BELIEVE: week six: The Church

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“Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Ephesians 4:15

What mother tells her child to chew up a pill that is meant to be swallowed? Most likely the child would promptly spit out the pill because of its bitter taste. A loving mother smashes the pill and smothers it in applesauce so the pill goes down easier. Wisdom tells her that if her child spits it out, the healing benefit will be lost.

God calls us to challenge each other to spiritual growth, but if the challenge comes without love, it’s the same as chewing a pill that’s meant to be swallowed. As a wise believer, you should surround yourself with a few trusted friends who, beyond the shadow of a doubt, love you while your spiritual temperature is normal. Whenever you begin to experience a rise in your spiritual temperature, you can give them permission to challenge you in love.

We all falter from time to time. By preemptively choosing loving believers to monitor your spiritual temperature, you ensure that the truth you have to swallow will be given to you in love.

“I believe the Church is God’s primary way to accomplish His purposes on earth.”

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Rozanne Frazee, pgs. 15-16.]

BELIEVE: week five: Identity In Christ

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Believe: Devos: Week Five: Identity In Christ

“To all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” ~ John 1:12

The words “It’s a boy!” at the birth of our second child brought Roxanne and me tremendous joy. We already had a girl; now we had a boy. Life was perfect—until we noticed that our baby boy was missing his left hand and forearm. Immediately questions flashed through our minds. Sports? How would the kindergarteners treat him? Where would his wedding ring go? Never mind marriage; what girl would love him with so many men out there with two hands? And the most alarming question: Would we love him?

Nurses swaddled our little David and laid him in our arms. And in that moment our greatest fear evaporated. We loved him; there was nothing he had to do to earn our love. He was our son.

Our actions sometimes make us feel that God could never love us, as if there were anything we could do to earn God’s love. God loves us not because of anything we have done, but because of what he did. He loves us because of who we are, his children.

Today David is a successful attorney and has a beautiful wife who loves him dearly. He played sports better than most kids with two hands! While that brings us great joy, it isn’t why we love hi. We love him because he’s our son.

God feels the same about you!

“I believe I am significant because of my position as a child of God.”

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Rozanne Frazee, pgs. 13-14.]

BELIEVE: week four: THE BIBLE

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“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Remember the first time you walked outside in the winter as a child and you saw your breath? Perhaps you leaned too close to a window and saw moisture appear as you exhaled. The oxygen we breathe in becomes carbon dioxide in our lungs. These gases are both invisible, but as we exhale, the carbon dioxide mixes with water vapor, and because cold air has less water vapor than the warm air from our lungs, it produces fog.

But what happens when God exhales? The word for “God-breathed” in 2 Timothy is theophneustos, and it gives us a clue. Theo means “God”; pneustos means “spirit” or “breath.” The first time we see God exhaling is in Genesis when he is breathing life into the nostrils of Adam. In 2 Timothy we again see him breathing out, but instead of fog, God’s Spirit or breath becomes words on the tips of men’s pens. Those words bring life to all who study them.

Next time you see your breath on a cold day, remember God exhaled and created life-sustaining words to live by. We call it the Bible.

“I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God that guides my beliefs and actions.”

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Rozanne Frazee, pgs. 11-12.]

BELIEVE: week three: SALVATION

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“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.” ~ Ephesians 2:8-9

Vincent Ardolino watched the Twin Towers explode from his little tugboat in the New York Harbor on 9/11. Minutes later, as the towers fell, people swarmed the pier, desperate to vacate the island. Roads, subways, trains, bridges--everything was shut down. The only escape from Manhattan Island? The water. Many of them leaped in, fearing for their lives.

Vincent urgently turned the prow of his boat toward the island as his wife exclaimed, “What if there’s another attack?!” His response was, “If I only rescue one person, that’s one less person who will suffer and die.”

Joined by every boat on the water, Vincent became involved with the greatest sea evacuation since World War II, when 339,000 soldiers were rescued over the span of 9 days in Dunkirk. On 9/11 500,000 civilians were rescued in less than 9 hours through the grace gift of these captains. Each person jumping into a boat accepted the gracious gift of a rescue, putting their faith in the boat and in its captain.

"I believe a person comes into a right relationship with God by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ."