+DEV+ The Task Before Us

Date: June 15, 2014 10:55 PM

Topic: +DEV+  The Task Before Us

The Task Before Us

"Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them." Mark 1:30-31

Scripture Focus: Mark 1:29-31

What is holding you back from serving the Lord? Are your thoughts filled with dreams of "if only"? If only I had the finances. If only I didn't have these obligations. If only I weren't limited by this sickness. Then I would do great things for God.  

But sometimes our desire to do great things for the Lord becomes mixed up with our desire to make a great name for ourselves. Our desire to do great things for God can also blind us to what we can do right where we are. 

When Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, her first act was not to rush into the streets to proclaim her healing. Instead, at the touch of Jesus, she got up and did what needed to be done right where she was. She served a meal. Her healing was not about her; it was about being equipped to serve. Jesus' healing of her was important, yet we don't even know her name. 

Peter's mother-in-law did not dwell on the grand things she might do for the Lord if only she were healed. Rather, when she was healed, she served Him by completing the task at hand.

Insight: Are Dreams Of Grand Service Blinding You To The Task At Hand? Glorify God By Completing The Task He Has Given You, Large Or Small.

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm

+DEV+ Our Authority

Date: June 11, 2014 11:25 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Our Authority

Our Authority

"The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, What is this? A new teaching - and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." Mark 1:27

Scripture Focus: Mark 1:21-28

What do you want to be when you grow up? Vocational standards may influence the answer. While they may be difficult to achieve, these criteria often provide the authority we need to work in our chosen field. 

In Jesus' day, young men studied for years to be teachers of the law, also known as scribes. Some began training as early as 14 and finished at age 40. Then they could be ordained as judges or use the title of rabbi. 

But when Jesus taught them, He did not have the formal training His listeners had come to expect. Still, His teaching amazed them. But Jesus' teaching was not the only thing to inspire awe. They were also amazed at His authority over the spirit world. The evil spirit knew he had to obey Jesus' command. He recognized Jesus' authority and so did the people who watched. 

What the people did not realize was that Jesus' authority did not arise from merely learning the "written"  word of God. Jesus taught and acted with authority because He is the “living” Word of God.

Insight: In What Areas Should You Submit To Jesus Christ's Authority In Your Life? Submit To His Authority Today And He'll Amaze You, Too.

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm

+DEV+ We Like Predictability

Date: June 11, 2014 12:25 AM

Topic: +DEV+  We Like Predictability

We Like Predictability

"They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way." Luke 4:29-30

Scripture Focus: Luke 4:14-30

Many of us like predictability. We're comfortable with the expected. Perhaps it's because it gives us the illusion that we're in control. 

When Jesus taught in the Galilean region, He received praise from all who heard Him. Then He traveled to His home town of Nazareth. 

The people of Nazareth thought they knew Him. After all, they had watched Him play as a child. They had seen Him help Joseph in the carpenter shop. So they expected Him to behave the way all the hometown men behaved. How dare He declare Himself a prophet over them? Worse yet, He compared them to lepers! 

Mob mentality reigned. They took Him to the top of a cliff to throw Him off. "But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way" (vs. 30). 

Some might argue this wasn't a true miracle. Yet Jesus displayed His power in a clearly divine manner. He could not have walked through the crowd any other way. Sometimes a miracle is not found in signs or wonders, but in recognizing God for who He is when He is in our midst.

Insight: How has the Lord acted in unexpected ways in your life? Expect the unexpected as God works for your good and His glory!

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm

+DEV+ Chose To Believe

Date: June 9, 2014 11:41 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Chose To Believe

Chose To Believe

"Jesus replied, You may go.  Your son will live.  The man took Jesus at his word and departed.  While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living." John 4:50-51

Scripture Focus: John 4:46-54

I'm from Missouri, and the unofficial slogan of the state of is, “The show me State.”  But you don't have to be a resident of Missouri to be a bit cynical.  Having heard one too many false promises, more than a few of us can identify with the phrase, "I'll believe it when I see it."  

So we wouldn't blame the nobleman in this passage for wanting Jesus to accompany him to his dying son.  He believed that if Jesus came with him, his son would be healed.  Shouldn't that have been enough?  

Jesus made the point that it “wasn't enough”.  He told them, "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe" (John 4:48).  Then he tested the nobleman's faith even more.  Without going to see the dying boy, Jesus pronounced him healed.  Later the man's servants met him on the road home with the news of his son's miraculous healing - a healing that occurred at the precise time Jesus declared it to be true! 

The nobleman chose to believe that Jesus' word was good enough ... and he was right.

Insight: Are there promises in the Bible that you struggle to believe?  Take God at His word and trust Him for the results.

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm

+DEV+ Our First Impressions

Date: June 5, 2014 2:21 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Our First Impressions

Our First Impression

"This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee.  He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him." John 2:11

Scripture Focus: John 2:1-11

"You never get a second chance to make a good first impression," so the saying goes.  If this is true, why did Jesus choose His first miracle to be one where He changed water into wine?  Why not something more spectacular, such as giving sight to a blind man or raising the dead?  

But this miracle is as spectacular as any of His others.  

In the beginning, when God created the world, He made something out of nothing (Genesis 1).  Since only God can create, what better way for Jesus Christ to begin His earthly ministry than by proving He is the Creator?  Without grapes or grape juice, Jesus created a fine wine to be served to the wedding guests.  

Not only did this miracle affirm Jesus as Creator, it's setting also pointed to His relationship with believers.  Marriage is a picture of our relationship with Christ.  One day, the Church will be presented to Him as His perfect bride (Revelation 19:7-8).  

Jesus' first miracle revealed His glory.  Today, it reminds us that He is our Creator and our Bridegroom. 

Insight: What situation is causing you to doubt God's power or compassion?  Rest in the assurance that your powerful Creator is also your loving Bridegroom.

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm

+DEV+ His Identity

Date: June 4, 2014 12:06 AM

Topic: +DEV+  His Identity

His Identity

"Jesus did many other miraculous signs....But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:30-31

Scripture Focus: John 14:6-11

If your identity were in doubt, how would you prove who you are?  You might show an ID card.  You could ask someone to vouch for you.  You may even offer to do something only you can do or provide answers no one else knows.  

In Jesus' day, Israel longed for the Messiah to come and defeat the Romans.  They had already been disappointed by false messiahs.  So how did Jesus Christ prove His identity as the Son of God and Israel's true Messiah?  He did not have an ID card, but His genealogy was well documented.  His brothers did not believe who He said he was at first (Mark 3:20-21), but His heavenly Father confirmed the He was the Son of God (Matthew 3:17).  And Jesus performed miracles.  

The miracles of Jesus confirm who He is.  God created the world, and only God could suspend its natural laws.  Man was sin-sick; only God could bring healing - both physically and spiritually. Each miracle of Jesus points to His identity and His authority...and tells us something about the heart of God for His people. 

Insight: How do Jesus' miracles confirm His identity to you today?  Allow these miraculous accounts to give you a fresh appreciation of who Christ is!

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm

+DEV+ Jesus Is God's Son

Date: June 2, 2014 11:24 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Jesus Is God's Son

Jesus Is God's Son

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:31

Scripture Focus: Ecclesiastes 12:12-14, John 21

This is the last place in his Gospel where John mentions "life." He tells his readers that his explicit purpose for writing was that they would believe. But notice how John does not simply say blind faith saves. He does not say that being saved comes from believing Jesus was a good man, a moral teacher, or a worker of miracles. Life, John says, can be ours only by believing Jesus to be the Christ - the promised coming Savior. 

Life comes by believing Jesus is the Christ and that He is God's Son (Romans 10:9-10). Many philosophies claim to have "the meaning of life." Many ideologies and religious cults deceive with empty promises of life. None of them has the truth that leads to eternal life.

Life - true life, changed life, eternal life - is ours only through Jesus. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:11). Will you commit your heart to Him and experience true "life in His name"? May your life in Jesus bring glory to God.

Insight: Jesus is ever-ready to impart life to the weary, broken, and humble. turn from sin and ask Him for life in His name today.

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm

+DEV+ Personally Knowing God

Date: June 1, 2014 10:09 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Personally Knowing God

Personally Knowing God

"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3

Scripture Focus: John 19-20

My wife works for a university which offers students over 200 different degree programs. Years of study can be invested to gain knowledge about almost anything under the sun. Many of those fields of study are gifts of grace from God to help us learn about the world He created and gave us dominion over. Yet, God inspired King Solomon 3,000 years ago to reflect that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). Nothing is worth knowing like knowing God. That's why theology is important. 

Theology, we said, is not just for pastors and scholars. Studied rightly, it has daily benefits of teaching us about the God who saved us and wants us to know Him more. Jesus has the authority to give eternal life (John 17:2), but what exactly is that? In today's verse Jesus provides the answer: To know God, and know His Son whom He sent. We can know a lot of things in life; many academics will insist that this is supreme. What (rather, Who?) can possibly be more important than knowing the Lord?

Insight: We must guard our hearts against the danger of knowing about God but not truly, personally knowing God.

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship and Bible study groups.

We are in urgent need of Prayer and financial partners,

If you would like to become a prayer partner and or a financial partner with monthly or one time gifts.

A freewill offering to Restoration Ministry may be made via PayPal at our web site:    http://www.rollanet.org/~restore/donations.htm