What's Your Message?

What is our message about Christ? Sometimes we get so caught up in all that Christ has done for us that we tell more about that than about Christ and His life. John the Baptist had hundreds of people coming to him to be baptized and his message wasn't about what Christ was going to do for him, but what He would do for the people - you think I'm good, just wait till you see the Messiah, he will blow you away! Is our message about Christ in our lives or is it about the life of Christ? Think about the life of Christ today and share it with someone so God can use your words to blow that person away. 

Mark 1:7-8 NIV

7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Friends

The book of Proverbs has so many wise life lessons, this is one of them. So often we want someone who is going to tell us what we want to hear whether it is true or not. I am sure we know lots of people who would do that for us, but are they really helping us by not being honest? A true friend speaks the truth to us in a loving gentle manner, even if it isn't what we want to hear. Their words may sting for a bit, but they will help us grow and be who God intends us to be. How are you at being a faithful friend? Today pray for your faithful friends and thank God for them and ask Him to help you to always be a faithful friend. 

Proverbs 27:6 NKJV

6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Are You There?

In today's verses, David is crying out to God to be gracious to him and to relieve his troubles. I am guessing many of us have done the same thing. When we are hurting or in a mess, we cry out for relief. When you have done this, have you ever felt like God didn't hear you, the troubles didn't go away? David's troubles didn't go away either, but it did bring him closer to God, it helped him grow into a man after the heart of God. God heard him and was with him through the troubles, God was gracious to him. When we cry out to God, our troubles may not be immediately relieved, but God is with us, sustaining is through them as we grow closer to Him. We just have to turn to Him and trust He will see us through. If you are struggling or know someone who is, pray that you or they will feel God beside them and believe that He will guide you or them through this. 

Psalm 25:16-17 NIV

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.

The Rest of the Story...

The rest of the story....prayer is powerful, so much so the results can take us by surprise. The church was praying for Peter and look what happened...an angel appeared and his chains fell off. At first Peter thought it was a vision, but then he realized what was happening.  He went to where the disciples were gathered and when he knocked on the door, they thought it was his angel (Acts12:15). My hope is that we will be blown away by the answer God has for our prayers when we pray as one.  When we all come together in like minds, putting aside personal issues, and pray for Christ to be lived thought out the world, who knows what will happen! God knows!!

Acts 12:6-9 NIV

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.

They Prayed

What could the people do? Peter was in jail, how could they help? They did the most powerful thing that they could all do, they prayed. They didn't do it as individuals, they did it as a whole, as a church. As we read, hear, or see about the decline of Christianity, we feel helpless and overwhelmed. Can we make a difference and how? We as Christians are more powerful than we can imagine because we have the All Mighty God. We can make a difference and we start by coming together in prayer! We pray for our leaders, we pray our schools, we pray for the church. We pray that we will come together as one praying to God for His voice to be heard and His name proclaimed. Join me this morning, praying first for the church to be of one mind, the mind of Christ, that all differences would put aside for the sake of Christ and His glory. This is where we start!

Acts 12:5 NIV
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Comfort

When we think of comfort we often think of warm, fluffy blankets or a warm fire, a refreshing river, a bowl of mac & cheese, or a loved one's arms around us. We feel satisfied with these things. As I read these verses, I feel comfort and I feel satisfied. I know that I may not be part of the "in" group by society's view, but I am part of the blessed group. I also know that if I delight in the Lord and His Word, I will not wither and will produce the fruit He desires me to produce. Take a few minutes today and read these verses a few times over, let them surround you like a warm blanket on a cold day and know you are truly blessed! 

Psalm 1:1-3 NIV

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

Ouch!

You know God is trying to tell you something when all four devotionals you read are about the same thing! The message is "it's all about God, not me! We can either submit to God's will and have His power in us or we can submit to our will and work against His power. Just when I think I got this and doing His will, I read a quote from Jesus Calling-"A yielded heart does not whine or rebel when the going gets tough." Ouch!! I may be taking up my cross, but I think I am following my will! Denying self is an ongoing journey, little by little God reveals to us where we are still putting ourselves before Him. When we make the choice to be a disciple of Christ, He will help us to let go of us! Today look for the places where "me" is whining and rebelling and ask Christ to help you let go of yourself! 

Luke 9:23 NIV

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.