Devotionals
This is a place where weekly devotionals are posted for you to grow in your relationship with God. Just read the devotional, study the scripture in your Bible, absorb it, pray on it and than live it in front of everybody and by yourself. Apply these truths to your life and watch yourself change the world.
January 18, 2008 at 12:29 pm
1/18/08-1/24/08
I want to get back to Romans 12, after learning from Pastor Jeff on Wednesday night I feel this devotional is helpful because it deals on how Christians are supposed to act. Read these scriptures for each day and pray on what they mean and how God wants to work them in our lives.
Friday: Romans 12 :3 For I say, through the Grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of Faith.
God shows us here that do not think of yourself better than anybody because you are better in one area than somebody else. God has equipped each of us in different areas, to fulfill His plan. So as you are better than somebody in one area, they are better in another area than you.
Saturday/ Sunday. Romans 12: 4-5 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. 5. so we being, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
This verse shows us that in our church or in this place the Zone, like our bodies we have different parts. You might be an arm, I might be the leg, Pastor Jeff my be the stomach and Ben the foot and so on and so on. Just like our body we need all of our parts to work, function and grow in order for us live a life of fulfillment. So we need to take care of eachother and treat with respect like our own bodies depend on it. This is what Jesus wants us to do as an act of obedience so we can see Him work miracles
Monday Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the Grace that is given to us, let us use them: if Prophecy than let us prophecy in proportion to our faith.
When we give our lives to Jesus Christ He gives us that measure of Faith He also graces us with a gifts. These gifts are abilities of doing things, such as talent in areas that God wants us to work in. He will give us the power to operate these talents or gifts so we can be used to tell other sabout Jesus. To prophecy means to proclaim or give notice or to speak on Gods behalf about things God wants to do on the earth and though His people according to your Faith. God will speak for you and the more He speaks depends on you and how well you get to know Him and spend time with Him. That is God trusts you that you will be obedient to what He wants to Prophecy through you, so if prophecy is you than be obedient to say what God is saying and operate your member.
Tuesday/ Wednesday Romans12:7-8 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation, he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Again in these other areas if this is our talent than let us use the Faith that God has given us through Jesus Christ to operate in our area so we can tll people about Jesus and meet their need. If you do not know what area is yours ask God He will tell you, come speak to me or Pastor Jeff we will go to God with you and find out. Whatever you do find out and do it the reward is great and you will be fulfilled. God Bless you this week and I will see you on Wednesday.
April 9, 2008 at 7:58 am
This weeks Devotional is going to be a continuation from last weeks devotional and also what I shared with the FCA at Liberty High School last week.
4/9/08- 4/15/08
Practice:
1 Cor. 9:27
Discipline your Body, just like you watch the food you eat in order to stay in shape. You also exercise in order to keep you muscle tone and your stamina up in order to compete. As Christian athletes lets also keep our soul and life clean from sin. Be careful what you get into at after game parties, be careful of the temptations that come with being an athlete, a lot of temptations can overwhelm you, like drugs, alcohol, relationships with girls and guys outside of marriage, Therefore Submit to God and Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7.
Preparation:
Read your Bible in order to learn the scriptures and Promises that God has preserved for you in order to share with others.
Develop your Prayer life in order to hear from God. Just like you develop a relationship with your coach in order to learn to better your game, God wants to better you through relationship and prayer.
Race Day:
Now that you have practiced and prepared your life and body for the Race, it is now time to run it.
Your friends, family, teammates and spectators need you to share your Faith with them. This is what all of the Commitment, Practice and Preparation has equipped you to do to win the Prize.
What is the Prize, the prize is for those people to win what you have Jesus Christ, what better prize is it than to see your parents, brother or sister, classmates, teammates, teachers, bus driver, opposing players, coaches whomever comes in contact with your life and sees Jesus in you is a prize because all of your hardwork paid off.
The Finish Line:
The finish line, the net, the end zone, home plate, the basket, the other end of the pool, the hole, all ten pins or pinning your opponent is what you strive for as an FCA representative as a follower of Jesus Christ. The end of the race, it is prize time.
2 timothy 4:7-8
April 16, 2008 at 1:13 pm
April 16th- April 23rd
This will finish up the FCA Message at Liberty High School
Keep Running the Race and God Bless You.
Your Athletic Example:
Hebrews 12: 1-4
Basketball had Michael Jordan none greater in his game.
Football had greats like Jim Brown, Brett Favre, Emmit Smith, Jerry Rice, Dan Marino and on and on.
Baseball had Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Willie Stargell, Tony Gwynn.
Hockey had Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Clarke.
Soccer had Mia Hamm, Pele, David Beckham.
Track and Field had Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Florence Griffith Joyner, Jackie Joyner Kersee.
Gymnastics had Nadia Comenici, Mary Lou Retton.
Wrestling had Rulon Gardner.
Volley Ball has had great mens and womens teams.
And on and on there have been stars that have graced
every sport known to man. But in our Sport, our game, the race in which we are called, the one that encompasses all of these and more, has had a great and will always be the greatest. One day the names and record holders previously mentioned will fall will be eclipsed by someone else. In 10, 20, 30, 40 years from the star athletes in your life will be unheard of by people your age and they will who? But Jesus Christ will never be undone, His record will stand forevermore as the Greatest athlete, who endured the greatest, pain, who ran the hardest race, who suffered the most injuries, set the greatest example, the greatest role model, the greatest prize and the most loyal following ever.
If you are in the FCA than you must have made a commitment to Jesus Christ, if you did not this is the best day to enter the Greatest Race of your life. If you like challenges, exercise, motivation, excitement, competition this is the life for you. Get on Jesus’ team God’s Team, join today.
May 9, 2008 at 8:31 am
This weeks devotion is from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
GRASP WITHOUT REACH
“Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.” Proverbs 29:18 (R.V.)
There is a difference between an ideal and a vision. An ideal has no moral inspiration; a vision has. The people who give themselves over to ideals rarely do anything. A man’s conception of Deity may be used to justify his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah argued that because God was a God of justice and of mercy, therefore everything would be all right. I may have a right conception of God, and that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of rectitude because the vision imparts moral incentive.
Ideals may lull to ruin. Take stock of yourself spiritually and see whether you have ideals only or if you have vision.
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?”
“Where there is no vision. . . .” When once we lose sight of God, we begin to be reckless, we cast off certain restraints, we cast off praying, we cast off the vision of God in little things, and begin to act on our own initiative. If we are eating what we have out of our own hand, doing things on our own initiative without expecting God to come in, we are on the downward path, we have lost the vision. Is our attitude to-day an attitude that springs from our vision of God? Are we expecting God to do greater things than He has ever done? Is there a freshness and vigour in our spiritual out look?
We need vision in our lives to keep us fresh and renewed, not ideas. Ideas are conceived by what we are thinkning on and dwelling on. If we are not dwelling on or thinking on God than the ideas we think of are not from God. However, vision from God is not something we think up or conceive it is given by God.
We put ourselves into the position to receive a vision by being in God’s constant presence through the Bible, prayer and the decisions we make like not giving into temptation and sin and you can only avoid this by doing the first 2 prayer and reading your Bible. God Bless You.
June 17, 2008 at 10:59 am
This Weeks Devotional is from Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers, Enjoy.
June 17- June 24, 2008
THE UNCRITICAL TEMPER
“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Matthew 7:1
Jesus says regarding judging – Don’t. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost is the only One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard and vindictive and cruel, and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. Jesus says, as a disciple cultivate the uncritical temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person’s place.
There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus. If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17-20). Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man’s case about which we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a spiritual spring-cleaning; there is no possibility of pride left in a man after that. I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.