Improved vs. New // 02.13

"Jesus was very clear: 'Apart from me you can do nothing' (John 15:5). We may have thought that being a Christian meant being better, improving ourselves, and having a profound reason to obey God and do good works. If so, we set our eyes on the result of the Christian life and forgot the means to get there. We cannot become mature disciples except by supernatural means. Jesus did not come into this world to make us better; He came into this world to make us new. There's a significant difference."

* * * * *

"Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ." —Galatians 3:2

Internally received & externally expressed // 02.12

"God's character is expressed in His works. What He does emanates from His personality. He expects the same of us—our faith will result in works. The fruit of the Spirit is not just internally received but externally expressed. God meets us in the deep, inward spaces, but He always leads us outward. His Spirit does not invade our being to remain hidden. We are the display of His glory, not its best-kept secret."

What am I doing on a daily basis that expresses that God lives within me? It seems too little to be of importance. There are moments of volunteering, but far too few moments of daily affirmation and love for those around me.

Dear God,
Please use me. Fill me with your Spirit and show me how to live every day. Help me to love more, to think of you more, to express your will and desire through me. Help my expressions to be worthy of You.
Amen.

No need for human approval // 02.07

"The need to impress. The desire to stay out of trouble. The tendency to compare ourselves to others. The urge to maneuver and manipulate. All of these are products of our natural fear of man. If 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (Proverbs 9:10), the fear of man is the end of it. We cannot serve Him well with our eyes on popular opinion....
"God commands us to resist the urge to run with the crowd. It's an urge based on insecurity, rooted in our former alienation from our Creator. But once reconciled to our Creator, w have no need for human approval. There is no crowd to please, no culture to accommodate, no hoops to jump through for the momentary applause of a fickle audience. Best of all, there is no snare to fall into. Living Godward lives, we are kept safe from the false values of this world."

choices reveal our desires // 01.29

"Choices. . . . reveal our desires. Sometimes the desires they reveal have no moral or spiritual consequences . . . Other times, the desires revealed by our choices have a profound spiritual result: Our taste for obedience is exposed. . . . Our deepest loves come to the surface in the choices we make. Even when we deny our strong desires, we demonstrate that we must have had even stronger ones directing our choices. . . .
"Have you struggled with an addictive behavior? Have you repeated the same sin over and over? Understand the statement you are making when you indulge in it: You prefer the passing pleasure of a sinful desire to the fellowship that comes from obedience. It's a revealing choice. Refuse to be trapped by it. Let righteousness—an unrivaled desire for God—deliver you."

I have found myself trapped in a rather silly but nonetheless addictive behavior lately: playing Scrabble on my iPod every night before bed. I have felt God nudging me to pray and read the Bible at the end of the day, but most of the time, I have pushed aside that desire to play a game that ultimately frustrates me and leaves me less fulfilled than when I started. And to make it even crazier, I find myself seeking approval from the game. You see, the computer can show you when you have played a good word and let you know when you could have played something for better points. It does this with a little face that smiles big when you play a good word. I find myself wanting to get that face to smile—I want the satisfaction that comes from a computer game telling me I was smart! How crazy is that? And how pathetic. I have to stop this behavior. Tonight will be the night I do so. This devotional could not have come at a better time to remind me of the foolishness of my recent behavior.

"Let righteousness—an unrivaled desire for God—deliver you."

"visible" vs. "real" // 01.28

"Those who only see the many enemies [around us] are not focused on reality. They are only focused on the visible. They have forgotten a foundational principle of the spiritual life: The 'visible' and the 'real' are two vastly different things. . . . What you see is not all there is. Above and beyond your problems are:
(1) the power of the Lord of Hosts;
(2) all of His obedient servants ready to do warfare on your behalf; and
(3) your prayers and your faith—the clear lines of communication between you and your Deliverer."

Psalm 3, the reading for the day, is one of David's cries out to God about the enemies surrounding him. But David always seemed to remember that what is "visible" is not always what is "real." He knew, as we should know, that God is working for us in ways we can't always see.

"The 'visible' and the 'real' are two vastly different things."

A new year, a new direction

After discovering that reading through the Bible in a year was too much for me, I thought I would try a new approach this year: a one year devotional. Thanks to Tyndale graciously giving out free products, everyone at Tyndale has the opportunity to either read through the One Year Bible or a One Year devotional. I chose one of our new myBooks devotionals, The One Year Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegren. I've heard great things about Chris' writing, but I have never read any of this works. Ten days into this journey, I'm glad I picked this one up.

I hope throughout this year to discuss my journey and reflect on some of the more moving devotions. Yesterday's devo was the first that really got me thinking.


The Depth of Mercy // 01.25
"Though we know His grace, we often get confused. We come to view Him as lenient rather than merciful. The difference is monumental. He does no casually dismiss our sin—see the Cross as exhibit A. No, He forgives it. Knowing the difference has huge implications for us. When we see Him as lenient, we will be casual about sin, just as we assume He is. We will take Him for granted and never know the depth of His love. We will pray with sinful, distorted hearts. [But] When we understand mercy, we will grieve and repent. And we will never again approach Him with a sense of entitlement."

Lenient vs. Merciful—Too often I fall into the trap of thinking about God as lenient or accepting of my sins. That is so not the case. God doesn't like sin; he hates everything about it. But through Christ and the Cross, He created a way to forgive us for our sins, to forgive me for my sins. God, please help me confess my sins, accept your mercy, and live in your love. If I can remember every day how much you love me, I can live free of sin, worries, fear. I can live fully to follow your plan for my life.

The reading for this devo so eloquently reminds us of God's glory:
"Sing a new song to the Lord!
Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
Sing to the Lord; praise his name.
Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. . . .
"O nations of the world, recognize the Lord;
recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! . . .
"Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor."
—Psalm 96:1-2, 7-9