Tuesday 9-1-09

1 Cor 3:7-8 "So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour."

A couple of observations that I made:

1. Every Christian is a planter and a waterier. The planter is one who spreads the gospel fervently. The waterier is one who teaches and disciples others who have died to self and live for Christ.

2. Ultimately our fleshly efforts at witnessing and teaching are not going to save anyone or make anyone grow in Christ.

3. God is the one who causes the growth, he will use us to bring us to him for salvation, and with others he will use us to teach and disciple them, however God is the one who will be doing the work in their hearts.

4. We will be rewarded or not rewarded according to our obedience in regards to our witnessing and disciplining.

Monday 8-31-09

1 Cor 2:4-5 "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

How convicting these verses are, I mean to often I attempt to make my speech, teaching, and conversations enticing words of men's wisdom. Although I myself would want God to be glorified in all that I do, my pride which dwells within me doesn't seek God's glory but rather my own. Honestly though it scares me to think that I might teach or preach in a manner that I would be seeking others to look at me because of my knowledge, power, wisdom, or abilities rather then letting God's grace and power, through the Holy Spirit flow through me, so that God might be brought glory and praise.

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Father God thank you for this very breath in my lungs… thank you that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… Father I thank you for the ability, privlage, and even the responsibility of searching the scriptures that I might study to show myself approved unto you… Lord I ask that you would crush my pride that I would never attempt to entice anyone with my wisdom but rater I ask Lord that my teaching and preaching would be a demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of your power that you would draw men to yourself for your exultation and honor… Please Lord continue to grow me in you each day...

Sunday 8-30-09

Romans 10

Romans 10: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Father thank you for making a way of escape from eternal torment and death… Thank you Lord Jesus for doing all the work necessary for salvation…. Lord God thank you that you included me in “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Romans 10:14a&b “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?”

I thank you Father for including me in getting your gospel to the uttermost parts of the world… Father I ask that you would stir up your people in America, that we might recognize the great need of proclaiming your good news to every nation… Father I ask that we would obey your command of taking the gospel to ever nation that you might be glorified by the obedience of your children, and by the ones whom you would make new creatures through Christ Jesus….

Romans 10:14c "And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Lord God you commanded us in Matthew 9 to ask you to send laborers unto the harvest… So Father I ask that you would send preachers to be a light in this dark and dying world… that you might be brought glory and honor….

Romans 10:15a “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”

Father please send me….

Saturday 8-29-09

I couldn't not find the paper that I had written down Saturdays devotions on. However I did remember that it was Romans 8:39-39, and that it was continuing to look at the greatness of God's love for us.

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Friday 8/28/09

Romans 5

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

What an amazing and mind-boggling Savior we have!

The amount of love that God has for us we will never fathom on this earth, in fact it will take eternity for us to fully understand God’s love.

Just thinking about the implications of this verse, that God loved us while we were sinners, and what that really says about his infinite and never-ending love. Here are a couple things that gave me a glimpse of a glimpse of a glimpse of God’s great love:

1. Romans 5:10 States that because we were sinners we were enemies to God. Enemies aren’t people that you love, enemies are people that you want defeated, crushed, alienated, and destroyed. Yet God loved us while we were enemies to him!

2. Romans 5:6 Says that we were “without strength” or basically helpless when we were sinners. God’s love and mercy were manifested to us in that while we were helpless and couldn’t do anything about our sin, “Christ died for the ungodly.”

3. Romans 6 makes it undeniably clear that the natural man is enslaved to sin, and John 8:34 says that if you commit sin that you are the slave of sin. So Christ died while we were enslaved to the thing, which God hates.

So not only were we enemies to God, we were enslaved to the thing which God loathes: sin; plus the fact that we were “without strength” to do anything about being an enemy of God or being enslaved to sin; and perhaps you also will get a glimpse of glimpse of a glimpse of God’s great love that he has for us, and just how true the statement in John 4:16 which is “God is love.”

Thursday 8/27/09

Romans 3

Romans 3:3&4 “For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;”

I am so thankful that “the faith of God” and his power, mercy, justness, and faithfulness doesn’t rely on mans ‘believing’ to make it true. I’m thankful that Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and every other religion out there is false, think about it; does it make you glad that true Christianity (IE Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”) is the ONLY way to get to heaven?

As I sit here I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that confessing with the mouth and believing in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is the only way to heaven.

Maybe it’s just me but it is so comforting and reassuring that I know that the God that I serve does care for me and love me. My God isn’t just ‘out there somewhere’ he has actually sent part of himself to dwell in me. Some might wonder how I derived these statements from these verses, and I know that I rest heavily on other passages to for some of these statements but honestly it was surprising just how clearly the Holy Spirit ‘spoke’ to me through these verses as I meditated on them.