Daily Devotion (Monday, July, 13th - Friday, July 17th)

Monday

"I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever."
--John 14:16

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit today. We can turn on a "Christian" television program and see some rather bizarre things taking place in the name of the Holy Spirit. But is this really the Holy Spirit?
Some of us may look at those things and say, "I don't know if I want that in my life. It frightens me."

The good news is that this is not the work of the Holy Spirit. Rather, it is a misrepresentation of Him. That is why it is important to gain a biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as a helper. The word helper is translated from the Greek word paraclete, which means, "one called alongside to help."

During the days that Jesus walked this earth, His disciples had the wonderful privilege of talking with Him and listening to Him. But then He ascended into heaven.
Jesus had promised His disciples (and essentially all followers of His to this very day) that He would lead them from that point forward in an entirely new way. This would take place through the Holy Spirit:

I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16--17)

God's Holy Spirit wants to help you. He is there for you. He wants to do a wonderful work in your life. And He will abide with you forever.


Tuesday

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

Just before he ascended into heaven, Jesus gave us a math problem that centered on multiplication. In this equation, he talked about multiplying new believers. He didn't take on the word problem himself. Amazingly, he left the math up to a hand full of humans. He left it up to us.

To help complete this equation, we need to be able to see people in our lives that need Christ present in their lives. We need to see who we can share our faith with. But that is not always an easy thing for us to do. In order for us to see these people, we may need to look at our lives through a different lens, through a different perspective. We need to put on polarized glasses.

Polarized sunglasses are amazing. When you are out on a lake or skiing down the slopes, these glasses help you to see with more clarity and definition. They allow you to be able to see things around you that you could not have seen without them.

The same thing needs to happen in your life and mine. But to gain that new perspective, we need to ask God to give us those polarized glasses. We need to ask God to give us x-treme insight to be able to see those around us that need Christ in their lives.

This week, ask God to give you x-treme insight. Just say to him, "God, show me someone in my life that I need to invite to church or share you with." God wants you to be his witness. Look for the people in you life that need him, and then be a witness to what God has done in your life. Help finish God's equation of multiplying new believers.

Wednesday

"Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son" (Gen 22:10).

There are times in our lives when God brings a test to see if we are ready to put to death the very thing that God promised we would have. Such was the case in the life of Abraham with Isaac. Isaac was the promised son. Yet, God said to raise the knife to sacrifice him in obedience to God.

When God brings such a test into our lives we usually have a choice. Neither choice is attractive. One choice will often salvage some aspect of the vision. The other choice will totally kill the vision from our perspective. However, that is the faith decision. That is the only decision from God's perspective.
If we choose the faith decision that kills the vision - we will witness the resurrection of the vision supernaturally by God. Our own faith will be launched into a whole new dimension. He will raise us up in order to speak through our lives in that experience. God often brings that person into a very public ministry.

However, if we choose the lesser decision, we will reside in a lesser walk with God. God will accept the decision but there will be consequences to our faith journey. He cannot trust us with a bigger vision because He sees our obedience is moveable based on our perceived consequences.
If we choose the lesser decision then God will often orchestrate other events in our lives that are designed to develop our faith to a level that will allow us to make the right decision the next time.

Do you have resurrection faith that will trust God to raise your situation from the dead?


Thursday

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. --1 Timothy 4:16

In America today, we have something that could be described as a new spirituality. It's a revival of sorts--not in the biblical sense of people turning to God, but a revival of all kinds of ancient and weird spiritual concepts and beliefs.

People are spiritually hungry. They are searching for truth. And the problem is, some of this strange theology is finding its way into the church.

We must be very careful to keep our guard up. Don't forget that when the devil misled Eve in the Garden, he did it with partial truth. He did not question God's Word altogether. Rather, he questioned if Eve properly understood it.

We must be careful of the deviant teachings that are out there today. So often, when a new teaching comes along, we will get excited: a new revelation!

There aren't any new revelations. Everything you need to know about God is already written in His Book. As it has been said, if it's true, it isn't new. And if it's new, it isn't true.

So don't go looking for new revelations. Spend your time instead in learning God's Word, and He will bring fresh understanding of it.

Years ago, the great thinker C. S. Lewis warned us, "If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones." I think this is especially important today.
We need to know what Jesus said. We need to know what the truth is. We need to pay attention to doctrine.


Friday

I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things. --2 Peter 1:12

In August 1992, Hurricane Andrew blasted across south Florida with 160 mile-per-hour winds, causing terrible destruction.

In the midst of all the debris, reporters were amazed to find one house still standing firm on its foundation. A reporter approached a man who was doing a little sweeping around the house and asked, "Sir, how did you manage to avoid the damage of this hurricane?"

"I built this house myself," the man replied. "I built it according to the Florida state building code. I guess the other people didn't follow the code."
There is some good theology in that homeowner's statement. He did it the right way.
Yet many believers today are not following the code when it comes to building their faith. They haven't properly laid a biblical foundation.

Many people in churches today don't know as much as they think they know. They may intellectually agree with certain truths they are taught, but they could not make a biblical case for those things themselves.

That is why we need to go back to the basics to lay a foundation for those who are relatively new in the faith or for those who didn't do it right the first time.

The apostle Peter wrote, "For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth" (2 Peter 1:12).

Let's lay a good, strong foundation for our faith. Let's always remind ourselves of the basics. Let's follow the code by studying the Bible and immersing ourselves in the truth.
When we build on solid rock, we, too, can withstand the storms.