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This week’s devotions are based on the Week 11″Explore God” – Meant for More! (WATCH HERE)

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Matthew 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 

For most Christians, these words of Jesus are very familiar.  Known as the “Great Commission” these words give “marching orders” to the followers of Jesus before he ascends back into heaven.

However, I often think about the audience and setting of this conversation.

The timing of the conversation is one that is very close, if not the day of Jesus’ departure. If you knew you had just a short time with a group of people, you would make sure to convey the most important thing or things that you want that person to remember.  These words make sense as Jesus wants to make sure his followers know he has all power, he is calling them to make more followers and they have his presence throughout.

More than likely, this is what we most commonly think of in these verses.

But I think of the audience…

Would I have confidence these words would be trusted, followed, and shared? Hmm…?

Just preceding Jesus words in verse 18, Matthew records this:

17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

The group of followers had doubters.

In the group was Thomas…who had doubts.

Peter…who denied him.

James and John…who wanted power and authority

Matthew…who was a tax collector and perhaps a cheater.

Philip…a bit skeptical at times.

And the list goes on.

Would this be the group you would trust with the next generation of spreading the Gospel?  Perhaps if you were the HR Manager for Jesus, Inc., you would be a bit hesitant to trust the company to this group.

But Jesus did.

And still does.

The fact that Jesus would entrust his work to the group originally there is amazing to consider along with humbling.

He still chooses to use us today…doubters, deniers, skeptics, arrogant, sinful individuals.

He has no plan “B.”

We are his plan “A.”

The amazing nature of Jesus is that his grace extends to his call to communicate grace to others.  On our own we would never be worthy nor equipped, but his grace both makes us worthy (forgiven) and equipped to speak.

Through these lenses I hear his words again…

All authority is Jesus.  That means it’s not my opinion that matters…Jesus’ is the only one that matters.  If he calls me…that’s all the authority I need.

Go and make disciples…Disciples aren’t perfect, they are one’s convinced that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  I don’t have to be perfect, I just need the message of grace firmly in my heart.

I am with you always…I’m going to need it!  But that’s why Jesus promised it.

So leave these words of Jesus allowing them to ring clearly in your ears and stirring deeply in your heart.  Jesus is commissioning you with his power and presence to be part of his eternal work…bring the message of grace to people!

 

Apply: What changes when you realize Jesus is commissioning you because he wants you to be part of the plan to share the Gospel vs. thinking you have to interview and qualify?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the amazing nature of your grace which I get to live and share!  Be with me and equip me to be better at being your representative to others! AMEN.

A Thanksgiving Lord’s Prayer

 

Our Father in heaven

Lord thank you for being our Father and making us your children through faith in Jesus.  Thank you for your invitation to call on you with our prayers, our worries, and our thanksgiving.  Thank you for your ear that listens and hears us every time we pray to you.

Hallowed be your name.

Lord, thank you for the power and glory of your name.  As you revealed yourself to me through your Spirit, you have led me to call on you as my Savior and Lord.  Thank you for your Word which proclaims your name and the opportunity to live my life to glorify your name.  Thank you for your truth which exposes all lies and preserves your holy name among us.

Your kingdom come.

Lord, thank you for the power of your Spirit to work the Gospel message in my heart and make me part of your eternal kingdom of grace.  Thank you for your grace which covers all my sin and empowers me to reflect you in my words, actions, and thoughts.  Thank you for using me to expand your kingdom as I share you with my friends, neighbors and coworkers.

Your will be done on earth as in heaven.

Lord, thank you for a heart that desires my salvation and that of all people.  Thank you for breaking and hindering every evil plan of the devil, the world, and my sinful nature and in the end allowing the power of your Gospel to prevail.  Thank you, as I interact with evil, for the strength and promises of your word to be faithful to you each and every day.

Give us today our daily bread.

Lord, thank you for everything that you give to me that supports the need of my body and life: food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lord, perhaps this is the biggest thank you we can offer: Thank you for forgiving all my sins and covering me with your love and grace.  The gratitude is deep because we know we are not worthy of all the blessings you give, nor have we deserved them.  Yet in your mercy you choose to give them to us…even forgiveness.  Help us, in gratitude for the forgiveness you have freely given, empower us to forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

Lord, the devil the world and our sinful nature work very hard to deceive us or lead us into false belief, despair and great sin.  Thank you for your Spirit to guard and keep us from temptation and empowering us to say “No” to Satan and “Yes” to you.  Thank you for the assurance that in Christ we will ultimately have the victory!

But deliver us from evil

Lord, we have no idea how much evil you protect us from each and every day.  We thank you for your angels you command to watch over us and the behind the scenes work you do to push evil aside and allow harm to miss us.  Thank you for your promise that even if evil should come to us, you will give us a “evil-free” eternity in heaven with you!

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever, AMEN!

Lord, thank you for being our God.  Thank you for connecting us to you so that we know that all your power is at work in and for us, all your glory is draped over us and reflected by us, and all your ruling power is at work to orchestrate all for our blessing.  Lord thank you for ruling over all, in all and through all for our temporal and eternal good.

Amen

Thank you that we can finish this prayer of thanks with certainty that you will hear and answer all our prayers for the sake of Jesus’ name and our eternal good. Amen!

This week’s devotions are based on the Week 10 “Explore God” – A Life Worth Inquiring About! (WATCH HERE)

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People notice when we love our enemies.

1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

At face value, one can read this passage and say, “I agree.”  In practical application, it is very hard because our sinful nature loves to react to getting wronged by wronging the person back.

What makes these words even more challenging, especially to the first readers of them, is that people were persecuting them because of their faith in Jesus.  So their response to the evil or insult would be a direct reflection on their Christian faith.

Perhaps we believe we can get away with a little “mean” because no one knows we are a Christian.  In a sporting event, if we feel someone wronged us, it is easy to push a little harder than needed the next time.  As we drive down the road and someone cuts us off, it is tempting to speed around them and brake in front of them.  If someone says something mean about us in a meeting at work, it’s tempting to make sure gossip is spread in the breakroom about them in the days that follow.

It’s much easier to repay evil with evil and insult with insult.

But anyone can do that.  It is “normal” and doesn’t stand out.  In fact, we often hear, “They had it coming” or “They deserved it” as if repaying evil with evil and insult with insult is expected and “just.”

But what if we repaid evil with a blessing or an insult with a compliment?

That would stand out…because it runs against the normal response.

When someone does evil to you…”I forgive you” or “I will pray for you.”

When someone insults you…”I wish you the best” or “I pray for God to bless you.”

Weird, right?

It doesn’t come natural and to be honest even in writing the thought went through my mind, “What does that look like?”

We all have to work on it.

As always, we have Jesus’ encouragement and example:

His encouragement:

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

His example:

Luke 23:33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The blessing from Jesus is his perfect love of enemies is the substitute we need when we imperfectly love our enemies.  The blessing from Jesus for us, is he loves and forgives us, even though because of sin, we were his enemies.

When we love and forgive our enemies, do you think people may notice? And when people notice, people ask and when people ask, we get the chance to share the reason for the hope we have.  And when we share, the Spirit of God has the chance to work on another heart.

 

Apply: What makes loving your enemies hard for you to do?  What is one thing you may do to show love to someone today when they insult or do evil to you?

Prayer: Father, forgive us when we fail to love our enemies.  Empower us with your Spirit to return insult and evil with a blessing.  AMEN.

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  

The value of having Christian friends is having people to practice Christian relationships and attributes with.  Both Peter and Paul encourage the people of God to treat the people of God with the love of Christ.  As one pastor said, “If we can’t get it right in the family of God, we can’t get it right with the people outside the church.”

Imagine if someone visited your church and they witnessed divisiveness, bitterness, a lack of sympathy and empathy, etc.  Do you think that person would come back?  Not a chance.  However, if they experience a culture of relationships that are living in harmony with one another, sympathetic, loving, compassionate and humble, there might be a good chance they would want to experience that again.  The life of a Christian is attractive in a culture that is divided, judgmental, full of pride and a lack of compassion.  When we show up and foster interactions and relationships that are opposite…people might be curious why we act the way we do.  And when they do, we get to have a conversation that shares the heart of our faith in Jesus…his love for us.

But it’s not easy.  We all have a sinful nature that wants to do the opposite of what the Spirit wants us to do.  We need the help of God’s Spirit to exhibit these qualities.  It’s quite a list:

• Live in harmony with one another.  We may not always agree, but we won’t let it cause division.  We will be willing to yield our opinion for the sake of maintaining harmony.
• Be sympathetic.  People go through hard times.  Our hearts lead us to listen, care, and serve in a time of need.
• Love as brothers.  Family is there for each other.  The depth of love moves beyond a superficial care to a deep concern.
• Be compassionate.  Feel for others.  Don’t minimize what they are going through or the feelings they are experiencing.  Take time to listen, understand and care.
• Be humble.  Pride is a tough thing to put away.  We naturally want to be the most important, our ideas always heard, and our way always taken.  But others interests must come before our own.

This is just Peter’s list…Paul adds this to the list

• Be kind.  Kindness takes sacrifice.  Helping someone may not be convenient, but it’s noticed.
• Be patient. Sometimes we have to wait for someone to understand, for something to happen, for someone to learn.  Patience is a virtue.
• Forgive.  How important forgiveness is to heal wounds caused by sin.  Forgiveness gives up the right to get even and is interested in preserving the relationship more than getting even.
• Put on love.  We love because Jesus first loved us.  If we ever question how to show love, we simply go back to the love that God has shown to us.

It’s not easy, but that’s why we get to practice Christ’s love with our friends and Christian family.  As we put Christ’s love into practice, it sets up an opportunity for our light to shine and people to notice.  And when people notice, people ask and when people ask, we get the chance to share the reason for the hope we have.  And when we share, the Spirit of God has the chance to work on another heart.

 

Apply: What attribute listed above is one you would like to work on with or within your Christian family?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for friends and Christian family to both experience and practice loving others like you have loved us.  AMEN.

This week’s devotions are based on the Week 10 “Explore God” – A Life Worth Inquiring About! (WATCH HERE)

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1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

I have used this passage many, many times in my ministry.  But here’s the question that challenged me on this passage: “What would make someone ask?”

Peter is encouraging his readers to be prepared to give a reason for the hope they have…to everyone…who asks you.

So what would make someone ask?

It would probably be a pretty rare thing that someone without any context or relationship with you would ask, “Why do you have the hope you have?”  

When people ask a question, their curiosity has been sparked. Something happens that leads them to ask a question.  You don’t ask for directions unless you are lost.  You don’t ask for help unless the situation is beyond your ability to handle.  You don’t ask for an explanation from your kids unless their behavior has caused a question.

We ask questions when we are curious.

So what would lead someone to ask about the hope that we have?

A logical answer would be because they see a hope in you that they don’t have for themselves, but desire to have.  So they ask.

So if the hope we have because we are connected by faith to Jesus is what is different, how does that show itself to the people around us?  When does the hope we have in Jesus really manifest itself to the people around us?

Perhaps it comes up with the Monday “water cooler” conversation about the world events and coworkers express worry and concern over the end of the world, nuclear war, or escalation of events in the middle east.  When you don’t seem agitated or worked up by it, they ask, “How can you remain so calm and not be worried about escalation of the conflict?”

You now have a question to answer and your hope to share.

Perhaps it’s a conversation around the Thanksgiving Table about a relationship that has gone sour and the family in general is worked up about it and is anxious about dealing with it.  While you sit calmly and offer opportunities to address in a manner of forgiveness and kindness, another relative asks, “How can you be so loving when that’s not what this person deserves?” You now have a question to answer and a hope to share.

Perhaps its interaction with a neighbor who is going through medical challenges.  They remember you sharing a hospital stay and not being anxious or worked up about it.  They ask, “How can you be so calm when life can be so challenging?”

You now have a question to answer and a hope to share.

Everyday interactions are an opportunity to let the love of Jesus shine in and through us to others.  Because Jesus’ love, grace and peace are working in your heart, they naturally spill out into our interactions with others.  When we react or interact with the heart and love of Jesus, it will be noticed because it is different.  And because it is different, people will be curious.  When people are curious, they ask a question.  And when they ask a question, YOU get the chance to share the hope YOU have!

Apply: Pick one of the scenarios in the devotion or make up one on your own. Write down how you would articulate your faith – practice answering the questions people may ask so you are ready when they do!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving me a hope to give out to others, AMEN.