BELIEVE: week twenty-one: Love

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10-11

Parental love is likely the purest expression of love within the human race. Parents spend their lives depositing their love into their children. The children will never remember the caressing of their cheeks as babies, but the parents know it contributes to the overall physical, spiritual, emotional, and relational health of the children.

The greatest joy of parents is seeing their children all grown up and living a life of love—blessing their own children, their spouses, their neighbors. When the children decide to live a life of love, the parents know their love has been received and made complete.

This is how it is for God, your Father. He has been pouring his love into you all your life, even when you were too young to remember it. When you grow up and choose to live a life of love, you give evidence that God’s love has been born in you and has been made complete in you.

Do you want to give evidence that God’s love is in you? Go love someone else.

"I am committed to loving God and loving others."

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Roxanne Frazee, pgs. 45-46.]

BELIEVE: week twenty: Sharing My Faith

“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” Ephesians 6:19-20

A husband came home from work after a very long and terrible day. Everything had gone wrong. He said to his wife, “I’ve had nothing but bad news at the office today. If there is one thing I don’t want, it is more bad news.”

His wife gently replied, “In that case, you’ll be glad to know that three of your four children did not break their arms today.”

There is a real art to learning how to share bad news. But delivering good news is so much fun. Why, then, is it so hardcore us to share our faith? Without question, Paul goes down in history as one the most aggressive evangelist ever to walk the planet. Yet he confesses that it is easy to hold back and that even he needs courage. If it is true for Paul, then it is likely true for you.

Maybe it helps to remember that the gospel is good news. Try this on for size: “You’ll be pleased to know that four out of every four people who ask for forgiveness and for eternal life in Jesus will receive them.”

I share my faith with others to fulfill God's purposes.

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Roxanne Frazee, pgs. 43-44.]

BELIEVE: week nineteen: Giving My Resources

“Since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7

History tells us that during the Middle Ages, whenever a soldier was baptized, he would leave his right hand extended above the water. Why? This was the hand that he carried his sword in and he was not offering it up to God. Today we might see a person with that same hand extended above the water but with a wallet in it.

Paul challenged the Corinthian believers to drop that hand with the wallet into the water and excel in the “grace of giving.” Notice he didn’t say the “obligation of giving.” We often miss this. In the opening words of 1 Corinthians Paul wrote, “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus” (1:4, emphasis added). Aren’t you glad that when Jesus was baptized, his whole body went down into the water? Aren’t you glad his whole body went on the cross?

So grab your wallet and baptize it along with the rest of you, so you can excel in offering the same kind of grace Christ offered to you.

"I give my resources to fulfill God's purposes."

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Roxanne Frazee, pgs. 41-42.]

BELIEVE: week eighteen: Offering My Time

“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

The clock is no respecter of persons. Even single humans who has ever lived on the earth has exactly 168 hours a week. And most of us find that after spending time sleeping, working, eating, and commuting, there just isn’t much left over. So when someone requests a piece of your time, you can feel tension in your gut.

God, however, doesn’t want just a piece of your time; he wants it all. Yikes! Now, he is not asking you to go without sleep, quit your job, or stop eating. He is asking for a total shift in attitude. As you do the things you need to do, want to do, and are compelled to do because of your faith, offer it up to God in a way that pleases him.

You see, the time God wants to offer him doesn’t have to be spent only sitting in church or serving in a ministry. If you are peeling a potato, peel it in excellence for God. If you are holding a baby, hold that baby for God, offering the child love and the warmth of a caring heart. If you run into a friend in the store, offer that conversation up to God and see what a difference it might make.

What are you going to do next? Offer it up to God.

"I offer my time to fulfill God's Purposes."

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Roxanne Frazee, pgs. 39-40.]

BELIEVE: week seventeen: Spiritual Gifts

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.” Romans 12:4-6

“That person has charisma.” We make this kind of statement about someone who arouses enthusiasm in others. Did you know that if you are a Christian, you have charisma? It’s absolutely true.

The Greek word for “gifts” Paul used in the verse above is charismata. It is literally translated “grace gift,” and it refers to at least one special gift the Holy Spirit deposited in you when you gave your life to Christ. Maybe it is the gift of leadership, or mercy, or administration, or teaching, or simply being a good helper. When we know our spiritual gifts and humbly use them in concert with other Christians to fulfill God’s purposes, good things happen in the lives of other people, it arouses enthusiasm in them. Voilà: charisma!

So, next time you hear someone say, “That person has charisma,” see who they’re talking about—it just may be you.

“I know my spiritual gifts and use them to fulfill God’s purposes.”

[Excerpt from Believe: 31-Day Devotional by Randy & Roxanne Frazee, pgs. 37-38.]