Devotionals @ The Mount Church

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 2:9-10

Are you a poet? Do you like poetry? Poetry can take many faces. It can be fixed metrical lines, the regular rhyming patterns that we are so familiar with, or even an irregular prose. But good poetry is often highly fixed in a particular style. It is written to a pattern, and designed to meet a purpose. Not always, I suppose; some poetry is much more dynamic and fluid, but to be good, it is dependent on the instincts of the poet, trained by study and experience of life to write words that illuminate and meet the need.

The word poem is based on the Greek word poema, a thing created or made. And a poet is one who creates, one who makes. This is the word used in Ephesians 2:10, where it describes us as God’s masterpiece. We are the work God has placed his creative interest in. He planned from the beginning to accomplish something wonderful through us.

I’m always encouraged by this knowledge, that God has created us anew. It might be easy for some to glance over that statement without a second thought, but it always makes me pause. God has created something fresh in us. He purposed to do it - it was no oversight or recalculation. It was his plan all along. And if the original creation was something to hold in awe, that even God could describe as good, then  imagine how he looks upon this new work he has made. It is a delight to him, full of potential, full of hidden value.

It can be easy to get caught up in the madness of life - work, sleep, the daily grind - and forget that we have been created for a purpose. We are not to live our lives haphazardly. We must accomplish the plan God has for us - to do the good things he has already prepared for us. Not as a means of getting a pat on the back from a heavenly, distant father. Not even to escape the sting of punishment. Simply because it brings God glory, as an outflow of our thanks for what God has accomplished - and continues to do, remember!

This creative act God has already set in motion, and is doing today, is often taken as our own. Instead of trying to follow the example of Jesus as a result, we think that we must do the right thing in order to move God - to motivate him to act on our behalf. Nothing of the sort. We don’t do good things to earn salvation.  Good actions are nothing we can boast in. Rather, they are one more reason to boast in what Jesus has done, what God as the consummate artist has created.

Are you busy today? I know I have been lately. So busy that it is hard to keep my mind attentive to Jesus’ voice throughout the day. I’d ask you to consider, as I am, where is God right now? What is he doing and how does he want you to follow him? Is it as simple as a kind word to the guy in the next office over? Or is it a patient response to a child who won’t stop whining about some passing desire? The moment by moment activity is only a distraction from God if we let it be. God intends to use these passing moments to do something amazing, to write words of love, to thankfully remember our great provider, to offer a helping hand or a hopeful smile.

prayer

God, thank you for this day. Help me to pay attention to your voice. Help me to find strength and hope in the way you have continually guided my life. Jesus, lead you body into a deeper love for the community - help us to offer the true good news to the world. And help us to remember that it is still good news for us today!

This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4:10

How great is that love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1

Remember back when you were in elementary school and you could always tell who was the teacher’s pet?  Maybe YOU were the teacher’s pet!  But if you weren’t I am sure you can remember how unfair that it seemed that the teacher seemed to like that one student best.  Why should he or she receive all the favor from the teacher when the whole class wanted it?  That was not the way it was supposed to be… so aren’t we all glad that that is not the way it is with God?

Most of us have heard about God’s love since we were very young.  We can quote John 3:16 by heart, but unfortunately that can make the meaning of the verse become common or lost.  We need to look into God’s word again with fresh eyes and grasp anew the full meaning of his love for us.  We all are the recipients of his favor.  We all are his “pets”.  If we have responded to his love and entered into a personal relationship with him, we have been given adoption into his family and blessings too great to number.  We need to look again at just what his favor means in our lives.

who we were

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-3

Maybe you think that you have not lived such a bad life.  Maybe you think that you have been good and kind to people and you do not commit the “big” sins listed in the ten commandments.  But the truth is that any righteous deed you have done is like a filthy rag.  The truth is that apart from Christ you were spiritually dead, and bound for Hell.  The bible says that we were enemies of God.  It was into this dead, dirty, hostile situation that God stepped in with his love.

what he did

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade…

1 Peter 1:3,4

Jesus took our punishment.  He rescued us from eternal separation from him, and gave us the right to be called his children.  He paved a way to a Holy God that we could never reach on our own.  We were hopeless without him, but he has given us a living hope that can never be taken away.  Words can never express what he did for us.  Our hearts can hardly hold it all.  Yet, he lovingly enters into our lives and blesses us with the gift of himself.

what we should do

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:13-16

No, this verse does not mean that we have to live a perfect life.  But what it does mean is that we are to be obedient to God and his word, and depend on the Holy Spirit within us to enable us to live a life pleasing to God.  Our part is to love the good and reject the bad.  Our part is to spend time in his word and in his presence for guidance.  Our part is to obey him when he leads us to speak for him, love for him, or live for him.  His part is to provide the power to do all that he calls us to do.

make it real

Spend a few minutes thinking about your life as it is was before you became a Christian.  Or if you became a Christian at a young age, try to imagine what your life would have been like if you had not met him.  Think about what your tendencies and weaknesses are.  Try to imagine just how different you would have been apart from his mercy.  Now think of all the changes in your life that have come about as a result of knowing Christ.  Think of the blessings that you enjoy because you know him.  And experience what you have been saved from and redeemed to.  Give him thanks for all he has done!

prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you that you have included me in your unmerited favor.  I know that I do not deserve it and could never earn it.  Thank you for the grace in my life that allows me to come into your presence.  Never let me loose sight of what you have done for me.  Instead, empower me to live a life worthy of your calling.  Help me live only for you.  In your name, Amen.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Genesis 1:1-5

God is the king of the universe. He is the creator and the author of all that is around us. Each day this amazes me. I cannot conceive the intricate nature of knitting together an entire universe in just a few days. Then to think that He had to send His son to die on a cross for us to fulfill His own desire to save the people He created is astounding. Jesus was also the king of the universe. He referenced the kingdom of God several times during His reign on earth. Jesus told the Pharisees more than once that He was the one in charge of the kingdom of God and the universe. But what does this mean for me today?

If Jesus provides rule over the universe it means that He is in control even when we think He is not with us. It means that He is orchestrating amazing feats of nature, keeping the planets aligned, allowing the wind to blow and the tides to change from high to low each and everyday. Even something as simple as a bumble bee flying is an act of the king of the universe.

Did you know that it should be physically impossible for a bumble bee to fly? Their wings are actually too small for their bodies and it is an anomaly that they are capable of sustaining their own weight during flight. It’s an anomaly until you realize that the creator of the universe designed the bumble bee this way and in His eyes, this tiny little creature is perfect and there is nothing strange at all about this phenomenon. When we think to what this must mean in our own lives for Jesus to still be king of the universe the ramifications are huge.

It means that Jesus knows when children are born with defects and He still values and loves them as a part of His creation. They are beautiful in His sight. He knows that through that child valuable lessons of love, patience, tolerance and forgiveness will be shared with others in the world.

When storms literally come and blow down our house and tear apart our lives we learn the value of having Jesus as the King of our Universe. We must learn to pick up the pieces and rejoice over the small things the storm did not take with it – our hope, our endurance, and our strength that come only from Him. Imagine how lonely it must be to watch all of the destruction and not have a peace that passes all understanding or a hope that knows no bounds. I watched my friends from New Orleans sift through the molded leftovers from Katrina and cry out to God over the things they had lost. God is okay with this. He does not expect that we will always understand or be silent in our grief or anger. The important lesson is to move past this to see the workings of God through our suffering and anguish. Years later I still marvel at their courage and their perseverance in being capable to see the rainbows that came after the storm and remember the promise that God gave to Noah that He would never destroy the world again with a flood.

On September 11th we we were reminded that when planes suddenly crash into buildings led by terrorists and millions of people are left scared, alone and without their loved ones, the King of the Universe is holding open His arms through the doors of His church and His people to take them in and comfort them. He allowed Amazing Grace to be sung by politicians, prayers to be heard on national television and his word was available to ease their distress. He allowed missionaries held hostage to be set free and the cries of others to be heard in all the nations and known for their martyrdom.

The most amazing thing to me is that Jesus knew all these things, the injustice, the cruelty, the love, the hate, the whining, the groans of loss, the pain of abuse, the want for peace and still chose to die for us on a cross to save us. Only the King of the Universe could have that kind of power. This is the kind of power that allows me, a sinner, to call on Him today and be saved through His grace and mercy.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

John 4:7-12

Read through Colossians 3:1-17

Resting place, four-square city

Resting place, heavenly shore

Resting place, land of beauty

Where we’ll rest forever more.

When she was alive, my grandmother loved to hear my dad sing this Southern gospel song called, “Resting Place.” She always said it was her favorite. So, when my grandmother died a few months ago, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s and other ailments, he sang the song at her funeral because he knew that’s what she would have wanted.

While the song is about our eternal resting place in heaven, did you know we have a resting place here on earth?

This powerful passage in Colossians speaks of just that sort of peace we find in Christ. As verse 1 says:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God (NIV).

Knowing that our lives are “hidden with Christ” is a fascinating picture of our eternal security. We no longer have to worry about either our eternal destiny or our fate while in this life. We are hidden with Christ so that Satan can’t get to us. This should give us comfort. Because we belong to God, evil no longer has sway over our lives. The keys of sin and death are now firmly in our savior’s hands. Thus, evil has been stripped of its power over us. As poet John Milton portrays him in “Paradise Lost,” Satan is a defeated foe. He is hobbled and impotent, shining no longer as he once did.

With that knowledge, we also are to strip off our earthly passions and desires, replacing them with that which is godly, detailed in verse 12-14 of this passage.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

As children of God, we are not only called to display the characteristics of God, but to conduct our lives in an attitude of peace toward those with whom we come in contact. As Christ supplies us with an eternal peace, secure both now and forever in him, so should we exude this sense of unfathomable security that has been extended to us with the rest of the world.

application

Read over Psalm 29 and thank God, both for his mighty power over this earth, and for the calming peace he brings to his people’s hearts and lives.

Consider it pure joy, by brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…

James 1:2

There is a children’s book that tells of a boy that has a “terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day”.  It would be silly to ask if you have ever had one, because we all have.  Life is full of days like that, where it seems that everything imaginable could go wrong.  When you are in the midst of those days, sometimes it seems like the very best you can do is simply to make it through that time.  It is something altogether different to think about experiencing pure joy during that time!  But God says we can.  And his word tells us why.

…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish the work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:3,4

Perseverance is defined as “persisting in an undertaking in spite of counter influences, opposition, or discouragement”.  What counter influences are you facing right now?  Is discouragement whispering in your ear that it is time to give up?  We must realize that Satan would like nothing more than for all of us to check out of this walk with Christ because it is simply too hard.  Things just don’t go right, and it seems to require more effort than we thought it would, or we are willing to give.  Wouldn’t it just be easier to give it up, join with the world in pursuing things that would make us happy, and be done with this struggle?  That is exactly what our adversary would want us to do…but we need to remember why we have struggles and hard times in our lives.

These come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 1:7

In these verses in James and 1Peter, we see God’s purpose for the trials we face in our lives.  James says that it makes us mature and complete.  That does not mean that we are perfect.  But it means that we are “grown up” in our faith.  We are able to know and apply God’s word to our situations and recognize the purposes of God.  We are able to walk in the power of his Holy Spirit and experience his peace despite our circumstances.  And Peter says that trials prove our faith genuine.  Trials show if we have the “real thing” in our lives.  And when it is real, it is only refined by the hard times we endure.  It is strengthened and made pure.  And the very best effect of our hard times is that when we go through them dependent on God and trusting him to change us as a result, it produces praise and glory and honor to Jesus Christ.  Isn’t that the goal of our lives?  Isn’t that why we are here on earth to begin with?  It is all part of God’s plan to show himself to the world. He sustains us in the midst of trials, and we reflect his image to all those around us.  He strengthens our faith through suffering, and we are able to trust him with even more, demonstrating his love in our lives to everyone we come in contact with.

So, struggles will come in life.  God can get us through them all when we depend on him.  And this process reveals God to a lost world that He loves.  Our personal benefit is maturity in our Christian lives, stronger faith in God, and eternal rewards in Heaven as a result of it.  Trials may be hard, but the benefits and results are all worth it.  If they are inevitable in life, shouldn’t we deal with them in a way that produces a positive result?  If we walk with Jesus through them, it will.

make it real

1. Identify the trials and struggles that you are in right now.
2. Are you walking through them in your own power, or are you relying on God to see you through?
3. Can you point to positive results of these hard times in our own faith?
4. Can you see how God is being glorified to those who do not know him through the way you are handling these struggles?
5. Ask God to give you his perspective of trials in your life.

prayer

Heavenly Father, I submit myself to you and acknowledge that you are the one that is in control of all things.  I want my life to reflect your greatness to this world, and I know that you often will use the hard times in my life to do that.  Help me to keep my eyes on you in the midst of it all, and use these times to bring honor and glory to your name.  Strengthen my faith so that I can trust you more, and show me your love and plan for it all.  I will walk with you.  Amen.