Jan. 29

[Kidan]

Quote[/b] ]Who are You, Lord?
—Acts 26:15

Quote[/b] ]"The Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand . . ." ( Isaiah 8:11 ). There is no escape when our Lord speaks. He always comes using His authority and taking hold of our understanding. Has the voice of God come to you directly? If it has, you cannot mistake the intimate insistence with which it has spoken to you. God speaks in the language you know best—not through your ears, but through your circumstances.

God has to destroy our determined confidence in our own convictions. We say, "I know that this is what I should do"-and suddenly the voice of God speaks in a way that overwhelms us by revealing the depths of our ignorance. We show our ignorance of Him in the very way we decide to serve Him. We serve Jesus in a spirit that is not His, and hurt Him by our defense of Him. We push His claims in the spirit of the devil; our words sound all right, but the spirit is that of an enemy. "He . . . rebuked them, and said, ’You do not know what manner of spirit you are of’ " ( Luke 9:55 ). The spirit of our Lord in His followers is described in 1 Corinthians 13 .

Have I been persecuting Jesus by an eager determination to serve Him in my own way? If I feel I have done my duty, yet have hurt Him in the process, I can be sure that this was not my duty. My way will not be to foster a meek and quiet spirit, only the spirit of self-satisfaction. We presume that whatever is unpleasant is our duty! Is that anything like the spirit of our Lord—"I delight to do Your will, O my God . . ." ( Psalm 40:8 ).

 

[Kidan]

Quote[/b] ]1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

That's the spirit of the followers of Christ.  As Christians we should be examples of love to the world.  The devotional today talks about listening and knowing God. Yet unless we show the love of Christ, we cannot know Him.

This relates to the not serving two masters thing from a few days ago. If you are following Christ, you life will show love. To not do so, means you are not following Christ.

Today think about your life. Do you know God? Do others know God through you? Are you an example of love, patience, perserverance, and hope?

If you realize that you aren't, don't worry, God is waiting and wants to get to know you.

 

[amorphus88]

I started reading this, and I immediately related it to yesterday's devotional, which spoke of allowing God to enter your life. Yes, we are to love, but that is not the aim of this devotional.

This devotional seeks to motivate us to seek after and serve God. If you read over the text, it tells us to rebuke our sinful nature, and follow God. We should be glad to do this, also (ergo, the closing verse from Psalms), as what is pleasing to God is what we should view as true and great.

Have a nice day. I need to go to sleep, so you get less of me to deal with than usual.

 

[Kidan]

Quote[/b] (amorphus88 @ Jan. 29 2004,9:34)]This devotional seeks to motivate us to seek after and serve God.  

of course it does. My entire side step into the the speil about love is that one the best ways we serve God is by loving those around us

Quote[/b] ]12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Notice in this verse, how it talks about how I see things now (a poor reflection) as opposed to how we will see things later (face to face). God wants us to see Him face to face. We do this through love and service to Him, always striving for a more and more perfect understanding of Him and His will.

Throughout the Bible, God has two overwhelming themes, His holiness and His love for us. I believe that one of the things that God finds pleasing is when we exhibit His love to others. When we allow His love to shine through us.