This Week: 10-12 Bread Ministry with Weis products / 6-7:30 Dinner Huddle with study of days 21-24 of Chambers book and kids min too.
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Good Morning Surrendered Servants Overflowing Christ and His Love! AMEN and amen! Is that not our goal, created purposes, and sweet spot in life? We may mouth that and believe that, however, choosing to live like that 24-7 is a challenge of epic proportions, right? I engaged with day 23 of the book talking about the verse that cuts me to the heart, Romans 12:1, "Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice." Oh Lord, why do you have to remind me of my failures with that? And then I encountered Paul's reminder that he has been crucified with Christ. That's dying to self, pride, selfish desires and sin. And Paul continues with he has died to this life and all that's left is Christ living in him. OUCH, right? Check out Our Daily Bread below about this line of thought. What do you need to repent of and die to for Christ to be preeminent in your life? Do others see Jesus or some prideful-full of self-doing-their-own-thing sinner. Is your life exemplified in the phrase, "For me to live is Christ"? HELP!!!! Have you invited God to examine you and your ways and to reveal things needing repentance? Have you asked for help to die to self and crucify some things at His cross? Man, I ask but choosing to do it, well, help me Lord. Forgive me! Cleanse me! Can you tell I am (and have been for a bit) under heavy conviction from the Holy Spirit of things confessed but not repented of yet. Forgive me Lord and please help me to choose to do the hard work of repenting and choosing to live Christ's good ways! Help! Amen!
What has come to your mind as you read these things? Is the Holy Spirit convicting you? What will you choose to do about it? Who are your accountability partners? Man I need one or two that I can open up to and pray with and actually hold each other's feet in the fire. Ask God to send at least one. Please Lord!
, Sarah's message flowed from John 1: 9-11 talking about Jesus being in the world but the world didn't recognize him. Jesus came to His own (that's us as He came to dwell in us at our new birth) but His own didn't receive Him. Have you? Are we choosing to live Christ and His good ways? Have we died to self and invited Him to not only reign in us, but overflow us. Do people recognize Jesus in you? Are they experiencing how His love has transformed you and desiring some of that? We are called to be the Salt and Light so how is that transforming and coming to life through you? Are you desperate for a life in Christ like a deer pants for the water? Are you expectant and looking for Jesus to come, transform and lead you? Can you invite an unbeliever to come walk with you and see Jesus and His new-life-ways come to life? OUCH! HELP! Help us Lord to invite you in to transform and live through us. May we live Christ and learn to love and make disciples just like You. Help! Come. Thank You! Amen!
One final thought. Check out The Upper Room and their reminder that we have to spend time with Jesus to become like Him. Our EC motto is to know Christ and make Him known. The first part of living Jesus is knowing Him. Be still and dwell. Invite Him in and ask for His transformation to be alive in and through you. Ask to live Christ as you die to self and take up cross . And then ask for help to choose to actually do something about the things that break your heart and God's. I believe the reason God led us to and provided the Chamber's book is to teach us to abide, pray and become more like Him. Are you starting there and trying some new ways to pray and connect to God. DO IT! There is no better endeavor in life than to spend time with God and to become the person He created you to be for such a time as this. He is waiting! Are you willing? Probably, but what will you actually do about it? That is the question we answer as we walk daily with our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Transformer, and Helper! He is for you! Are you for and about Him? I'm praying we grow in that! AMEN!
ODB:
Christ in Me
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20
Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer became famous for his talent at age twenty. The art critics of his day called him “the greatest mind that ever expressed itself in line.” As his fame spread, influential people tried to hire him with promises of luxury and ease. Even other acclaimed artists such as Giovanni Bellini and Raphael revered his work.
In what experts consider to be his best self-portrait, Dürer mingled his physical characteristics with what he thought Jesus might have looked like. He painted himself with long, wavy hair, a beard, and eyes that seemed to convey a sense of divine purpose. While many assumed this was the artist’s prideful opinion of himself, others who knew him believed Dürer wanted to live a life that would allow people to see Jesus in him.
If we truly know Christ, this is our desire as well. Believing in Him and accepting His death and resurrection as the basis for our relationship with God means we should now live for Jesus—not for ourselves (Galatians 2:19). We live for Him, and He lives in us and works through us. The apostle Paul said this about his spiritual transformation: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (v. 20). May the glory of Christ shine through our lives so that the world sees Him in us.
By Jennifer Benson Schuldt
REFLECT & PRAY
How do you feel when you sense Jesus working through you to make Himself known? What challenges prevent this from happening at times?
Father in heaven, please help me to stop living to satisfy my desires. Help me to surrender to Your Spirit so others will see Christ in me.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed,” Jesus said. “But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). Christ spoke these words during the week He was killed. It’s a lesson Paul had learned as he wrote to people in danger of relying on keeping the law to earn salvation. In Romans 3:10-20, he outlines why law-keeping will never save us. He then explains that it’s “apart from the law [that] the righteousness of God has been made known” (v. 21). “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (v. 22). He goes on: “Our old self was crucified with him . . . that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (6:6). Because “Christ [lived]” in him (Galatians 2:20), the apostle could live a life honoring to God that would draw others to Christ. , God can help us surrender to the Spirit so others will see Christ in us.
Tim Gustafson
UR: Time with the Father
When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. - Matthew 6:6 (NIV)
Early each morning I eagerly await a text from my son that simply says, “Breakfast?” I quickly respond, “Yes, be over shortly.” I drive to his house and pick him up, and off we go to our favorite breakfast restaurant.
This special one-on-one time with my son is one of the highlights of my week. We enjoy a great breakfast and talk about many things: the weather, work, church, the Bible, politics, sports, and his upcoming wedding. No matter what we talk about, just the fact that he wants to spend time with me warms my heart.
The Bible tells us that we should also spend time with God, our Heavenly Father. In Matthew 6:6 Jesus said, “When you pray.” Jesus did not say, “If you pray.” The Bible describes several instances when Jesus went away to spend time with his Father in prayer. As children of God, we should do the same.
Part of the reason I enjoy my weekly meal with my son is that I can rely on our weekly schedule. I wonder if God appreciates us setting aside a regular time each day for prayer? Perhaps God looks forward with excitement to special time with us in the same way I look forward with excitement to my time with my son.
's Prayer
Our Father in Heaven, teach us the importance of spending private time in prayer with you. Help us to plan a time each day to pray and study your word. Amen.
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