Matthew 17:20
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Dear friend,
Do you believe it's possible to achieve the impossible? Have you ever accomplished the seemingly impossible on a supernatural level? Our faith in Christ provides us with a source of power beyond anything of this world. It's our faith in Christ alone, the smallest amount of faith, that can truly make the impossible possible. Have you ever seen a mustard seed? It's tiny!
Believe in your faith in Christ! Draw from the one TRUE power source today and see what mountains move in your life!
Have a blessed weekend!
In Christ!
-Robert
Friday, January 7, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
1.6.11
1 Peter 2:23-25
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Dear friend,
We know that our Savior lived a sinless life and yet bore all of our sins on the cross. It doesn't take me very long to write it, but oh that we would ponder over and over again the depth of Christ's love for us and how antithetical...how against the grain...how counterintuitive His submission is to our sinful nature.
I pray that these verses are sketched on our hearts so that if we are threatened or insulted today and feel our pride rising, demand retaliation, that we wouldn't feel the need to assert ourselves. Lord, in these situations, help us to trust in your justice and choose to walk in the Spirit.
In Romans 12:19 and Deuteronomy 32:35 it tells us that it is God's place to avenge and that He will repay. Let us die to these sins and live to righteousness for we have been healed and returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls!
In Christ,
Mike
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Dear friend,
We know that our Savior lived a sinless life and yet bore all of our sins on the cross. It doesn't take me very long to write it, but oh that we would ponder over and over again the depth of Christ's love for us and how antithetical...how against the grain...how counterintuitive His submission is to our sinful nature.
I pray that these verses are sketched on our hearts so that if we are threatened or insulted today and feel our pride rising, demand retaliation, that we wouldn't feel the need to assert ourselves. Lord, in these situations, help us to trust in your justice and choose to walk in the Spirit.
In Romans 12:19 and Deuteronomy 32:35 it tells us that it is God's place to avenge and that He will repay. Let us die to these sins and live to righteousness for we have been healed and returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls!
In Christ,
Mike
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
1.5.11
John 5:43-44
43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Dear friends,
In these verses Jesus is talking to the pharisees about missing the very subject of scripture. They were looking good to other people yet having little regard for how God sees them. Today we might call this "people pleasing" or acting the part to get a certain response. They were masters at proclaiming the word but not living the word. This is a very dangerous position as they knew enough scripture to fool the masses yet internally Jesus said they did not know him, so they did not know God.
Heart check time... Jesus continues to say that they will be condemned by the very scriptures (law of Moses) that they put their hope in.
My friends, last week I urged you in Jesus name to press on as we serve a mighty God. He knows us as Jesus knew these Pharisees so we don't have to act or fake our way through life! It is very easy to know just enough scripture to "feel" safe yet miss the true Word of Life who is Jesus himself (John 1). Let's read the Bible in light of who Jesus is, why He came and in the context of His triumphant return.
Prayer: Lord, we long to know you and your word. Your word is a lamp to our feet so we can navigate in this world. As we read the Bible this week help us to draw closer to Christ through it. We want to know you more! Help us to resist the temptation of finding hope in how we look to people on the outside. You are our life and only hope. Thank you Lord. In Christ. Amen!
Ty
43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Dear friends,
In these verses Jesus is talking to the pharisees about missing the very subject of scripture. They were looking good to other people yet having little regard for how God sees them. Today we might call this "people pleasing" or acting the part to get a certain response. They were masters at proclaiming the word but not living the word. This is a very dangerous position as they knew enough scripture to fool the masses yet internally Jesus said they did not know him, so they did not know God.
Heart check time... Jesus continues to say that they will be condemned by the very scriptures (law of Moses) that they put their hope in.
My friends, last week I urged you in Jesus name to press on as we serve a mighty God. He knows us as Jesus knew these Pharisees so we don't have to act or fake our way through life! It is very easy to know just enough scripture to "feel" safe yet miss the true Word of Life who is Jesus himself (John 1). Let's read the Bible in light of who Jesus is, why He came and in the context of His triumphant return.
Prayer: Lord, we long to know you and your word. Your word is a lamp to our feet so we can navigate in this world. As we read the Bible this week help us to draw closer to Christ through it. We want to know you more! Help us to resist the temptation of finding hope in how we look to people on the outside. You are our life and only hope. Thank you Lord. In Christ. Amen!
Ty
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
1.4.11
Exodus 14:13-14
Crossing the Sea
13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Dear friend,
Imagine you're an Israelite having just been led out of persecution under the Egyptians. You flee the land and life that you know hoping to be delivered to something better, a promised land. Then it all seems to come to an end. The Egyptian soldiers are closing in behind you and there's a sea before you. You're trapped, there's no where to go! You start to wish you would have just stayed put. And then when all hope seems lost and death is imminent an unlikely door opens.
Our lives are much like this. But do we have the courage to leave all that we know behind; our past, our sins, even old friends and possibly family, to pursue a promised land; living in God's will for our lives? Do you trust in God enough to allow Him to direct your path and provide doors when no options seem to exist? If we're "all in", we trust in God so much that we know He WILL deliver us to that sweet spot in life where He desires us to be. God is fighting for His children day in and day out. We just need to stand down, be still, and trust in Him!
In Christ,
Robert
Crossing the Sea
13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
Dear friend,
Imagine you're an Israelite having just been led out of persecution under the Egyptians. You flee the land and life that you know hoping to be delivered to something better, a promised land. Then it all seems to come to an end. The Egyptian soldiers are closing in behind you and there's a sea before you. You're trapped, there's no where to go! You start to wish you would have just stayed put. And then when all hope seems lost and death is imminent an unlikely door opens.
Our lives are much like this. But do we have the courage to leave all that we know behind; our past, our sins, even old friends and possibly family, to pursue a promised land; living in God's will for our lives? Do you trust in God enough to allow Him to direct your path and provide doors when no options seem to exist? If we're "all in", we trust in God so much that we know He WILL deliver us to that sweet spot in life where He desires us to be. God is fighting for His children day in and day out. We just need to stand down, be still, and trust in Him!
In Christ,
Robert
Monday, January 3, 2011
1.3.11
Hebrews 11:88
"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going."
Dear friend,
Recently I completed my degree (praise the Lord!) and finally have more free time in the evenings and weekends. For the last couple weeks I have anxiously been waiting to see what the Lord would do and how I could serve Him more. I found myself asking God what was to come and I was so blown away when I read "My Utmost For His Highest" today. I know it is a bit long but I think you'll be blessed. I'm so thankful for the opportunities that have presented themselves since I've graduated (as well as before) but today's devotional really gave me insight in to this aspect of "going out" in Hebrews 11:8. After reading, feel free to e-mail us your thoughts or post on our blog!
"Have you been "out" in this way? If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question - "What do you expect to do?" You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God and see if it is a going out of everything, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder - you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a "going out," building in confidence on God. "Take no thought for your life,...nor yet for your body" - take no thought for the things for which you did take thought before you "went out."
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you go out in surrender to Him until you are not surprised an atom at anything He does?
Suppose God is the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him - what an impertinence worry is! Let the attitude of the life be a continual "going out" in dependence upon God, and your life will have an ineffable charm about it which is a satisfaction to Jesus. You have to learn to go out of convictions, out of creeds, out of experiences, until so far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing between yourself and God." 1
In dependence,
Mike
1Oswald Chambers, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST (Barbour Publishing, Inc, 1999). Also retrieved from http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/my_utmost/utm.cgi.
"By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going."
Dear friend,
Recently I completed my degree (praise the Lord!) and finally have more free time in the evenings and weekends. For the last couple weeks I have anxiously been waiting to see what the Lord would do and how I could serve Him more. I found myself asking God what was to come and I was so blown away when I read "My Utmost For His Highest" today. I know it is a bit long but I think you'll be blessed. I'm so thankful for the opportunities that have presented themselves since I've graduated (as well as before) but today's devotional really gave me insight in to this aspect of "going out" in Hebrews 11:8. After reading, feel free to e-mail us your thoughts or post on our blog!
"Have you been "out" in this way? If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question - "What do you expect to do?" You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God and see if it is a going out of everything, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder - you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a "going out," building in confidence on God. "Take no thought for your life,...nor yet for your body" - take no thought for the things for which you did take thought before you "went out."
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you go out in surrender to Him until you are not surprised an atom at anything He does?
Suppose God is the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him - what an impertinence worry is! Let the attitude of the life be a continual "going out" in dependence upon God, and your life will have an ineffable charm about it which is a satisfaction to Jesus. You have to learn to go out of convictions, out of creeds, out of experiences, until so far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing between yourself and God." 1
In dependence,
Mike
1Oswald Chambers, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST (Barbour Publishing, Inc, 1999). Also retrieved from http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/my_utmost/utm.cgi.
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