Enjoy the reading. Daily Devotion God Rewards Obedience Tuesday, September 3, 2013 Luke 5:1-11 An ordinary fisherman became one of the chief builders of the early church because he was obedient. Simon Peter made a lifelong commitment to follow Jesus Christ and received many blessings as a result. After an unsuccessful night at sea, Peter was weary and discouraged. Yet when Jesus asked to borrow his boat, he agreed. And when the carpenter suggested the fisherman put out nets for a catch, Peter did so against his better judgment. His obedience led to huge financial gain, and even better, he saw Jesus for who He was—the Lord. Just as his nets expanded with the overflowing catch, Peter’s faith also grew large that day. He was so confident of Jesus’ sovereignty that he laid down the tools of his trade and became a “fisher of men” (vv. 10-11). And rewards continued to come his way: as Christ’s disciple, Peter spent time with the Lord and performed miracles in His name (Acts 9:33-42). Obedience was Peter’s lifestyle—when the Lord told him to do something, he didn’t delay (Matt. 16:15-17). He understood who Jesus was and helped establish the church on the rock-solid foundation of Christ’s Messiahship. Peter preached at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36), opened Christianity to Gentiles (11:1-18), and wrote two biblical epistles—all of which are additional rewards for his faithfulness. Believers sometimes shy away from following Jesus wholeheartedly, wondering, How can He use someone so average? Peter’s life proves that the Lord equips those He calls. And when an ordinary believer faithfully obeys, God rewards. ====== Not Interested In Religion September 3, 2013 — by Anne Cetas Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn Read: John 5:18,37-47 How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! —Matthew 23:37 Bible in a Year: Psalms 140-142; 1 Corinthians 14:1-20 A radio ad for a church caught my attention: “Because you’ve heard about Christianity, you might not be interested in religion. Well, it might surprise you—Jesus wasn’t interested in religion either. But He was big on relationship and teaching us to love one another.” It continued, “You may not like everything about our church, but we offer authentic relationship, and we’re learning to love God and each other. You’re welcome to visit.” This church may have overstated things about Jesus and religion because Scripture does speak of “true religion” in James 1:27 as helpful deeds toward others. But Jesus did have difficulties with religious people of His day. He said the Pharisees, guided by tradition and rules not by love for the Lord, “outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside [they] are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:28). They didn’t have the love of God in their hearts (John 5:42). Jesus wanted relationship with them, but they were “not willing to come to [Him]” (v.40). If being “religious” means following a set of rules so we can look good—instead of enjoying a relationship with the Savior—Jesus isn’t interested. He offers forgiveness and love to all who want an intimate relationship with Him. True religion is to know The love that Christ imparts; True religion is to show This love to burdened hearts. —D. DeHaan There is a longing in every heart that only Jesus can satisfy. ======= 3 Simple Steps to Surmounting the September Slump by Stephen Sanders. A/V Editor at Salem Web Network You observe days and months and seasons and years. Galatians 4:10 (NASV) Yeah, so it’s that time of year again... September. Or as I like to call it: the month where nothing happens. Think about it. What happens in September? OK… Labor Day and that’s pretty much it. Some of us get a paid holiday for Labor Day, which is awesome. Well, that and some retail stores use Labor Day as an excuse to have “the best sale ever.” But let’s face it… that’s the only 2 reasons why most of us even know that Labor Day exists. Other than that one meaningless holiday, September is easily the most uneventful month we have. On the flip side, isn’t it ironic that one of the greatest dance songs ever is called “September?” I mean nothing gets the party started like some Earth, Wind and Fire, am I right? They make September sound like so much fun! Magical even! But they deceive us. September isn’t magical. It’s dull. And it’s right in the middle of this insane monotony that I begin to feel restless… like I need to do more with my life. We’ve just gotten back from vacation. Summer is ending. The kids have just started a brand new school year. So naturally, it’s time to take things up a notch, right? Am I the only one? “I should really read my Bible more.” “ I should do _________ less frequently.” “Christmas will be here before you know it.” Usually, I have to admit, these feelings tend to overwhelm me a bit. But this year, I’ve decided to break the monotony of September by doing a few very basic things that, between you and me, I should be doing anyway: 1. Read a Proverb a Day: Yes, I know there are 31 Proverbs and only 30 days in September. We can blame September for that. Besides, most of the people who are reading or listening to this devotional are pretty familiar with most of Proverbs 31 anyway. The point is: it’s an easy goal with a big payoff. Not only are the Proverbs applicable to our daily lives, they are quite challenging. 2. Start a Prayer List: It’s hard to deny the importance of praying for others. For one thing, it takes the focus off our problems. Secondly, you will discover that there is no shortage in the amount of prayer requests you will receive once you let people know you are starting a prayer list. You’ll find the key to this exercise is to, not only compile a prayer a list, but to also actually pray for people once you create it. 3. Random Acts of Kindness: I love this one for so many reasons. For one, it’s almost always something totally spontaneous. It can be as simple as picking up that piece of trash that you walk by or as complex as taking 30 minutes out of your day to be there for that annoying someone that you’d normally make excuses to avoid. Like the Proverbs challenge, you could settle for a “one a day” quota, but I usually find that once I get started it becomes quite contagious. Intersecting Faith and Life: There you go. Three simple things you can do to feel like you aren’t being a slacker in September. All three take very little time and just a little stick-to-itiveness. And, most importantly, all three are sure to bring you closer to your beloved Creator. For Further Study Proverbs 1:1 Earth, Wind and Fire – “September”
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 11:53:43 +0000
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