Daily Devotions based the Sermon from February 7, 2021
THIS WEEK: A Mission-Minded Person Has a Caring Heart!
I think…no I know…I need to change my perspective.
I need to see things from God’s perspective and understand his purpose.
Maybe you do to.
I get busy. Life gets busy. The day has more tasks than it has hours to accomplish them.
So I ignore it, pretend I didn’t see it, or superficially express concern for it.
I feel I don’t have the time to help the person who has a need in that moment.
I need God’s help to see meeting physical need is part of the mission he has given to me…to us. In fact these needs that I often see as an interruption, are really an invitation…an invitation that God hands me from heaven to take the love he has shown to me and put it into practice in the life of another.
The Apostle John understood and taught this. He was the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” He was the recipient of Jesus’ love. He knew that the love he was shown was not just for him, but for the people God put in his life. In his first letter he wrote:
1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
What I see as an interruption in the use of my material resources, Jesus lays out as an invitation to use a small portion of those resources to help a brother in need.
What I see as an interruption in the tasks and events of my day, is Jesus giving me an invitation to express the love I received from him.
What I see as an interruption that can be solved with a few words or empathetic tone, Jesus invites me to love not just with words, but with actions as I have the resources to do so.
What I see as an interruption, thinking that I can’t do anything anyway, is an invitation to use the physical need to help someone take a step into the truth of God and his love.
What I see as an interruption in my day is an invitation God is giving me to see the power of his love at work in my life and through me in the life of another.
Maybe what I perceive as an interruption is God’s way of making me pause and reminding me how much he has loved me.
Maybe when I begin to see a person with a physical need as an invitation, I will welcome the interruption.
Help me Lord to see things from your perspective and understand your purpose!
Apply: Look for the interruptions in your day today that are God’s invitation to put his love into action.
Prayer: Lord, change my perspective to see the needs of people around me not as an interruption in my day, but as an invitation from you to reflect on your love and to show your love to others. AMEN.