Devotion Talk 12/28/07

I apologize. I’ve been forgetful recently.
Tonight I’m going to to something a little different. Instead of going to John 1 as my devotion planner has planned, I’m going to discuss something I just read in R.C. Sproul’s: Now That’s A Good Question!

“24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”

-James 2:24

On page 138, the question reads:

“If justification is by faith alone, how can we apply James 2:24 (shown above) , which says a person is justified by what he does not his faith alone?”

I really enjoyed the response of Sproul. He replied:

” …What James is saying is this: if a person says he has faith, but gives no outward evidenceof that faith through righteous works, his faith will not justofy him… We are not saved by a profession of faith or claim to faith. That faith has to be genuine…” (pg. 139)

-R.C. Sproul

When I read the answer of Sproul, I thought of the many people Jesus healed. When he healed them, he told many: “Your faith has healed you.” It wasn’t: “Okay, now go do a good deed and you’ll be healed.” Jesus already committed the good deed. He died for us. I think that James 2:24 really means that we have to show our faith, and it has to be real in order for us to be saved. Praise the LORD that the good deed was done! Faith in Jesus is the only way to heaven!

“6Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ “

-John 14:6

Devotion Talk 12/17/07: Jesus- The Lamb of God

Sorry Again
Tonight I read John 1…

Jesus- The Lamb of God

Tonight I want to focus on a few verses of this Chapter. On Bible Gateway it is labeled as Jesus the Lamb of God. What I want to really meditate on is, what kind of lamb is right for God. God is perfect and holy. Likewise, he deserves a perfectly holy, and spotless lamb. Not one of us could be the Lamb of God. We have all sinned. Jesus is the Lamb of God. He has not sinned. He is perfect. We all deserve to go to hell! If Jesus weren’t the pure, holy, perfect and spotless Lamb, he wouldn’t have been good enough to die for us. Thank God that Jesus was perfect. In the Christmas musical the Children’s Ministry put on, their was a lamb, named Tiny who had many spots. His friends were all extremely white, with few if not any spots. Tiny was speaking about that the Shepards would choose the other sheep instead of him to sacrifice. And the last line of that play was something similar to this:

“Tiny represents each one of us, as we are spotted with sin. Only Jesus, the Lamb of God, the pure, perfect white lamb, can save us…”

I loved this little part. It really ties in with the message here, how Jesus is the only one that could have died for us. He is the only one holy, perfect and spotless enough to die for us.

“9The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, “A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.’ “

Devotion Talk 12/9/07

Tonight I read Luke 24.

This chapter is the proof for those scoffers, that our God can save himself. God keeps his promises. the promised that Jesus would rise. He promised Noah that their never would be a flood that huge again. God is all-powerful. He can do anything. He can use Jesus to raise men from the dead, give them sight, speech or hearing. God can raise himself from the dead. In the fourth-sixth grade Sunday-school class today, the teacher was asking the kids what we were here for, which is a huge question. Eventually the teacher said, It begins with a ‘G.’ ” So here came grace, God, good and finally glory. The reason God does these things is to show his glory. God is great. He created us to show how powerful and wonderful and mighty he is. He takes lives, and gives lives to show his glory. He took Jesus’s life and then gave it back. He died for us, so God could show his glory. Jesus ascended into heaven for God’s glory. Everything God does is for his glory!

“51While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.”

Devotion Talk 12/6/07

Sorry about that. I’ve been forgetting recently.

Tonight I read Luke 18.

There are two messages here that I really want to make known…

The Parable of The Pharisee and the Tax-Collector: Wow. I love this parable because it tells us that if we believe that we can get to heaven on our own. It sort of reminds me of a quote that I analyzed in English class this week:

“Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and griefs which we endure help us in our marching onward.”

-Henry Ford

I strongly disagree with this quote. Henry Ford, I believe seems to be making it seem as if we can overcome obstacles in our lives on our own, which is what the Pharisee thought. I cannot believe why such a successful man cannot believe that the idea of a car was his own. God gave it to him so he could be great. When obstacles came his way, he figured that he was strong enough to overcome them on his own. The Pharisee believed he was greater than God. But, the tax-collector admitted his sin and ” ‘…he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ “

A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight: This is another great story of Jesus’s great power, but I found something that is really great:

“42Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ “

What exactly does this say? The way we can be healed of blindness or something of the sort is if we believe, if we trust and have faith in Jesus. If we don’t believe he can heal us, he won’t. This extremely important, as if we do not believe in Jesus, we will not go to heaven and not be healed.