+DEV+ Gratitude?

Date: September 30, 2014 12:39 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Gratitude?

Gratitude?

"One of them....threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, Were not all ten cleansed? ...Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" (Luke 17:15-18)

Scripture Focus: Luke 17:11-19

If we were to count all the requests the Lord has granted to us, would they equal all the times we have expressed our gratitude? Probably not. 

Of the ten lepers who asked to be healed by Jesus, all ten took Him at His word. They obeyed His command to show themselves to the priests, even though they had not yet been healed. However, only one returned to say thank you when the healing actually occurred. It's not that the others were ungrateful. They just seemed more concerned with getting on with their lives than they were with honoring the One who made it possible. 

Before we criticize these nine men, perhaps we should examine ourselves. Do we thank the Lord as often as we present our requests? If we spend a month appealing to God for a particular request, do we thank Him for at least that long? Or do we move on to our next appeal, His mercy taken for granted without a second thought? 

Gratitude is not just an attitude. It is an antidote against seeking God's hand without also drawing near to His heart.

Insight: How often do you thank the Lord for His mercy? Add a "gratitude list" to your quiet time and draw near to His heart.

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+ Are We Heavenly Minded?

Date: September 28, 2014 10:34 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Are We Heavenly Minded?

Are We Heavenly Minded?

"Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life...'" (John 11:23-25)

Scripture Focus: John 11:17-44

Life does not always turn out the way we would like. As Christians, we can console ourselves with the reminder that a heavenly future awaits us. But if we are too heavenly minded, we may forget that what we believe matters today, as well. 

Lazarus's sister, Martha, knew that one day all believers will experience a resurrection to eternal life. Yet it seems she did not think of the resurrection as relevant to her current situation. In her mind, the promise of new life belonged to a future day. 

Jesus reminded her that He “is” the resurrection and the life, not that He “will be.” Her belief in Him was not just for an eternity that would begin after death. Eternal life begins now and extends across death. "Whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (vs. 26). Then He proved His power over death by bringing Lazarus back to life. 

Martha learned that her faith in Jesus Christ is not just for the future. Faith in Him makes a difference in our present, earthly lives, too. Eternity actually begins today.

Insight: Has compartmental thinking discouraged you in your present situation? Know that our faith is relevant to both our earthly life and our heavenly one!

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+ Task Or People Oriented?

Date: September 25, 2014 10:38 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Task Or People Oriented?

Task Or People Oriented?

"On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit....Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God." (Luke 13:10-11, 13)

Scripture Focus: Luke 13:10-17

Are you task-oriented or people-oriented? In any situation, do you first think of getting the job done? Or is your priority the people involved? 

As long as Jesus stuck to the teaching agenda, the religious leaders in this passage were fine. But Jesus was more concerned with people than with rules and tasks. He never seemed to mind getting "sidetracked." He saw a woman who had been crippled for 18 years. With a word and a touch, Jesus made her whole. 

The leaders were annoyed that their rules had been disrupted. They rebuked the people for wanting to be healed on the Sabbath. But Jesus rebuked them. If their legalism made an exception for watering animals on the Sabbath, surely one of God's chosen people was just as important, if not more so. 

Most of us have daily to-do lists that grow and spill into the next day. The result can be a concern for agendas and tasks while neglecting the people in our lives for whom Jesus died. God is more concerned with people than with tasks. We should be, too.

Insight: Is your ministry schedule so full that you don't have time for individual people? Allow the Lord to interrupt your schedule with his priorities.

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: The Light of the World

Date: September 24, 2014 11:45 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Jesus: The Light of the World

Jesus: The Light of the World

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither this man nor his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (John 9:2-3)

Scripture Focus: John 9:1-11

Why do bad things happen? The easy - or not-so-easy - answer is sin. Because of sin, God's perfect creation, including humanity, has been corrupted. 

So it was natural for Jesus' disciples to blame this man's blindness on sin. But who sinned, they wanted to know. Since the man was born blind, could he have sinned in his mother's womb? If he was not the guilty one, then was it his parents? The disciples took this difficult question to Jesus, the One who had answered other questions about God's nature and His ways. 

Jesus told them there was one more option to consider. In this case, the reason for the man's blindness was not the consequence of his or his parents' sin. This blindness was to illustrate the glory of God in a powerful way. Jesus would bring light to one man so that all men would give glory to God. 

You and I still have an opportunity to give glory to God. We may not be able to cure physical blindness, but by our words and deeds we can point people to the Light of the world each day.

Insight: Is there something in your life that seems purposeless? Ask God to use it for his glory, then watch him do it!

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+ Everything Is Possible

Date: September 22, 2014 11:34 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Everything Is Possible

Everything Is Possible

"'...But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.' 'If you can?' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible for him who believes.' Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'" (Mark 9:22-24)

Scripture Focus: Mark 9:14-29

Many of us have prayer lists that grow daily - sometimes hourly. “Lord, can you heal this cancer? Lord, please restore this marriage. Lord, can you save my child?” We ask, but do we really believe God can do what we need, when we need it? 

A desperate father came to Jesus on behalf of his son. The disciples could not drive out the evil spirit, but the father refused to give up. Maybe the Master could help where the servants had failed. Still, the man's faith had taken a beating, so he began his request with, "If you can...."

“If”. Endless possibility is wrapped in that tiny word... possibility accessed by faith in the One who makes all things possible. At Jesus' prompt, the father recognized his own limitations. "Help me overcome my unbelief!" 

Like the disciples, we may spend just enough time with Jesus to think we have all we need to handle anything that comes our way. But all things are possible only when we recognize the limits of our own abilities and rely on His power to do the impossible.

Insight: Are you facing an impossible situation today? Recognize your need to trust the one for whom all things are possible.

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+ Spiritual Clarity

Date: October 24, 2012 9:38 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Spiritual Clarity

Spiritual Clarity

"He looked up and said, 'I see people; they look like trees walking around.'  Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.  Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." (Mark 8:24-25)

Scripture Focus: Mark 8:22-26

Digital autofocus cameras have made it easier to take flawless photos. The camera locks onto the subject and the result is a picture that is perfectly focused. 

Today we read about another kind of focus. In the Bible, physical blindness often signified spiritual blindness. Unlike some other people healed by Christ, this blind man received his sight in stages - a picture of our own spiritual lives. 

Young or old, when we come to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, most of us don't fully understand all that this new life entails. God “justifies” us at the moment of new birth by declaring us righteous. But for the rest of our earthly lives, the Holy Spirit works to “sanctify” us - to make us more like Christ in our thoughts, words, and deeds. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3:18), we understand more of His Word; our trust in Him increases. 

Like this blind man, the Lord's touch in our lives brings increasing clarity to our spiritual sight until we, too, can "see clearly."

Insight: Is there an area in your spiritual life that is unclear? Surrender to Christ's touch and allow him to bring spiritual clarity in that area.

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

  

Michael D. Inman

- "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing." John Stuart Mill, 1867

- "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson

 - "If the First Amendment fails, use the Second one."

+DEV+ Are We Listening?

Date: October 23, 2012 11:56 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Are We Listening?

Are We Listening?

After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said, “Be opened!" (Mark 7:33-34)

Scripture Focus: Mark 7:31-37

It's an age-old question: “Do you hear me?” Moms ask it of their children, wives ask it of their husbands. Sometimes we ask it of God. “Do you hear me, Lord?”

The deaf man who was brought to Jesus did not know the comfort of his mother's voice. He had never heard birds singing on a spring morning. He had never been blessed by voices raised to God in praise. 

But Jesus' deep sigh hints at a problem greater than one man's deafness. The sigh may have revealed the Lord's grief over man's deafness toward His Creator and the deafness of His people toward their God. 

God revealed Himself in His created world. He revealed Himself to His chosen people. He revealed Himself in His written Word. Finally, God sent His only Son - the Living Word. Each time, people turned a deaf ear to His communications. 

When Jesus touched this man and healed him, He told the world the time for turning a deaf ear to God was past. Today, the question we should ask is not, “Do you hear me, Lord?” The question we should ask is, “Am I listening?”

Insight: How has God spoken to you through His creation, His word, and His Son? Don't turn a deaf ear when He speaks to you 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