3/8/2024 0 Comments Growing Into HolinessPhilippians 3:12-16 We can’t become any more “holy” than we are the moment we decide to give our lives to Jesus. At that moment, we are dedicated to God. The “holiness” we talk about is a desire to become more like Jesus – to better represent our God. This is a process that Paul talks about in this verse. And if Paul said that he hadn’t “arrived” yet, we need to give ourselves some grace as well. We are saints not because we feel like it every minute of every day, but because God says we are because of faith in and commitment to His Son.
Questions for further thought: 1. What do you do on a daily basis to strengthen your relationship with God? 2. When you feel stuck as you press on toward the goal, how do you get moving again? Challenge: Positive affirmations. Have you heard of them? They are short statements that can help you have a more positive view of yourself and your day. Some people write them on sticky notes and place them where they will see them daily. Write out “I am a child of the King and therefore I am holy” and say it out loud first thing in the morning. Repeat it throughout your day for 30 days.
0 Comments
3/7/2024 0 Comments I Sure Don't Feel HolyPhilippians 3:8-9, 2:13 When we think of ourselves as representatives of God, we can often feel very unholy. We know that we do not seem to be achieving the spiritual growth we hoped for. Remember one thing when you are feeling discouraged. As Paul states in the first verse, our standing with God doesn’t depend on our accomplishments, but on faith. We are holy because we are His, even when we don’t feel like it. Trust in Jesus and His work on the cross and know that He is always at work in your life.
Questions for further thought: 1. In what area of your spiritual life do you most struggle with feelings of inadequacy? 2. When you have moments (or days) when you feel like a defective saint, how do you reset? Challenge: Some days I wish I had a banner around me, like a beauty queen, that says “I am a child of God”. This banner would not be as much for others as it would be for me, a reminder of whose I am. Song of Solomon 2:4b says “His banner over me is love”. As you move through your day envision that banner! And show His love! 3/6/2024 0 Comments Why Is Holiness Important?1 Peter 2:9-10 “Holiness” can be a confusing word. We think of it as describing how we should think and act. That is not wrong. But the root of behavior is the depth of our dedication – our set-apartness – to God. He has called us to be a set-apart people in order to display His character to the world. We are His priests, a holy (dedicated) people. That’s the point and the importance of holiness.
Questions for further thought: 1. How do you think you’re doing (in general) as a priest for God? 2. What area (or areas) do you most need to work with God on? Challenge: In our world, marketing is everything to a brand. A recent challenge I have asked myself is “Am I a good marketing tool for Jesus?”. Ask yourself this same question. 3/5/2024 0 Comments How Do We Become Holy?Ephesians 2:8-9 You’ve likely heard the expression, “Holier than thou.” It’s not a compliment. It refers to an attitude of superiority based on the fact that an individual follows Christ better (in their eyes) than someone else. The fact is, we don’t become holy by our own efforts. We are made holy in God’s eyes by the grace of God available through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Only God can set us apart and make us worthy of His service and His kingdom.
Questions for further thought: 1. Do you struggle with feelings of superiority toward unbelievers? Or does your struggle come when you compare yourself to other believers? 2. Our verse says that we are saved through faith, not works. How do our works fit into a holy life? Challenge: Evaluate your actions this week and assess your motivation for service to others. Ask God to help you with your assessment. 3/4/2024 0 Comments What Is Holiness?Leviticus 20:26 The words “holy” and “holiness” appear more than 900 times in the Bible. The words are used to describe both God and those who truly follow Him. When referring to God, holy means one who is unlike any other, unique and perfect. When referring to humans or, in the Old Testament, certain items, it means dedicated to or set apart for God. For Christ followers, to be holy means to be dedicated to God, set apart for His use, and committed to becoming more like His Son.
Questions for further thought: 1. What do you think of when you hear the word “holy?” 2. Is holy a term you would use to describe yourself? Why or why not? Challenge: Spend some time today and research the definition of the word “holy” as defined by the dictionary. Write it down in your journal or on a piece of paper and look at it every day this week to fix it in your mind. 3/1/2024 0 Comments You Are Never AloneIn the midst of our deep pains and hurts, sometimes it is just too much to focus on how our faith is being refined or how our sufferings may one day glorify God or how we may one day comfort someone else. Sometimes we just need to know that God is there, holding us up and carrying us through our pain. Over and over and over throughout the Bible God shows himself to be a loving God and Father. He never leaves us alone to fight on our own or to bear our burdens alone. The Psalms are full of verse after verse that speak to God’s faithfulness, love, and mercy. About how he hears and answers our prayers. About how he is our rock and salvation, covering us with his wings, providing us a place of refuge and comfort. Just a few of those verses are listed above.
Questions for further thought: 1. Do you really believe God is walking with you in the midst of your struggles? 2. Do you believe that God loves and cares for you deeply? Challenge: Take some time to look through the Psalms and find all the times the psalmists reference: God’s steadfast love, his faithfulness, the fact that he hears our prayers, that he is our rock, that he is our refuge, that he is slow to anger, that he is on your side. In the process of redeeming our suffering, God not only draws us into a deeper relationship with himself and develops us into more Christ-like followers, but he also redeems our suffering by bringing glory to himself and bringing the world closer to him. Salvation isn’t just about our eternal destination but about bringing God’s kingdom closer to earth. God is working in and through us to accomplish those purposes. Our endurance, character and hope demonstrate to the world the beauty of the God we serve. This gives the world a window into the deep love of God and the peace and hope we have found, a hope and peace that is not found in the world. As Paul states in 2nd Corinthians 1:3-4, God comforts us so that we can comfort others. We are never on this journey alone; all that God gives us is not only for our benefit but is also to be for the benefit of others. Then in the process of taking our eyes off of our own sufferings, we will find that we have not only lessened the suffering of those around us, but we have lessened our own suffering as well.
Questions for further thought: 1. How does knowing that the purpose of our salvation is about more than just our individual eternal destination change the way you live? 2. How can you take past, or current, struggles and use them to help someone else through a similar struggle? Challenge: Find at least one way this week you can help to bring God’s kingdom closer to earth by reaching outside yourself and blessing someone else. In Romans 5:3-5 we learn that suffering brings endurance which leads to character which finally leads to hope. This is not a hope as the world sees hope. The dictionary defines hope as: a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. The difference between the world’s definition of hope and the Bible’s definition of hope is that we are not just desiring something, we are assured of that something. Endurance and character give us the steadfastness to continue to hope. This takes away the highs and lows that we often experience through trials. It keeps our eyes steadfastly fixed on the hope of Jesus Christ. In John 16:33 Jesus says that we will have trouble but to take heart he has overcome the world. What we hope for is secure and guaranteed. Christ has won, he has overcome the world, when all is said and done, he will reign supreme.
Questions for further thought: 1. What comfort, if any, do you get from knowing that Christ has already won? 2. How can this knowledge change how you live your life and how you view life’s struggles? Challenge: This week, as you watch the news or work through a current difficult situation in life, remind yourself that Jesus Christ has overcome the world. If being a Christian doesn’t get us a “hall pass”, or a “get out of jail free card” when it comes to suffering, what is the purpose? Why does God allow our suffering? While God does not cause our suffering, he always redeems our suffering, if we allow him to. Through our suffering he refines our faith. In Romans 5:3-5 Paul teaches that suffering produces perseverance which produces character which produces hope. Perseverance or endurance, is the ability to get through the difficulties in this world, the ability to face the challenges that we know will come in the future. This perseverance then leads to character. Biblical character is our likeness to Christ. The evidence of this character is the fruits of the spirit in our lives; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Suffering and challenges are the refining fire that makes us more like Christ. But all of this only happens if we allow God to refine us, trust in his process and lean on him, even when we don’t understand the purpose or how any good could possibly come from our situation.
Questions for further thought: 1. When you look back on difficult times in your life, can you see God’s footprint there, ways he provided for you, brought others into your life when you needed them? 2. Have your past struggles developed endurance and character in your life or have they developed bitterness and distance from God? Challenge: Look back at 1-2 difficult struggles in your past, did you allow God to use those difficult times to refine your faith and character or did you resist and allow bitterness to take over? Just as we cannot do good works to obtain our salvation, good works won’t guarantee us a pain free life. No where does God promise to take away our trials. In Matt 5:45, Jesus says good will fall on the righteous and the unrighteous. So also, the righteous as well as the unrighteous will experience the consequences of this broken world. Jesus’ audience was primarily the down-trodden, the suffering, the persecuted. He did not promise to take away all their earthly suffering. That was one of the reasons the Pharisees would not accept him as the Messiah. They wanted a Messiah who would take away their suffering and oppression. Jesus promised a “new and different” kind of redemption. This redemption included the promise of eternal life but more than that, it promised to lighten, not remove, but lighten the burdens we carry here on earth. Jesus does this by carrying our load with us and by giving us a peace beyond worldly understanding.
Questions for further thought: 1. How does it make you feel when you think about God allowing good to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous alike? 2. How does it make you feel when you think about God allowing the consequences of a broken world to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous alike? Challenge: Meditate on Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Now go back and reflect on the above questions again. |
AuthorThis devotional is written every week by Hillcrest members. Archives
April 2024
Receive this devotional in your inbox every Monday - Friday.
|