by A.B. Simpson

Devotional for July 27th

The building up of the body of Christ - Ephesians 4:13

God is preparing His heroes, and when the opportunity comes He can fit them into their place in a moment and the world will wonder where they came from. Let the Holy Ghost prepare you, dear friend, by all the discipline of life; and when the last finishing touch has been given to the marble, it will be easy for God to put it on the pedestal, and fit it into its niche.

There is a day coming, when, like Othniel, we, too, shall judge the nations, and rule and reign with Christ on the millennial earth; but ere that glorious day can be, we must let God prepare us as He did Othniel at Kirjethsepher, amid the trials of our present life, and in the little victories, the significance of which, perhaps, we little dream. At least, let us be sure of this, that if the Holy Ghost has got an Othniel ready, the Lord of heaven and earth has a throne prepared for him.

Gratitude in Action (#wtsdevo gratitude)

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” -Hebrews 12:28-‬29‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The default for all humanity should (at the very least) be gratitude. It should function in and through us the same way we breathe without thinking about it. Simply because we appreciate the One who places each breath in our lungs and loves us enough to share His kingdom. If there were nothing else, that should be enough to be grateful for.

Yet He still gives us more. He gives us good things both of heavenly and earthly value—temporary and eternal. But the greatest gift keeps on giving forever and ever to no end. And to that we should respond.

Our worship is our response. Our gratitude moves us into action—a posture of praise. It's one of those things we can only hope become less forced and more fluent. The key ingredients for a worthy worship are reverence and awe. They are the perfect compliment to a grateful heart.

When you think about the holiness and greatness of God does it move you? Are you floored by His presence? His omnipotence? We all should be.

All power is His and He holds all things together (Romans 13:1, Colossians 1:17). He is the Being that made us and is so radiantly holy that we can't even look at Him and live (Exodus 33:20). He is the Judge of all judges and capable of enforcing the worst of consequences (Isaiah 33:22, Matt. 10:28). He is perfect and the supplier of everything we need both physically and spiritually (Ephesians 1:3, Philippians 4:19).

Ultimately, it was the display of God's love through His Son that granted us the access to this unshakable kingdom (John 3:16). For that we can be eternally grateful. And we can show it by the way we submit, revere, and worship Him.

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Devotional Series: Gratitude (#wtsdevo Gratitude)

The Hard Road (#wtsdevo righteousness)

“But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. ‘Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.’” - 1 Peter 3:14

A lot of times we as Christians forget the hard, painful side of our faith. Never once in scripture does it say that following Jesus would be easy. In fact it says the exact opposite.

“Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you” - 1 John 3:13

We come into this race knowing we will be scorned and hated for the sake of our Savior, but this is actually our best way to witness. When we are hated for our faith in the Lord, we have an immediate opportunity to show that person the love of Christ by not responding out of anger or spite, but with kindness and listening ears.

“Faith is what unites us with Christ and all that God is for us in him. When God sees faith in Christ, he sees union with Christ. And when he sees union with Christ, he sees the righteousness of Christ as our righteousness. So faith connects us with Christ who is our righteousness and, in that sense, faith is counted as righteousness. Faith sees and savors all that God is for us in Christ, especially his righteousness. That's what faith does.” - John Piper

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Devotional Series: Rightousness (#wtsdevo righteousness)

Demanding God’s power to do your own thing

Jesus was a rebel. The culture of His time was to revere the religious elite, and Jesus openly opposed them. In our current culture, the expectation is to defy authority, to live for yourself, to do what feels right, so following Jesus in our present-day culture is a form of rebellion.

So I guess the line we need to draw is who you’re rebelling against, because when you rebel against God, you’re…

In our day and age it seems everyone is focused on living an extravagant life filled with money and things. But God tells us to live a simple life filled with simple pleasures. Good friends, warm tea, reading the bible ETC.  

"Store not your treasures on earth."  

"Blessed are the poor" 

Living a simple life may sound terrible but it really is great! You spend time with people not things and you learn to appreciate what you have. You will have plenty of time for extravagance in heaven. 

"Behold, I have prepared many mansion for you."  

"I will spear no reward from my people."