1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
How amazing it is that the Holy Spirit should work in a person's heart to reveal its true condition! The thoughts and studies, devotions and messages that come to me - while externally presenting different topics - all are saying the same thing: YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN SO STOP ACTING LIKE YOU ARE.
I've chosen this verse because it uniquely describes the believer as belonging to Christ. John McArthur poignantly says of this verse, "Everyone is His by creation, but we as Christians are uniquely His because He paid the price to redeem us from the bondage of sin and death."
I could have chosen these:
(1 Corinthians 6:20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
(1 Corinthians 7:23) Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
Adrian Rodgers' devotional for the day challenges us to ask if God has all of us. That is a question that addresses our response to belonging to God. It is one thing to be married to someone in the eyes of the spouse or the law. But a singularly devoted spouse is a precious thing, indeed. Am I a singularly devoted follower of Jesus Christ? Then I will act like it. Why does it seem so difficult to do so toward an invisible God?
That's where Dr. David Jeremiah's devotion comes in. He challenges us to think about the return of Christ - a topic that has repeatedly penetrated our little group of believers here in Bakersfield yesterday. Christ's return is both imminent, and surprisingly sudden. When He comes, only those who are ready will depart with Him. Being ready, says the Holy Spirit, means making myself daily cognizant of His reality through prayer, Bible reading, worship, and service. Through the daily walk with Him, we can say, like Alfred Ackley, the hymn writer, "He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me, and talks with me along life's narrow way. ... You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart."
It is that daily relationship exchange that must take place for the believer to be singularly devoted to an invisible, though very real and living Savior who has bought us with a price and will return to get us - SOON!
How that will avoid all hypocrisy - for Jesus is real, really alive, really returning, and really the LORD!
How amazing it is that the Holy Spirit should work in a person's heart to reveal its true condition! The thoughts and studies, devotions and messages that come to me - while externally presenting different topics - all are saying the same thing: YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN SO STOP ACTING LIKE YOU ARE.
I've chosen this verse because it uniquely describes the believer as belonging to Christ. John McArthur poignantly says of this verse, "Everyone is His by creation, but we as Christians are uniquely His because He paid the price to redeem us from the bondage of sin and death."
I could have chosen these:
(1 Corinthians 6:20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
(1 Corinthians 7:23) Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
Adrian Rodgers' devotional for the day challenges us to ask if God has all of us. That is a question that addresses our response to belonging to God. It is one thing to be married to someone in the eyes of the spouse or the law. But a singularly devoted spouse is a precious thing, indeed. Am I a singularly devoted follower of Jesus Christ? Then I will act like it. Why does it seem so difficult to do so toward an invisible God?
That's where Dr. David Jeremiah's devotion comes in. He challenges us to think about the return of Christ - a topic that has repeatedly penetrated our little group of believers here in Bakersfield yesterday. Christ's return is both imminent, and surprisingly sudden. When He comes, only those who are ready will depart with Him. Being ready, says the Holy Spirit, means making myself daily cognizant of His reality through prayer, Bible reading, worship, and service. Through the daily walk with Him, we can say, like Alfred Ackley, the hymn writer, "He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me, and talks with me along life's narrow way. ... You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart."
It is that daily relationship exchange that must take place for the believer to be singularly devoted to an invisible, though very real and living Savior who has bought us with a price and will return to get us - SOON!
How that will avoid all hypocrisy - for Jesus is real, really alive, really returning, and really the LORD!
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Pastor Greg