Daily Devotional: Tuesday, March 23
Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: Reality (Truth)
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Your Grace is Enough by Chris Tomlin; Let the Praises Ring by Lincoln Brewster; How Can I Keep From Singing by Chris Tomlin; Came to My Rescue by Hillsong United.
Read: Matthew 5:45; James 1:2-12
Bible Challenge: Luke 2
Think: I have a brother who loves Jesus and lives a life that is truly a reflection of what God has done in his heart. When He became a Christ-follower his life did a 180 degree turn. The difference in his demeanor, his physical presence and lifestyle was obvious for all to see! Now some 20 years later he's been a faithful follower of Christ, has led many of our family members to the Lord, and has a family of his own that is absolutely a great group to be around. He serves at his church, he tithes more than his ten percent, he shares his faith constantly, and lives a God-honoring life. Is he perfect? Of course not. But in the broad scheme of things, he is a really great example of being totally dedicated to Jesus!
Here is the rub, he has been very faithful to God, but has suffered immensely. Let me explain. My brother has recently lost his life savings because of the real estate market crash. His company - that he has worked for his entire adult life - is going through terrible financial times and he was just demoted (but not laid off as many of his counterparts were). Worst of all, He lost his baby boy - just five years old - to a rapid-growing brain tumor only to find out a few months afterward his daughter had leukemia.
Does something seem incredibly wrong with this story? It sure does to me! Really wrong!!! Unfortunately if you are involved in the lives of many others you know that similar stories (to one degree or another) aren't really that uncommon. Really bad things happen to truly faithful followers of Christ.
As Pastor Ben talked about the importance of what we believe over the weekend, the fruit of that belief sure becomes important during tough times. Some of us may have been under a certain genre of preaching and teaching that would say the trouble is due to disobedience, lack of faith or some other spiritual "deficiency". That God in His goodness pours out blessing and wonderfulness --- unless you are doing something to prevent it.
Can we once and for all say baloney! The Bible does tells us that God will supply all our needs. It does say we will be blessed as we obey Him. It definitely tells us if we have faith we can move mountains! But the Bible does not promise that a good God can produce only good things in lives lived in a good way. If we believe that then we have to say faith has only one aim -a life of ease, blessing and overflowing checking accounts.
God is concerned for our total welfare, and He can be trusted to know when it is best to withhold and when to pour out His blessings. We can't lose sight of the fact that His ultimate concern is for our spiritual health and our spiritual prosperity. When it shows up in the material, that's just a short-term bonus...
(By the way, my niece with the leukemia, she's on her sixth year in remission. My brother, though he bears soul deep scars from the loss of his boy, has seen miracle after miracle as God has worked to comfort and encourage their family. He and his family are a true inspiration to all who encounter them.)
Do: What misguided thinking might you have when it comes to what you believe? Ask God to show you any "faulty thinking" you have when it comes to Who He is and what it means to follow Jesus.
Pray: God forgive me if I have reduced You to some kind of cosmic Santa Clause - that if I just do enough nice things then You will bring me all I desire. Thank you that I can trust Your ways, that I can know without a shadow of a doubt that you love me. That is enough... more than enough. In Jesus' name, Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church. |
