Day 7
Day 7 concludes our Christine Caine devotional with the connection between faith and works…
Devotional Point 4 today: Jesus didn’t save us to build a Christian subculture… Go…
Scripture 4 today: “But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” James 2:18 NIV
Reflection 4 today: the point is really quite simple here, you can talk about your faith all day long but if it doesn’t cause some specific action then it is pointless. But not only that, it has to be action that makes a difference, a “real“ difference. So, we all need to stop and ask if what we are doing is making a real difference…
Question for the day: I hope you have enjoyed the last week of Christine, she always points us to some really good stuff… I thought we would do another short set of devotions on the upcoming Easter season with 6 days in Jesus footsteps in Israel, invites out later today…
Day 6
https://youtu.be/KWRgl_Btn-Y
Day 6 gives excellent instruction to those who are deep in the faith: preach the word…
Devotional Point 4 today: We are God’s plan A…
Scripture 4 today: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:2 NIV
Reflection 4 today: to preach the word, you have got to be fully prepared, as Paul says both in season and out of season. Essentially, that means that we have to consistently preach the actual word, whether we feel like it or not. Preaching the actual word is not our understanding of it for our spin on it or our view of how it might relate to current events, the word has to stand on its own. And when it does, it is quite suitable for correction, rebuke, and encouragement. Mostly we just want encouragement…
Day 5
https://youtu.be/GfLyia1_XtE
Day 5 reminds us of our real task for being here: loving our neighbour…
Devotional Point 4 today: we need to see that everyone is our neighbor…
Scripture 4 today: “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 NIV
Reflection 4 today: once you understand the expanded version of who is my neighbour, then you can fully grasp the point Jesus what is making here… very little of what happens in the world we live in is based on love, the interactions between people are 99% just based on a quid pro quo. I will do something if I think there’s a chance I will get something back. Gods love is quite the opposite, He hopes we will love him back but He does it all the same anyway.
Question for the day: who is your neighbour?
Day 4
Day 4 gives us the response to the light Jesus has brought into our lives: let it shine…
Devotional Point 4 today: there is a God-shaped vacuum in every human heart…
Scripture 4 today: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 NIV
Reflection 4 today: for the last couple of years I have been silently and quietly just “getting on with it“. Without realising it, I might have walked past some opportunities to share the gospel that I may have not known were opportunities. If we lead with the great things God is doing in our lives, then the chance of missing an opportunity it’s goes way down… Theat being said, we must always be on the lookout for ways to serve…
Question for the day: How can we be better salt & light today?
Day 3
Day 3 gives us one of the most important things that God feels towards us: patience…
Devotional Point 4 today: LOST is not a state God wants anyone to remain in…
Scripture 4 today: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 NIV
Reflection 4 today: This word for “slow” is very deep and only used in this one place in the Newt Testament. It means that God operates to his own timetable in how he best sees fit which often does not synch with ours. Unanswered prayer is something that needs to speak to us, as we are thinking God should want this or that to happen on this timescale, and he is saying “no”, as in no for right now, but maybe no forever…
Question for the day: how do we understand God’s timescales better???
Day 2
https://youtu.be/aifZuIP5GKc
Day 2 delivers one of the most important messages of the entire Bible…
Devotional Point 4 today: “I loved you before I knew you.”
Scripture 4 today: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1 NIV
Reflection 4 today: essentially, we are invited to pry into this incredible secret for God’s love, something we know very little about naturally. I became a father when my daughter was born, God was a father long before any of us were born, which is incredibly important as a concept… He did not direct the odd bit of loving affection towards us, He lavished his love on us with his son. Lavish is the term for His love to us and the same term to describe our love towards others…
Question for the day: Wo do you need to lavish God’s love on today?
Day 1
https://youtu.be/MFY4yY7moC4
Day 1 hits us with an all-important component of our growth: seeing, not just looking…
Devotional Point 4 today: looked, but not seen…
Scripture 4 today: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,” Ephesians 1:18 NIV
Reflection 4 today: upon conversion, we received the Holy Spirit, we were given what we need to have maximum life here on Earth. However, we need that Holy Spirit to actually enlighten our hearts, not just be present in accounted for. It is up to us, with pure hearts, to allow the Holy Spirit to do his work on our hearts so that we can see the things he wants us to see. Once you see it, there is no going back…
Question for the day: How do we make sure that we are seeing, not just looking? Asking the Holy Spirit to help us see in each individual situation…
