The Importance of Doctrine
April 16, 2008 on 9:58 pm | In devotionals | No CommentsTake heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. -1 Timothy 4:16
Theology and doctrine are not trivial matters. Yet there are people today who set aside biblical teaching and say, “I just want to experience God. I don’t want to argue over doctrine. I just want to love Jesus.” That is a nice sentiment, but it is also a very dangerous one. It means they might end up loving the wrong Jesus. They might end up believing the wrong doctrine. That is why the Bible exhorts us again and again to have our lives and doctrine in order. As Paul instructed Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16). One of the reasons that so many people are falling prey to false teachings today is because they do not have their doctrine in order. I once heard a statistic that 80 percent of people who are pulled into various cult groups were once part of a church. That is not necessarily saying they were believers, but it is saying that these people had some church involvement at some point in their lives. If that statistic is correct, then it is alarming. It shows there are people who could have spent time in church, maybe a lot of time, but because they didn’t have their doctrine in order, they were led down the wrong road. If you have your doctrine in order, if you know what the Bible teaches, then you will be able to refute false teaching and defend your faith. It’s what Jude means by exhorting Christians to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:4).
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
Misunderstood Grace
April 15, 2008 on 8:17 pm | In devotionals | No CommentsWhat shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? -Romans 6:1-2
I am shocked at what some people today will do and still claim to be Christians. They will blatantly do what the Bible tells them they should not do. The idea that you can do whatever you want as a Christian and still be forgiven isn’t unique to our day, however. Paul had to refute it in the Book of Romans: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2). Paul was saying that we can’t sin so that God’s grace may overflow. It is a false teaching that says that you can go out and blatantly disobey God, and God’s grace will cover it. It is a perversion of the teaching of the grace of God. The Bible says that the grace of God is given to us so that we might say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age as we wait for the return of Christ. It doesn’t say that the grace of God was given to us so that we can do whatever we want and break His commandments with abandon. Grace and law work closely together. The law tells me that I am a sinner. Grace tells me how to deal with my sin. While it is true that the Christian is no longer under the constraint or the extreme limitations of the law, it doesn’t mean that he or she should disregard it altogether. It means we should obey it because we want to, not because we have to. What you believe determines how you will behave.
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
Contending with Care
April 14, 2008 on 9:02 pm | In devotionals | No CommentsInstead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. -Ephesians 4:15
I remember walking down Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki and seeing a man holding a big sign with red flames and the words, “The wages of sin is death.” He was yelling out to people, “God hates you! God is going to judge you! God is going to get you!” I watched as people passed by, intentionally turning away from him. Finally, I walked up to him and said, “Excuse me, I have a question. I just wanted to say that while it is true that the wages of sin is death, as your placard says so boldly, it is also true that the rest of that verse says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Why don’t you put that on the other side of your placard, and you could flip it around periodically? You could give them the whole message.” The man then told me that I was going to hell. He was intent on delivering a certain degree of truth in a contentious way. When we read in Jude 3 that we are to contend for the faith, it doesn’t mean that we are to assault with the truth. It doesn’t mean we are to bludgeon people with it. The word “contend” in this verse actually speaks of delivering the truth, but doing so in a loving manner. The Bible tells us to speak the truth in love, which means professing God’s truth in a loving way. It is important to know your theology and to know what the Bible teaches. But it is also so very important to just love people. If we can find the balance of lovingly presenting truth, it will be a powerful combination.
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
Decstruction by Deception
April 13, 2008 on 10:47 pm | In devotionals | No CommentsFor certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. -Jude 4
Is it possible to preach and not be a true believer, or to even do miracles and not necessarily be saved? Absolutely. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’” (Matthew 7:21-22). Notice that Jesus said, “Many will come in that day” (emphasis many). This reminds us there will be an abundance of false miracles in the last days. Many will say they have been doing miracles. Many will say they have been casting out demons, allegedly. But Jesus will say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23). The worst thing imaginable is to spread wickedness under the veneer of true faith. Tragically, this does happen in the church today. I wish that we could spot these people more easily. But Jude pointed out that they come in unnoticed (see Jude 4). That is the whole idea. Satan is a deceiver. And that is why on more than one occasion, the Bible compares him to a snake. Having been an avid collector of snakes as a kid, I know how easily they can get out of the tightest little spots and escape. In the same way, Satan sneaks into the church unnoticed. False teachers come into the church secretly. And their numbers grow by preying on unsuspecting believers. Beware of false teachers. And be careful of those who say they have a message you won’t hear anywhere else.
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
Our Great Hope
April 12, 2008 on 8:48 pm | In devotionals | 1 Comment“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” -John 14:2
We don’t have to be stressed-out or troubled in our hearts, because as Christians, we are going to heaven. No matter what happens, no one can rob us of that great hope. Maybe you’ve lost your job or your car won’t start. Maybe you have all kinds of problems in your life right now. But you are still going to heaven. The apostle Paul encouraged the church with these words: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17) The troubles we see now will soon be over, and the joys that are yet to come will last forever. Jesus promises there is a real place called heaven, and you have His word on it. There is one thing that God cannot do, and that is lie. God will keep His word. He has prepared a place for us. Now when Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions,” I don’t believe He was speaking of a celestial Beverly Hills with beautiful, palatial mansions for those who live really godly lives on Earth. I don’t believe there will be actual houses on streets when we get to heaven. But Jesus has promised us that we will be together with Him in heaven, for eternity, in the place He has prepared for us. And He will keep His word.
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
The Big Picture
April 11, 2008 on 9:58 pm | In devotionals | No CommentsAnd we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. -Romans 8:28
There are times in our lives as Christians when God will do things or fail to do things that we want Him to do, and it will not make sense to us. And because we don’t see the big picture, we may falsely conclude that God has abandoned us. But we need to trust Him during these times, remembering that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. In other words, what God starts, He completes. It seems as I get older, I get distracted and forget things all the time. But what if God forgot about us? What a frightening thought. Imagine being in the midst of a fiery trial as God is watching and waiting for that moment to take us out of it. Then the phone rings, and He is gone for a decade! Thankfully, God never forgets about us. He is in full control. He knows exactly what He is doing. He will complete what He has begun. Sometimes in the middle of that process, we may think the Lord is missing it. But He isn’t. We’re the ones who are missing it. From our limited human viewpoint, we think of the temporal, but God lives in the eternal. We are thinking of today, but God is planning for tomorrow. We are thinking of comfort, but God is thinking of character. We are thinking of an easy time, but God is thinking of how to make us better people. So let’s trust Him. Whatever our circumstances or hardships, let us believe His promise to His children, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). All things are working together.
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
The Loving Church
April 10, 2008 on 7:47 pm | In devotionals | No Comments“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” -1 John 3:18
The Bible tells us again and again that we should love one another. Love is like the glue that holds us all together. The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). The Bible’s definitive chapter on love, 1 Corinthians 13, is, in fact, the most comprehensive description of love in all of Scripture. Paul shines love through a prism, so to speak. We see many of its colors and hues, so we can more easily understand love and apply it in a practical way. Each ray gives a different facet of God’s agape love. The Bible does not focus so much on what love is, but on what love does and does not do. The love of God that we are to demonstrate toward one another is not merely feeling or emotion. Nor is it abstract or passive. It is active. It engages. It works. It moves. God’s love does not merely feel patient; it is patient. God’s love does not simply have kind feelings; it does kind things. Love is fully love only when it is active: “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). At the same time, the Bible tells us the goal of the Christian is to be conformed to the image of Christ (see Philippians 3:10). This is what God wants you to strive for. This is what He wants you to aim toward–that the love He speaks of will work its way into your life.
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
A Place for You
April 7, 2008 on 10:06 pm | In devotionals | 1 CommentBut now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. -1 Corinthians 12:18
The Bible likens the church to a family and to a physical body. We are called as Christians to be functioning, participating, contributing members of the body of Christ. We need to be a part of a body where there is accountability, where there is friendship, and where there is koinonia. We need to be a part of a body where we come to receive and to learn, but we also need a place where we can contribute and serve the Lord with the gifts He has given us. In comparing the church to a body, the apostle Paul wrote, “But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’” (1 Corinthians 12:20-21). I do many things with my hands, but I don’t think about how I am going to use them. My hands just sort of do what they do. Underneath the skin, everything is working together so I can use my hands. Each part of my body is dependent on another part of my body. In the same way, the church as a body is interdependent–we cannot live and flourish apart from other believers. God wants us to engage. He wants us to be a part of what He is doing. Attending church is not a spectator sport. We are here to be a functioning part of His church. Everyone has a job to do. Everyone has a need to serve. There is a place for you. Are you doing your part?
C4W Devotions are used by permission from Harvest Ministries with Greg Laurie P.O. Box 4000 Riverside CA 92514
Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^
