Build my church 40-day
devotional
Monday, September 9
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Before His impending death, Jesus chose the following words to be His last to His disciples: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me”
John 14:1
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If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you make sure to tell your loved ones today?
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“Let not your hearts be troubled.” What is troubling your heart today? Take a few moments and journal all that is plaguing your heart. Be specific.
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Jesus didn’t only acknowledge the disciples’ fears. He did what a parent might do with a toddler who needs correction - He redirected them. For example, when a child hits their sibling, a parent might say “Do not hit! That hurts your brother. Can you show him your kind hands instead?” Jesus didn’t want to leave the disciples stuck in fear and anxiety, so He redirected their focus to Him: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me”. What a powerful invitation to place our trust not only in God, but in Jesus Himself - the Word made flesh.
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This redirection is beautifully captured in the lyrics of an old hymn: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” Too often, we have our priorities backward: we view Jesus through the lens of this world, our understanding of life, our experiences, etc. But Jesus welcomes us to view the world through the lens of our faith in Him, allowing Him to transform our perspective.
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Let’s return to your journal for a moment.
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1. Go back to your list of troubles. Spend some time in prayer over each one, asking Jesus to show you how you can trust Him more deeply in each of those areas.
2. Listen to the song “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”. As you listen, identify one practical step you can take today to shift your focus toward the Lord.
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To believe in Jesus is to rest assured that He is who He says He is: trustworthy, faithful, and good.
Janae Burchett
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Tuesday, September 10
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In Romans 12:2, Paul says: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
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Transformation begins with the renewal of the mind. A self-help religion would accept this as a method for becoming less like the world and more like Jesus as if it is step 1 in the 10 step process to transformation. However in the text, transformed means to “change after being with”. So it is not necessarily something we do, but a reality of what happens when we are with Jesus. The NLT translation says it this way, “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think”.
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The first time my husband and I rode a tandem bicycle I chose the second seat and quickly discovered the unnerving yet oddly freeing feeling of giving up control. I had no power to choose the direction we went or the length of our bike ride. I was truly at the mercy of the driver in the first seat. Luckily the driver was my trustworthy husband who loved me. I remember this experience whenever I read Paul’s words in Romans about the mind. In chapter 8, he tells us that the mind controlled by the flesh is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life. The renewed mind sits second seat on the Spirit driven tandem bicycle. The Spirit will do the work of transformation as we surrender our mind to His control. It is this type of renewed and transformed mind that is able to learn God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will because He is already driving you on that path.
Heather Castle
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Wednesday, September 11
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“Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Ephesians 4:23 NLT
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The last half of Ephesians 4 reminds me how easily I fall into a trap of spiritual pride, Pharisaical lines of thinking, or even forgetting the true source of my salvation. Paul provides quite a list of “sinful nature” behaviors to throw off. When I take a check-box approach to my spiritual condition, it can make me feel pretty good about myself. Especially the more visible items, the things that others can easily see and know about me.
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But what about the less visible stuff, my thoughts and attitudes? When someone cuts me off in traffic, doesn’t use their turn signal, hogs the left lane, doesn’t know how to merge onto the highway, or fails to yield in a traffic circle? When the person in front of me in the express checkout lane has 23 items in their cart? When my spouse, child, or a co-worker asks the same question I’ve already answered two, or three, or one thousand times today? When people I know post content I disagree with on their social media? When the music at church is too loud, or too soft, or too slow, or too fast?
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Prayer: Abba, may your Spirit renew my thoughts and attitudes. May that which is unseen by the world be pulled back to You. You have claimed me as your child and I pray your Spirit empties me of bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander, and all types of evil behavior. May your Spirit fill me with kindness, make me tenderhearted, and offer forgiveness just as You, through Christ, have forgiven me.
Amen
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Chad Cole​
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Thursday, September 12
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“…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…” Titus 3:5
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Titus 3:5 makes it evident that God did not choose us because of our righteousness but because of His mercy. I think of the definition of mercy, “we are not given something which we deserve..” I deserve eternal punishment for my behavior. However, because of God’s mercy I can enjoy the abundant life offered through my belief in Jesus.
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The mercy of God is a concept taught throughout the Bible. The Israelites were freed from Egyptian captivity by the mercy of God before the Law was given. During the exile, the prophet Daniel prayed for his fellow Jews “not because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.” In the NT God demonstrated His mercy by sending His son to die on the cross for our sins. Modern culture teaches us that if we work hard enough for something, we can achieve it. However, Titus 3:5 teaches us that neither our perceived righteousness, nor our hard work, will save us. It is only through God‘s mercy that we receive the greatest gift of all, our salvation.
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As we go into a renewed location of worship, we pray that we will realize the truth of Titus 3:5. God chose the many Christians that represent our church through no good deeds of our own. Our prayer is that we can also show mercy to those we contact so that our Christian witness will be obvious. D.L. Moody once said that out of 100 unsaved people, one person will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian. My prayer is that in addition to the renewal of our facility, the Holy Spirit will give each person a rebirth of our commitment to serve Him through our daily witness and the renewal of our hearts.
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Stan Garn
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Friday, September 13
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“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
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One of my greatest gifts, and greatest flaws is my desire to help people. It is a flaw when I use my power to help people. Maybe someone needs help in the middle of an incredibly busy day so I half listen and give them quick advice so I can move on with my day. Maybe I don’t know how to make someone feel better, so I buy them something nice for a quick fix. Maybe I can tell someone needs help but it’s not someone I like so I ignore it. Maybe I spend so much time helping someone that it is all-consuming, and I don't rest, take care of myself, or spend time with God because I NEED to help. Maybe I let my identity become “helper” instead of “Child of God”.
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However, things change when I allow the Holy Spirit to be my power, my strength, my help. Suddenly I realize that my day can be interrupted to just be with someone, and He gives me words of comfort for someone I could never come up with on my own. Suddenly He shows me exactly what someone needs. Suddenly He gives me the patience and strength to love someone I don’t like. Suddenly He helps me to center my life on Him so that my relationship with Him is first, and helping is second. Suddenly the only thing that defines who I am is that I am His. And suddenly, through the power of the Holy Spirit, when He is upon me, He places me on a path to witness to people I would have never seen on my own. Because, it is not through me and my power that the world is changed, it is through Him and His power, His strength, His love.
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Eliana Melton
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Saturday, September 14
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“Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” Revelation 21:1
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When the Apostle John was in exile on Patmos, God gave him a hopeful vision of the future to assure John that regardless of his circumstances, God had good plans. The last part of the vision was of a new heaven and a new earth and revealed God’s heart to restore and renew all things; not just humanity, but all of creation. The sea here represents evil or chaos to be washed away. This restorative promise is made here and Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:12 and Romans 8:19. It is a promise that pulls us forward in hope and creates a creative obedience in us now.
I recently spilled some morning coffee on my shirt after I was dressed for the day. I quickly asked Jill if I could just dampen it or if I needed to change. I was instructed to get the Tide spray, cover the coffee spots before they stained and then change. Sure enough, after a wash, my shirt was as good as new. The spray didn’t clean the shirt, but it began the process of lifting the stain in anticipation of the washer doing the rest.
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Like the pre-soaking spray, our good deeds, our obedient acts, our love for God and neighbor are pre-soaking agents awaiting God’s ultimate world wash. It is going to take The Creator himself to recreate all things without any spot or stain of sin, death or brokenness. And he intends to do so. Meanwhile, we aren’t supposed to just keep wearing our stained clothes and accept the world as it is. We are to pre-soak the world through love, obedience and restoration. Every Godly act of obedience anticipates God’s ultimate plan of restoration. May we do our part to pre-soak our world with His love!
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John Lane
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Sunday, September 15
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“When anxious thoughts multiply within, Your consolations delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19
A great promise that leads to some questions, like; what do I do with thoughts that overwhelm? Why don’t consolations from the LORD come when I need them most? How do I wait upon the LORD’s timing? Questions like those that multiplied within King David in Psalm 13.
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How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? v1 How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul? v2 (King David would usually seek counsel in the LORD, but the LORD seems to be unresponsive) and day after day having sorrow in my heart.
How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. v3 Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him’ v4 and my foes will rejoice when I am shaken.
Those 4 verses give us 8 different “anxious thoughts multiplying” on David’s heart, just waiting for the LORD’s “consolations! What is his response to this silence from the LORD and lack of immediate consolation? He continues to; TRUST in the LORD’s lovingkindness! v5 REJOICE in his salvation! and SING to the LORD! Amazing! How can David be TRUSTING, REJOICING and SINGING when his “anxious thoughts” are so profound? Catch this!
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“Because the LORD has dealt bountifully with me” v6
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The LORD has dealt “bountifully” with David in the past, and he has a consolation of faithfulness that the LORD will deal bountifully with him again in His timing.
Are you seeking consolation from the LORD for your anxious thoughts? The LORD promises to delight your soul, and as He does so in His timing, faithfully seek Him and keep trusting, rejoicing and singing!
Ron Kopicko
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