Category: Daily Devotions

This week’s devotions are based on Week 5 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)

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Would you be open to suffering?

Ephesians 3:13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

Sometimes we can be oblivious.

For example, as American citizens we intellectually know that we live on the backs of many men and women who have suffered and sacrificed to protect and preserve this nation that we enjoy.  We can easily take the freedoms we do enjoy in this country and forget the sacrifice that was given.  

However, when we pause to reflect on it, such as on Memorial Day or the Fourth of July or Veterans Day, we perhaps have a saddened emotion as we recognize the huge cost it has taken to establish and preserve our country.  Yet, when you talk to almost any veteran, they were honored to serve and any family who has lost a loved one in combat, proud of their soldier.  They don’t want you to be discouraged by their suffering, but rather enjoy the blessing that came through their suffering.

Have you ever thought about this in regard to your faith life?  Do you have any part of your faith story that someone had to go through hardship to bring the Gospel to you?  Maybe we don’t often think about this, but if your parents had a primary influence in your life, they probably had many days that they didn’t want to get up and bring you to church, but they did.  Maybe they sacrificed their time and energy to make sure you had a Christian education.  Perhaps in some settings you had a relative that risked rejection from the rest of the family and still taught you the Bible stories.  Maybe your family was so opposed to Christianity that you yourself had to risk being kicked out of the family to become a Christian.

The Apostle Paul knew that as he was a servant of the Gospel, he would undergo suffering and was undergoing suffering for the sake of bringing the Gospel to the people of Ephesus.  It seems like some were “discouraged” that all this was happening to Paul just to bring them the message of Jesus.

But Paul saw it as part of the role of a servant and realized the privilege of suffering for the sake of the Gospel.  The Lord Jesus through Annanias said there would be suffering involved in bringing Jesus to the nations.

Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” 

Paul was used to causing suffering to people connected to the name of Jesus.  Now he was on the receiving end of the very same thing.  Yet he realized that suffering for the cause of the Gospel was to the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

So he was willing to do it.

And the Ephesians were blessed by it.

And so are we.

Suffering is part of being a servant of the Gospel.  But know that when you suffer to bring Jesus to someone else, the suffering isn’t easy, but the impact on the souls of others is eternal.

Apply: Have you had to suffer for the sake of the Gospel?  What witness opportunities have you avoided because of fear of suffering?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for all your faithful servants who have been willing to suffer for the sake of bringing your Gospel to others.  Give me courage as well, as one of your servants, to be willing to suffer to bring your message to others.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 5 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)

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Have you ever wondered what the purpose of the church is?

In our culture today the purpose can be blurred or off point.

At its worst, our culture has tried to make the Church irrelevant and the cause of societies problems.  Is the Church an entity that has lost it’s purpose?

At times it feels like the Church, in America at least, is relegated to a political voting block.  Is this the purpose of the Church to influence American (or any country’s) politics?

At times it seems like the purpose of the Church is to solve societal ills such as poverty, homelessness, racial tensions, etc.  Is this the primary purpose of the Church?

As we think about the Church, it is defined by all who believe in Jesus as their Savior.  So what is the primary purpose of God’s Church, all believers?  Paul outlines it in Ephesians 3:10: His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 

God wants his people to take the wisdom he has given to them by the Spirit of God and proclaim it to others.  The Gospel of grace is the main tool of the CHurch and the purpose of the Church is to bring this Gospel to others.

The eternal purpose of God is to have all people saved and in heaven with him.  The tool he has given is the message of grace found in Jesus Christ.

So, if we focus on feeding the hungry and never share the Gospel, we have missed our purpose.

If we work hard to elect conservative leaders and never share the Gospel, we have missed our purpose.

If we work to solve the world’s problems without solving the soul’s problem, we have missed our purpose.

We have the privilege of having received the grace of God to assure us of forgiveness and oneness with God.  We have been given the grace of God so we might be servants of the Gospel.  We have what God has planned in eternity so we may approach him with freedom.

The soul is searching for peace with God.  People fill that void with additions and activities.  People try to find themselves in different lifestyles or relationships.  People redefine “god” to make god what they want him to be to avoid any interaction with the true God.  People fear death because they fear what follows after it.

This is the blessing of the Church and the purpose which God has given it: to proclaim grace through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to give the soul peace with God.

Christians may be involved in other activities, yet let’s never forget our main purpose: Proclaim grace.  This is God’s eternal purpose for his people.

 

Apply: How have you been distracted from God’s purpose for you?  How can you focus more on the purpose of proclaiming grace?

 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your grace.  Forgive us for our loss of focus and lead us back to be laser focused on proclaiming grace to people of this world! AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 5 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)

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“It’s not what you know, but who you know.”

In a competitive job market, one can send 100s of resumes to places posted on LinkedIn or Indeed or other job listing websites.  Unfortunately the chance of getting selected from a pool of 1000s of applicants is rather slim.  However, if you know someone who works at the company, the chances greatly increase to at least get an interview.

So how did Paul become a servant of the Gospel?

If Paul would be applying to the Lord for the position, “Servant of the Gospel” his resume would probably have been quickly dismissed.  For prior to the Lord Jesus knocking him off his horse, his resume would have included such accomplishments as:

• Opposed and threw many Christians in prison
• Approved and watched as Stephen was stoned for being a Christian.
• Great one-liner murderous threats that anyone can use against Christians.
• High ranking Pharisee that can get authorization to kill Christians in any town.

So, would you “hire” him?

Nope.

So how did Paul become a servant of the Gospel?  He tells us himself in Ephesians 3:7-9:

7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

God gave him the opportunity.  Period.

Paul didn’t have a resume that in anyway deserved the opportunity to share God’s grace with all people.  God in his mercy took the dead soul of Saul and changed it into the living, forgiven soul of Paul.  God took Saul’s tenacity for persecuting Christians and turned it into a passion for proclaiming Christ.

Paul was changed by the power of the Gospel and his experience with grace became a powerful testimony to the importance and impact of the Gospel.

Perhaps Paul had a unique role in the early Christian church.  Which he did.  However, anyone affected by the power of the Gospel is also called to be a servant of the Gospel.

This includes you.

Again, you didn’t have to submit your resume to be considered by the Lord for this role, the Lord knew you and as he connected you to his grace, he charged you with the task of being a servant of the Gospel.

So how did you become a servant of the Gospel?

By God’s grace. Period.

Like Paul, a servant of the Gospel now has the primary role to proclaim “the boundless riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery (that Christ is for all).”  For Paul it was a full time position.  For us it is probably not our profession, but it is our purpose.  The call to be a servant of the Gospel is an opportunity to share the Gospel in whatever position of life God has us.  If the position is a gift of God’s grace, the opportunities will also be orchestrated by God’s goodness (remember these are works God has prepared in advance for you to do! – Ephesians 2:10).

So be the servant of the Gospel God has called you to be!

 

Apply: What is one way you can better show up as a servant of the Gospel today in the setting in which you find yourself?

Prayer: Lord thank you for your grace that not only assures me of a position in your kingdom, but also your grace that has given me the privilege of being a servant of the Gospel.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on Week 4 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)

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Are you a person who likes a good mystery novel?  Or a good mystery movie?

Perhaps I’m dating myself, but I loved watching Scooby Doo…in fact one of my grade school lunch boxes (yes one of those metal ones with a thermos in it) was with Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine.  For the half hour cartoon, the Velma, Fred, Shaggy and Daphne along with Scooby Doo would investigate a strange occurrence.  By time the show was over, they would solve the mystery and reveal the person behind the criminal activity.  Of course, once you knew who it was and how they did it, the clues were obvious and you thought, “Why did that take them or me that long to figure it out?” The clues seemed numerous and the solution to the mystery obvious.

While I will not equate the work of Christ to the same plain as the work of Scooby Doo, it’s great when God gives us an insight into his heart, mind and will.

The mystery that was made known to Paul maybe seems pretty obvious to us today.  We are not living in the middle of the mystery, but rather look back on it with all the clues put together and the answer revealed. If I were to put the mystery of which Paul speaks into my own words, I would say, “How are non-Jews included in God’s family when they are not descendents of Abraham?”

The prevailing thought for Paul and many other God-fearing Jews of his time was that the favor of the Lord rested on the people of Israel and their descendents.  To be sure the people of Israel was a work of God to protect a people for his purpose, namely bringing Jesus into the world.

The answer to the mystery was revealed by God to Paul:

3 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

Through the Gospel, non-Jews are heirs together with Israel, members of one body and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.  While Paul was at first Saul and a true antagonist against all things Christian, God revealed to him that the very one he persecuted, Jesus Christ, was the very answer to the mystery: Through Jesus all can be included in God’s family of grace.  It is not dependent on genetic code or a perfect adherence to the law of God, but rather as a gift of God’s grace.

What makes this such a mystery is it goes against all that we would naturally assume.  We would naturally assume that the Gentiles or non-Jews would have to earn their way into God’s family.  We would assume that one would have to be of the right blood line.

But we would be wrong…just as Paul was.

Its the power of the Gospel and the work of Jesus that brings people from every nation, tribe and race to faith in Jesus and into the promises of God himself.

The same is true for you!

Apply: Why is it hard to understand how any of us is included in grace?

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for revealing your mystery to us that we might, as non-Jews, turn to you in faith. AMEN

This week’s devotions are based on Week 4 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)

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Ephesians 2:21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. 

If you have ever visited a grand cathedral such as Duke Chapel in Durham, NC or the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. you know the awe inspiring feel you have when you walk into such a grand structure built initially for the worship of the Lord.  A trip to Europe adds additional magnificent worship structures to the grandeur list.  While grand in their appearance, they are just structures and sadly, many remain empty of worshippers and empty of the Gospel.

Knowing that bricks and mortar can be combined in impressive ways, architects can design and craftsmen build beautiful buildings.

The interesting things of many of these grand cathedrals is they were built on high points in the city with a spire that could be seen for miles around.  The physical structure was an orientation point for all in the community to orient their heart, lives, and prayers toward God.  The temple of the Old Testament worshiper was no different.  It was an impressive structure set on the high point of Jerusalem.  Even when the people of Israel were taken into captivity in Babylon, Daniel and others would orient themselves toward Jerusalem and pray toward the temple.  It was a physical testimony to the presence of God in the land and even in the world.

Here’s the prayer of King Solomon at the dedication of the first temple:

1 Kings 8:29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. 

For centuries the temple was a witness to the world of the Lord and a place which marked the dwelling of God with his people.

That temple is gone, but God has designed and constructed a new temple to carry out the same purposes…his Church, you and me.  The building together of God’s people is to “rise to become a holy temple in the Lord.”  As I read this, I see the spire of the cathedral rising above the community to be a place of orientation and direction.  Is not this the role of the Church? To be a witness in the world with the power of the Gospel and the orientation of the Word of God for the hearts of people?  Absolutely!  The center of the temple was the Most Holy Place where the presence of God dwelled among his people.  Now, the hearts of believers are where God by his Spirit dwells. Collectively as two or three or more gather in his name, the Lord dwells in them and among them.

We, as God’s people, have been built together with others of God’s family to be the temple of God in our world today – a place that rises to give testimony to the love, justice, grace, and mercy of God as well as the place where God chooses to dwell by his Spirit.

You, Church, are the temple of God beautifully designed, masterfully crafted, and carefully constructed by the Lord himself to be the beacon of his love and grace in the world.

 

Apply: How can we be the temple of God more impactfully so when someone “steps into” the realm of believers they see and experience the grandeur and greatness of the Lord?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for your master craftsmanship that in love built me into your temple to be a witness to the world and the place where you choose to dwell. AMEN.