Contagious!

Take a look at 2 Corinthians 9:2 where Paul writes these words,

For I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.

Did you notice those last eight words, and your zeal has stirred up the majority? Passion is contagious.

What do you think might happen if a community saw a church that was utterly on fire? Where all the members in that church were passionate about their worship, passionate about their relationship with God, passionate about serving one another, passionate about real deal Christianity where the rubber meets the road?

I believe there is a divine attraction to that! And I believe that it would transform a community.

Sadly, most communities witness just the opposite—compromise, apathy, and boredom—not passion.

Now, rather than complain, I want to challenge you to live life with real passion. Go all out for God. It only takes one person to ignite the fire of passion in others.

I heard the story of a man who came to hear D. L. Moody preach. While sitting there the man next to him asked, “Do you come out here because you believe the things he’s preaching?”

His response was, “No. I come out because he believes it.”

Passion is contagious! Are people catching it from you? Is your zeal for Christ stirring up those who come in contact with you? If not, ask God to put that passion into your heart today and watch what happens!


From: CrossWalk Devotionals - Answers For Each Day

Praying to God in Secret

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place . . . — Matthew 6:6


The primary thought in the area of religion is— keep your eyes on God, not on people. Your motivation should not be the desire to be known as a praying person. Find an inner room in which to pray where no one even knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven. It is impossible to carry on your life as a disciple without definite times of secret prayer.

"When you pray, do not use vain repetitions . . ." ( Matthew 6:7 ). God does not hear us because we pray earnestly— He hears us solely on the basis of redemption. God is never impressed by our earnestness. Prayer is not simply getting things from God— that is only the most elementary kind of prayer. Prayer is coming into perfect fellowship and oneness with God. If the Son of God has been formed in us through regeneration (see Galatians 4:19 ), then He will continue to press on beyond our common sense and will change our attitude about the things for which we pray.

"Everyone who asks receives . . ." (Matthew 7:8 ). We pray religious nonsense without even involving our will, and then we say that God did not answer— but in reality we have never asked for anything. Jesus said, ". . . you will ask what you desire. . ." ( John 15:7 ). Asking means that our will must be involved. Whenever Jesus talked about prayer, He spoke with wonderful childlike simplicity. Then we respond with our critical attitude, saying, "Yes, but even Jesus said that we must ask." But remember that we have to ask things of God that are in keeping with the God whom Jesus Christ revealed.


From: RBC - Utmost For His Highest

A Symbol of Love

“He is not here; he has risen from the dead.”
Luke 24:6

When John arrived at the empty tomb the burial wraps had not been ripped off and thrown down. They were still in their original state! The linens were undisturbed. The graveclothes were still rolled and folded.

How could this be?...

If for some reason friends or foes had unwrapped the body, would they have been so careful as to dispose of the clothing in such an orderly fashion? Of course not! But if neither friend nor foe took the body, who did?...

Through the rags of death, John saw the power of life. Odd, don’t you think, that God would use something as sad as a burial wrap to change a life?

But God is given to such practices:

In his hand empty wine jugs at a wedding become a symbol of power.

The coin of a widow becomes a symbol of generosity.

And a tool of death is a symbol of his love.



From: Max Lucado

The Bigger Picture

By the power at work within us [God] is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.
-- Ephesians 3:20 (NRSV)

ONE morning I had an appointment and was running late. After I had stopped at a light behind three or four other vehicles, the light finally turned green. But we didn't move. I craned my neck to see the problem.

A car that had made a right turn appeared to be blocking the way as it waited for another light. I could see a large gap between that car and the one ahead of it. "If that car would just move forward to close the gap, we could all get through our light," I muttered.

Eventually the car moved. As it did so, I saw that it was towing a very long, low trailer. I realized that I had been seeing only a part of the situation.

Afterwards, I wondered how many times I have made a decision based on what I could see without asking God to reveal the bigger picture. I thought of the times God seemed not to answer a prayer or to be responding differently than seemed logical to me.

God sees the whole picture, and acts in my life based on a higher view than mine. I have learned not to make decisions on my limited view but to trust God, who looks beyond what we can see.

Prayer
Lord, help us attend to your Holy Spirit to see the larger picture as we make decisions affecting our lives and those of others. Amen.



From: UpperRoom Devotionals - Elaine Richardson

Wimpy or Gentle

Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.


Our Gentle Savior

A few years ago my husband Mike and I took our girls on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Florida. Of the five of us only two enjoy park rides, my husband Mike and middle daughter Stephanie. So, after two days of paying big bucks to get into the theme parks and having to practically drag his family unto the rides in order to get our money’s worth, Mike was growing weary.

During Wednesday morning breakfast, he gave us a pep talk. He assured us that there’s nothing to be afraid of. He tried to convince us that the rides were going to be fun. He even stressed that we weren’t coming back to Florida to try this at another time. We all needed to take the chance to fully experience it now. His motivational speech concluded with a call for action, “Is everyone ready to be BRAVE today? Are you ready to be the BRAVE family?”

It may have been a passionate conclusion to his speech, but it remained ineffective on Melanie, our 7 year old, “No!” she said, “I want to be part of the WIMPY family!”

Being a wimp goes far beyond the 3/5 of the Bulthuis family with a fear of fast rides. Many people associate being a wimp with being gentle. They wrongly equate gentleness with being afraid or weak.

We need to look no further than Jesus’ journey to the cross to realize that gentleness is not the easy road taken by wimps, but an attribute of God shown perfectly in Jesus. Notice Jesus’ strength and gentleness in some of the events of his last week he died on the cross.

1. He chose the humble mount of the common man to enter into Jerusalem. See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Matthew 21:5)

2. Jesus entered Jerusalem gently and humbly as the crowds sang praises to him. Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest. (Matthew 21:9)

3. When the Pharisees confronted Jesus, asking him to stop the people from singing praises to him, did he act like a wimp? Did he run away in fear of his enemy? How would a wimp act in this situation? Not at all. His reply to the Pharisees was gentle, yet bold and uncompromising. He was not afraid to stand up for the truth! “I tell you,” he replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

4. He continued to be gentle as he drove out sellers at the temple, ate the Last Supper with his betrayer and prayed at Gethsemane.

5. He patiently watched as he was disowned by His friend Peter, judged by Pilate and mocked by soldiers.

6. Even during His crucifixion He begged God to forgive those who were killing him. Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34)

Alleluia! What a Savior! What a gentle Savior!

Our words and actions should always be modeled after our Gentle Savior. The Bible tells us that we too should . . .be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)

Consider how strength and gentleness can be more and more evident in your life as you follow in the footsteps of the One whose gentleness never wavered, even as he bore our sins on the cross.

Today’s Prayer:
Jesus, thank You that You are my gentle, loving Savior. Help me to follow Your example by being humble and gentle. Please make me; patient so that I bear with others in love. May Your gentleness be more and more evident in my words and actions. In Jesus’ Name Amen.



From: New Wine Skin - Written by Lenae Bulthuis