Vol 2 No 30 THEO'S DEVOS 073108
Psalm 8:5-9 For you made us only a little lower than God,
and you crowned us with glory and honor.
6 You put us in charge of everything you made,
giving us authority over all things—
7 the sheep and the cattle
and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
9 O LORD, our LORD, the majesty of your name fills the earth!
In last week's Devo we noted that God treats us with deep respect. He sent His Son Jesus to die for us and He has chosen us to spread the Word of His love and Gospel to this lost world. Today we note that there is a position for us in His creation. “... you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor...” Read those words slowly. We are not simply a part of the general creation. God has crowned us. We are children of God. We have already noted a while ago that we are a 'royal priesthood.'
Why then do so many people talk about themselves as virtually useless. The fact that we are unworthy of God's love does not make us worthless. We have something to contribute. If we do not do what God has chosen us to do, it will not get done. And if God considers us as crowned with glory and honor, shouldn't we think of each other in that way. Oftentimes we focus on our weaknesses and God know we have many of them. Or we observe our sin or incompetence and then act as though that is all we are. But we, that is you and I, are much more than that. Much more. I hear Christians all the time talk as though the things we do mean little. It would appear that God thinks differently of us.
In these verses we also see that there is something more involved in our creation. We were 'put in charge of everything.' This gives us great responsibility. These day there is a great debate about this thing called 'global warming.' Are we responsible for this phenomena or not. Is there anything we can do about it? I do not know the answers to these questions. Sometimes I think that the whole thing is an attempt of many in government to control us and make us dependent on the government. However, we cannot simply wink at this kind of thing.
I have a little pet dog. His name is Sam and he is a King Charles Spaniel mix. He's a little guy, about 20 pounds, and he is totally dependent on me for his entire life. Everything he has or can do is dependent on me. In a way the rest of the world is in that condition. We humans determine where animals can live. We move them all the time. We take their land at our pleasure. If a species goes extinct we note it. Now it is true that lately, in the last several hundred years we have become concerned and no longer allow certain animals to be killed just for the sport of it. W e are careful about forests, and wet lands. It is a shame that we, as human beings, haven't been concerned about these things since the day after our verses were penned. We do know that concern for the environment is not our idea. It springs from the heart of the One who created it. It makes sense that the Person who created all that is would expect us to care for it.
So who are you? You are a living being that God loves. Someone who has great potential and whose actions have meaning. You are responsible for the bears and lions. You should be concerned about the rivers and birds and bees and especially other people. We do not live just for ourselves. We are in charge of God's creation, created above it but responsible for it. Start with where you live. Care for that environment and then branch out to the streets around where you live and try to improve those as well. Then, as best we can let's be sure that the debate about things like global warming have a clear and full hearing. Take the politics out of it and let the scientists come to some honest conclusions about what can be done. Then let's do all we can to follow the command of God that we exercise our authority over it. At the very least stop thinking of yourself as a nobody and allow yourself the respect that God intends for you to have. Then, and only then, will you be able to pass that respect on to those around you. It will change your life and theirs in a very significant way.
May God bless you today in all that you do.
Theo
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Who Are You?
Vol 2 No 29 THEO'S DEVOS
Psalm 8:3-4 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you have set in place—
4 what are mortals that you should think of us,
mere humans that you should care for us?
Who are you? I hear Christians all the time speak as though they meant very little in the scheme of things. False humility can often make us seem as though there were not much to us. After all without God we can do nothing. With Him all things are possible. But the verses we look at today imply that God holds us with great value to Him. You are important enough to Him that He sent His only Son into this sin sick world to sacrifice His life so that you might gain eternal life. A popular hymn asks if God would give Himself for 'such a worm as I.?” The answer is – Yes He would and He did.
This means that your life has eternal significance. You are not an accident of birth. It is wrong to talk about unborn babies as a mere fetus as though it was unimportant tissue that can be discarded at will. I think the only thing that bothers me about those of us who are concerned about animals, and we should be, is that many of them care little for unborn people. Here you have person that would spend millions to save a whale and think nothing of allowing a doctor to perform a late term abortion because it presents and inconvenience to the mother. This breaks my heart.
God thought about you before you were born. He has something that He wants to accomplish in and through you. When you act as though you mean very little in this life, you demean God's creation. It is not that you can take credit for the things that happen,. We give Him the glory and credit but many go so far as to not even try to do things for God thinking that they have nothing to contribute.
I saw a young boy deep in the rain forest of Venezuela who did nothing more, all day, than break up clods of dirt into smaller pieces so that they can be used for paste in building a home for a missionary. The boy was dying of a rare disease and didn't have long to live. But, with what life he had, he willingly knelt on the rain forest floor and did what looked like meaningless work for the glory of God because he was so happy the God had sent that missionary with the gospel to his people. Now that young boy may not want any credit for doing that but I believe in giving honor where it is deserved and that boy deserved honor, I am certain.
Look around you. What are you doing today? Does anything you do have eternal consequences. I believe that everything you do does. People are watching you. They need to know what life is like with Jesus as King. They need to know what a child of God looks like and how that child acts. When you do a random act of kindness, you do it in God's name. He will be blessed, or cursed, by others often based on what you do. We are called to live as testimonies for God. We do that because God loves us and cares for us even though we appear to be insignificant pieces of dust in the universe.
What are mortals that you should think of us? Souls for whom Jesus died. Lives that God loves and want to have a relationship with. When you go to work tomorrow, or whatever you do, remember that God loves you, lives in you and wants to love through you. Spread that love around to the people you meet. Let them know that God loves them. Let them know that their lives have meaning and that they are not mere accidents. Hold you head up. Live like the child of the King that you are. Smile and think about how much God loves you, then offer that love to others in His name.
I am praying for you. I am asking God to bless you and help you realize that you are not a 'worm.' I ask Him every day to help you realize that you are walking with Him. I pray that today is the best day you have had in a long time. God bless you.
Theo
Psalm 8:3-4 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you have set in place—
4 what are mortals that you should think of us,
mere humans that you should care for us?
Who are you? I hear Christians all the time speak as though they meant very little in the scheme of things. False humility can often make us seem as though there were not much to us. After all without God we can do nothing. With Him all things are possible. But the verses we look at today imply that God holds us with great value to Him. You are important enough to Him that He sent His only Son into this sin sick world to sacrifice His life so that you might gain eternal life. A popular hymn asks if God would give Himself for 'such a worm as I.?” The answer is – Yes He would and He did.
This means that your life has eternal significance. You are not an accident of birth. It is wrong to talk about unborn babies as a mere fetus as though it was unimportant tissue that can be discarded at will. I think the only thing that bothers me about those of us who are concerned about animals, and we should be, is that many of them care little for unborn people. Here you have person that would spend millions to save a whale and think nothing of allowing a doctor to perform a late term abortion because it presents and inconvenience to the mother. This breaks my heart.
God thought about you before you were born. He has something that He wants to accomplish in and through you. When you act as though you mean very little in this life, you demean God's creation. It is not that you can take credit for the things that happen,. We give Him the glory and credit but many go so far as to not even try to do things for God thinking that they have nothing to contribute.
I saw a young boy deep in the rain forest of Venezuela who did nothing more, all day, than break up clods of dirt into smaller pieces so that they can be used for paste in building a home for a missionary. The boy was dying of a rare disease and didn't have long to live. But, with what life he had, he willingly knelt on the rain forest floor and did what looked like meaningless work for the glory of God because he was so happy the God had sent that missionary with the gospel to his people. Now that young boy may not want any credit for doing that but I believe in giving honor where it is deserved and that boy deserved honor, I am certain.
Look around you. What are you doing today? Does anything you do have eternal consequences. I believe that everything you do does. People are watching you. They need to know what life is like with Jesus as King. They need to know what a child of God looks like and how that child acts. When you do a random act of kindness, you do it in God's name. He will be blessed, or cursed, by others often based on what you do. We are called to live as testimonies for God. We do that because God loves us and cares for us even though we appear to be insignificant pieces of dust in the universe.
What are mortals that you should think of us? Souls for whom Jesus died. Lives that God loves and want to have a relationship with. When you go to work tomorrow, or whatever you do, remember that God loves you, lives in you and wants to love through you. Spread that love around to the people you meet. Let them know that God loves them. Let them know that their lives have meaning and that they are not mere accidents. Hold you head up. Live like the child of the King that you are. Smile and think about how much God loves you, then offer that love to others in His name.
I am praying for you. I am asking God to bless you and help you realize that you are not a 'worm.' I ask Him every day to help you realize that you are walking with Him. I pray that today is the best day you have had in a long time. God bless you.
Theo
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Greatest of These
Vol 2 No 28 THEO'S DEVOS 071608
1 Corinthians 13:13 There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Three things will endure forever we are told in this verse. Let's take a look at them and see what they can tell us.
First there is faith. Faith is a human response to something that God has given to us. This gift will go on forever. It is never taken away and we can always rely on it in every situation for eternity. As human beings, we have nothing in of of ourselves. Everything we have is given to us by God. We are helpless and hopeless, lacking all things needful. We may not like to admit this but it is true none the less. We should be thankful to God for everything we have, especially faith for faith is that element that can keep us going when there does not seem to be any reason to.
The second thing mentioned is hope. Hope is the expectation of more to come. It allows us to look into a seemingly bleak future and smile believing that God is there already and has something good for us. Do you realize that God has an infinite number of good things for you. Since we will live forever, an infinity of time, there can be no lapsing of provisions from God. It may not feel like that here in time but, in eternity, we will know that time is gone and we will then live where there are no yesterdays, todays and tomorrows. An eternal now where God's blessing are always present. God will open new things for us to experience. Hope will be a way of life always expecting something new and exciting forever and ever.
The last, and greatest thing however, is love. Why is love the greatest? Because God is love. He is the very definition of love. Without God there would be no love. We love because God loves us. We do not conjure up love, we pass it on. It begins in God, passes to us and then through us to the rest of His creation. Love is the most important aspect in the entire universe. All you need is love, the Beatles told us and they had that part right, I must say. Of course what most people think of as love is not love at all. They think that they are 'in love' but have never experienced true love and have none to pass on. Only Christians have true love to give.
Theo
1 Corinthians 13:13 There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Three things will endure forever we are told in this verse. Let's take a look at them and see what they can tell us.
First there is faith. Faith is a human response to something that God has given to us. This gift will go on forever. It is never taken away and we can always rely on it in every situation for eternity. As human beings, we have nothing in of of ourselves. Everything we have is given to us by God. We are helpless and hopeless, lacking all things needful. We may not like to admit this but it is true none the less. We should be thankful to God for everything we have, especially faith for faith is that element that can keep us going when there does not seem to be any reason to.
The second thing mentioned is hope. Hope is the expectation of more to come. It allows us to look into a seemingly bleak future and smile believing that God is there already and has something good for us. Do you realize that God has an infinite number of good things for you. Since we will live forever, an infinity of time, there can be no lapsing of provisions from God. It may not feel like that here in time but, in eternity, we will know that time is gone and we will then live where there are no yesterdays, todays and tomorrows. An eternal now where God's blessing are always present. God will open new things for us to experience. Hope will be a way of life always expecting something new and exciting forever and ever.
The last, and greatest thing however, is love. Why is love the greatest? Because God is love. He is the very definition of love. Without God there would be no love. We love because God loves us. We do not conjure up love, we pass it on. It begins in God, passes to us and then through us to the rest of His creation. Love is the most important aspect in the entire universe. All you need is love, the Beatles told us and they had that part right, I must say. Of course what most people think of as love is not love at all. They think that they are 'in love' but have never experienced true love and have none to pass on. Only Christians have true love to give.
Theo
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Love Never Fails
Vol 2 No 27 THEO'S DEVOS 070908
1 Corinthians 13:8 Love will last forever... TLB
Imagine a love like this. There is only one possible source for a love that never fails and that is God. His love never fails and, in fact,it is the only love the is guaranteed not to fail. Other love may not fail but, most likely, will have at one point or another. This is a good example of something that should be, but, in human experience, may not actually happen. It is on the order of God telling us to be perfect like He is. Something to shoot for but something marred by our sin nature. If we have any chance of loving in such a way as to never fail it is to throw ourselves on the grace of God and pray that we just might be able to pull it off. If the object of our affection is truly someone we love, then the never fail part will have a much better chance of happening. God truly loves us but we, on the other hand, often try to love something we do not.
“Some years ago an illustration was given by Dr. Stephen Olford, who for many years was pastor of the large Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan. Stephen is an Englishman, raised in the mission field in Africa, the son of missionary parents. One morning he spoke about his early boyhood. His father died when he was in Africa, and his mother took him back to England on a long 'tramp' steamer ride that took almost two weeks to reach London. They had not been out of port more than a few days when one of the seamen injured himself. His wound began to fester and to smell very badly, and the other seamen refused to have him in the cabin with them. They lacked adequate medicines to treat this man, and it looked like he was going to die. He was in great pain, but the other men took him up and dumped him on the deck, exposed him to the weather, and refused to let him come down at all. They passed food to him with a long pole, as no one would touch him.
Stephen Olford's mother was a godly, Christian woman, and, after about a day of this treatment, she took pity on this man and went up to him. No one else would draw near him because the stench was so terrible, but she took a basin of warm water, knelt down beside him, and washed away the pus and all the collected foul excrement of the wound. He cursed her, as he had cursed everybody who had come near him, but she patiently kept on and never said a word. She brought him his food that day, again in the evening, and again washed his wounds and took care of him. This went on for the duration of the voyage. When they arrived in London he was able to hobble off the ship. As you can well imagine, a display of love like that had broken through all this man's bitter defenses. He became a Christian and a lifelong friend of Stephen Olford's mother.”1
Fortunately there exists this kind of love for us. We may not experience it from another human being, but we will experience it from God. He loves us and that love will never fail. He will be there for us no matter what our condition. We cannot sin ourselves away from God. His grace just gets stronger. We can't walk away from God. He holds us securely in His hand. We can't fall away from God. He will not let us go.
To pass that kind of love on to another human being takes supernatural ability that can only come from God. I believe that it is a sign of true love, to just get stronger when the object seems to deserve it less. Don't try to conjure it up. It is there or it isn't. Too many people will fake love tonight. Be honest with God about your life. Let Him love through you. It is the only way that love will not fail. Let Him love you and even a disparate situation can be handled.
If you are experiencing true love from another human being, thank God. You have no idea how rare that is in this life.
Theo
1 Illustration taken from a sermon by Ray Stedman Message No: 29 Catalog No: 3599 Date: January 21, 1979
1 Corinthians 13:8 Love will last forever... TLB
Imagine a love like this. There is only one possible source for a love that never fails and that is God. His love never fails and, in fact,it is the only love the is guaranteed not to fail. Other love may not fail but, most likely, will have at one point or another. This is a good example of something that should be, but, in human experience, may not actually happen. It is on the order of God telling us to be perfect like He is. Something to shoot for but something marred by our sin nature. If we have any chance of loving in such a way as to never fail it is to throw ourselves on the grace of God and pray that we just might be able to pull it off. If the object of our affection is truly someone we love, then the never fail part will have a much better chance of happening. God truly loves us but we, on the other hand, often try to love something we do not.
“Some years ago an illustration was given by Dr. Stephen Olford, who for many years was pastor of the large Calvary Baptist Church in Manhattan. Stephen is an Englishman, raised in the mission field in Africa, the son of missionary parents. One morning he spoke about his early boyhood. His father died when he was in Africa, and his mother took him back to England on a long 'tramp' steamer ride that took almost two weeks to reach London. They had not been out of port more than a few days when one of the seamen injured himself. His wound began to fester and to smell very badly, and the other seamen refused to have him in the cabin with them. They lacked adequate medicines to treat this man, and it looked like he was going to die. He was in great pain, but the other men took him up and dumped him on the deck, exposed him to the weather, and refused to let him come down at all. They passed food to him with a long pole, as no one would touch him.
Stephen Olford's mother was a godly, Christian woman, and, after about a day of this treatment, she took pity on this man and went up to him. No one else would draw near him because the stench was so terrible, but she took a basin of warm water, knelt down beside him, and washed away the pus and all the collected foul excrement of the wound. He cursed her, as he had cursed everybody who had come near him, but she patiently kept on and never said a word. She brought him his food that day, again in the evening, and again washed his wounds and took care of him. This went on for the duration of the voyage. When they arrived in London he was able to hobble off the ship. As you can well imagine, a display of love like that had broken through all this man's bitter defenses. He became a Christian and a lifelong friend of Stephen Olford's mother.”1
Fortunately there exists this kind of love for us. We may not experience it from another human being, but we will experience it from God. He loves us and that love will never fail. He will be there for us no matter what our condition. We cannot sin ourselves away from God. His grace just gets stronger. We can't walk away from God. He holds us securely in His hand. We can't fall away from God. He will not let us go.
To pass that kind of love on to another human being takes supernatural ability that can only come from God. I believe that it is a sign of true love, to just get stronger when the object seems to deserve it less. Don't try to conjure it up. It is there or it isn't. Too many people will fake love tonight. Be honest with God about your life. Let Him love through you. It is the only way that love will not fail. Let Him love you and even a disparate situation can be handled.
If you are experiencing true love from another human being, thank God. You have no idea how rare that is in this life.
Theo
1 Illustration taken from a sermon by Ray Stedman Message No: 29 Catalog No: 3599 Date: January 21, 1979
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Endurance
Vol 2 No 26 THEO'S DEVOS 070308
1 Corinthians 13:7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Three more attributes of true love are expressed here. It never gives up, never loses faith and is always hopeful. This, at the bottom line, reveals how we feel about God. Our focus here is the one we love but, behind that is the God we believe in. As in many other aspects of the Christian life, God is in view while we may think that we are looking at something else. Can you trust God? I mean can you really trust God? If you think that life is in your hands, you may have a difficult time trusting. But if you really know that God is in control, really believe that, then life smooths out and the future is less scary.
When it comes to human relationships, the scene is the same. It is God that we trust in not the person. Because we trust Him nothing else can threaten. If we focus on a person we can have serious trouble. Not only would we be trusting in the wrong thing but the mere misplacing that trust can cause the very thing we are worried about. When we read that love never gives up it refers to our trusting in God under any and all situations. Not temporarily but permanently no matter what happens. This is not easy to do. In fact it is supernatural and only comes through the grace of God working in, and through us. There is no way of not giving up without understanding that God is in complete control. If anyone, or anything else is in control then giving up may be the only thing we can do. To move forward in the face of calamity would be foolhardy. Growing in grace and becoming stronger in faith is the secret of the Christian life.
So when we look at these three attributes, what we are really looking at is the same thing from three different perspectives. What is never losing faith if not ever giving up. To never give up means to endure. There are three expressions here. Never giving up is an external that, in time we will see. Never losing faith is an internal attitude that no one will actually see. Enduring all things is a matter of intensity. How much can happen and you never give up? How bad the pain? It doesn't take much for some and it may appear the everyone has a limit but these verses indicate that this may be true from a human vantage point but, from a Godly viewpoint, there is nothing outside the lines. “I can do all things, through Christ” Paul tells us. How many things? All things. No room to wiggle out.
The problem that all of us have when we read these verses is that what we call love may not be love at all. Misplaced commitment, relationships that begin on the wrong values get us to believe that we are 'in love' when that may never have been true. The other problem is that we may never have learned to love and trust God sincerely. We have no foundation to draw on. We are trying to conjure up something from nothing. Just saying we are going to obey doesn't mean that we will be able to pull it off. Many pastors mouth the words of commitment to couples who have no internal strength to draw on. It goes back to what we saw a while ago when we examined the “What would Jesus do?” What good does it do to know what He would do. only to find out that we can't do it. Even Jesus grew as a man. David could face Goliath because he had prior experience that showed him the power of God. Have you had a growing relationship with Him. If not there is no time like now to start. It won't take long. Trust Him in some small way and then do that again. Slowly trust Him for bigger and bigger things. Soon you will know that a secret of the Christian life is that it gets better as you live it right. Live it wrong, do things in your own strength, and it will appear as thought it does not work. You see the saying is true: If you think you can, or you think you can't: you are right. With God all things are possible. Without Him few are.
1 Corinthians 13:7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Three more attributes of true love are expressed here. It never gives up, never loses faith and is always hopeful. This, at the bottom line, reveals how we feel about God. Our focus here is the one we love but, behind that is the God we believe in. As in many other aspects of the Christian life, God is in view while we may think that we are looking at something else. Can you trust God? I mean can you really trust God? If you think that life is in your hands, you may have a difficult time trusting. But if you really know that God is in control, really believe that, then life smooths out and the future is less scary.
When it comes to human relationships, the scene is the same. It is God that we trust in not the person. Because we trust Him nothing else can threaten. If we focus on a person we can have serious trouble. Not only would we be trusting in the wrong thing but the mere misplacing that trust can cause the very thing we are worried about. When we read that love never gives up it refers to our trusting in God under any and all situations. Not temporarily but permanently no matter what happens. This is not easy to do. In fact it is supernatural and only comes through the grace of God working in, and through us. There is no way of not giving up without understanding that God is in complete control. If anyone, or anything else is in control then giving up may be the only thing we can do. To move forward in the face of calamity would be foolhardy. Growing in grace and becoming stronger in faith is the secret of the Christian life.
So when we look at these three attributes, what we are really looking at is the same thing from three different perspectives. What is never losing faith if not ever giving up. To never give up means to endure. There are three expressions here. Never giving up is an external that, in time we will see. Never losing faith is an internal attitude that no one will actually see. Enduring all things is a matter of intensity. How much can happen and you never give up? How bad the pain? It doesn't take much for some and it may appear the everyone has a limit but these verses indicate that this may be true from a human vantage point but, from a Godly viewpoint, there is nothing outside the lines. “I can do all things, through Christ” Paul tells us. How many things? All things. No room to wiggle out.
The problem that all of us have when we read these verses is that what we call love may not be love at all. Misplaced commitment, relationships that begin on the wrong values get us to believe that we are 'in love' when that may never have been true. The other problem is that we may never have learned to love and trust God sincerely. We have no foundation to draw on. We are trying to conjure up something from nothing. Just saying we are going to obey doesn't mean that we will be able to pull it off. Many pastors mouth the words of commitment to couples who have no internal strength to draw on. It goes back to what we saw a while ago when we examined the “What would Jesus do?” What good does it do to know what He would do. only to find out that we can't do it. Even Jesus grew as a man. David could face Goliath because he had prior experience that showed him the power of God. Have you had a growing relationship with Him. If not there is no time like now to start. It won't take long. Trust Him in some small way and then do that again. Slowly trust Him for bigger and bigger things. Soon you will know that a secret of the Christian life is that it gets better as you live it right. Live it wrong, do things in your own strength, and it will appear as thought it does not work. You see the saying is true: If you think you can, or you think you can't: you are right. With God all things are possible. Without Him few are.
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