every week by Hillcrest members. Archives
April 2024
Receive this devotional in your inbox every Monday - Friday.
|