+DEV+ God's Glory Matters

Date: November 16, 2015 8:40 PM

Topic: +DEV+  God's Glory Matters

God's Glory Matters

"Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days." John 11:5-6

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 40:5

I'm often so amazed at Jesus' weeping, at His human love for us, that I skip over the preceding verses in John where we read that Jesus purposefully delayed in going to Lazarus. Jesus, knowing that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, allowed Lazarus to die so that God's saving glory might be displayed. 

So think about Jesus' weeping again now. He still had the compassion to stop and weep even though He knew that He would save Lazarus and that all would turn out well for him and his sisters. Jesus wept over death and suffering. 

Ultimately, God exists, God created us out of nothing, and to Him should be all glory and honor and praise. God doesn't need us, but He loved us anyway... loved us enough to share in our experiences and our emotions. 

In Jesus' love for Martha, Mary, Lazarus, and us, God has shown the realities of His saving grace. He put His glory on display for them and for us so that we might believe and have a foretaste of future resurrection and eternity with Him.

Insight: God's glory matters more than anything, yet He chose to weep for our sufferings, heal our sins, and raise us into glory with him.

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+ The Lord Is Gracious

Date: November 12, 2015 11:25 PM

Topic: +DEV+  The Lord Is Gracious

The Lord Is Gracious

"For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone." Lamentations 3:31-33

Scripture Focus: Hebrews 12:4-12

Adam first sinned, and as our representative, he caused us to sin with him - much like how the president of a country starts a war, and then all of its citizens are at war. Adam started war against God, and the battle rages daily with us all suffering casualties. That first sin infected creation, causing aging, death, barren land, natural disasters, loneliness, and heartbreak. 

But we did no go along with Adam passively. We sinned with him and we continue to choose sin. If we have any doubt that we participated in declaring war against God, we should try to go a day without complaining or being angry. Try going a day loving others with no regard to self. 

Sometimes God may allow us to suffer because of specific sins we commit. Our sins have consequences. Notice that Lamentations says He is compassionate even for those who are guilty of sin. And that is exactly our hope, our only hope! God does not wish us grief, but He wishes for our repentance, endurance of sin's consequences, and life with Him forever.

Insight: Even when we are suffering because of a specific transgression, the Lord is gracious and merciful. 

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+ Joy Comes In The Morning

Date: November 11, 2015 11:28 PM

Topic: +DEV+  Joy Comes In The Morning

Joy Comes In The Morning

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4

Scripture Focus: Isaiah 25:8

Whether joy comes in the morning in this life or not (Psalm 30:5), God does promise that one day there will be the morning of all mornings and our short lives will turn into never-ending joy. What a consolation to those with chronic pain or terminal illnesses and also to those of us that struggle daily with sin and fear. "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far," Paul says in Philippians 1:23, and "Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" in Romans 7:24. Don't we all long for an end to our current and future trials? Yet we are called to live faithfully until that day. 

Our God came to earth to live a law-fulfilling perfect 33 years, when we couldn't live a second with breaking a law. He died and then rose from the dead so that we could follow in His place. Because He came to earth as a man, it means much when God tells John in Revelation that there will be no more crying. Our God knows what it is to cry, and He is the only One with the power to end it.

Insight: The more we focus on eternity, the more the things of this life will pale, and yet paradoxically, the more we'll get out of this life!

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+ Express Your Grief And Sorrows

Date: November 11, 2015 1:03 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Express Your Grief And Sorrows

Express Your Grief And Sorrows

"Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths... I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help..." Psalm 69:1-3

Scripture Focus: John 11:33-35

If Jesus is often an example to us of how to live, then His instances of grief over death of friends - and over death's effect on this life - should show that it is acceptable to grieve. Not only is it acceptable, it is necessary to acknowledge, as Jesus did, how mournful this life is. If we don't, we aren't admitting what sin has done to this world, and we therefore won't turn to Christ in our need. 

Just as we need to fully dwell on our sinful nature and repent of those sins, we also need to dwell on our sorrow. For it is only those who know that they need forgiveness and hope that can appreciate what Christ has done in triumphing over death and thereby giving His people life forever in eternity. 

If we need any further encouragement that grieving is important, we can turn to the many verses in the Psalms where the psalmists cried out from the depth of their souls the agony they felt in times of sorrow. Acknowledge with them before God's throne the pain you feel in this life and depend on Him for true consolation.

Insight: Let Jesus' mourning and the psalmists' examples encourage you to fully express your grief and sorrows, whatever they may be.

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+ Look At Me

Date: November 10, 2015 1:27 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Look At Me

Look At Me

 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for." Hebrews 11:1-2

Scripture Focus: Colossians 3:1-4

Before going under the knife for a second back surgery, I began to fear the surgery and so prayed, "Help me, God; Help me, God; Help me God." But seemingly apart from my own will or consciousness, my prayer changed to, "God loves me so much; God loves me; God loves me so much." Immediately I calmed down like I hadn't with the first prayer. 

Prayer is essential to a life in Christ. And some of our prayers cry out in urgency. But prayer is something that can be sanctified - made holy and good - along with our character and faith. Meditating upon a fear is far inferior to meditating on who our God is, what He has done for us, and what He promises to keep doing for us. God Himself has given us faith and a confidence that cannot be disputed through the substance of the historic Christ. Our confidence is that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again. Our assurance is in writing - the very Word of God - and signed with the blood of Christ. May you rest in Him today.

Insight: It's easy to look at our problems and try to find solutions. But Jesus says, "look at me," and trust in who He 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+ Grieving Is Normal

Date: November 9, 2015 1:19 AM

Topic: +DEV+  Grieving Is Normal

Grieving Is Normal

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn." Romans 12:15

Scripture Focus: 1 Corinthians 13:11-12

To paraphrase Paul, when I was young, I grieved like a child. I used to grieve selfishly, despairingly, for the pain that I felt upon losing each grandparent. As I grew older, and experienced more loss, I began to grieve more and more for death itself and the harrowing effects of sin in this world. 

A mark of sanctification is when your heart begins to hurt with those who have suffered a great loss, even if you weren't necessarily close to them. Anger may soon follow: Satan! Not you again! Leave us alone! Haven't you done enough? Your heartache can be hard to explain to others: No, I wasn't close to him. No, I hadn't seen her in 10 years. It's a cry like those of the psalmists, calling out to God in anguish over a broken world. Mourning with those who mourn is not something that we can will to happen, or even something we may desire. But the Holy Spirit brings it over time, often after we've known many who suffer. The more we mourn with others, the more our hearts align with Jesus' heart of compassion.

Insight: We are to sit, with those who mourn, on what author Nicholas Wolterstorff calls the mourner's bench. There we grow in compassion and understanding.

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+ God Is Sovereign

Date: November 6, 2015 12:52 AM

Topic: +DEV+  God Is Sovereign

God Is Sovereign

 "But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" John 11:37

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 29:29

The question following Jesus' weeping at Lazarus's death is an honest one and one we've all asked. Why? Why, Lord, did that son and friend of the church have to drown in a creek? Why did our newly married friend lose his wife and unborn child in a car accident? Why did our church-family couple suffer the suicide of an adopted child, the car-accident death of a biological child, and the unexpected death of a sister - all in a year's time? There are so many unanswered gut-wrenching, heart-breaking questions in this life. 

So we have to rest on what we do know: God intended good for us in His creation; we participated in the sin that brought suffering upon this world; Jesus became man and took God's just judgment of us and our sin upon Himself; and one day, we will pass through death and live eternally in His presence as we were designed to. 

God is sovereign. He is sitting upon His throne, doing all things - even the hard things - for our ultimate good and His glory.

Insight: We are not God and do not have control of events. But God does, and we can trust in His providence, even in deep grief.

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