Loving What Jesus Loves (and other devotionals)

Loving What Jesus Loves

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“And I [Jesus] say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew16:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
There are many people who say, “I believe in Jesus, but I just don’t believe in the church.” That is like saying, “I believe in football, but I just don’t believe in stadiums, the gridiron, goal posts, and shoulder pads.”

Jesus loves the church. He gave His life for the church. If you are ever going to be victorious in the spiritual battles of life, you must realize that Christianity is not a “Lone Ranger” religion. The church is here to bind together and win the battle together. Sabine Baring-Gould wrote the famous hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers.” One stanza really stands out in this regard: “Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, But the church of Jesus constant will remain. Gates of hell can never against that church prevail; We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.”

ACTION POINT:
Jesus loves the Church, which is His body. If we love Jesus, we will love what He loves. 

~Adrian Rogers~

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Returning to Your First Love

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.” Revelation 2:5a

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
When my wife Joyce and I were on our honeymoon, we were driving south of Daytona Beach back to West Palm Beach. I was so in love that I had two eyes on her and no eyes on the road.

A policeman hailed me over and told me I had broken the speed limit of 35 mph. I was surprised because I hadn’t seen a sign that changed the limit from 55 to 35. He said, “All right young man, here’s what I want you to do. Turn around and drive back about three blocks. Look at the sign and go on.” That was my punishment.

The officer made me go back before I could go on.

ACTION POINT:
That’s exactly what our Lord is saying to us when He tells us to return to our first love, a passionate love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

~Adrian Rogers~

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Inquire of the Lord

1 Samuel 30:8 tells us what David did next as He sought to deal with the troubles that besieged him.  After grieving and strengthening himself in the Lord, here is what he did,

So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop?  Shall I overtake them?"  And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all."

David inquired of the Lord.

There is a story in the book of Joshua that shows the importance of inquiring of God, of seeking His guidance, no matter how things may seem.

The nation of Israel had entered the Promised Land and they were gaining great victories.  One day a group of Gibeonites showed up.  They had bags full of old moldy bread, their sandals were worn out, their water skins were cracked and old, and their clothing was old and worn.

They told Joshua and the leaders that they had come from a country far, far away.  They went on to tell them they had heard about the great things God was doing through Israel, and they wanted to make sure they would not be attacked.  So they had traveled from afar to make a covenant so that when Israel eventually reached them in the future, they wouldn't attack the Gibeonites. 

The Bible says specifically that Joshua and the men did not inquire of the Lord.  Rather, they looked at the people's provisions…the moldy bread, the old sandals, the old water skins…and they made a covenant with them.

It turns out they were the next door neighbors and Israel had been deceived. And it caused huge problems in Israel's future.

I am telling you, things are not always as they appear. It pays to inquire of the Lord when you are going through difficult times. He will lead you. 

~Bayless Conley~

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Global Harvest

In Mark 16:15 Jesus said,
"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
In Matthew 13:38 He said,
 "The field is the world…"

We need to lift up our eyes upon the harvest field "of the world."

It may sound crazy, but God is expecting us to do something about the salvation of the whole world!

In James chapter five, we are told that God is like a farmer waiting patiently for the precious fruit "of the earth."  The implication there is that the Lord is coming, but there is a great global harvest coming first.

Here are some things you can do to be a part of reaching the world for Christ: 

Pray - Matthew 9:37-38 says, Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

Give - Generously support ministries that are reaching the lost.  Make the mission outreaches of your own church a priority.
Go - Jesus' command to go is to all believers.  At the very least, take a short term missions trip to share the Good News with others.

Remember, the only things we will take to heaven with us are the precious souls we have brought to Christ. 

~Bayless Conley~