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Thursday, February 25, 2016

God’s Favor in Your Life

“The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry.” Psalm 34:15 (NIV)
You might be surprised to learn that those whom God favors sometimes experience pain and suffering. We might not understand it, but God shows His favor and His love in many different ways. Let’s see what His favor can look like in your life.

Favor Does Not Prevent Suffering

Jesus instructed His followers, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth” (Matthew 6:19), and the Bible instructs God’s people, “if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life” (Psalm 62:10). Israel’s King David (a hero of the Old Testament) suffered physical hardship when he was persecuted by Saul. God also allowed physical pain to bother the Apostle Paul, who received divine revelation and wrote many books in the New Testament.
Just like Paul’s physical pain, God does not always fix every hardship in your life. Even if you pray, He may choose to use your weakness so His glory and strength can be seen by all of the people around you. (2 Corinthians 12:9John 9:3).

Focus on Giving God Glory

The Old Testament shows us that God often used provision to help His people understand Him more: “the Lord your God has poured down for you abundant rain. The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil” (Joel 2:23-24). The New Testament lets us know that “every good and perfect gift is from the Father” (James 1:17).
Since God works “for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), He can choose to give you with resources or health for His purpose. However, you have to remember that these are always meant to bring Him glory. Our focus should not be on our comfort or gaining material things. If we are focused on God, we can use whatever He gives us, whether it’s health, material things or physical weakness, to give Him glory.

Seek God First

God will provide everything we need to accomplish His will. You may be surprised to learn that you may not need perfect health or lots of wealth to do His will. Jesus didn’t even have a place to lay his head (Luke 9:58), but He accomplished God’s perfect will. Be sure to “seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33). Remember, God’s favor does not mean all your expectations will be met. His favor will help you give Him glory in good and bad situations.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Relating to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
If you have come to trust Jesus as your own Savior, you are in a relationship with God that can't be broken. He's beyond what we can imagine. He lives forever and does not change. Big as He is, He is also personal. He is near to us. He created a great variety of people. And He wants us to be close to Him. In a way, variety exists in His own nature. Father, Son and Holy Spirit have a relationship with each other. They also have perfect unity. God teaches us to relate to Him in lots of ways. Learn how biblical worship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit affects how we understand ourselves.

In relation to the Father

When I think of the Father, I remember His right to direct me. Because of what Jesus did, God is also my adoptive Father. He loved me so much, He gave His Son to keep me from perishing. (John 3:161:12Galatians 3:26)
To the Father, I am a beloved son worth recovering. For a picture of this, see the story of the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32)

In relation to the Son

When I think of the Son of God, I remember I’m meant to look like Jesus. (Romans 8:28-29)
To Jesus, I am His sheep (John 10:27-30), and no one is able to snatch me from His hand. For a picture of this, read about the Good Shepherd Who gave His life for me. (John 10:11-16) He even says I am His friend. (John 15:14) He is unashamed to call me His brother. (Hebrews 2:11-18)

In relation to the Holy Spirit

When I think of the Holy Spirit, I remember that He is a Helper to me as I desire and serve God. (John 14:16-17) He makes up for my limitations. And His constant presence in my life is a taste of what I will eventually fully inherit. (Ephesians 1:142 Corinthians 1:22)
To the Spirit, I am His home. Because God Himself lives in me, I am home base for his earthly ministry. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19 for an explanation of this:“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself” (1 Corinthians 6:19) As God floods my heart with His love, (Romans 5:5) my life produces His fruit in response. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Worshiping God in Spirit and Truth

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:24
God says, “just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9) The book of Job says, “Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out.” (Job 37:23, AMP) But God tells Jeremiah, “Don’t let the wise brag of their wisdom… If you brag, brag of this and this only: That you understand and know me. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
God wants to be known and understood! To have faith is to understand things about Him. We “must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) God’s unity—in diversity—is one of the most important things to know about Him. To hold this truth we must know three other things:

We Cannot Bring Him Down To Our Level

Although Christ humbled Himself by “sharing in human nature,” (Philippians 2:7) God is not just a man. (Numbers 23:19) Imagining He’s just like us is a mistake. Jesus warned the Woman at the Well: “You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.” (John 4:22).

Humility in Worship

We may not be able to fully know God’s nature. But worshipers must accept what God says about Himself. “Those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth,” Jesus goes on to say in John 4:24. Worship is a humble admission that there is no one and nothing like Him.

Beyond Comparison

Do comparisons help explain the Trinity? Water, Ice and Steam? The nature of light? God says, “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?” (Isaiah 46:5) Any time we use something, saying, “God is like this,” it’s bound to fall short. We use the word “Trinity”—which isn’t found in the Bible—to stand for all these truths we DO find in the Bible.
“Trinity,” (meaning, literally, three-in-one), stands for all the teachings of Scripture on God’s three-in-one nature. It is our humble admission that the God Who has revealed Himself in Scripture is “transcendent,” beyond the limit of our understanding. At the same time, “he is not far from any one of us.” (Acts 17:27) Do you know Him today?

Monday, February 1, 2016

Do Christians Worship One God—or Three?

For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.
Ephesians 4:4-6
Our Christmas devotion quoted Isaiah 44:6. God says, “besides me, there is no God.” The New Testament agrees, “there is only one God.” (1 Corinthians 8:4) Christians call the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, “God.” When Christians use the word "Trinity," what do we really mean?

Is God One Person Appearing in Three Different Forms?

At Godlife, we like to keep things simple, but making things too simple can be very dangerous. Without understanding, bridges and buildings collapse. Unexpected expenses, even injury and death, result. Likewise, we dare not reduce what the Bible teaches about God.
Some say that God shows Himself as the Father in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ in the New Testament and the Holy Spirit in the believer's life? Compare this dangerous over-simplification with what the Bible says. He is not one person wearing masks or taking on different names. Otherwise, it would not make sense to say that the Father sends the Son, (John 20:21), the Son sends the Holy Spirit, (John 16:7), and the Spirit reveals and glorifies the Son.(John 16:14)

Are There Three Different Gods?

Is it possible “God” is an office, or title, held by more than one being? No. Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else.” Jesus prays, "Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.” (John 17:5) It is mysterious. But Jesus is not “someone else,” or the Father would not share His glory with Him. As Jesus said, seeing Him is seeing the Father. (John 14:9)

Is The Father Alone God, While Jesus is Just A Man?

The Bible tells us God is the Word (John 1:1), and that the Word became flesh. (v. 14) We are baptized in the (singular) "name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19), we put all our hope in Him. Romans 10:13 quotes Joel 2:32“…everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved…” What is this name? It is JESUS. "If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Because there is “no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12Jesus is forever the God-Man who has brought salvation. He is “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)