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Daily devotion

8/29/2018

Free To Be Slaves

Scripture Reading for the day: Matthew 10:28-39

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Scripture Quote: “You are not slaves; you are free. But your freedom is not an excuse to do evil. You are free to live as God’s slaves.” I Peter 2:16 (NLT)

Christ calls us to a higher mission than to find comfort and tranquility in this life. We are free, but we are mainly free to learn and grow in the Spirit so that we may serve others and share the precious truth of the Gospels with others who may not know Christ. We should give as freely as we have received.

It is impossible to be neutral. Every person has a master – Either God or sin. A Christian is not someone who is no longer a slave to sin. We belong to God. Give yourself fully to God, to love Him with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, (Matthew 22:37) so that your sins will be forgiven. And yet we are so often half-hearted in our efforts to know and obey God. How is your heart’s obedience? God wants to give you the freedom to obey Him with all your heart. Be free and serve.

Meditation of the day: All people have a master and pattern themselves after Him. Without Jesus, we would have no choice; we would be enslaved to sin. Thanks be to God.

Memory Verse: For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” Romans 6:4 (NLT)

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Daily devotion

8/28/2018

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Forgiveness
Scripture Reading for the day: Matthew 18:23-35
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Scripture Quote: “Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22 (NASB)
There are Scripture verses like these that many of us would often like to overlook. We can be mean or dishonest and find a rationalization for our behavior, but let a brother act the same way and we become angry with him. Anger loves to get a foothold in the Christian’s heart because it is from the evil one and God does not like it. What better way to get a believer to become alienated to both his brother and his God?
God wants us to be forgiving and it is often very hard for us to truly forgive. We get so puffed up with ourselves and choke on words of apology or forgiveness. But forgiveness is mandatory in the Christian’s life, there is no denying that. God forgives us everything. How can we possibly think we have the right to hold a grudge against anyone after we have been forgiven for every sin in our life? We must change our selfish perspective and submit to God’s decree to forgive because he demands that we do.
Today’s meditation: Pray that God softens your hard heart and gives you the compassion you will need to forgive others their sins against you.
Memory Verse: “ If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 (NASB)

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Daily devotion

8/27/2018

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Follow In His Steps

Scripture Reading for the day:  Philippians 2:1-13
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Scripture Quote: “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” I Peter 2:21 (NASB)

            We can walk with Christ each day, following His example of obedience to the Father. The more we think about emulating Jesus, the more our new disposition develops. Our path is joyful, full of love, which is all born from obedience. We demonstrate all this as our actions are a witness to all around us.

            It is the attitudes of our mind that can change our behavior and thinking. Are we concerned for others and do we want to share the gospel as the gift of good news it really is? Can we help shine light into the darkness? We must have a heart that is willing to examine itself and make changes as the Holy Spirit leads us.

            We all struggle with sin and pride and many past mistakes that can often make us feel broken inside. All these things can be relieved by simply turning them over to God. Trust deeply and drink deeply of the Living Waters - Following more closely in Jesus steps will become a permanant goal.

Meditation for the day: “The gospel is like fish. It must be caught fresh every day.” John Hall

Memory Verse: “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored.” Luke 18:14 (NASB)

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Daily devotion

8/24/2018

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Deep and Eternal Peace

Scripture Reading for the day:  John 15:18 – 16:15
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Scripture Quote: “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away but I will come back to you again. If you really love me you will be really happy for me, because now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that you will believe when they do happen.” John 14:27-29

            The peace of the Holy Spirit is not the absence of conflict but a deep and eternal peace that gives us confident assurance in all circumstances. We will face further persecution, Jesus said as much Himself. But the peace He has left us will make us able to press on.

            We are to take courage in spite of the inevitable struggles we face as Christians because we are never truly alone anymore. Jesus will never abandon us. If we can keep an eternal perspective, we can claim the peace of the Holy Spirit in the very worst of times.

Meditation for the day: As Christians, we should expect continuous tension with an unbelieving, hostile world.

Memory Verse: “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

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Daily devotion

8/23/2018

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Daily Prayer
Scripture Reading for the day: James 5:1-15
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Scripture Quote: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16 (NASB)
We can be thankful for the inclination and ability to pray that the Holy Spirit provides and for the awareness He gives us of our own fallen, yet redeemed, humanity. God gives us grace and mercy which he shows us in His forgiveness of our sins. His promises are everlasting and His presence is always within us in the form of the Holy Spirit. He enables us to have the right motives and content in our prayers. We can be especially grateful that His Spirit enables us to call God our Father and understand all that being His adopted child entails.
Prayer is our direct line of communication with our loving Father. Because we can pray, we are able to praise Him, thank Him and petition Him as He always invites us to do. We do not have to wait for an urgent need in our lives to talk to God. Prayer is a precious gift given to believers that can be compared to nothing else in our lives. Pray daily and often - Talk to your Father and remain close to Him. Your life will be abundantly enriched.
Today’s meditation: “The Holy Spirit desires to help believers develop their basic instinct for prayer into a disciplined means of grace that enables them to be God’s joyful and fruitful coworkers.” Archie Parrish
Memory Verse: “Pray without ceasing.” I Thessalonians 5:17 (NASB)

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Daily devotion

8/22/2018

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Covenant Truth

Scripture Reading for the day: Jeremiah 33:1-11
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Scripture Quote: And He said to them, “This is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the covenant between God and His people.”  Mark 14:24 (NLT)

            Trust doesn’t come easy. It isn’t easy for us to believe that God can fulfill all His impossible promises either, yet we must trust Him. The same God who worked in the lives of all the biblical prophets and heroes, will work in our lives too, if we will let Him.

            The Bible tells us about an old covenant and a new covenant which is a binding, the solemn agreement between two parties carrying obligations for both sides and enforced by an oath. In the bible covenants God makes with man, they are all initiated by Him. He sets the terms.

            The old covenant was not accompanied by spiritual transformation, so it was impossible for man to obey. The new covenant is very different than the old one. It was originated at Jesus’ suffering and death and left behind the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Meditation for the day: Remember that though you know Christ, rules and rituals and good works have never cleansed people’s hearts - Only the hope and love we have in Him can accomplish that.

Memory Verse: “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, promising not to stop doing good for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.”

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Daily devotion

8/21/2018

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Communion

Scripture Reading for the day:  I Corinthians 11:23-34
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Scripture Quote: “As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God’s blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, Take it and eat it, for this is my body. And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many. Matthew 26:26-28 (NLT)

            As Jesus’ time on earth was nearing an end, He instituted the Lord’s Supper on the night of the Passover meal. Just as Passover celebrates deliverance from slavery in Egypt, so the Lord’s Supper celebrates deliverance from sin by Christ’s death and resurrection.

            All Christians basically believe that partaking of Communion is an important element in the Christian faith and that however we understand it, Christ’s presence in us strengthens us spiritually. So it is important that we partake as often as possible. It is also meant to remind us of our Savior and what He gave for our freedom from sin.

Meditation for today: “There existed from all eternity a perfect love between the Father and the Son and between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. All that God created is an extension of that love.” Jonathan Edwards

Memory Verse: “Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road and how they had recognized Him as He was breaking the bread. Luke 24:35

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Daily devotion

8/20/2018

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Charity Instead of Vengeance

Scripture Reading for the day:  Genesis 26
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Scripture Quote: “So Isaac prepared a great feast for them, and they ate and drank in preparation for the treaty ceremony.” Genesis 26:30 (NLT)

            Isn’t it sad that the most common response to poor treatment from others is to plot something bad to befall them? We automatically seek vengeance to sooth our inevitable pride. We seek public sympathy and privately think hateful things. This kind of behavior really has no place in the life of a follower of Christ.

            Actually, if we are honest, we can think of as many wrongs that we have dealt others as have been dealt to us. We like to rationalize these facts away in the mist of our indignant tempest. Isaac, who had good reason to be bitter, didn’t respond with anger. Instead he showed mercy and charity to King Abimelech who had previously been jealous of Isaac’s wealth. He had Isaac’s wells filled with dirt and drove Isaac away. Still, Isaac chose Christ’s peaceful way to treat King Abimelech.

We can be just as receptive to those who want to make peace with us. Often, God’s influence in our lives draws others to us, even enemies - We can take those opportunities to reach out to them with God’s love.

            Isaac compromised for the sake of peace. Would you be willing to forsake your pride to keep peace? Is it hard for you to humble yourself in front of others?

Meditation for the day: The trouble with taking revenge when we are mistreated is that none of us can claim complete innocence.

Memory Verse: “We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we decided we should have a treaty, a covenant between us.” Genesis 26:28

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Daily devotion

8/17/2018

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Blessings And Peace Be With You
Scripture Reading for the day: John 20: 19-23
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Scripture Quote: “Jesus said to him, because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” John 20:29 (NASB)
            How many times has fear turned into delight when we recognize the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives? When Jesus miraculously came through locked doors and blessed His followers with peace, fear was completely negated. The nail prints in His hands, and the spear scar in His side, proved to them that Jesus had defeated death and had risen once again. What a sight that must have been!
            Jesus’ transferred the job of proclaiming peace and blessings to His disciples, then and now. His peace is now our peace, and it’s ours to share with those we come in contact with in our everyday experience. Christ’s teachings were meant to continue through each believer.
            It’s sometimes scary to step out in faith and talk about the gospel to nonbelievers. Some of us are not very brave when it comes to the possibility of confronting rejection from others. But we have been given a job that will enrich those we approach. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to turn a heart toward Christ, but it is our job to offer the suggestion and extend the invitation because God’s blessings and peace are too wonderful to be stingily hoarded for ourselves simply because we may feel a little awkward.
Today’s meditation: Risk sharing the blessings and peace you have been given with someone new.
Memory Verse: “Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.”         Psalms 34:14 (NASB)

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