Weekday Devotionals - Susan
MATTHEW 1:23
Look! The virgin will conceive a child! They will give birth to a son and
they will call Him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’
Pastor Pete’s sermon on Sunday reminded us of the fact that if we are believers and we know that Christ lives in us then we should be an example of Jesus to the world. All the time. When we walk into a room, God walks in with us - because He lives in us. When we face struggles we should still be demonstrating the love of Christ as He walks us through those struggles. When life takes a negative turn, our joy should still be sourced from our relationship with Him and that joy should be evident in us, in spite of the circumstances.
In theory, when you love Jesus, this should be a piece of cake. Most of the time, when life is going well, it is a piece of cake! Otherwise, not so much.
Personally, this sermon smacked me right in the heart. I’m going through a rough patch in life and it shows on my face and I know it. What my face expresses is my frustration, exhaustion, anger, discontent, and hopelessness, and none of those words sound remotely similar to the fruits of the Spirit. It was a wake up call for me and I needed it.
Col 3:23 says: And whatever you do, do it with all your heart like you’re doing it for God, not man.
There’s no begrudging in that statement, no deep sighs, no complaints. It’s pure love for God. It’s serving God by serving His people and doing it with joy. God is my source and He gives me the strength each day to care for my mom, and I thank Him for that daily. But, that’s not enough. If I’m not demonstrating the love of God in what I say or how I do what I do, or how I look when I’m doing it, I’m not acknowledging or demonstrating Jesus in the room with me. Christ in me is the hope of Glory…..for others, not me.
I have known that there’s a lesson for me in my circumstance, a lesson full of all the things I need to do to make things more pleasant as I serve. I now realize that I’ve been working out of my own strength, which is completely depleted, and not out of my relationship with Jesus. My lack of strength, my lack of joy, make for a very hard job. Oh, poor me. I’m exhausted and frustrated and unhappy. Well, I need to tuck back in to my Heavenly Father’s arms and get a refill, and not just for one day. A refill of hope and joy and gratitude every day. I need to work on that for sure.
All that being said, I can’t imagine being the only one with this problem. So, how’s it going? Are you walking into the room with the presence of God evident in your smile? In your attitude? Are you full of hope and joy all the time, or at least most of the time? We need to make Jesus real to others as Pastor Pete said, and as often as we can. We should be complete in our relationship with God, not lacking anything, no matter the circumstances. This is not an easy task but it’s a truth. If our eyes are set on Him, if we are one with Christ, if we access the power of the Holy Spirit then all the pieces of our puzzle will find their place and we will be complete, for the purpose God has for us.
2 Peter 1:3 says: By His divine power, God has given us “everything” we need for living a godly life. Just because we can’t visually see Jesus in us, or with us, doesn’t mean He’s not there. I am the example of Jesus to the world so I better look and act like it! Do others see Jesus when you walk into a room or do they only see you, your circumstance, your pain? We cannot let the difficulties of life change who God created us to be. He has given us everything we need to be ‘one with Him,’ to rise above our circumstances or the events in our life and remember who we are and who Christ is in us. If we remember that, if we can picture Jesus walking alongside us then we will enter any room, any situation with full confidence, hope and joy as we come closer to representing Jesus and the love He has for us.
We have every piece of the puzzle that reflects who God created each of us to be. The picture is perfect when it’s completed. Perfectly you, perfectly me, just as He pictured us. But it takes time and commitment. We’re not perfect today, but as we work to be more like Him, one piece at a time, with patience, diligence, love, long suffering, joyfulness, etc., we get a little closer to becoming who God made us to be and to being a better example of who Jesus is. We can do it! God has given us everything we need! He is all we need!
Susan G
Pastor Pete’s sermon on Sunday reminded us of the fact that if we are believers and we know that Christ lives in us then we should be an example of Jesus to the world. All the time. When we walk into a room, God walks in with us - because He lives in us. When we face struggles we should still be demonstrating the love of Christ as He walks us through those struggles. When life takes a negative turn, our joy should still be sourced from our relationship with Him and that joy should be evident in us, in spite of the circumstances.
In theory, when you love Jesus, this should be a piece of cake. Most of the time, when life is going well, it is a piece of cake! Otherwise, not so much.
Personally, this sermon smacked me right in the heart. I’m going through a rough patch in life and it shows on my face and I know it. What my face expresses is my frustration, exhaustion, anger, discontent, and hopelessness, and none of those words sound remotely similar to the fruits of the Spirit. It was a wake up call for me and I needed it.
Col 3:23 says: And whatever you do, do it with all your heart like you’re doing it for God, not man.
There’s no begrudging in that statement, no deep sighs, no complaints. It’s pure love for God. It’s serving God by serving His people and doing it with joy. God is my source and He gives me the strength each day to care for my mom, and I thank Him for that daily. But, that’s not enough. If I’m not demonstrating the love of God in what I say or how I do what I do, or how I look when I’m doing it, I’m not acknowledging or demonstrating Jesus in the room with me. Christ in me is the hope of Glory…..for others, not me.
I have known that there’s a lesson for me in my circumstance, a lesson full of all the things I need to do to make things more pleasant as I serve. I now realize that I’ve been working out of my own strength, which is completely depleted, and not out of my relationship with Jesus. My lack of strength, my lack of joy, make for a very hard job. Oh, poor me. I’m exhausted and frustrated and unhappy. Well, I need to tuck back in to my Heavenly Father’s arms and get a refill, and not just for one day. A refill of hope and joy and gratitude every day. I need to work on that for sure.
All that being said, I can’t imagine being the only one with this problem. So, how’s it going? Are you walking into the room with the presence of God evident in your smile? In your attitude? Are you full of hope and joy all the time, or at least most of the time? We need to make Jesus real to others as Pastor Pete said, and as often as we can. We should be complete in our relationship with God, not lacking anything, no matter the circumstances. This is not an easy task but it’s a truth. If our eyes are set on Him, if we are one with Christ, if we access the power of the Holy Spirit then all the pieces of our puzzle will find their place and we will be complete, for the purpose God has for us.
2 Peter 1:3 says: By His divine power, God has given us “everything” we need for living a godly life. Just because we can’t visually see Jesus in us, or with us, doesn’t mean He’s not there. I am the example of Jesus to the world so I better look and act like it! Do others see Jesus when you walk into a room or do they only see you, your circumstance, your pain? We cannot let the difficulties of life change who God created us to be. He has given us everything we need to be ‘one with Him,’ to rise above our circumstances or the events in our life and remember who we are and who Christ is in us. If we remember that, if we can picture Jesus walking alongside us then we will enter any room, any situation with full confidence, hope and joy as we come closer to representing Jesus and the love He has for us.
We have every piece of the puzzle that reflects who God created each of us to be. The picture is perfect when it’s completed. Perfectly you, perfectly me, just as He pictured us. But it takes time and commitment. We’re not perfect today, but as we work to be more like Him, one piece at a time, with patience, diligence, love, long suffering, joyfulness, etc., we get a little closer to becoming who God made us to be and to being a better example of who Jesus is. We can do it! God has given us everything we need! He is all we need!
Susan G
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