Weekly Devotion - Voice of Truth - 6/29/15

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

Voice of Truth

Then the LORD called Samuel.
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 1 Samuel 3:4

In the days when the word of the Lord was rare and there were not many visions, God spoke to a young boy named Samuel who was constantly in a place where he might hear God. Samuel served God in the Tabernacle, and lived and slept there. The only thing that separated his bed from the room that housed the ark of God was a curtain—the veil that split the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:33).

One night God spoke to Samuel by name, but Samuel did not recognize His voice. But God kept calling, as God always does, and after the third time Eli the priest understood.

So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9-10). And God talked with Samuel!

The Voice that spoke to Samuel was Jesus, the Voice of Truth! And like Samuel, when God’s children have ears to hear, they respond. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

For those who are constantly in a place where they might hear God, He reveals Himself. The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them (Psalm 25:14). When we fear and honor God, He draws close and confides. He calls us by name. Repeating our name and His message, if needed. There is intimacy in His presence, all made possible through Jesus who by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body (Hebrews 10:20).

Jesus is speaking to you today! Do you hear Him?

What’s your story? In 1 & 2 Samuel Jesus is the Voice of Truth who calls God’s children by name (1 Samuel 3:4). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read 1 & 2 Samuel.

It is with the upright that God is intimate. He shares the secret things with those who fear or revere Him (Psalm 25:14) — Donna Gaines

Weekly Devotion - "The High Priest" - 5/18/15

The High Priest

  from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.” And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses. Leviticus 16:34

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Hebrews 10:10-12

Be holy. That’s the theme of Leviticus. “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). We don’t have to look further than our bathroom mirror or our last thought to see the impossibility of that one. Our sin separates us from God. Our rebellion blocks and keeps the Holy One at a distance. That's true for all, including the Israelites who received God’s original command. So our Redeemer made a way.

God provided sacrifices as the means to approach Him, and He chose priests to perform those sacrifices. The details within Exodus and Leviticus were their guide. And of all the offerings and sacrifices, it was the annual Day of Atonement that was most significant.

Once a year the high priest was allowed access to God. Through meticulous care to God’s instructions he entered the Holy of Holies. To do so he first needed to make atonement (God making us right with Him through a sacrifice) for himself and his household, and then he made atonement for the people. It had to be repeated year after year, reiterating the insufficiency of the atonement. And year after year, the laws, feasts, and sacrifices were a great picture gallery preparing the world for Christ!

Jesus is our perfect atoning sacrifice. His death is our Day of Atonement! And because of our Great High Priest’s sacrifice the curtain of the temple that prevented access to God was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51)! Now we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16)!

What’s your story? In Leviticus Jesus is The High Priest who makes us holy and gives us access to God (Leviticus 16:34). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read the book of Leviticus. If time, read the book of Hebrews, too. It is considered the New Testament commentary on Leviticus.

As the priest entered the holiest with the blood, so Christ entered heaven itself with His own blood for us. His blood makes the throne of God a mercy seat which otherwise must have been a throne of judgment. — Keith L. Brooks

Weekly Devotion - "The Lamb" 5/11/15

The Lamb

by Lenae - GEMS Training Manager 
When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. Exodus 12:23

Between the last verse in Genesis and the first verse of Exodus, four hundred years passed and Israel’s twelve sons multiplied to an estimated 2 million plus in numbers and power. It made them a dread to Egypt’s new king and people. So the Egyptian’s oppressed them. Which only escalated Israel’s population and their slave masters’ ruthless demands.

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress (Psalm 107:28). Faithful to His promise, God saved His people through a man named Moses, mighty and miraculous plagues, and the Passover lamb. The spotless lamb’s blood on the doorframes of the houses was a sign that He would pass over them. They were protected from the destroyer and delivered from death and destruction.

Israel’s deliverance set the stage for the greatest deliverance ever! When God saved the Israelites in Exodus it was like He was saying, “Just wait. I saved My people because I loved them, but I’m not done yet. One day I’ll send My Son to save the whole world!”

God was faithful to His promise. He sent His Son, our Passover Lamb, to be slain for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! (John 1:29) Jesus is the Lamb without blemish or defect who redeems us from an empty way of life (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Death no longer has mastery over us. Sin is no longer our ruthless and oppressive taskmaster. Through the precious blood of The Lamb we are forgiven, delivered, and set free!

Choose to live in the glorious reality of all He has done for you!

What’s your story? In Exodus Jesus is The Lamb and the theme is deliverance (Exodus 3:8). How does His Story help you tell your story?

Get in the Book: Read the book of Exodus.

The salvation of Israel in Exodus was God’s greatest act of salvation in the Old Testament. Yet it merely points to His greatest act of salvation ever: His salvation of His people by the substitution of Christ as the Passover lamb, dying in our place so that we might live to God’s glory forever. — Mark Dever

Weekly Devotion - "Creator of All" - 5/5

Creator of All

from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
 
In the beginning: God. The One who is the Alpha and Beginning begins His Story where all stories begin. Himself.
 
And Genesis, the great book of beginnings, tells us the beginning of  . . .

• The world and everything that it contains—all of it was good!
• People—families, civilizations, and nations all made in His image.
• Sin—rebellion, conflict, punishment, and death.
• God’s unfailing promises of hope, salvation, and life—Jesus!

From the very beginning we see Jesus, the Creator of all things! In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2). For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17).

Whether at the beginning of His Book, a new chapter in your story, or the start of each day, we can rest and rejoice in our Creator’s sovereign and merciful care. In Christ all things hold together. Though there may be times when it seems like we or the world around us is falling apart, the One who created the heavens and the earth is the Eternal Seam who holds all things together. Nothing can separate or rip us apart from Him or His love (Romans 8:38-39).

Genesis shows us how all things began. Revelation shows us how all things will end. And in the middle of Jesus’ first coming and His second coming is our story. Within the light of His Story, He invites those in Christ—His new creation—to write theirs (2 Corinthians 5:17, Psalm 119:105).

What’s your story? In Genesis God is Creator of All. How does His Story help you tell your story? Be specific!

Get in the Book: Read the book of Genesis.

The story of the Bible is one. From a Christian point of view it begins with Christ the Creator (John 1:1-3), it climaxes with Christ the Savior, and is consummated with the return of Christ in glory. — Graeme Goldsworthy

Light in the Fog

This is worth the read! It jumped off the page at me this morning. THIS is what the GEMS leadership conference is all about for me. July 9 - 12, 2015 ‪#‎justshowup‬

Light in the Fog (Titus 2: 1 - 15) - from the Women's Devotional Bible:

Have you ever been driving down a road at night when the fog rolled in so thick you couldn't see five feet in front of you? It can be pretty scary. However, if you have a car's taillights ahead of you to guide you, suddenly it is not so frightening. 

That is the message of Titus 2. Older women can serve as guiding lights for those coming after them. For many women, juggling all our roles - student, employee, boss, wife, mother - can be overwhelming, like walking through life in a fog. But God never intended for us to figure things out on our own - to simply muddle through. Just as he gave Ruth to Naomi and Mary to Elizabeth, God gives us each other to help, encourage and provide one another with companionship, to share ideas and wisdom and humor. When you live in community with others, you can see how other women raise and nurture the children [or their GEMS!] You can note how persistent someone is in cultivating and preserving her marriage [or her counselor team] and how it is serving her well. You can watch as women make their way in the marketplace [in the world!] with dignity and integrity.

It may be that the "older" woman isn't chronologically older at all. Perhaps God has gifted a younger woman with particular knowledge and wisdom that you might be in need of. We should be open to different generations reaching out to each other and bridging the years with love and laughter. We have more in common than we have differences.

In our day it's easy to become isolated and withdrawn. We don't often get together as women did in times gone by for quilting bees and church socials and over-the-fence visits. You may long for a woman to mentor you and advise you regarding how to handle your many roles and responsibilities. If so, ask God to send you someone who is wise and supportive. And keep your eyes open for such a woman so you can befriend her. She may need you as much as you need her. Perhaps God is nudging you to become a mentor to a younger women. Pray that God will lead you to her and that you will have the courage to be a light in the fog.

Weekly Devo - 'Messengers in the Word' - 4/27/15

Messengers in the Word

from Lenae - GEMS Training Manager  
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him (Acts 8:30-31).
 
Philip knew the Scriptures. He was an attentive student of the law and the prophets. And it was through his time in Scripture that he recognized Jesus in the flesh, and knew He was the One sent to rescue them.
 
Philip told Nathaniel, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45). When he shared a seat in the Ethiopian eunuch’s chariot, he explained how the passage that had the man stumped, pointed to the Savior. Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:35).
 
Philip knew the Word and shared the Word. By its light he spoke conviction into Nathaniel’s skepticism, and clarity in the Ethiopian eunuch’s confusion. Through his knowledge of Scripture he recognized Christ and could point others to Him.
 
As His messengers can the same be said of you and me? Do we know how all the paths of His Word point to Jesus? If someone asked us to help them understand what they were reading in the Bible could we effectively lead them to God’s heart of love and His rescue plan for rebels?
 
Messengers God can use are people in The Book. They know the Word because they’re in the Word. They seek Christ and find Him, and from the light of all that He reveals, they bring the message.
 
Send Me: What has God showed you in His Word today that you can share with someone else?
 
By hiding the Word of God in our hearts, we are equipped to bring the good news to others. — Jeremy Walker

Weekly Devo - "Press on, Messengers!" - 4/13/15

Press on, Messengers!

from Lenae, GEM Training Manager

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” (Luke 13:31-33)

Nothing distracted or deterred Jesus from His mission. No amount of . . .

• Unbelief
• Rejection
• Opposition
• Threats to His life, or
• Lies and temptations from the enemy

. . . kept Him from reaching His goal. He would press on and fulfill His mission to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, sight for the blind, release for the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19). 

And although He never lost sight of His mission, what He did see broke His heart. The ones He came to save wanted to stone Him. The people He longed to enfold like a hen that gathers her chicks under her wings were not willing to come. He was despised and rejected by mankind . . . like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised . . . (Isaiah 53:3).

And while the ones He loved spewed spit on and slapped His face, and His own Father turned His face away from His Son, Jesus set His face on the cross. Because He so loved the world, He pressed on and humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).  

As His messengers, do we get stalled when people don’t respond in the ways we had hoped? Do we get sidelined in sharing the good news when things don’t go the way we had prayed?

Grieve for the lost, but do not give up! Weep for those who are separated from Christ, but do not abandon your mission. Press on, dear messengers! Compelled by Jesus’ love and eyes fixed full on His wonderful face, keep bringing the message!

Send Me: Does your heart break for the lost? If not, pray for it. Then press on and share the good news with a world desperate for Jesus.

If Christ cried out and wept over Jerusalem, can we not cry out and weep over our families, friends, streets, neighborhoods, towns, and cities? Christ and those closest to Him in spirit and character are grieved when the gospel is preached and sinners are not saved. — Jeremy Walker re