Weekly Devotional - Our Boast! - 1/26/15

Our Boast!

written by: Lenae, GEMS training manager 

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Over Saturday morning pancakes at a local diner with our preschool grandsons, Landon started bragging about his dad. “Papa, my dad is stronger than you.” Mike didn’t disagree, especially with his crutches propped against the wall!

“He can lift you,” boasted Landon. “He can lift a car. He can lift this whole building!” While Landon elaborated on his dad’s strength, this children’s song popped in my head: My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do—for YOU! (Ruth Harms Calkin)

Later that night Mike wondered how different our witness to the world would be if we were all as proud of our Heavenly Father as Landon is of his dad. What if we couldn’t stop sharing, “There’s nothing my God cannot do—for YOU!”

Our Heavenly Father cannot be exaggerated! He is powerful, mighty, good, and strong. He is our Provider, Healer, Redeemer, Savior, Friend, and King. He is the great I AM! This is our boast and message!

Send Me: What specific boast will you make today about our Heavenly Father?

Weekly Devotional - "Examine the Message" - 1/19/2015

Greetings Ladies -
Here is the weekly devotional from Lenae - our GEMS training manager -

Enjoy your week and be a blessing as you Bring The Message!

Examine the Message

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 17:11

“God doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” she said. It’s a message I’ve heard again and again. It’s a hope the hurting hold onto and extends to others. Thing is, you can’t find that in His Word. It’s not true. I don’t know about you, but there have been seasons in my life where I was given much more than I can bear. And I’m not alone.

Super-apostle Paul would agree. He wrote, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). The road he walked in Asia felt like a death sentence. He was given stuff far beyond his ability to handle!

And there was more. Near the end of the same letter Paul said he received a tormenting thorn in the flesh. Three times he pleaded with the Lord to take it away. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

This is truth! This is the message we must cling to in our valleys and share with those who are up to their eyeballs in difficulties. You will never receive more than God can handle. His power, love, and grace are sufficient for each burden, and perfect for each weakness.

When the Berean Jews received the message from Paul, they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). When we hear and bring the message, let’s take great care to do the same.

Send Me: As you receive and share messages today, examine them. Is it true to Scripture or has His Word been misquoted or distorted?
 

Run to God in your weakness and bone-tiredness and despair. 

Rely wholly on Him. 

Throw aside any foolish confidence you have in yourself. 

Drink deeply of His overwhelming, overflowing grace. 

Stephen Altrogge

PS The misquotation of God giving us more than we can handle is from 1 Corinthians 10:13. What He promises is that He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear.