Brokenness: The Principle

READ | John 12:24-25


Brokenness hurts, and most of us would rather live without any seasons of pain. Yet during such times, the Lord often does His greatest work in our lives, reshaping and realigning us for His divine purposes.

Jesus beautifully explains the principle of brokenness in John 12:24-25, where He compares our life to a single grain of wheat. If we hold a kernel in our hands, nothing will happen. If we carefully place it in a jar or on a shelf for safekeeping, it will just sit there indefinitely. In its safety, the grain will essentially be useless.

However, if that kernel is placed in the soil where its protective layer is stripped away, something amazing happens. Before long, a little sprout will emerge from the earth and start to grow into something different, useful, and beautiful. Moreover, that new stalk will produce more grains that can be planted, and the stalks they produce will do the same. It’s an amazing cycle of life, wherein a single kernel can lead to countless stalks of wheat. But it has to start with the brokenness of one grain.

Jesus did not just speak this example; He lived it. By sacrificing Himself, He was broken and placed in the ground. From that brokenness came new life for us all. From that one “grain,” countless new believers, each with a new life, have sprung forth.

Are you feeling broken today? If so, remember the principle of the broken grain. God has certainly not abandoned you; instead, He may be leading you into a season of radical new growth.



From: InTouch - Early Light Devotionals

Coming to Jesus

Come to Me . . . — Matthew 11:28


Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— "Come to Me . . . ." In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of the race of seemingly unspeakable foolishness and say, "Just as I am, I come." As long as you have even the least bit of spiritual disrespect, it will always reveal itself in the fact that you are expecting God to tell you to do something very big, and yet all He is telling you to do is to "Come . . . ."

"Come to Me . . . ." When you hear those words, you will know that something must happen in you before you can come. The Holy Spirit will show you what you have to do, and it will involve anything that will uproot whatever is preventing you from getting through to Jesus. And you will never get any further until you are willing to do that very thing. The Holy Spirit will search out that one immovable stronghold within you, but He cannot budge it unless you are willing to let Him do so.

How often have you come to God with your requests and gone away thinking, "I’ve really received what I wanted this time!" And yet you go away with nothing, while all the time God has stood with His hands outstretched not only to take you but also for you to take Him. Just think of the invincible, unconquerable, and untiring patience of Jesus, who lovingly says, "Come to Me. . . ."



From: RBC - Utmost For His Highest

Our Courteous Christ

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
Mark 10:45 NKJV


I had never thought much about the courtesy of Christ before, but as I began looking, I realized that Jesus made Emily Post look like Archie Bunker.

He always knocks before entering. He doesn’t have to. He owns your heart. If anyone has the right to barge in, Christ does. But he doesn’t. That gentle tap you hear? It’s Christ. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Rev. 3:20 NASB). And when you answer, he awaits your invitation to cross the threshold…

And when he enters, he always brings a gift. Some bring Chianti and daisies. Christ brings “the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). And, as he stays, he serves. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45 NIV). If you’re missing your apron, you’ll find it on him. He’s serving the guests as they sit (John 13:4-5). He won’t eat until he’s offered thanks, and he won’t leave until the leftovers are put away (Matt. 14:19-20).


From: Max Lucado

You’re Gonna Be Like Him

Romans 8:29-30
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. . . And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.


Becoming Like Jesus

We’ve been learning that nothing is an accident when it comes to your relationship with God. He decided to make you his child before the world began. Then, he arranged every detail in your life so that you would hear the gospel and accept Jesus as your savior.

The movie, Back to the Future 2, involves the time traveler in a situation in which his mother falls in love with him. He has to make sure nothing comes of that relationship or it will change his present. As the events unfold, it becomes very clear that changing just one relationship in a person’s life could make a radical difference in the future of many people for several generations.

God doesn’t travel in time to arrange the details of our heredity, our birth, and the days of our lives. Because he is eternal, all-knowing, and all-powerful, God has already planned every detail of who we are and what will happen to us. Romans 8:29-30 highlights four significant things God does to make every one of his children look like Jesus. First, he predestines or chooses us before creation. Next, he calls us and makes us want to be saved. Then, he justifies us by declaring us not guilty of any sin. He can do that because Jesus gave his life on the cross to pay the death penalty for our sins. The fourth and final thing God will do for each of his kids is to make us be like Jesus.

God uses everything that happens in our lives from the moment of salvation until our death to mold us. God uses all sorts of experiences, influences, teachings, and discipline as his tools. He helps us think, feel, and act more and more like Jesus all the time. We won’t become perfect in this life, no matter how hard we try. But, the moment we die, God will instantly finish the job. 1 John 3:2 says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he [Christ] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

God has given his word that he will make us holy, pure, and godly from the inside out. You could say that is his primary purpose in our lives. God filters every second of our lives through his love and power in order accomplish his goal of making us look like our big brother, Jesus. What a full, meaningful, and adventurous life we get to live as the chosen, called, and adopted children of God!


Today’s Prayer:
Eternal God and Father, thank you that there are no accidents in life because you are in control. Thank you that you use every single part of my life to make me like Jesus. You use my goof-ups just as easily as you use my greatest successes. I praise you for being the absolute king and organizer of my life. Amen.



From: New Wine Skine - Written by Martha E Menne

LOVE IS NOT EASILY PROVOKED…THINKS NO EVIL

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:6


To think, to be, to do, to walk, to live, to love...so we will not be easily provoked, we must have the attitude and mind of Christ. You might say, “I can’t do that!” True, but GOD CAN...THROUGH YOU! We look at our spiritual life from “our” perspective, what “we” can or cannot do…rather than what God wants to do in and through us by His might and power.

Paul said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very ‘nature of a servant,’ being made in human likeness. After being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death…even the death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

True Christian love does not cherish malice, entertain anger, give way to revenge, condone evil thoughts, and is not easily provoked. Rather, it recognizes our need of continual fresh communication with God, and the “appropriation” of His grace and sufficiency to sustain us, as we face these evil traits of our old nature.

It’s one thing to recognize our need, but another, to embrace the ONE who can meet that need, and give us victory over it. When God’s love prevails within our heart, it will extinguish that which seeks to invade our life to divert our focus from Christ.

Our sin nature is anxious to defend our wrongs or be on the offense to proclaim our rights. Our attitude plays such an important role in the way we think and act. Jesus said, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…these are the things which defile a man” (Matthew 15:19-20). David knew this from his own experience and cried out to God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

There was only one way he could overcome the malicious thoughts that almost consumed him--he found his refuge in God (Psalm 73). With ruthless attention Paul faced those things in his life that are adverse and rebellious to the Spirit of God who lived within him. SO MUST WE! True Christian love cannot harbor harmful thoughts.

Paul said, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things” Philippians 4:8). He is challenging us to FIX OUR MINDS AND HEARTS ON CHRIST!

Don’t entertain those evil devastating thoughts, but think on those positive, inspiring virtues that proceed from God. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature…Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16,17,25).

Paul’s challenge to every believer is, “Bringing into ‘captivity’ every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). A life separated to God, is not something we “wish that some day we will attain”…rather, it is the surrender of “our right of authority” to CHRIST…a walk in obedience and faith to Jesus Christ. Immeasurably blessed is the freedom and liberty God gives when we yield to His control. How glorious! Forgiven, set free, triumphant…through CHRIST!



From: Literature International Ministry - Ed Powell

Treasure Here

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
-Matthew 13:44 (NIV)


MY favorite photo from our recent vacation shows a scene on the beach. One of my sons had used a piece of driftwood to mark a big "X" in the wet sand and written the words "Treasure Here" beside it.

Reminding me of a pirate's map, the photo also prompted thoughts of another treasure map in my possession: my Bible. Following the directions found in its pages likewise directs any seeker to a treasure trove of incredible riches. Clues to health, joyful life, and true love are all hidden in its pages.

In days of old, the one who possessed the map knew how to find the bounty. Other treasure hunters had to stumble along largely in the dark, piecing together clues as they could find them and gathering information from other people along the way. Many people fall in that latter category today, seeking spiritual truth from others instead of consulting the map to true riches which are available to all - God's word, the Bible.

I plan to clip that beach photo to the front of my Bible to remind myself that truly there is "treasure here," if I take the time to dig into what's inside.


Prayer
God of all truth, teach us through your word how to be obedient to your will. We love your law because we love you. Amen.



From: UpperRoom Devotionals - Elaine L. Bridge

Contentment’s Enemy

"Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else your neighbor owns.” (Exodus 20:17)


The tenth commandment, which deals with coveting, speaks to our deepest attitudes. Of course, the word, “covet,” means to be dissatisfied with what we have and to desire more, regardless of what it may cost us or someone else.

One Christmas when I was a young boy, I received everything that I had wanted. I was so happy. I thought, “This is the greatest Christmas I’ve ever had!” Then I went over to my friend’s house and saw his gifts. Suddenly, I was miserable, because he had been given something that I sort of wanted, but I had forgotten about it.

All of a sudden, all that I had (as wonderful as it was) was no longer acceptable, because my friend had something that I wanted more. That is what coveting is.

As adults, we can do this as well. Everything is fine in our lives, but then we see what our neighbor has. We see what somebody else has. Then we begin to covet that. We want that—and sadly, some will even go out and take whatever it is they are coveting. We might even covet another person’s spouse.

It can ruin our lives. We are not to covet.

Jesus said that the first and greatest commandment is, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind’ ” (Matthew 22:37) and that a second and equally important command is to “ ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (verse 39).

All the other commandments are based on these two. So, if you can get these down, then everything else will come naturally.




From: CrossWalk Devotionals