Devotional Thought: Enlarged Expectations and Affections

 

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."- Philippians 1:9-11

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." -2 Corinthians 9:8

The vibrant Christian life is to be characterized by an overflow of the goodness of God. I believe that the Christian that is living close to the Lord is constantly at work celebrating God's work and character. Several times in scripture there is a description of 'abounding' in the outworking of God's provisions. The image of an overflow of excitement comes to my mind. This type of excitement is a growing sense of God's favor and the wonders of His Sovereign control over the circumstances of our lives. Once we are aware of God's hand of sovereign provision for our needs we are then motivated for every good work. All good works are done by the provision of God for the glory of God. Goodness is defined by God and not the opinions of this world so works that are truly good are works in the power of God. We are to abound in all things that are of God and that bring praise to the name of Jesus, our one and only Savior. Love for one another must be through the love of God revealed in the truth of His word. Growth in our affection for the Lord and the things of God will enable us to love one another properly. Even to the Corinthians in the familiar passage on being a cheerful giver, this work of giving is accomplished from the growing affection for the Lord by His gracious provision. When we seek to love the Lord more with our complete self we can expect His work to grow within us and around us. Our desires and passions should be grounded in wanting to enlarge our affections for the triune God that creates an eager expectation for God to work in us, through us, and around us. What are we setting our affections in today? What do we love? What do we crave? What do we obsess over? Let's grow in our desires to want and crave the things of God through our Savior Jesus Christ.

Devotional Thought: Truth vs. Distortion

 

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ." -Galatians 1:6-7

    Clinging to the Gospel is the intentional pursuit of a believer's life to know and live according to the Word of God. Specifically Christians must think long and deeply about the commands and instructions of Jesus. This life of commitment to learning the Words of God gives us all the necessary protection to guard against deception that is ever present within our own flesh and the wicked world around us.  The moment of compromise is sudden when we become distracted or passive in our walk of faith. In order to stay consistent with our beliefs and actions, we must have truth in our inner being to lead us daily. This passage in Galatians reminds us of the constant threat of false messages coming from others that have their goal in causing trouble. Trouble for the Christian can be stumbling blocks of belief and action. Whether it is misplaced beliefs or actions of sin, a troubled life is certain to follow a life distracted from the truth of Gospel. Trouble from sin can be broken relationships, conflict, or inner struggles of anxiety. Peace inwardly and outwardly comes from peace with God through Jesus as the one and only Savior.  Chaos of circumstances happen no matter what as one lives in a sinful world. The Christian is able to find some peace in the chaos through their faithfulness to the Lord that is faithful. We must be ready to fight of attacks with a firm belief in the truth. Let us not compromise. When we do compromise let's confess and repent so as to not rebel so easily and quickly moving forward. Our quick repentance comes from the same astonishment the Apostle expresses to the Galatians. Sin, deception, and rebellion should always be astonishing when we truly desire to love and cling to truth. Cling to truth today! Spend time consuming the Words of God!