Weekday Devotionals
Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."
John 6:28-29 NKJV
When the people asked Jesus this question, it was the day after he had fed the 5000. Jesus had left. He walked across the water to the disciples, got in the boat and went to the other side. The people had to go looking for him. When they found him, the text seems to indicate, they were hoping for another sign… like that fish and loaf thing He did yesterday… They were hungry again. Jesus called them out on it…
Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you
saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. "Do not labor for the food which
perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you,
because God the Father has set His seal on Him." John 6:26-27
Hey, hey, hey… now you’re talkin. So you’re gonna give us this bread and we can do our own fish and loaf thing? COOL! What do we gotta do? John 6:26 Tony’s 21st Century Paraphrase
When Jesus told them that belief in Him who God has sent was the actual “work”, well that just
seemed like foolishness to them. So they went back to asking Him for a sign… even mentioning the manna from heaven that their fathers got when they were in the desert…(They were just focused on their bellies)
This past Sunday, Pastor Aaron shared a passage from 1 Corinthians. The passage speaks to the Power of God vs the wisdom of men.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1 COR. 1:18-23 NKJV
Many extremely educated and brilliant (by the world’s standards) men and women look at the Bible the same way they would look at a book of Aesop’s Fables. Good stories, good life lessons but not exactly true. The world has no problem in not believing the Bible. But even us “believers” sometimes struggle with this very thing. To actually believe that what God says is true even when it’s outside of our experience is not an easy thing to do. I wonder how our lives, and the lives of those around us, would be changed if we lived our lives with the belief that what God says about us is true… regardless of our experience.
God has not left us without examples:
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. Jas. 2:23 NKJV
Was Abraham actually righteous? NO. A quick conversation with Sarah would tell us all we need to
know about Abraham. But God…called him righteous because he believed Him. What did he believe? Some deep spiritual doctrine that God revealed to him? Nope, he believed he was gonna have a baby… when his experience told him otherwise.
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was
about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Rom. 4:19-21 NKJV
Do we ever waver at the promise of God?
Pastor Pete taught from Romans 6 at last Sunday’s baptisms on the beach that because we are
baptized into Jesus Christ, we are baptized into his death. That body of flesh that is the source of our sin was crucified with Christ. Because Christ was raised from the dead, we can, and we should, walk in newness of life. Romans 6 goes on to say in verse 14 that “…sin shall not have dominion over you…” We see a verse like this and almost automatically say to ourselves that this can’t be true because I still sin. When we say this, we are wavering at the promise. We’re believing our own experience instead of the promise of God. I have been there. I know what it’s like to be a slave to my sin. But I have also experienced the victory that comes from believing in the promise and walking in newness of life.
I absolutely love the song “Take You at Your Word” that we sing in church. The chorus sums this up very well...
I'll take You at Your word. If You said it, I'll believe it
I've seen how good it works, If You start it, You'll complete it
I'll take You at Your word (Hey, hey)
Let me challenge all of us to take God at his word. To be fully persuaded.
To not waver at His promise.
To walk in victory.
Love Y’all…
John 6:28-29 NKJV
When the people asked Jesus this question, it was the day after he had fed the 5000. Jesus had left. He walked across the water to the disciples, got in the boat and went to the other side. The people had to go looking for him. When they found him, the text seems to indicate, they were hoping for another sign… like that fish and loaf thing He did yesterday… They were hungry again. Jesus called them out on it…
Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you
saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. "Do not labor for the food which
perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you,
because God the Father has set His seal on Him." John 6:26-27
Hey, hey, hey… now you’re talkin. So you’re gonna give us this bread and we can do our own fish and loaf thing? COOL! What do we gotta do? John 6:26 Tony’s 21st Century Paraphrase
When Jesus told them that belief in Him who God has sent was the actual “work”, well that just
seemed like foolishness to them. So they went back to asking Him for a sign… even mentioning the manna from heaven that their fathers got when they were in the desert…(They were just focused on their bellies)
This past Sunday, Pastor Aaron shared a passage from 1 Corinthians. The passage speaks to the Power of God vs the wisdom of men.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1 COR. 1:18-23 NKJV
Many extremely educated and brilliant (by the world’s standards) men and women look at the Bible the same way they would look at a book of Aesop’s Fables. Good stories, good life lessons but not exactly true. The world has no problem in not believing the Bible. But even us “believers” sometimes struggle with this very thing. To actually believe that what God says is true even when it’s outside of our experience is not an easy thing to do. I wonder how our lives, and the lives of those around us, would be changed if we lived our lives with the belief that what God says about us is true… regardless of our experience.
God has not left us without examples:
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God. Jas. 2:23 NKJV
Was Abraham actually righteous? NO. A quick conversation with Sarah would tell us all we need to
know about Abraham. But God…called him righteous because he believed Him. What did he believe? Some deep spiritual doctrine that God revealed to him? Nope, he believed he was gonna have a baby… when his experience told him otherwise.
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was
about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Rom. 4:19-21 NKJV
Do we ever waver at the promise of God?
Pastor Pete taught from Romans 6 at last Sunday’s baptisms on the beach that because we are
baptized into Jesus Christ, we are baptized into his death. That body of flesh that is the source of our sin was crucified with Christ. Because Christ was raised from the dead, we can, and we should, walk in newness of life. Romans 6 goes on to say in verse 14 that “…sin shall not have dominion over you…” We see a verse like this and almost automatically say to ourselves that this can’t be true because I still sin. When we say this, we are wavering at the promise. We’re believing our own experience instead of the promise of God. I have been there. I know what it’s like to be a slave to my sin. But I have also experienced the victory that comes from believing in the promise and walking in newness of life.
I absolutely love the song “Take You at Your Word” that we sing in church. The chorus sums this up very well...
I'll take You at Your word. If You said it, I'll believe it
I've seen how good it works, If You start it, You'll complete it
I'll take You at Your word (Hey, hey)
Let me challenge all of us to take God at his word. To be fully persuaded.
To not waver at His promise.
To walk in victory.
Love Y’all…
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