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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Deaf Devotion 7/28/2011

“Truly I tell you; today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43b NLT)

Are there any other words that can bring peace and relief to the soul of the sinner? Jesus did not say today you CAN be in paradise. He did not say wait until baptism. He did not give out a list of rules and requirements to have eternal life. Jesus, based on one person’s simple confession said, today you WILL join me in paradise. That’s all! Jesus went on to say, “It is finished.” It’s done. It’s complete.

God's grace is revealed in His willingness to welcome anyone at anytime into His kingdom, even at the moment of death. The thief who hung on a cross next to Jesus had absolutely nothing to offer the Lord—no good works, no faithful service. He couldn't even be baptized. In his utterly helpless condition, the only thing he could do was believe. But that was all it took, because faith is the only way to be saved.

Remember that there were two thieves were crucified with Jesus. Both thieves began their crucifixion by hurling verbal abuse at Jesus. As the minutes passed, one of them had a change of heart. His anger against the Savior turned to criticism of the other criminal, and then to defense of Jesus, the admission of his own guilt and a helpless plea for a place in Christ's kingdom.

It wasn’t by accident that those men were in that place in the presence of Jesus. It wasn’t by accident that Jesus was crucified in the middle of these two men. It was the divine plan of God. God arranged the meeting of Jesus with these two men. Both of the thieves hanging on the cross were still thieves when one of them cried out to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” But this man was no longer a thief when Jesus said to him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

What was it that turned this mocker into a believer? Even if he himself had even heard about the name Jesus Christ, the crowd's mocking of Jesus supplied him with the information he needed to be saved. Scornful onlookers accused Jesus of being exactly who He was: the King of Israel, the Savior of others, and the Son of God. As the condemned man watched and listened, he turned in faith to the only One who could save Him. Not the one dying with him, but the One dying FOR him.

What happened to the other man? The other thief, although he knew who Jesus was, never asked Him for salvation and because of his decision he is right now crying out for mercy in hell.

On the hill that day, one man died in his sin, one Man died for sin, and the other was saved out of his sin. There are only two responses to the inevitability of death. We can either accept or reject Christ's payment for our sin. There is a change that takes place when we are in the presence of God. What has been isn’t what always has to be. The despair and helplessness melts away in the presence of God. The problems that confront our lives become possibilities. The fear that sometimes grips us melts into strength and courage in the presence of God. And the filth of sin is washed away in the presence of Jesus.

MAY GOD BRING US INTO HIS PRESENCE TODAY. GOD BLESS!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Deaf Devotion 7/18/2011

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

If someone thinks they are going to get to heaven by good “works,” it is pretty clear that one will always wonder if they’ve done enough. It will not be a “know-so” salvation. It will be a “hope-so” salvation.

Rather than standing up straight in confidence like an exclamation point, you will be bent over and wondering like a question mark. That is, until we understand that it’s all by grace. Suppose everybody who wanted to be saved had to run around the block. Some can’t run. What if you had to read a chapter in the Bible to be saved? Some can’t read. But there is one thing that can make the promise sure, and that is grace.

When we are saved we are transformed. Most people think we become righteous before God. That is impossible for us to do. Becoming something means we change something about ourselves. When I was younger I wanted to become an airplane pilot. Some want to become Doctors, Pastors, Moms or Dads. Each of these is important but we must change something to get there. School, marriage, etc. are all things we change in our lives to become something “different.” But it is something done on OUR part.

Righteousness is another thing. God is the only one righteous. Therefore we cannot become righteous. Adam and Eve tried that and we have been separated from God ever since. Since God is the only one righteous, and we have no hope of ever “becoming” righteous, something must change and it is something we cannot do ourselves.

In Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone are we MADE righteous. Doctors are not “made.” Moms are not “made.” But in the image and likeness of God are we all created and we are made righteous through Jesus Christ.

Who can we share this Good News with today? Think of at least one person, and ask God to give us a bold love and a divine opportunity to do just that.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Deaf Devotion 7/11/2011

Greetings from the high desert Antelope Valley region of southern California. I am at the Spiritual Leadership Conference hosted by Lancaster Baptist Church. I am meeting many wonderful people. I will be back in the Flint area on Saturday July 15.

We are on the edge of the Mojave desert and there is not much grass, many trees or much shade. Makes me think of things "more or less."

I love you all and miss you dearly!

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NLT)

When you stop to think about it, "Less" plays a big role in our lives. On the one hand, it's good to be fearLESS, wireLESS, ageLESS, cordLESS, errorLESS, guiltLESS, painLESS, and odorLESS.

On the other hand, we don't want to be jobLESS, friendLESS, homeLESS, penniLESS, fruitLESS, spineLESS, aimLESS, careLESS, or lifeLESS--especially lifeless! But of all the things we don't want to have less of, none is as important as hope. We definitely do not want to be hopeLESS!

In Romans 5:3-5 the apostle Paul had a way of explaining why hope is so important in our life. It is so important because hope comes from a strange place. It comes from tribulation or times of trouble.

Paul wrote: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."

When we lose hope in the face of trouble, it means we need to strengthen our faith in God's love that was poured out in our heart. To be afraid can mean we should check just how much we trust God. It can be that we are becoming faithLESS. FaithLESS becomes hopeLESS because we feel God has given up on us. To be faithless diminishes how much we understand and believe that God really does love us. And to lose touch with God's love--to be loveLESS--is to lose touch with the greatest thing of all. “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Hope, then, is a measure of our realization of God's love. Grasp His love today, and you will grasp hope as well! If we are faithFULL, we are made hopeFULL, and when God’s love fills us and we overflow in the FULLness of His love we have a love that is MORE than we can understand.

God knows nothing of hopeless people or situations.

Become “faithMOREFULL,” “hopeMOREFULL,” and God will “loveMOREFULL” than we can understand or even question.