christianity

God’s Love: Unconditional

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This is my online devotional

GOD’S LOVE: UNCONDITIONALFEBRUARY 7 2024, WRITTEN BY MARILYN ADAMS
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.ROMANS 5:8
The word unconditional means that it is absolute and not subject to change in any way. Not one sinner is exempt from God’s love. God’s unconditional love made a way for every one without exception.

Why did Jesus die on a cross? God cannot just overlook our sins, our wrong attitudes, words and deeds and still be perfectly holy and just. All sin deserves punishment. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, because he was incapable of sinning. Therefore all your sins and mine were laid on Jesus. He took our place. He died to set us free from the bondage to sin.

I like to look back to the account of Saul of Tarsus in Acts chapter 9. He was a murderer. He did everything he could to imprison those who believed in Jesus. He wanted to make sure that they were put to death.

He was on his way to Damascus to capture more followers of Jesus, when God stopped him in his tracks. He was saved and so radically changed, that folks did not believe he was the same man. He who once persecuted believers, wrote many of the New Testaments books.He fully understood God’s unconditional love. It cannot be earned or worked for in any way. It is a gift that cost Jesus his life. Have you received it for yourself?

Oh Father, your love cannot be fathomed with our finite minds. There is nothing to compare it to. It is unconditional, unchangeable, steadfast, and abundant. Thank you Lord Jesus for dying for us, and for redeeming us with your shed blood. Oh that we might be instruments of righteousness to effectively share your love with others. Amen

Throughout this day: Take time today to reflect on the words of the hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” You can listen to it here.Share on FacebookSubscribe to Daily Devotionals, receive prayer or share your thoughts with us!
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Patient Endurance~Part Two

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Our flesh and the Holy Spirit are antagonistic.  Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another…”

That is a perfect description for why we struggle. We don’t want to let go of our flesh.

Psalm 34:9-10 says, “Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

The fear of the Lord, seeking Him, and patiently enduring our trials are three areas that supply anything we lack. Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold for those who walk uprightly.”

Endurance means to bear up under difficult circumstances with hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.

As You Go: Preach

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2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” My dad’s motto was as you go ~ preach. He had a Scripture car up until he went into the rest home in June 2015. 

Still he lived his motto. He tootled around the facility in his wheelchair. His Bible was on his lap and tracks were in his pocket. This verse so typified him. I remember hearing him on many occasions say to someone, “Suffer an exhortation.” They would usually reply, “Am I in trouble?”

To exhort is to come alongside someone and strengthen them through encouragement. Barnabas was a great example. Acts 9:26-27. Acts 11:22-24. Exhortation is one of the gifts listed in Romans 12:6-8. 

2 Timothy 4:2 in the Amplified says, “…encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.” I needed this reminder with my two 8th grade mentees.

Quench Versus Embrace~Part Two

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When I think of the Holy Spirit opposing my flesh, I  picture two magnets repelling each other. 

The Holy Spirit stands by ready to help us as soon as we ask Him. However we quench Him when we do something in our own strength. Also if we run ahead of Him when He says to wait. Another way that we can quench Him is to ignore His still small voice. 

James 4:4-5 says, “…Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The Spirit who dwells in you yearns jealousy?” Yearn in the Greek means to intensely crave possession.

Unless we embrace the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, He will not be able to display the fruit of the Spirit which glorifies the Father. The Holy Spirit is the Producer, and we are the bearers when yielded to Him.

Quench Versus Embrace ~ Part One

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1 Thessalonians 5:19 says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” The Greek word for quench is to suppress, extinguish, or to thwart. Think of snuffing out a burning candle. God often uses His Holy Spirit like a refiner’s fire to reveal hidden dross in our faith.

Authentic followers of Jesus are characterized as following the Holy Spirit’s lead. Romans 8:13 says that if we live by the Spirit, we will put to death the fleshly deeds of our body.

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” Then Paul listed fleshly ways that we might grieve Him: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, and malice. 

Galatians 5:16 says, “…Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” We are either walking in the Spirit or in the flesh. When we choose to turn away from the Holy Spirit’s leading, He will resist or oppose us.

Spiritual Warfare 101 ~ Part Two

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1 Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…” Ephesians 6:13 says to withstand. Strong’s definition: vigorously opposing, bravely resisting, standing face-to-face against an adversary, standing your ground.

Salvation is eternal. Philippians 1:28 says, “And not in anyway terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.”

Spiritual warfare is part of our progressive sanctification. It is God’s effective tool to strengthen our faith. It takes warfare to reveal the hidden chinks in our armor. Unresolved issues are chinks that the enemy targets. 

Within every believer is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. We stand against a defeated foe. His power is deceptive temptations that entice us. We must bring truth into our hearts to stand and keep on standing.