LHM Daily Devotion - September 22, 2017 "Was He Serious?"

Over the years, I've heard a number of Christians say most sincerely...

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

By Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour

"Was He Serious?"

September 22, 2017

Now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

~ Luke 14:25-27 (ESV)

Over the years, I've heard a number of Christians say most sincerely, "Oh, if only I could have been there when the Savior walked the earth. I would love to have heard Him preach. I'd give just about anything to have seen some of His miracles. I would, I think, have stayed awake with Him as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. I'm pretty sure I would have shouted for His release when He was unfairly tried. I certainly wouldn't have called out for Pontius Pilate to release the criminal Barabbas."

I neither question nor disagree with the sincerity of those words; most of the time I agree.

Still, there are times when I am glad I wasn't there. I'm glad I wasn't there because I don't know exactly what I would have done and how I would have reacted. I'm not entirely sure I would have always understood some of the things Jesus was saying and doing.

Today it's fashionable to think of Jesus as being gentle, kind, mild-mannered, gracious, and loving. Too often we forget that Jesus had another side, a deeper side, a side that is sometimes difficult for many of His followers to understand.

For example, listen carefully to what Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple."

Did you hear that? Those words don't sound like something that would come out of the mouth of the Prince of Peace, the Christ who told us to love our enemies.

I know many Christians who try to minimize those words, try to change them, even ignore them. They say, "Oh, Jesus really didn't mean what He said. Not really. Jesus just wanted the folks in the crowd to know that following Him wasn't something to be taken lightly."

Me, I think Jesus was serious.

The disciples thought He was serious. They left their boats, their places of business, their families, and they followed Him. Two-thousand years of martyrs have thought Jesus was serious. History has two millennia filled with Christians who were exiled from community, family, and friends because they loved the Christ.

Are we really ready to tell them that Jesus was just joking? Jesus knew what He was saying. Jesus meant what He was saying. He meant every word that He said to the crowd that day.

He meant it every bit as much as the Heavenly Father meant it when He said, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). It's a question of priorities and our faith-motivated willingness to follow the Savior who gave up His throne in heaven and His life here on earth -- so we might be forgiven and saved.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, grant that my love for You may reflect the love and commitment the Savior has shown for me in His sacrifice which saves. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

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CPTLN Devocional de 22 de Setiembre de 2017

Alimento Diario

Como un padre

22 de Setiembre 2017

Y seré un Padre para ustedes, y ustedes serán mis hijos y mis hijas. Lo ha dicho el Señor Todopoderoso.

~ 2 Corintios 6:18, RVC

El padre puede ser una tremenda bendición en la vida. A través de estudios se ha llegado a la conclusión que la presencia o ausencia del padre en la vida de un niño es el factor que más ayuda a predecir si va a terminar la escuela secundaria, si va a ir a la universidad, si se va a involucrar en crímenes o uso de drogas o, en el caso de una niña, si va a quedar embarazada antes de los 18 años.

El padre también puede ser una tremenda bendición en la vida espiritual. Cuando el padre es el primero en profesar su fe en Jesucristo, su familia le sigue en un 93% de los casos.

No es de extrañar, entonces, que Dios quiera relacionarse con nosotros como Padre.

Dios se identifica a sí mismo como "Padre" para que podamos comprender cuánto nos ama. Él nunca va a ser como un padre humano, que son imperfectos, porque él es perfecto y santo. Y como tal, hace por sus hijos lo que un Padre perfecto y santo debe hacer: los ama, los protege, los escucha, los consuela, los dirige, los sirve, los ayuda y los rescata.

El mayor acto de amor de Dios fue enviar a su hijo Jesucristo a morir en una cruz para pagar por los pecados de todas las personas. Todo aquél que profesa su fe en él lo recibe como su Señor y Salvador y se convierte en hijo de Dios - y Dios se convierte en su Padre.

Un padre no es padre simplemente porque haya generado biológicamente un hijo. Lo que lo convierte en padre es lo que hace por ese hijo. Dios se comporta como nuestro Padre, amándonos a través de su hijo Jesucristo, y nos trata siempre como sus hijos. Él es el modelo perfecto a seguir.

ORACIÓN: Querido Dios, al entregar a tu hijo Jesucristo para que muriera por nosotros demostraste que nos amas como Padre, y al darnos el regalo de la fe nos convertiste en tus hijos. Te damos gracias por tener compasión de nosotros, y te pedimos que tu bendición nunca nos abandone. En el nombre de tu Hijo. Amén.

Biografía del autor: Kevin Wendt se graduó del Seminario Concordia de Fort Wayne, Indiana, en 1993, y actualmente está sirviendo en la congregación Grace en Destin, Florida. Previamente sirvió congregaciones en Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Rochester, Minnesota; Macomb, Michigan, y St. Louis, Missouri. Junto con su esposa Jennifer tienen tres hijos: Amanda, Andrew, y Aaron.

© Copyright 2017 Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones.¡Utilice estas devociones en sus boletines! Usado con permiso. Todos los derechos reservados por la Int'l LLL.

The Daily Readings for THURSDAY, September 21, 2017 - Saint Matthew Day

Jesus Calls Matthew

Opening Sentence

Their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the ends of the world.

~ Psalm 19:4

Confession of Sin

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.

Morning Prayer

I bless you for the day you have made, Mighty Lord God, and pray that I may spend this day rejoicing in your creation. I pray for your Holy Spirit to fill me with the joy of my salvation, so that your light may shine through me into the world, that your honor and glory may be known to all people.

Remind me of your blessings, I pray, with every tribulation I may face, so that I may act with energy, forgiveness and love, ever mindful of the grace You have shown to me. Through Christ I pray, Amen.

The Lessons

A reading from Proverbs 3:1-6

My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you. Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

A reading from Psalm 119:33-40 He Legem pone

33   Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end.
34   Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law; I shall keep it with all my heart.
35   Make me go in the path of your commandments, for that is my desire.
36   Incline my heart to your decrees and not to unjust gain.
37   Turn my eyes from watching what is worthless; give me life in your ways.
38   Fulfill your promise to your servant, which you make to those who fear you.
39   Turn away the reproach which I dread, because your judgments are good.
40   Behold, I long for your commandments; in your righteousness preserve my life.

A reading from 2 Timothy 3:14-17

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

A reading from Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen

Prayer of the Day

We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer for One's Home

Peace, unto this house, I pray,
Keep terror and despair away;
Shield it from evil and let sin
Never find lodging room within.
May never in these walls be heard
The hateful or accusing word.

Grant that its warm and mellow light
May be to all a beacon bright,
A flaming symbol that shall stir
The beating pulse of him or her
Who finds this door and seems to say,
“Here end the trials of the day.”

Hold us together, gentle Lord,
Who sit about this humble board;
May we be spared the cruel fate
Of those whom hatreds separate;
Here let love bind us fast, that we
May know the joys of unity.

Lord, this humble house we'd keep
Sweet with play and calm with sleep.
Help us so that we may give
Beauty to the lives we live.
Let Thy love and let Thy grace
Shine upon our dwelling place.
Amen.

A Prayer for Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Elizabeth Goodine's great gospel song,
When Jesus Lifts the Load, performed here
by the Christ’s Church Choir with the
Gaither Vocal Band.

When Jesus Lifts the Load
Gaither Vocal Band, Christ Church Choir

Alleluia! Christ has risen.
Christ has risen indeed. Alleluia!

Closing Prayer

Let me not forget you as I go forth into the world this day, blessed Lord; may my every word be a prayer, and my every act be testimony to your love and truth, and may I know your presence every second of this day. Amen.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.

~ 2 Corinthians 13:14

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.

Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelis

Saint Matthew and the Angel (1661)

Today the church remembers Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.

The Tax Collector Turned Disciple Matthew, sometimes called Levi, was a tax collector and, as any student of history or scripture knows, that put him in a despised class in first-century Palestine. In fact, he was sitting in his tax office when Jesus called him to be a disciple. As if it were not scandalous enough for Jesus to include such a person in his group, he allowed and encouraged Matthew to bring in more tax collectors. Of course, Jesus demanded and got such a radical change in these men that they were no longer recognizable as tax collectors. The apostle Matthew is not generally regarded as the author of the gospel which bears his name, but he probably contributed the essential information that went into its writing. We have a lot of conflicting legends about his later life, but no reliable information.

Matthew is recognized as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches. His feast day is celebrated on 21 September in the West and 16 November in the East. He is also commemorated by the Orthodox, together with the other Apostles, on 30 June, the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles. His tomb is located in the crypt of Salerno Cathedral in southern Italy.

Read the Wikipedia article here.

We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer of the Day for THURSDAY, September 21, 2017 - Saint Matthew Day

We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Verse of the Day for THURSDAY, September 21, 2017

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV) May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Read all of 2 Corinthians 13

Listen to 2 Corinthians 13

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Morning Devotions with Cap'n Kenny - Love Hopes All Things

Love suffers long and is kind, . . . bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NKJV)

If you are up for an inspirational story about the Scripture, there's none to top Connor, an eleven-year-old boy, and more especially his mother Cynthia. Connor started to suffer from increasingly rigid muscles when he was three and developed progressively severe walking problems. He was in a wheelchair by the time he was five.

His mom took him to 38 — yes I said three eight — different doctors. She got some diagnoses, all incorrect, but mostly she just got apologetic doctors telling her they had no clue what her child was suffering from. Some said there would probably never be an answer. Her reply? ”I couldn’t settle for that, I refused to accept that.“ She hit the internet, every day for hours on end, for years, chased down innumerable dead ends and false leads until she eventually ran across something called “Dopa Responsive Dystonia”; there had, at the time, been about 60 cases ever diagnosed in the United States. She wrote a letter to Dr Irwin Jacobs, a very respected pediatric neurologist in Cleveland, Ohio.

He said that her letter left him in shock. He said, “I mean, here’s somebody suggesting a disorder, and I’ve never seen this disorder”. It disrupts how the brain communicates with muscles in the body. Connor did not even fit the disease profile all that well, but Dr. Jacobs agreed to try out the medication for it, just on a long shot.

And, as you might have guessed, Connor began to improve. In a week his legs began to move and then — in his own words, “I was sitting in the chair in the kitchen one day and ... I feel like I can stand, I start holding onto the furniture and I start walking.” Today, he is playing sports and completely free of his wheelchair.

Love does not give up no matter what it faces, no matter how high the mountains in front of it, no matter what anybody else might say. And I hope, the next time you are at a wedding listening to 1 Corinthians 13 recited for the umpteenth time, that you will think about Cynthia when you hear that love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” It's not just words. This is God's message to us . . . and He is always right.

Lord God, let me never falter in my love. Amen.

In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny


Seeking God?
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relationship with Jesus Christ.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Devotion shared by Mason Barge, Editor, Daily Prayer.
Love does not give up no matter what it faces.

Un Dia a la Vez - ¿Quiénes son los bendecidos?

El Señor nos recuerda y nos bendice [...] bendice a los que temen al Señor.

~ Salmo 115:12-13, NVI

Los bendecidos son esos cuya vida está dirigida por la ley de Dios.

El mismo Señor nos enseña lo que debemos hacer y no hacer. Así que las bendiciones son para todos, aunque no todos las hagan suyas. En realidad, les cuesta creer que Dios tiene grandes planes con nosotros.

Ver el triunfo en los demás, es conformismo. Es no comprender que todos somos hijos de Dios y que la ley es para todos, al igual que las bendiciones.

Claro, hay personas que son más comprometidas en las cosas de Dios y guardan de verdad sus mandamientos. Tienen una relación intima con Él en oración y sacan de su tiempo para congregarse y escuchar su Palabra. De ahí que podamos ver que a ellos les llegan más rápido las bendiciones.

Otros hemos sido más cabezas duras y hemos tomado malas decisiones. Por lo tanto, hemos alejado esas bendiciones.

Si queremos recibir bendiciones, debemos ser obedientes a Dios.

Recordemos también que los tiempos del Señor son perfectos y que hay oportunidades en la vida que no podemos dejar pasar.

¿A quiénes bendice Dios? ¡A todos sus hijos!

Standing Strong Through the Storm - SINGING IN THE SPIRIT

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

~ Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

Our Open Doors colleague, Ron Boyd-MacMillan, shares the following insight from his teaching, “Why I Need to Encounter the Persecuted Church.”

Once I spent a week in the company of a famous female Chinese evangelist. Many characteristics that made her stand out; her courage, her long hours on her knees, her carefully cultivated simplicity of faith. But at the time, these were not the features that stuck with me and ended up transforming my faith. What actually impressed me about her was the same thing that impressed me about everyone else around her too. They were always singing. Singing hymns!

Three features of the singing were striking. First, the hymns themselves were not in the least profound. In terms of content, they lacked theological depth and poetic phrasing. Wesley or Newton would not have been proud of these offerings.

Second, they couldn’t sing very well. Chinese are not renowned for their harmonic skills in any case. They warbled, croaked, and droned and screeched...all with a complete disregard for the tune.

Third, they sang primarily to themselves. Oh sure, they sang in groups and to each other, but the most of their singing was done by themselves, to themselves. But all this did not matter. The songs worked.

Travelling around with these persecuted believers made me realize I had forgotten how much Christians sing praises. For me, the only time I sang was in church or an occasional chorus at a home group. I had never really sung hymns to myself, or seen singing to another as a ministry. I didn’t have a terribly good singing voice, and felt like I should leave it to those who were good at it. But after hearing everyone in the persecuted church of China singing virtually all the time, and seeing the difference it made to them spiritually, I wondered, Why do I not sing by myself, to my own spirit, or see singing as a ministry of encouragement?

So when I came back, I picked my seven favorite hymns. Ones like, “We rest on thee, Our Shield and Our Defender,” and, “Breathe on Me Breath of God.” I learned them, and during my quiet times, I sang to my spirit. And I found it to be true. A song lifts the spirit like nothing else. And as I read the Bible, I saw how central singing was to the practice of faith. The Israelites sing all the time in the temple; prisoners Paul and Silas sing in the cell; the early house churches sing to each other, and the scriptures climax in the great throne visions of John in Revelation, and what is going on in that most hallowed place but the singing of a “new song”.

Thank you persecuted church, for restoring a lost but key component of my quiet time.

RESPONSE: Today I will sing to the Lord in my spirit and gain encouragement for service to Him.

PRAYER: Lord, I ask You to help me be one who is always singing Your praises with my spirit.

NIV Devotions for Men -

2 Chronicles 20:1–19

Recommended Reading: Numbers 20:14–21; 2 Chronicles 20:20–30; Psalm 83:1–18

Trouble comes in threes, they say. But who’s counting?

You’ve probably noticed that acknowledging and investigating troubles seem to make them multiply. Consider your house, for example. The roof starts leaking. So you climb into the attic to check it out and discover several bad spots, a rotten rafter, mold, mildew—and often the repair bills mount from there.

Obviously, ignoring problems also makes them multiply. Ignoring the leak today leads to the living room ceiling sitting in your lap tomorrow. So you face a dilemma: If your troubles multiply whether you examine or ignore them, what should you do?

King Jehoshaphat found himself face-to-face with trouble. A huge army marched toward Jerusalem, and the scouting reports didn’t hold out much hope. The problem on the horizon promised to be enormous by the time it reached the king. “Alarmed,” we read, “Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 20:3). He looked through the trouble. Faced with an overwhelming situation, the king immediately turned to Someone who is never overwhelmed.

As we face trouble in our own lives, our prayer can be like Jehoshaphat’s: “Lord, I know you’re in charge. So I choose to recognize this trouble as your problem, not just mine. I admit that I can’t handle this situation, yet it needs to be resolved. What do you say, Lord?”

Notice how God responded to this prayer of faith. He answered, but he didn’t promise to help Judah win the battle. Instead, he said he’d fight for his people. Could the king have anticipated this answer? There are times in our lives as well when God’s good answers surprise us. But notice also that the king still had his marching orders: God told him not to be afraid (twice), not to be discouraged (twice), to march out, to take positions and to go out and face the enemy. By the time the people had completed God’s instructions, the battle was over.

Again we face a dilemma. We often find ourselves a little too close to our troubles—so close that we end up wallowing in them. Or we find ourselves trying to avoid troubles—giving them the opportunity to pull a surprise attack. But God calls us to trust him, to look through our troubles and toward him.

To Take Away

• How do you usually respond when faced with trouble?
• What results have you seen when you’ve surrendered your troubles to God?
• What problems are you facing right now that need the Jehoshaphat approach? Pray for God’s guidance, intervention and protection in the face of these situations. And watch and listen for his answers.

Girlfriends in God - September 21, 2017

If You Only Knew

Sharon Jaynes

Today’s Truth

“If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water”.

~ John 4:10 (NLT)

Friend to Friend

What happens when someone says to you, “If you only knew?” I don’t know about you, but it makes me want to know. Jesus spoke those same enticing words to the gal with the empty bucket He met at a well in Samaria. He was engaging her and inviting her to springs of life. He was stirring her curiosity.

While she focused on drawing physical water, Jesus continued drawing her closer to living water. The water in Jacob’s well would alleviate physical thirst temporarily. The water in Jesus’ well would quench spiritual thirst eternally. Jesus’ living water would fill this empty woman with overflowing joy.

So she asked Him, “Give me this water!”

Wait a minute. Did she say, “Give me that water?” Isn’t that what Jesus asked from her? As Jesus often does, He asks us to give him something only to offer something better in return.

Jesus lifted the curtain on the story of her life and the acts of the saga were exposed before her. Count them 1,2,3,4,5. Five husbands plus one extra. We don’t know why she had been divorced five times. In those days, a man could divorce his wife if she went outside the home with her hair unbound or even spoke to a man in public. He could divorce her if she burned the bread or he decided that he just didn’t like her any more. It didn’t take much. But whatever the reasons, this was a woman who had been abused, misused, and tossed away by men she had trusted and loved.

This also gives us a hint that she was not a young woman. It takes time to experience that much rejection. No doubt the years of heartache and broken dreams were etched on her sun-scorched face. Like the rising bucket full of hope from the well of each new marriage, her dreams spilled out on the parched grounds of divorce—five times. Her longing for love left her empty and led her to yet another poor decision—man number six.

Jesus spoke to her of her past without a hint of condemnation or rejection in his voice. As a matter of fact, He applauded her honesty. He moved the conversation to a personal level, and took one step closer to the heart of the matter…the matter of the heart. Jesus always moves the conversation to a personal level when He is about to set someone free. And He was rattling the prison keys.

What do we do when confronted with such naked truth about ourselves? Sometimes, oftentimes, we try to change the subject. That’s exactly what this woman did. She wanted to get the spotlight off of her and onto some theological or religious debate. “Let’s don’t talk about me,” she seemed to say. “Let’s talk about religion. What about the poor people in developing countries who have never heard the gospel? How can God allow bad things to happen to good people? What about other religions? Let’s talk about that.”

Jesus always brings the subject back to me…to you. That’s what is important to Him. Jesus answered her question by explaining that God is more interested in how we worship than where we worship. He is more concerned with our relationship with Him than our religious practices. And friend, that is what He wants from all of us. God is not impressed with religion. Jesus wasn’t impressed with the Pharisees. What God wants is to enter into a personal ongoing relationship with us through His Son.

Would you say that you have religion in your life, or that you have a personal relationship with Jesus? I’m going to leave us by the well to think about that for the rest of the day.

If you want to know more, click on the “Seeking Him” link below.

Let’s Pray

Dear LORD, forgive me when I get off track and start acting all religious. Forgive me when I focus on religious activities more than my relationship with You. I love you, Jesus. My greatest desire is to draw closer to You.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

Now It’s Your Turn

Would you say you have a religion or a relationship with Christ?

Would you say you feel more comfortable working for God or spending time with God?

Which do you think God really wants from you?

More from the Girlfriends

Today’s devotion was taken from my book, How Jesus Broke the Rules to Set You Free: A Woman’s Walk in Power and Purpose. In this book we study each woman Jesus encountered in the New Testament and see how her story is your story. Jesus came to set women free! In a day when they moved about as shadows in the culture, rarely seen and seldom heard, Jesus broke the cultural rules to heal them, save them, and then send them. He risked His reputation to save theirs…and yours. The book comes with a study guide and is perfect for women’s Bible study groups. But be prepared, you’ll fall in love with Jesus all over again. Click on the book to watch the book trailer. That is a blessing in itself! Right now, this book is on sale for 33% off.

Visit my website and sign up for my blog, and I’ll email you a link to download my new beautiful adult coloring book journal for free!

Seeking God?

Click HERE to find out more about how to have a personal

relationship with Jesus Christ.

Girlfriends in God

www.girlfriendsingod.com