6 Reasons Why We Must be Fruitful - The Four Spiritual Secrets crosswalk.com | Tuesday, September 26, 2017 Daily Devotional With Pastor Dick Woodward
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” (John 15:16)
In another hard saying of Jesus (as quoted above), Jesus told the apostles when they understood that He chose them to be fruitful God would answer their prayers! Jesus told them they did not choose Him to be part of their plans. He chose them to be part of His plans and when they got that God would answer their prayers.
The three years Jesus had been with them were like a seminary. These four chapters (13-16), of the Gospel of John record His commencement address to them. In Chapter 15 He gave them at least six reasons why they mustbe fruitful. Those reasons were:
They must be fruitful because there is no such thing as a disciple of His who is not fruitful.
This is how they show they are His disciples.
They must be fruitful because this is how they glorify God.
They must be fruitful that their joy might be full. They must be fruitful because He chose them to be fruitful. Finally, they must be fruitful because He is the Vine and they are the branches. That is, He has no other way to accomplish His work in this world.
In His metaphor about the Vine and the branches the fruit does not grow on the Vine. This means the risen Christ has limited Himself to faithful branches. Although we may not have done it that way it is the plan of the risen Christ to use His power in His disciples to accomplish His work and speak His word in this world.
RELATING PROPERLY daghewardmills.org | Friday, September 15, 2017 By Dag Heward-Mills
READ: Matthew 5:21-26 ...first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.Matthew 5:24
It is easy for us to lift up our hands in worship. But Jesus is makes it clear that we need to sort out our relationships before we come to Him. This is a priority for the Lord. Why is it so important for us to leave our gifts at the altar and ensure we have good relationships before worshipping Him?
Having good relationships proves that you are not a liar (1 John 4:20). If you claim to love God but cannot love the people you see, you are actually a liar. God does not want a bunch of liars lifting their hands in prayer. Would you feel happy if a large group of liars came to your gate seeking help? Would you not call the police?
Having good relationships proves that you are not a murderer (1 John 3:15). The Bible teaches that when you hate your brother, you are a murderer. God does not want murderers knocking at His door. How would you feel if a large group of murderers assembled at your home seeking audience with you? Would you not be terrified?
Having good relationships proves that you have forgiven those that have wronged you (Mark 11:25-26). Without forgiveness, God will not hear your prayer. Without forgiveness, you are wasting your time at the altar.
These are some reasons why God insists that we straighten out our relationships first.
Is Your Intimacy Missing the Mark? Walk By Faith Ministry | Tuesday, September 5, 2017 By LARALOVE
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Mt. 11:28-30
“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
“Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.” Luke 7:36-38
“My beloved spoke, and said to me: “Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away.” Song of Solomon 2:10
You may be quick to think of intimacy as referring to a sexual relationship, but TheFreeDictionary.com includes in its definitions of intimacy: “Characterized by close personal acquaintance or familiarity…Relating to or indicative of one’s deepest nature… Essential; innermost…Marked by informality and privacy…Very personal…” All the scriptures above convey the Lord Jesus Christ’s desire for His followers to not see Him as some far away, vastly distant, holier than thou Lord, but to humbly, thankfully, worshipfully, hungrily, thirstily, devotedly, committedly, eagerly, longingly, steadfastly sit at His feet, press up right beside Him, to intimately and unreservedly be loved by Him and love Him with a resolute pining to learn of Him, to learn from Him, to know Him ever more, to draw ever closer to Him and Him to us. The Lord honors those who seek Him like this, those who want Him and His nearness and His devotion in return more than anything else for He longs to fulfill our aching for Him as Lord, as Savior, as most beloved friend.
Intimacy not only misses its mark when we yearn for intimacy with the things and people of this world more than with the Lord, but also when we seek intimacy with things and people Christian more than we seek intimacy with Christ Himself. When our devotedness is more to church, Christians, pastors, Bible study groups, devotional books, Christian retreats, etc. than to the Lord Himself and study of His Word and application of it to our lives, do we not grieve the heart of God who longs for us to desire to be in His presence more than anything else?
Let us come away daily with the Lord and with His Word. May nothing matter more.
Wrestling with God Our Daily Journey | Friday, September 1, 2017 By Monica Brands
Read: Genesis 28:10-22, 35:9-14 God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed him Israel (Genesis 35:9-10).
“Fear is not a Christian habit of mind,” the novelist Marilynne Robinson has remarked. Yet fear is one of the most powerful and consistent forces in human behavior. Even outward obedience can be driven more by fear than love. What does it even mean, we might wonder, to live without being motivated by fear?
The story of Jacob can help point the way. When I read his story, I see a person who seems driven by fear. He’s so afraid of missing God’s blessing that he’s willing to do almost anything to obtain it—even if it means tricking his feeble, elderly father (Genesis 27:27-41). But throughout Jacob’s story, God points him to a different reality—one where he is loved by God and chosen for a purpose.
When God first reveals His promises to him at Bethel (Genesis 28:10-15), Jacob wonders if it’s too good to be true. “If God will indeed be with me,” he says, he would serve Him and make Bethel a place of worship (Genesis 28:20-22). And God was with him, though Jacob struggled to believe it. Later, when he’s on the road again, fearing for his life from his brother Esau (Genesis 32:3-5), God appears to him in the form of a stranger. Jacob, still desperate for a blessing, wrestles with Him all night (Genesis 32:26-30). At the end of their struggle, God blesses him—this time changing his name from Jacob (“deceiver”) to “Israel”—which likely means “wrestles with God.”
Through a long and difficult struggle, God taught Jacob to bring his fears to Him, to wrestle with Him and cling to His promises. And it seems Jacob finally “got it,” returning to Bethel once more to obey his promise to worship God there (Genesis 35:6-7). There God reminded Jacob who he really was—not a trickster, but someone who’d learned to wrestle with and follow God (Genesis 35:10).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Mark 11:20-33
More: Read 1 John 4:9-19 to see the relationship between fear and love.
Next: In what ways does fear motivate your life and your beliefs about who you are? What fears might you need to wrestle through with God?
