Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: From This Day Forward
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Today Is the Day - Lincoln Brewster, Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin, Your Love Never Fails - Jesus Culture, From the Inside Out, Lead Me - Sanctus Real
Read: 1 Corinthians 13; Colossians 3:12-14
Think: One of the verses in today’s message was 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Whenever I read or hear this verse, I have 2 reactions. Either I gloss over it because I have heard it so many times, or I am overwhelmed and blow it off as the list seems so unattainable. For every item on the list, I can probably list multiple ways I have failed already today (and it isn’t even 2:00 PM yet). Many of the commandments in the Bible feel like one more thing on a long list of to-do’s.
Recently as I have been trying to grow spiritually, I have been learning that I need to let God help me, instead of trying to master the list myself. I am blessed to work at Microsoft, but one of the challenges of working at this company as a married Christian man is that there is no lack of beautiful people. I am deeply in love with my wife, but mental temptations abound in the workplace (as is likely the case for most men). What I have found lately is that when I stop and silently pray, “God, I’m struggling, please help”, He intervenes in miraculous ways, helping me through the struggle. Just as I have seen God help me in this area of my life, I believe he desires to help us in all areas of life, especially in our marriages. Whether your struggle is with patience or anger or emotional intimacy, God is here to help when we invite Him to intervene.
Do: Think about the areas in your spiritual life that are a struggle. Next time you are in the middle of one of these challenges, take a moment to ask God for help. Keep your eyes open to see how he miraculously shows up.
Pray: Thank you Lord that you desire to help us in our areas of weakness. Thank you that you don’t leave us with a spiritual to-do list to suffer through, but you desire to stand by us in our challenges and make us more like you. Please intervene in my life in this particular struggle. Amen
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.
|
|
