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Devotions this week based on Sunday’s Message: Hope is the Heart of Christmas! (LISTEN HERE)

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What leads you to lose hope?

Perhaps you lose hope when what was promised didn’t happen.  You were hoping for a non-rainy day, and the weather report said it wouldn’t rain…but it did.  You might lose hope that the weather report will be correct.

Perhaps you have hope that your investments will go up and you will be able to retire when you are 65.  When a recession hits shortly before retirement, you lose hope that you will have enough saved to step back from work.

Hope seems to be missing in our world today.

News reports flaunt the darkness of evil and sin in our world.  Murders, recession, corruption, theft, and more make up the headlines with barely a mention of any good news.  Inflation and cost of living increases and challenges our daily purchasing of what we need to live and survive.  Conflicts in relationships at work or in our families make it hard to even want to go through the holiday season.  Nations are at war and governments seem willing to create chaos inorder to gain whatever is in their interests.

Where is the hope in these realities?

Perhaps before we answer that question this morning, here’s the bottom line of what leads us to lose hope: sin and living in a sinful world.

Sin is the root of evil, brokenness and more.  It leads to disruption in the world, our communities, our families, and yes, in our own hearts.

Sin leaves us without hope because its effects are negative and the future it produces are negative.  

Jesus in talking to Nicodemus said, John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

Darkness, evil, sin leave us without hope.

So to have true and lasting hope, we need a solution for sin.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

We can look to earthly solutions for hope to spiritual problems, but the reality is that every human/earthly solution will fail us.  It’s what dashes hope when we put our hope in mankind to solve what really is a spiritual problem.

When we realize what leads us to lose hope is a spiritual problem, we look for a solution that will solve it.

That’s why Jesus came into the world.  He didn’t come with the promise that every financial challenge would be overcome or every relationship issue solved or every sickness healed, but he did come with the promise that he would overcome sin and its consequences.

For that reason we have hope.

Psalm 33:22 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Apply: What is causing you to lose hope?  What is the spiritual issue connected with that reality?  What promise of God can you grasp to again have hope?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for bringing hope when I feel hopeless.  AMEN.

Devotions this week based on Sunday’s Message: Hope is the Heart of Christmas! (LISTEN HERE)

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Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

History gives hope.

A cancer patient has hope because history has shown that 80% of people with that type of cancer will go into remission.

A person struggling financially because 90% of people with their skill set are gainfully employed.

A student wrestling with grades realizes that many millionaires never had above a “C” average in school.

History gives hope.

In our secular world, we look at historical percentages.  How many people…? (Fill in the blank).  If a high percentage of people in the past have had a positive outcome, we have hope that we will have that same positive outcome.

History gives hope.

In this verse from the Apostle Paul, he too realizes that not only does history provide hope, but God’s story, God’s history gives hope.

How so?  The stories of Scripture, the people named, and the situations in which they found themselves are all recorded to underscore the faithfulness, power, and ability of God almighty to deliver hope to his people.

Consider Abraham…promised to be the Father of great nations, yet did not have a son.  God fixed that with a miracle birth to Sarah.

Consider Joseph…sold into slavery away from his family, yet God orchestrated events so he would be second in command of all Egypt to preserve the lives of many people.

Consider Israel traveling to Babylon as a consequence for sin, yet God did not abandon them, but allowed them to return to rebuild the city and temple in Jerusalem.

Consider God’s chosen people to whom a Messiah was promised, and to whom God fulfilled that promise in Jesus.

The list could go on.  Why did the Spirit of God choose to record all these people, stories, and conversations?

So we could have hope.

How so?

In the lives of the real people, in real situations, in a real moment in time God’s promises were shown to be real, his power revealed to be present, and his love remaining always faithful.

The accounts of past events give us true and certain hope that the unchanging God in whom we trust will encourage us and give us endurance when we need it in the moment in time in which we live.

History, God’s story, gives us hope.

 

Apply: Which Bible story gives you hope and encouragement when hope seem absent or distant?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for never leaving your people without hope.  Thank you for recording the events of people and the hope you gave them so we might receive encouragement from them.  AMEN.

I love a good deal.

A well-known financial guru once said, “Never pay full price.”

Black Friday is a day of deals.  Admittedly, they are much easier to get as you can sit behind your computer screen and click “Add to Cart” pretty easily.  It is much different from the era of getting up at 4-5am and getting in line at the store with the deal you wanted, rushing to the spot to grab the item and then trying to get checked out so you could get to the next store that opened before it opened.

I love a good deal.

But one thing that still sits oddly in juxtaposition to Thanksgiving is Black Friday.

Why?

It seems to me that as soon as we are done giving thanks for what we have been given, advertisers are there to make us discontent with what we have.  In the days of newspaper advertising, the Thanksgiving paper was THE biggest to deliver, sometimes taking two loads because it was stuffed with advertisements.

Where is your heart this morning?

If you are up early getting the “good deals” – as I said, “I love a good deal.”  Nothing wrong with a good deal.  However, where is your heart this morning?

Are the thoughts of Thanksgiving a distant memory?  Is your heart feeling pressured to buy something that maybe you don’t need, but it is a good deal?  Or is your heart feeling discontent with what you were grateful for yesterday, and needing more today?

I don’t mean to spoil your Black Friday deals, but I am sharing what my heart needs, and what I’m guessing your heart could benefit from as well.

Learn gratitude and contentment…every day.

Philippians 4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Contentment is realizing the Lord has provided what I need for today.

Contentment is a condition of the heart that trusts in the Lord, not in material things.

Contentment is knowing my biggest problem in life is taken care of by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Contentment is shopping for a good deal to be a good steward of God’s gifts without allowing that item to cause sadness or joy if I get it or not.

Contentment allows me to be generous in giving to the Lord and others, because my security is not in my stuff.

Contentment flows from a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving.

Contentment realizes the LORD is good and his mercy endures forever…and lives each day in that reality.

So enjoy whatever activity you have planned today…even if it getting up early and standing in line to get a deal.  However, don’t let the heart of Thanksgiving leave you for a heart of discontent, rather let the heart of Thanksgiving and gratitude give you always a heart of contentment.

Apply: Don’t just pay attention to the deals today, pay attention to your heart and where it’s focus is resting.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for all things.  Lead us to live each day with a heart of gratitude, generosity and contentment.  AMEN.

A Thanksgiving Poem

(This poem/prayer was penned by Nadine Flowers, a friend of members Ralph & Mildred Dickson)

Thanksgiving is more than just one day, a certain time of year.

It’s God’s command of gratitude; It’s what he wants to hear.

Thanksgiving should come from deep within

A heart of love that never ends.

A spontaneous, grateful heart.

That acknowledges God for all he has done.

For his mercy and grace, his unfailing love

For daily provision and all the things, we’re not worthy of.

Being grateful, thankful, every day.

Honoring God in all our ways.

Putting him first as we plan our day.

Realizing he’s worthy of our honor and praise.

True thankfulness comes when we truly know God.

Recognizing his goodness as he lives in our hearts.

Remembering what he has done in our lives.

He provides, he sustains, he comforts, he guides.

So enjoy the turkey, the stuffing and pie.

It all comes from God, the giver of life.

 

A blessed and happy Thanksgiving Day to you all!

“O give thanks to the Lord for he is GOOD and his love endures forever!”

Today’s devotion builds on the thoughts from Sunday’s Sermon – Week 10 of “Fan or Follower – Finish Strong!”  (CLICK HERE).

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James 2:14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 

Accounts like this from James 2 and Matthew 25 (yesterday’s lesson) make us nervous and seem to contradict the clear conviction that we have that our salvation rests 100% on the back of Jesus’ perfect life, innocent death and glorious resurrection.

So, when Jesus returns and makes mention of the works of believers or the lack of works of unbelievers is there a component that we must fulfill to earn a spot in heaven.

Let me put it this way.

If you are alive, you will breathe.  

If you are alive, your heart will beat.

If you are alive, your brain will function.

If someone seems to not be alive, there will be attempts to see if they are breathing.  Someone will try to take the pulse.  Monitors will measure brain activity.

Life has evidence.

It would be ridiculous to say that someone is alive when their heart is not beating, their lungs not breathing and their brain not functioning.

If someone would challenge and say, “All you have to do is say you are alive.”  Someone might say, “Saying their alive is ok, but I will show life by what the body is doing.”

Perhaps this isn’t a perfect analogy, but the activities of the body indicate that there is life.

So the works of the believer show evidence that faith is alive.  Works don’t create the faith.  Works give evidence of the faith that God has worked in their hearts.

When a heart of an individual is touched and changed by the love of God, it is only natural for that life to exhibit the love of God in dealings with others.

The Apostle John reflects this in 1 John 4:11-12:

1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

What is noticeable in Jesus’ speaking of the last judgment is the believer asks, “When did I see you…?” because the believer is simply living out the love of God, not living to get credits before God.  

Living a life of love is simply what ones who have been touched by the love of God do.

And Jesus notices.

Apply: Living a life of love starts with being filled with the love of Jesus.  How is your “love tank” from Jesus?  How can you ensure that stays full so that it overflows to others?

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving me.  May my love for others always reflect the love you have shown to me.  AMEN.