Holiness Day-by-Day

The following is from an online daily devotion by Jerry Bridges of the Navigators.

 

Devotional for Friday, March 7, 2014

The Acceptable Motive

Today's Scripture: 1 John 5:2

"We love God and obey his commandments."

Read it online at the Bible Gateway: (NIV) (NASB) (KJV) (The Message)

Although obedience is the primary way we express love to God, it's not the same as love. Love is essentially a motive. "Love is a verb, not a feeling," the saying goes. Indeed, Jesus said we're to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44).

In another sense, however, love is not a verb but the motive that prompts and guides other verbs—certain actions. I love my enemies first by forgiving them for their harmful actions toward me, then by seeking their welfare in appropriate ways. Love needs other verbs to give it hands and feet. This can be seen in 1 Corinthians 13 where Paul used love as a noun, the subject of a whole list of action statements: love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, and so on.

The converse truth is that love gives validity to my actions and makes them acceptable to God. I can seek my enemies' welfare so they won't harm me again. That's manipulation, not love. It's looking out for my welfare under the guise of looking out for theirs.

Love for God is the only acceptable motive for obeying him. This love may express itself in reverence for him and a desire to please him, but those expressions must spring from love. Without love, my apparent obedience may be essentially self-serving. I may fear God's punishment or his withholding of blessing, or I may conform to a certain standard of conduct because I want to fit in with the Christian culture around me. I might even obey simply because I have a compliant temperament.

All these motives may result in outward obedience, but not obedience from the heart. Only conduct arising from love is worthy of the name obedience.

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The text for this devotional comes from the award-winning NavPress devotional bookHoliness Day by Day by Jerry Bridges. For more information or to order a copy, visit theNavPress website.

Visit The Navigators Resources website for more devotional resources.

For the Kingdom

For the sake of the Kingdom
will you surrender it all
to follow God's call
whether "big" or "small"
to go "fishing" for all

For the sake of the Kingdom
will your answer be yes
to call those in distress
to repent and confess
preaching the gospel no less

For the sake of the Kingdom
will you commit to obey
and consistently pray
that the lost will today
find the narrow way

For the sake of the Kingdom
is the call to align
not to your will or mine
but to the savior divine
who is the true Vine

What will you do for the sake of the Kingdom? Whatever God requires or your desires?
Where will you go for the sake of the Kingdom? Wherever God sends or does it depends?
How much will you give for the sake of the Kingdom? All or nothing? 
May we give our all. God did!

Thirst for God [Psalm 63:5-8]

Psalm 63:5-8 [ESV]
My whole being will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember You upon my bed,
and meditate on You in the watches of the night;
for You have been my help,
and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.
My whole being clings to You, 
Your right hand upholds me.

Questions:
Is God truly the one who satisfies your whole being? 
Is He the one to whom your whole being clings?
Is He the one who consumes/occupies your thoughts?
Is He the one you fully depend on with confidence?

Consider:
If no, joy is lacking. If yes, joy is present and it is full!

Prayer
Dear God, if our answer is no, cause us to want You with our whole being. And, move us to be devoted to You. Thanks! If our answer is yes, thanks! It's all your doing. Amen!

Thirst for God [Psalm 63:2-4]

Psalm 63:2-4 
So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, 
beholding Your power and glory.
Because Your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
in Your name I will lift up my hands.
 
Questions:
What is your habitual response towards God? Is it awe or apathy? Is it trust or frustration? Is it praise or disapproval?
How deep, intense is your longing to truly know God?
What do you do to satisfy this longing?

Encouragement:
David wrote this psalm while in the wilderness of Judah. Think about his location and his response (read from verse 1-4 for now). It is safe to say that David's habitual response toward God was awe, trust, praise. Our response can and should be as well.

Prayer:
Dear God, cause us to grow in awe, trust, praise toward You. Give us a deep, intense longing to truly know You. So, we will look to You, not elsewhere, to satisfy this longing. Hear this prayer today. Thanks! Amen!

Thirst for God [Psalm 63:1]

Psalm 63:1 [ESV]
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Consider
Imagine being thirsty, desperate for a drink of water, but you can't find any. Will you continue searching for water or will you give up? Will all of you be devoted to finding water or will you be complacent or nonchalant about it? I imagine you will have an earnest, intense desire and drive to find water. Why? Finding water will be vital to quench your thirst and for your survival. David described his need for God similarly. Not a momentary need. But, an every moment, day-by-day, life-long need. 

Questions
How would you describe your need for God? 
How earnestly do you seek him?

Prayer
Dear God, cause us to be desperate for you. Desperate to grow in intimacy with you. Cause us to earnestly seek you today and each day. Earnestly seek you so that we can be near your heart. May we get so close that we can feel your "heartbeat" and your "breath". So, may 2014 be a year of us earnestly seeking for and drinking from You, the only One who truly satisfies!  

Focal Point Ministries Devotional

The following is from Focal Point Ministries' weekly devotional.  
UPLIFTING CHURCH

When, in Psalm 73, the psalmist finds himself frustrated by his daily struggles and aggravated by the inequities of life, it is amazing how quickly and simply his angst is resolved. This is especially true when you begin to sympathize with the depth of his annoyance. He says “all day long” he is “plagued,” “grieved” and “embittered.” Those are strong words to which most of us can relate when life gets tough and we run into harsh disappointments. The fix? Simpler than you might imagine. The psalmist confesses that the turnaround came when he “entered the sanctuary of God” (v.17). He speaks of a profound and needed adjustment to his perspective as he encounters God and God’s people in a place of worship. Remember that while many may view church as an extracurricular activity, it is in reality God’s essential prescription to keep your life, your heart and your emotions out of the gutter. With that in mind, we’d be wise to reaffirm our commitment to never “give up on meeting together” at church each weekend (Heb.10:25).
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* My encouragement is to also be part of your church's small group (i.e., life group or cell group etc), if it has one. If it does not, start one. These groups, in addition to corporate worship, are also essential to our well-being as we follow Christ.
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