True: God’s Love Fills Me
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – In faith, I know these things to be true: God is full of love and grace, and he fills me with his love and grace. God’s work within me is to clear a channel for his love and grace to flow through me into the lives of anyone and everyone I meet. I …
Until We’re Fully Known
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – In relationships the failure to communicate can be extremely frustrating. But, the failure to commune leads us to despair. Communication is usually about sharing information – at its most basic level, the transmitting and receiving of meanings. Communion, however, is about sharing life. It’s …
Lost on the Sin Trail
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Romans 6:18 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – For years I wandered away from God and my image of that time is that of a traveler on a trail through the wilderness. I left the trail and got lost. Wandering in the wilderness, I lost even the memory that I was there because of my own sinful choices. Eventually, I lost the truth that I had any choice at all. It felt like I was …
Never Say Amen
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. Matthew 26:40 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – Read this devotional as a prayer: Help me, Lord, to develop a strong prayer life. I know you desire intimacy with me, and you want me to watch with you and pray (Matthew 26:40). Yet, I never seem to find the time to pray in a deep, fervent, consistent, persistent way. What draws me to …
Do Your Best to Rest
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest. Hebrews 4:9–11 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – Most of us think of the Sabbath as a day of rest, originating from the day of rest God took after he created the universe, as recorded in Genesis. That view is correct; it’s the reason we should take a Sabbath, a day …
Jesus-Love Is Personal
We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 1 John 4:6 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – My mother gave me a great gift and that is sensitivity about giving gifts. She taught me giving a gift is an opportunity to show you’ve thought about the person, taking time to discover likes and needs. What this translates into is you …
Engineer at Work
While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. Acts 10:17 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – Praying on a rooftop in Caesarea, Peter, the apostle of stomp and snort, is hungry, and while he waits for his daily bread to be prepared, he seeks the everlasting bread of life (John 6:48). Deeply submerged in the presence of God, Peter sees a vision of food forbidden. He recoils, saying, “Surely not, Lord! . …
God-Love Walks on Water
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 1 John 3:14 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – Our love for one another is the fruit, not the root, of our relationship with God. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, taught that our love for others emerges from our relationship with God; that anyone born of God who knows God will love with the love of God (1 John 4:7, based on NLT). In …
Compromising on Love?
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Colossians 1:18 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – If our love for one another is not energized by Jesus, we’re doomed to slide from the promise of “All You Need Is Love” into the push and shove of “I, Me, Mine.” Our love can’t stop at “let’s just get along” because the deep and ancient God-love emerges, not from compromise, but …
Committing to Each Other
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 (NIV) *** *** *** *** Today’s guest devotional is provided by Jon Walker – Truth teaches that the quality of our friendships is more important than the quantity. We don’t need a lot of friends in this life, but we do need a few good ones. By moving beyond superficial acquaintance with specific Jesus-ones, we become friends who are closer than family (Proverbs 18:24). This requires considerably more commitment than our standard “to each his own” …
