Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 10:7-12
Ps 10:7-12
His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.
2 Tim 3:1-5
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Paul warned of the days when people were more concerned about their religion than they were about their Christianity. That does not mean that all religion is bad because James says that there is a pure and true religion that pleases God. But if religion does not have the heart of Christ at the center of it, then it is just a hollow shell with a good appearance but lacking in power and value. This is what Paul is describing to Timothy. “As long as church is right, don’t worry about the heart!”
I have read articles (and books) about why churches of all stripes are losing their members and what can be done to stop the bleeding and promote growth. Most of them lay out new programs to get people interested or ways of getting people more involved in various ministries. They all focus on the institution called the church and how to build it and motivate and activate it. But most don’t work.
Read the sermon of Jesus and it gives the answer to our problems. The revival we need begins inside us because the kingdom is in us. Any growth without the heart of Jesus at the center will be short-lived and superficial. Real growth will only come when we are converted to Jesus and become his disciples and let the Spirit grow his fruit in us. Conversion to religion or to a church is not true Christianity.
O Lord God, give me a pure heart that is like the heart of Jesus so my goal will be to always do your will in every part of my life. Help me carry out the mission that Jesus left his disciples, to show people that salvation is in Jesus alone. As a result of this, your church will grow and flourish as you intended. Fill me with your love so others will see Jesus in me and then I can lead by example as your Spirit works in me and continues to mold me into your likeness. In Jesus name I pray.
Robert