The Heart To Live For Fellow Men

When I was young, its not my type to read devotional books since it made me feel bored at most times. But its funny to realize that now that I grown up,I made myself busy those kinds of books. Why? Just for the reason that it gives me different perspectives from different levels of christian faith.

Early this morning, I was able to browse "God's Little Devotional Book". I guess it was intended for the youth but it truly touched my heart. It says, "What a difference it would make in the world if every believer were to give himself with his whole heart to live for his fellow men."

Most of the time, we live for our selves disregarding the fact that many unbelievers need us. Though we know that we are called to "make disciples among the nations", unfortunately even our neighbors never hear "God" from us, right? It may be too harsh for me to say, but I guess sometimes we really don't give much care for other people because what's important to us is that we are saved.

"The heart of living with our fellow men is not just about sharing God's love. Its also sharing with people our hug, smiles, encouragements, blessings and love."

I still remember watching a concert of "Tobymac". He is a very well known artist worldwide whether for christians and non-christians. At first, I thought that probably he just really likes having concert and composing songs. To my great surprise, he in fact serve God and share his love on his concerts.

In the mid of his Portable Sounds concert, he spoke and share a bit of God's Word saying, "No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us." I John 4:12. It was truly inspiring to be reminded that we should not live for our own.


Always Remember:
As christians, we our ought to share everything that God has provided us. Living a christian life is removing the selfish attitudes within us thus developing our loving character for other people.



By: Edwin Joseph

Is That All There Is?

“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.”
I Corinthians 15:3 NIV


Maybe you’ve gone through the acts of religion and faith and yet found yourself more often than not at a dry well. Prayers seem empty. Goals seem unthinkable. Christianity becomes a warped record full of highs and lows and off-key notes.

Is this all there is? Sunday attendance. Pretty songs. Faithful tithings. Golden crosses. Three-piece suits. Big choirs. Leather Bibles. It is nice and all, but…where is the heart of it?…

Think about these words from Paul in I Corinthians, chapter 15. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures” (NIV).

There it is. Almost too simple. Jesus was killed, buried, and resurrected. Surprised? The part that matters is the cross. No more and no less.

The "harvest of the Spirit"

Galatians 5:13-26
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (vv.22-23)

We begin today a detailed study of the fruit of the Spirit -- the nine ingredients which go to make up Christian character. These nine qualities are the natural outcome of the Holy Spirit's indwelling -- not a manufactured one. When Paul speaks of the manifestations of the flesh, he describes them as "works," but when speaking of the manifestations of the Spirit, he describes them as "fruit." "Works" suggests something that is an effort: "fruit" suggests something that is effortless. Some translations use the term "harvest of the Spirit" rather than "fruit of the Spirit," pointing to the finished product, the outcome. Most people, myself included, prefer the word "fruit" to "harvest," but there is a special truth locked up in the word "harvest" that we must not miss. You see, it is what we finally reap as the result of an attitude or course of action that is important. What happens along the way, such as good feelings, are part of the Spirit's purpose but not the greatest part. It is the end result that matters.

And what is that end result? It is a quality of being. Jesus once said: "Love your enemies, do good ... and your reward will be great ... you will be sons of the Highest" (Luke 6:35, NKJV). Note the phrase, "you will be." The reward is more than just having -- it is being. Remember, the goodness or badness of an act is determined, not just by what it does to others but by what it does to you. So having the Holy Spirit within us is not just being the recipient of pleasurable emotions -- it is being a better person.


Prayer:
O God my Father, help me right here at the beginning to get my focus right and yearn, not so much for better feelings, but to be a better person. In Christ's Name I ask it. Amen.



From: CrossWalk Devotionals - Everyday Light

Forgiveness

For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. - Matthew 6:14-15

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you". - Lewis B. Smedes

Forgiveness is surely one of the most misunderstood concepts in Christianity. Despite the fact that we are all called to forgive as our Father in heaven forgives, misunderstandings and misconceptions are widespread. In this devotional, we want to take you deeper in your understanding of what it means to truly forgive.

As is so often the case, it's easier to consider forgiveness by taking a look at what it's not.

First, we have to acknowledge that forgiveness is not an emotion. It is a conscious choice which has nothing to do with how we feel. We choose that we will no longer expect those who hurt us to repay us for the harm that was done. We choose that we will get on with our lives and no longer dwell on the hurt.

In past devotionals, we've looked at other, similar choices we are called to make which are often confused with a feeling. These include our choice to love our enemies, our choice to be humble and our choice to be thankful. Forgiveness certainly falls into this category. If we believe that we have to wait for our anger to subside before we can forgive, then we have the issue entirely backwards. The choice to forgive comes first; the soothing of our emotions comes consequently.

Forgiveness is not about the person who wronged us; it's about us. If we will not forgive someone who failed to meet our expectations, we start to change on the inside. We become angry and resentful. The quality of our own life begins to suffer and in this way, we compound the wrongdoing until it becomes something far more damaging than it originally was. One of the most important reasons we must forgive is that we cannot grow into the mature Christian Jesus is calling us to be with all that hurt and animosity building up inside us. Forgiveness is that act by which we release ourselves from our own prison of bitterness.

Forgiveness does not require that the wrongdoer apologize or is remorseful. It does not even require that they are aware of the fact that they hurt us. All that is required is that we simply say, "I'm letting this go. I will not let this incident change me in any way. I'm getting over it." What the wrongdoer does or does not do makes no difference in our decision to move past it and begin healing. As we release them from their duty to remedy the harm that was done, we release ourselves from the burden of making them accountable to their responsibility.

Forgiveness does not mean that we forget and it certainly does not mean that we need to stay in a relationship with the one who wronged us. If someone hurt of one my children, you can be certain that I would never forget and would never again allow them to be near my children. If it were a friend of mine who did such a terrible thing, then we could no longer be friends after such a violation of trust. Forgiveness does not require that relationships never change. It does require that we move past the incident in our hearts and that we refrain from dwelling on it.

Finally, forgiveness does not mean that the wrongdoer "gets away with it" or is "off the hook." It certainly does not mean that we condone what was done to us. Lewis Smedes explains,

"When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it. "


Furthermore, our forgiveness does not prevent us from perusing appropriate justice through the legal system, or from calling out to God and asking for His perfect justice to be done. A person who steals or murders should face the appropriate penalties under both our law and God's. What forgiveness does is change the reason we desire that they should be brought to justice. Before we forgive, it's natural to feel that they should be made to suffer just as they made us suffer. We want them to pay for what they've done to us! After we forgive, a transformation happens in our heart. We have released them from their obligation to us and so we can now peruse appropriate justice for its own sake, not for our own. We trust their fate to God and the courts, content that they no longer have any obligation or responsibility to us.

Forgiveness is not easy, but it is also not optional - our Lord commands it. If you are having difficulty forgiving someone today, take a moment and examine your reasons. Is it because the hurt is so big? The bigger the hurt, the more devastating is your prison of bitterness and therefore the more important it becomes to let yourself out. Are you having difficulty because they have not apologized and show no signs of changing their behavior? Remember that your forgiveness is about you, not about them. Are you struggling because you are still so angry and hurt? The pain will not subside until you make the choice to forgive. Ask the Lord for the strength and conviction to emulate Him, and make that decision today.



From: Delve Into Jesus

The Place of Exaltation

. . . Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . — Mark 9:2


We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18 ). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.

We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, "What’s the use of this experience?" We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.



From: RBC - Utmost For His Highest

Tithing Legacy

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. ..." says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
-Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

GRANDMA was a widow who raised my dad and his six siblings on a meager income. She did this while modeling the discipline of tithing. She once testified to me, "God never failed to take care of me and mine."

As a teenager, I asked Dad why he tithed. He told me about Grandma's mason jar. "Ten percent of what your grandma earned doing laundry for others and the small amount we kids made from paper routes and from delivering the finished laundry went into that jar."

"How did the rest of the money stretch for the things you needed?"

He answered, "We didn't need to stretch our earnings because the Lord multiplied them."

I'm grateful my grandmother taught her children to tithe. I'm thankful that Dad helped me understand that the Lord will multiply whatever we give and use it to enrich others' lives as well as our own.


Prayer
Praise you, Lord, the God of truth and boundless supply, for the privilege of tithing. Amen.



From: UpperRoom Devotionals - Jane Owen

BUT JEHOVAH WAS WITH JOSEPH

“And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison…But the LORD was with Joseph...and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.” Genesis 39:20-23

The striking words of Madame Guyon are so relevant for the Christian who abandons himself in unwavering trust in the faithfulness and might of God. She said, “I have learnt to love the darkness of sorrow; there you can see the brightness of His face.”

It is not uncommon for the Christian to encounter the abusive and treacherous ways of man, and suffer unjustly because of their greed, jealousy, or pride. Today, on many mission fields and in foreign countries, Christians are being persecuted, imprisoned, and even slain for their steadfast faith in Christ. Evil men and misled religious faiths are aggressively attacking the truth and those who adhere to it faithfully. To the believer, this is the arm of Satan ever seeking to counter the inevitable…the victory Christ has procured for us on Calvary through His atonement.

God intervenes time and again for His own. God was preparing Joseph for the specific ministry HE had for him. Even the evil rejection and jealousy by his brothers, with the intent to slay him, could not stay God’s hand. They sold him as a slave to the passing Ishmaelites, who in turn sold him to Potiphar. Then he was falsely accused of adultery by Potiphar’s wife, and unjustly cast into prison in Egypt. But this was all in the plan of God. God’s providential ways often lead us through unusual circumstances, but always to the victory He has already purchased for us and will provide to us.

Through thirteen years of “darkness,” Joseph’s faith never wavered. The extenuating circumstances were never a divisive influence to Joseph. He knew that through it all, God would be true to His covenant with him, and in His time raise him up according to His plan and purpose. In prison and through these dreadful encounters, “Jehovah was with Joseph!” In prison he gained favor with the guards who dared to trust him. Whatever he did, “Jehovah made it to prosper.” Finally, God’s time was at hand, and Joseph was elevated as the Prime Minister of the greatest country in the world at that time. Honored by the king, acclaimed by the people, and a "savior" to the starving people of Egypt and surrounding countries.

There is a simplicity and calmness about God in working out His plans. There is a divine resourcefulness in His power that is more than equal to any difficulty we may face. There is an infinite compassion, care, and concern in God that reaches down to the extent of our every need. There is a covenant with His own to which HE is irrevocably committed. There are resources of His grace given to every believer that he may be more than a conqueror through Him that loved him. THIS, and infinitely more, God has made available to every believer! In every encounter, Jehovah will be with us! The “darkness” of our hour is but the opportunity for the manifesting of His providential power.

Our responsibility is to be faithful, obedient, and steadfast, with unwavering trust. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Whenever we cannot see His hand…we can trust His heart. Behind every dark threatening encounter is the imposing splendor and faithful hand of Almighty God. HIS ways may be unsearchable…but HIS grace is unfailing!



From: Literature International Ministry - Ed Powell