Devos

God Sees Everything

   

“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)

Seven-year-old Natalie had just won a special prize at school: a spy kit. “It’s got glasses with mirrors in them,” she said. “I can see things in front of me and behind me at the same time!” Natalie’s spy glasses allowed her to do something humans normally can’t do: see more than one place at a time.

Unlike humans, God can always see everything in every place, all at the same time. He can see you sitting at your computer, and at the same time He can see another child lying down to sleep on the other side of the world. He sees you when you’re doing things that please Him, even if no one else notices. He also sees you when you’re doing wrong. He can even look inside your heart and know the reasons for what you do.

You can never be out of God’s sight. Does that thought make you feel scared or comforted? A heart that is right with God never wants to hide from Him.

God sees everything, in every place, all the time.

My Response:
» Is God pleased with what I do when no one else is watching?

Truth in Real Life Moments

John Wesley

   

“The grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is FREE IN ALL, and FREE FOR ALL”

John Wesley was born in England on June 17, 1703. Born the fifteenth child in his family, John was a “pastor’s kid” and was taught God’s Word from the beginning of his life. At age 5, like the other Wesley children, John began being home-educated by his mother. This education, along with other life hurdles, prepared him for serving God as an adult.

After being rescued from a burning church building at age 6, young John had good reason to think seriously about heaven and hell. He had always been known as a good child, a smart boy, and a bookworm. He loved school. As far as he could understand, his life must be pleasing to God, and he did not worry much about his soul then…for a time.

As a young adult, Wesley attended Oxford University. He founded the famous “Holy Club” with his brother, Charles. This club had strict rules for its members, including a rule that all members stop for silent prayer at least one time every hour.

In May of 1738, after many years of serving God, Wesley attended a prayer meeting and understood something for the first time. He understood that it by grace through faith in Jesus Christ that we can be genuinely converted. Jesus Christ does the saving!

Rather than being good on your own or being obedient to a strict set of rules, you can and you must trust Jesus to save your soul for you. Wesley began preaching this truth. Some people got angry with him, and others understood God’s love for the first time.

John Wesley was not trying to start a new type of church, but because he was preaching truth that was “new” in his generation, the Methodist Church began. At this time in history, the Methodist Church stayed faithful in preaching the Bible while other churches often preached false ideas. The teachings of many Methodist churches have changed since Wesley’s days, but the doctrines that are really drawn from the Bible will NEVER change!

Rules are not necessarily bad. Rules are necessary for things to be done “decently and in order.” But rules and laws can never save your soul or take away your guilt! Jesus Christ is the only Way to salvation. By God’s grace, through faith, have you truly trusted in Jesus Christ alone to save you?

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Devos

God Wants To Change You

   

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.” (Romans 8:29)

One October day, Brandon was on an airplane flying to Vermont. As the plane dipped its wings over Lake Champlain, Brandon looked out his window. What a sight! All around the misty water below were acres and acres of maple trees that had changed color. Brandon had never seen trees wearing any brighter shades of red, orange, and gold.

If you have become a Christian by trusting Jesus Christ to save you from your sin, God wants to make a glorious change inside of you – an even more beautiful change than the colored leaves of fall. He wants to make you just like His Son, Jesus Christ! Can you imagine what that would be like? You would love God with all of your heart. You would be full of joy. You would be confident in God even when bad things happened. You would be kind and gentle – even toward your brothers and sisters. You would never be selfish. You would never disobey. You would always hate sin.

Long ago, before you ever asked God to save you, He was planning to do this beautiful work in you. His Spirit who lives in you will show you the things that need to change. Will you cooperate with God as He works?

God wants to change you to be like His Son, Jesus Christ.

My Response:
» Is God’s Holy Spirit showing me areas that need to change in my life?
» Am I becoming more like Jesus?

Devos

God Brings Good out of Sadness

   

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Will I trust God to bring good out of the sad time I’m going through?

One day, I brought home a bright red helium balloon. I was so proud of it! I could hardly wait to get it out of the car and begin playing with it. But no sooner had my feet touched the pavement of our driveway than it slipped out of my hand and went floating away toward the clouds. I was disappointed and angry. It wasn’t fair! I had lost my balloon before I even had a chance to play with it.

But my dad had an idea. “I’ll get my binoculars,” he said. “Let’s watch your balloon till it’s out of sight.” We stood out in the backyard, my dad and I, for a long time that evening. We passed the binoculars back and forth, tracking the red balloon’s flight into the sky. What fun we had! That evening that had begun so sadly ended up filled with laughter and joy. It was one of my favorite times spent with my father.

God, our Father, sometimes allows things to happen in our lives that seem very bad to us. Things might happen that hurt and disappoint us and make us want to scream, “It’s not fair!” But God has wonderful plans for those painful times. He may want to teach us something new about Himself. He may want us to come closer to Him. We get to know Him better as we pray and trust Him in times of suffering. He causes all things to work together for good to us if we are His children. Maybe someday you will look back on your saddest time as the best time you ever spent with your Father.

God brings good out of His children’s pain and suffering.

Devos

God Is a Tenderhearted Father

   

“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.” (Psalm 103:13)

One day Laurie and her sister Caroline came home from school, and both of their parents met them at the door. Their dad never came home from work in the middle of the day. They knew something must be wrong.

“Girls,” said their dad without his usual smile, “I have some sad news. Your grandpa died this morning.”

They sat down on the couch, their daddy in the middle with an arm around each of them. And Laurie and Caroline cried. Caroline looked up finally and noticed a tear rolling down her daddy’s cheek. She could hardly believe her eyes! She had never seen her daddy cry before. “He must really miss Grandpa too,” she thought. Later she realized that her dad was crying, not just because he missed Grandpa. He was crying for his daughters because they were sad.

Did you know that God is just as tenderhearted as a loving father? He feels every painful thing that you feel. He wants you to draw near to Him and let Him comfort you.

Maybe you do not have an earthly father in your home protecting, providing, and tenderly caring for you. God wants you to enjoy that special father-child relationship with Him alone. He promises in His Word to be a Father to the fatherless child (Psalm 68:5).

God is a tenderhearted Father who shares His children’s griefs and longs to comfort them.

My Response:
» Have I become God’s child by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ?
» Do I go to my heavenly Father when I need comfort?

Devos

God Is Angry with Sin

   

Psalm 7:11b ” …God is angry with the wicked every day”

Is God angry with my sin right now?

When you hear Bible stories, do you ever wonder why God sometimes sends terrible judgments on people who sin? He is holy, and sin displeases Him so much that He is angry with sin. Is it right for God to be angry?

When we get angry about something, our anger is usually not right. We get angry because someone hurts our feelings or keeps us from getting our way. But God’s anger is never this selfish kind of anger. His anger is righteous. God would not be perfectly holy if He were not angry with sin.

But everyone sins. Does this mean that God is angry with everyone all the time?

The anger that God has toward sin is often called wrath in the Bible. But God does not have this wrath toward everyone. Ephesians 2:1-9 tells us that people who have never put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation are “children of wrath.” But people who have been saved by grace through faith in Christ receive mercy, grace, and kindness from God.

Which kind of person are you? Even if you are a “child of wrath,” God still loves you. He is waiting for you to accept the grace and forgiveness He offers you in Christ.

God is angry with the sin of people who have never put their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

My Response: Is God angry with my sin right now? Or have I received His merciful forgiveness through faith in Christ?