Devos for Jan. 25th (the passover)

Scripture

Exodus 12; 13:17-22

Observation/Application

Exodus 12:7 the Lord explained to Moses and Aaron the Passover. Taking the blood of the lamb and placing it on the doorposts as well as hanging it over the top of the door thus marking that your home was one that believed on the Lord and was an Israelite who shared in the Passover feast. If you were an Israelite and you shared in the Passover then your home would be protected or “passed over” from the Lord who was going to strike the Egyptians because Pharaoh wouldn’t let Gods people go.

Now all throughout the bible we see that to have life we must have death; in the old testament we have sacrifices to cover the sin, thus giving life. In the new testament we have the perfect picture of this through Jesus Christ; He came and died so there could be life everlasting. This is echoed in the message of Paul who says you must put the old life to death and walk in the newness of life. Jesus says we must  be born again as well, look at the parallels in baptism which is identifying with the DEATH, burial, and RESSURECTION (life).

To sum up the death to life idea we have this Passover thing which is by putting the blood of a lamb over your door you are being atoned for is the sight of God. Today we have a Passover lamb as well (1 Cor. 5:7) Jesus is our Passover lamb; He shed His blood for you and me and in His death we have life. When we deserve the consequences of our sin (which is death) Jesus covers us, makes us worthy when we are not.

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for becoming our sin covering. For being the one who fills in the gap when we fall short on our own. I praise you Lord because you are worthy to be praised. If you do nothing else for me ever again, what you’ve already done is enough. You are such a Holy God with mercy and grace enough for my shortcomings. Lord strengthen me to be in a passionate pursuit of you; trying to be like your son every day.  Lord, I love you. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Extra notes – Generation Unleashed is this week, be in prayer and be expecting God to move! Stay in your word and be ready to see the Lord move. Start praying now about where you want to grow in the Lord.

Devos for Jan 20th

Scripture:

Genesis chapter 50; Psalms chapter 8; Luke 20:9-19

Application/Observation

This is the parable about the wicked tenants that Jesus shares in Luke 20. In it we see the progression of Gods relationship with man reflected in his words about the wicked tenants. First we see that a man plants a vineyard and allowed tenants to stay there to watch over it. Representing God creating the earth and giving authority over the earth to man. Then the man wants some of the fruits of his vineyard and the tenants rejected the one who came to get it. This being like the prophets who brought the word of God yet was rejected by man. The vineyard owner continues his attempts to get fruits from his own vineyard and the tenants only got more objective about giving back to the owner. Much like man pushing God away more and more as He pursues us. Then the owner of the vineyard sends his son thinking they must have respect on the son of the owner of the vineyard. But they treated him as a means to an end and killed him for their own selfish gain. This is reflective of the Son of God who was sent as a final effort to restore man unto Himself, Jesus came to point man back to God. When the Son of God came he too was killed with selfish motives in mind; man didn’t want to be held accountable for their sins, yet in the death and resurrection of Christ we see the truth and life that he brings. He still crossed the divide with man and God bringing reconciliation and restoration to all who believe. In the end of the parable Jesus says that the owner will go himself and remove the wicked tenants. This is saying that those who don’t believe on Jesus, God will remove them just as the tenants.

In this story we see Gods plans and heart; He gave us everything we have to begin with and all He wants is to have good fruits coming forth from the vineyard. God wants us to be in right relationship with Him, to accept Him and His Son who came for all. God just wants relationship with you and I.    

Prayer

Lord in the times I am like the wicked tenants with my actions not wanting to give with a willing heart or share my time, talents, and treasure please bring back to me a spirit of love for you. I want to be a cheerful giver with all that I have and all that I am. Lord let me set into right priority my time and giving so I can best be your servant. God you are great and worthy to be praised, I love you in Jesus name, amen.

Devos for Jan. 18th

Scripture

 Gen. Ch. 45; Luke 18:15-43

Application/Observation

Luke 18:15-17 talks about coming to Jesus like a child for those are the ones who will enter the kingdom. This passage is short but shows us a glimpse into the theology of eternity. Entering the kingdom is speaking about eternity (heaven), It simply says you gotta come to Jesus and you gotta do it in a way that is like a child. We all know that Jesus is the gate to eternal life; however Jesus goes as far as to tell us the manner in which we should. What characteristics of a child should we have that are so vital to our salvation? Two of them jump out at me and I believe they are no selfish motives and humbleness. The sinful world is saturated with worldly pride, which is what the humbleness of a child keeps us from. Our pride and selfishness for the things of this world want nothing to do with the holy God of the Bible. It is man's love for sin that keeps us from coming to the Savior. Yet a child comes to Jesus with no reserve or ties to the world and the things in it.

Prayer

Lord you are high and lifted up, mighty to be praised. Be the center of who I am so I will not stray away from you. May you keep me from having ties to worldly things that would keep me from you. Help me to have the faith and humbleness of a child so I may see you. I love you, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

Devos for jan. 13th (Guest blogger HMK)

Scripture: Genesis 33, Luke 13:10-30

Luke 13:20-21 “He also asked. ‘What else is the Kingdom of God like?’ It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Application:

This scripture says a couple different things to me. First I see it as encouragement that we shouldn’t under estimate the power of a small act of kindness or service we do for someone else, something seeming small can go a long way.

Secondly it can be interpreted as God being the main and most important ingredient to the recipe of life. We can have the good grades in school, be most popular with many friends, have good relationships with our parents, but without that one ingredient “a growing relationship with God” then our recipe won’t turn out how it is supposed to.

Prayer:

Lord, I come to you right now and ask for boldness and selflessness that will allow me to put others before myself and be able to offer encouraging words or a helping hand when I see someone who needs it. I ask that you will create opportunities for me to share your love to those hurting. I pray for those whose lives seem perfect on the outside but maybe on the inside they are missing the most important ingredient, you. May they come to know you and feel your unconditional love. Thank you for everything you do for me on a daily basis. I am nothing without you. All this I pray in Jesus name Amen.

Devos for Jan. 11, 2011 (Jenny's Post)

Scripture:
Genesis 28:10-22, Luke 11:1-13, 33-36

Observation/Application:
In today’s reading in Luke (11:33-36),  Jesus is teaching us about our Christian experience using light as an analogy. He breaks the teaching into two parts: First, Jesus describes what we should do with the light we have in us and second, He exhorts us to keep the light that is in us pure.
Luke 11:33 - “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light
In this verse, Jesus is teaching us that once we were converted something fundamentally changed in us. We have become different because God has called us to fellowship and commune with Him through the salvation of Jesus Christ. We are no longer like everyone else, no longer destined to suffer God’s wrath because of our rebellion, but rather we are set apart, adopted by God and given citizenship in God’s eternal Kingdom. What an awesome reality that is. Jesus challenges us in this verse to reflect that reality to a world that is looking on. Ultimately, Jesus is the light and as his disciples we should be reflecting the image of our teacher. The implication is that when people look at us and our lives, ideally they should be able to see Jesus on some level.
Luke 11:34-36- "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” I think here, Jesus is reminding us here that after conversion there is a still a battle that occurs between the new life of the Spirit and the old life of the flesh. These verses give a good practical teaching on how we subdue the flesh and fill our being with the pure light of God.  The teaching here is that our eyes have the ability to fill our inner being with either light or darkness. I think Jesus challenges use to inventory what we consume with our eyes. Do we fill our eyes with scripture, wholesome media, God made nature, and the company of friends and family, or do we fill our eyes with pornography, corrupt media, items we covet, and second lustful glances? I would submit that there is no greater conduit to our inner being that our eyes. We have to guard them.
So what’s the application? For me, I have to realize that Jesus is teaching us fundamental truths here. We have to constantly remind ourselves that even after conversion we are in a battle with the old life of rebellion that put us at odds and out of fellowship with God in the first place. The reality is that we have died to our sinful nature because of our rebirth in Christ, but our sinful nature is not yet dead and won’t be until our physical death ends its rebellion. That sinful nature, the flesh, is the seed of our temptations and the receptacle for the all darkness we take in. So we must guard our eyes and our minds and our bodies so that we don’t give the flesh an opportunity to taint the light in us.

Prayer:Heavenly Father, thank you so much for life and salvation. Thank you God that we are not left to dwell in darkness but because of your grace we are able to be called your sons and daughters. Help us with temptation today. Help us lay waste to the old life of the flesh that desires to entice us with darkness. Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness. Work in us today to reflect your glory and illuminate your Kingdom. We pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Devos for jan 4th 2011. First blog of the new year!

Scripture:

Genesis chapter 9 and Luke 4:14-30

Observation/Application

In Gen. 9 it blows me away and makes me sad and at the same time relives me a little bit. Noah, who was the one that amidst all the earth being corrupt found favor with God and walked with him. Noah was righteous and blameless in his generation. That was a generation that God saw fit to destroy because of the violence and immorality that they lived in. So Noah didn’t exactly have a lot of iron sharpening iron with fellow believers around him, yet was able to live righteously among adverse culture. In chapter 9, the flood was over, and God commanded Noah’s family to be fruitful and He gave them a covenant (the rainbow, and yes even the double rainbow J) to never flood the earth again.

So Noah had just seen the biggest display of God’s wrath ever known to man (besides child labor for the ladies perhaps) and he turns around and plants a vineyard and gets drunk off the wine he makes…really Noah? What was he thinking? At the beginning I said this makes me sad and relived; sad because God put His hope in Noah when the rest of the world had walked away, then Noah who was blameless now is a drunk. It’s sad for God whose heart is for His people. However, I’m relieved on some level that I would probably do the same thing (sin). Relived is an accurate word because God knew that Noah would do this, God is all knowing, yet He chooses you and I to reach the world. He chooses you and I to be His witness throughout the whole earth. Chooses you and I to speak life in to dead circumstances. Chooses you and I to be salt and light to all the earth. I’m relieved because I’m covered by His son Jesus.

Prayer

Lord, I am no better than Noah yet when I read this story I see Noah as a broken sinner. I wonder how you see me and still love me sometimes. Yet you see me through these glasses of love that has no conditions to them. You love me as I am. Sinful as I’ll ever be you take me. Continue in your grace because I need it so much Lord. You’re a God of forgiveness and we see that in your word. Enable us to walk in your light so we don’t find ourselves in compromising situations. I love you Lord. I pray in Jesus name, amen.