Weekly Devo - "Focus on Christ instead of Your Circumstances" - 12/17/12

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manger

 

FOCUS ON CHRIST INSTEAD OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES

              But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 2:19

Have you ever felt hypocritical singing Silent Night when you can’t even get your mind to be silent in church because your Christmas to-do list is wrecking havoc with your head? From your lips you sing, “All is calm . . . ” but your spirit scoffs, “All is chaos maybe, but calm? Not by a long shot.”

Although Silent Night is a beautiful hymn, the night of Jesus’ birth wasn’t as silent as nativity scenes display. Think about the circumstances that surrounded His birth. The holy infant would’ve cried, and the first time parents far from home may have wondered what to do. And then there were the animals. Not only do they generate a lot of noise, the smell isn’t real pleasant either.

When our minds are focused on our circumstances instead of Christ, there will be more chaos then calm. Mary models how to think right. Her mind was fixed on her Lord. When the angel Gabriel announced her miraculous virgin pregnancy she responded with surrender and in song. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38).  My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior . . . for the Mighty One has done great things for me–holy is his name (Luke 1:46, 49).

At Jesus’ birth, angels sang, shepherds visited, and Mary pondered. She treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19). She stilled her mind, not her circumstances. She thought about God and pondered all He was doing in the world and in her life.

When have you and I last sat still and pondered the awesomeness of God? Does our spirit rejoice in God our Savior? Does our heart skip a beat when we gaze at Jesus and think about His love that was so deep he 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 (Philippians 2:6-7).

We don’t need a silent night to think on God and His greatness; we need a still heart. What is it that you fear? What circumstances in your life feel like the earth is giving way and the mountains are falling into the heart of the sea? (Psalm 46:2) With the Psalmist command your heart to be still and know that I am God. The LORD Almighty is with us (Psalm 46:10a, 11a). Yes! Yes! Emmanuel, “God with us” is here (Matthew 1:23)!   

Think on it: No matter what your circumstances hold today, will you keep your heart still before God and focused on Christ? If so, how?

Our hearts can be filled with distractions. Love will find a place where it’s welcome, even if it’s just a manger.

Bob Goff

Weekly Devo "Trade In Deceit For Deliverance" - 12/10/12

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

 

TRADE IN DECEIT FOR DELIVERANCE

              “This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!”

Jeremiah 37:9

When Zedekiah was king of Judah, the people dismissed God’s word like junk mail to a recycling bin, yet they still wanted His help. When threatened by their enemy the king sent a message to Jeremiah saying, “Please pray for us to the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 37:3).

God responded, “Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us’ They will not!” (37:9). Jeremiah repeatedly told the king to obey God, and the king repeatedly disregarded the warnings. Zedekiah chose to listen to his fears (38:19) and his friends (38:22) instead of listening to God. In the end, he watched the Babylonians slaughter his sons before they blinded and bound him (39:6).

Zedekiah deceived himself into thinking he could ignore God’s instruction and yet implore His intercession. He feared political ramifications and public opinion, more then He feared God. He was a double-minded man, (James 1:8) whose deceitful thoughts led to his defeat and disgrace.

In chapter 9 of Jeremiah God tells the people that they live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refused to acknowledge God (v. 6). How true of our culture yet today!

Our world has deceived itself into thinking that truth is relevant and if it feels right, then it must be right. Even the body of Christ has deceived itself into thinking we can pick and choose which of God’s commands we’ll obey and which ones we’ll sideline because they’re too costly, radical, or difficult.

In his book, Our Favorite Sins–The Sins We Commit & How You Can Quit, Todd. D. Hunter writes, “Temptations almost always come wrapped in some sort of lie or deception. The fraud provides the alleged reason we should give in to the temptation.”

Do not be deceived into thinking that disobedience is no big deal or that there’s no way out of the temptations that lure you. Jesus is our Deliverer! Keep your eyes on the LORD, your ear attentive to His Word, your mind fixed on His truth, and He will deliver you from the snares of the world, the lies of the deceiver, and your own double-minded thoughts.

  

Think on it: What command of God have you deceived yourself into ignoring? Ask Him to deliver you and set your feet firmly on His path of righteousness.

From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil…Good Lord, deliver us.

Book of Common Prayer

Weekly Devo - "Trade in Sin For Second Chances" - 12/3/12

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

TRADE IN SIN FOR SECOND CHANCES

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

1 John 2:1

By the time Jonathan Edwards was nineteen years old, he consciously set his mind on living for the glory of God alone. He penned seventy personal mission statements, each beginning with an unyielding affirmation “Resolved.” One reads, Resolved, to inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking.

Pondering the day at the end of the day is a wise spiritual discipline in respect to eating, drinking, and more. Did I act in the best way I possibly could in respect to how I used my time, money, and words? Who was the center of my thoughts, conversations, and actions today–God, others, or me?

If our evening ponderings are a repetitive playlist of past sins, there’s a temptation to quit trying to live God’s way. If we are sickened by our sins, surely God is weary and will give up on us, too. How many times will He forgive? What’s the maximum number of second chances He allocates to one person?

The enemy wants us to believe these despairing thoughts. He accuses in hopes we’ll quit rather than to turn to God whose mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23). Thankfully, God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:10). He is compassionate, forgiving, and generous with second-chances.  

When Abraham not once, but twice told rulers that Sarai was his sister instead of his wife, God responded with grace and made him the father of many nations. When Jonah disobeyed God, he wasn’t left at the bottom of the sea. God rescued him and gave him a second chance to go to Nineveh and proclaim His message. When Peter denied the Lord, not once, twice, but three times before the rooster’s second crow, Jesus prepared breakfast on the beach and gave opportunity for Peter to reaffirm his love for Him.

When we sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One (1 John 2:1). When we confess our sins He lavishly trades them in with forgiveness and the gift of a second chance.

Think on it: What area of your life have you given up on ever seeing change in your thought patterns or behavior? Trade in your sin for His second chance.

God waits for the chances we give Him to show His great generosity.

Saint John Chrysostom