Good Morning Living Faith Ones! Yes the gift of our faith in Jesus is active and alive as we work on living and loving like Jesus everyday. Our faith journey is not just about knowing Christ and growing in knowledge of His Word and Way, but actually living out an active faith life as part of God's Good News Delivery Co. Our faith journey is one of knowledge and action custom made for custom made us at the season and situations we find ourselves in today. Know Christ and make Him known is our EC mission statement. I think we are well on our way to that and God has prepared us and placed us right where He wants us and we need to be to become a dynamic movement. It's all about just being you and loving like Jesus as you go about the day doing the things He did and has for you. Jesus prayed. Jesus equipped. Jesus provided. Jesus guided. Jesus met needs. And Jesus followed all God had for Him each day. And he gave us a new command to go (movement) and love as He did (action). He loaded up and then poured out Himself. Reload and rested and then poured Himself out. And everywhere He went He connected those God was drawing and leading Him to minister to the Father. He loved well--God, Himself, and all those God was drawing. That's our mission as we yoke to Jesus and walk through each day as His loving servant.
Check out ODB and TWFYT below and talk to God about your assignment for today as you abide in Him and go lovingly produce the good fruit He has ready for you! You are very loved! God has some great plans for you today or maybe some struggle to walk through with Him. No matter, He is for you nad has plans to prosper you and use you to grow His Kingdom. be still and know, refresh and receive. Then go and live and love like Jesus!
See you tonight at 6 for Family Ministries and the Chosen Huddle. Some great stuff ahead and we might even celebrate something God did through you today as He loved through you. And don't forget, Jesus sent the disciples 2x2. Who is He wanting to partner with you? Ask Him and follow well!
ODB:
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It was a natural step for Brett to attend a Christian college and study the Bible. After all, he’d been around people who knew Jesus his whole life—at home, at school, at church. He was even gearing his college studies toward a career in “Christian work.”
But at age twenty-one, as he sat with the small congregation in an old country church and listened to a pastor preach from 1 John, he made a startling discovery. He realized that he was depending on knowledge and the trappings of religion and that he’d never truly received salvation in Jesus. He felt that Christ was tugging at his heart that day with a sobering message: “You don’t know Me!”
The apostle John’s message is clear: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1). We can “overcome the world,” as John puts it (v. 4), only by belief in Jesus. Not knowledge about Him, but deep, sincere faith—demonstrated by our belief in what He did for us on the cross. That day, Brett placed his faith in Christ alone.
Today, Brett’s deep passion for Jesus and His salvation are no secret. It comes through loud and clear every time he steps behind the pulpit and preaches as a pastor—my pastor.
“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life” (vv. 11–12). For all who have found life in Jesus, what a comforting reminder this is!
By Dave Branon
REFLECT & PRAY
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What’s your story of faith? What led you to understand you needed Jesus?
Jesus, thank You for the gift of salvation and for those who pointed me to faith in You.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The apostle John’s letters (1, 2, and 3 John) are considered brief—particularly in comparison to Paul’s lengthy epistles and other letters, such as Romans and 1 Corinthians. However, even 3 John—the shortest of the biblical letters—would’ve been considered long by ancient standards. Scholar Randy Richards wrote: “The average letter in the first century was 87 words.” Meanwhile 3 John has 219 words in the Greek and is the shortest New Testament letter. First John—at 2,517 words—is still quite brief yet much longer than the typical first-century letter. That common brevity in ancient letters was due to several factors including the cost of hiring a secretary, the cost of papyrus and ink (which had to be handmade), and the difficulty in getting letters to their destinations.
Bill Crowder |
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TWFYT:
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