Daily Devotional: Friday, May 21

Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Pride

Weekend Music links on iTunes: All Because of Jesus by Fee; No Not One by Christy Nockels; Love Came Down by Ben Cantelon; Rescue by Desperation Band.

Read: See Below

Think:  This morning while reading I came across the following verse in Proverbs:

I will let you draw your own conclusions as to which side of the coin I am on regarding this one, but suffice to say I felt pretty splendid after reading this verse!!  What struck me this morning was the encouragement and wisdom that is available to us in God’s word.  For those of you that are looking in the mirror this morning and wondering what color your hair used to be, or even what it was like to have hair, know that God values you in your youth and in your progression towards Sixty, Seventy, Eighty, Ninety…what the heck even One Hundred or more!!

Pastor Ben spoke on Sunday about the good pride, where we take pride in the success and accomplishments of others.  The best model I can think of is God himself.  Ben used the phrase “God doesn’t make junk” in his sermon; I love that description of God because it fully acknowledges the completeness of His authority, His love for you and I, and the perfection of His plan.   So I set out today to take a look and find some passages of scripture which highlight just how much God loves you and how he feels about His creation.  I shouldn’t, nor should you be surprised at the encouragement these verses provide:

Psalm 103:13 -  As a father has compassion on his children,  so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him

Romans 5:8  ^- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:38-39 ^- For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 John 3:1 - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

 I am not sure about you but when I read these verses I don’t see any exceptions in here about how these are for everyone else but me.  What is so amazing is that these are just a small sample of verses that affirm God’s everlasting love for us.

 In fact I would ask that you go back and read each verse, and where you see a pronoun, like you, or us, replace it with your name.  Read it aloud with your name inserted.  Read it again because He is speaking about the love he has for you!! That is a good kind of pride if I have ever seen it!!

Do:  Find a verse about of God’s love for you, whether from the ones noted above or another verse that is speaking to you.  Personalize it, put your name in it. Memorize it and embed it in your heart. 

Pray:  Heavenly Father you love me so much that you passionately pursue me even when I may run from you.  You are waiting for me to call out to you.  You love me so much that you gave to me and to all mankind your Son Jesus Christ so that I might have eternal life.  Thank you for your gift to me.  In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.

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