build my church 40-day devotional
Week 3
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Monday, September 23
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'A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ' Ezekiel 36:26
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The first few years of my life, my dad was not a follower of Christ. He was often angry, verbally aggressive, and had fits of rage. One might say he had a cold, stony heart like the Israelites in exile. When I was four or five years old, my Dad had a massive heart attack. The Doctors told him one of the main arteries in his heart was almost completely blocked, and now the lower portion of his heart is completely dead. They told him it was a miracle he was alive. Right before the heart attack, my Dad had recently been going to church and exploring the Christian faith. The pastor of the church we had been ‘trying out’ came and visited him in the hospital and had good discussions with my Dad about Jesus. Soon after his heart attack my Dad ended up accepting Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and starting a new journey as a disciple of Jesus.
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As I sit and read Ezekiel 36:26, I cannot help but think of my Dad’s story and the miracle God did in his life. God not only saved him from physical death; God saved him from spiritual death. Even Though he suffered a heart attack, my Dad received a spiritual heart transplant. He has a wounded heart for the rest of his life, but God used that heart attack to remove my Dad’s nasty, old, stubborn, and disobedient ‘heart’, replacing it with the new, joyful, and peaceful heart that comes from new life in Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, my Dad received the heart transplant that Ezekiel is referring to here in this passage. Almost thirty years later, my Dad continues to walk with the Triune God, receiving more and more new life each day!
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Maybe there is a part of your heart that is dead and in need of a spiritual heart transplant. If this is the case, cling to this passage from Ezekiel; which reminds us of the good news of Jesus Christ: by His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we all can receive a new heart!
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Anonymous
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Tuesday, September 24
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“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7
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If the Law is perfect, what does that make me?
If you think about how many laws you break a day, then you might need to slow down on the road. But, if you think about how many laws from God you break each day, you might just find out how deep your need for a Savior really is. God’s way is so counter-cultural to everything around us, but everything around us has failed to fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts. What if His statutes really are trustworthy?
Compare two ways of life:
A life of bitterness and unforgiveness even when you deserve to be angry…or…
A life of forgiveness that shows grace and kindness to those who hurt us.
A life of chasing after all the things we see in our neighbors’ houses or driveways…or…
A life of contentment, choosing to show gratitude for all that we have in the relationships God has given us.
A life of striving for recognition and admiration from peers…or…
A life of lifting up others and encouraging everyone around us.
Which scenario do you think will produce the most joy? In these contrasting lifestyles, who will have the most fulfilling relationships? It is amazing how often we forget that God’s way just ends up being better than anything we can achieve on our own. Can you achieve a good standing with God by your own ability to obey the Law of the Lord? No. You can’t. BUT, you can willingly accept God’s grace by the death and resurrection of Savior Jesus Christ. Then you will be filled with His Spirit into new life. By His Spirit, you can follow Him and His ways into all that He has for you. The Law of the Lord shows us the need to be saved by grace through faith. And by faith, we can live into the goodness that was always meant to be given through God’s perfect law, because it comes from God’s perfect love.
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Ryan Holbrook
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Wednesday, September 25
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“Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better.” Colossians 3:10, CEV
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When I became a mother almost 13 years ago, I was shocked to realize how small my view of God’s love for me had been. Suddenly, I had this new tiny human who had grown in me, was dependent on me, and I loved so fiercely. My understanding of how much God loved me grew so drastically in those first weeks of knowing and loving my daughter. And I love how the older my children get, my understanding of how deeply God loves continues to grow. When my kids make mistakes, I can’t wait to forgive them. When they struggle, my heart aches for them. When they face hard things, I want to walk beside them and support them as they face each challenge.
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What’s even more beautiful is that it doesn’t take having children to understand our Creator better. When we seek to draw close to Him, when we allow Him to work on the rough places in our hearts, when we confess our sins and turn from them, we are becoming more and more like our Creator. We are made new.
Father, this is our prayer! That we would remember we have been made new, that we would daily know you better, and that we would continue to be made more and more like you as we grow in the knowledge of who you are.
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Liz Dusseau
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Thursday, September 26
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” 2 Timothy 1:6
My husband and I love to watch a certain survivalist show. One of the most essential elements of a survivalist’s success in any situation is their ability to maintain a fire. As long as there are glowing embers, a person can use air movement to create flames. Conversely, even if a fire is big to begin with, if it has no airflow, it will eventually dissipate. Those of us who have struggled to keep a s’more worthy campfire burning in a metal fire-ring understand this. I can’t help but think of the concept of campfires when I read Paul’s words to Timothy. The fact that he encourages him to “fan into flame” his gift from God implies that the embers are there but that he needs a fresh “wind” to emphasize his gift; to enlarge it; to utilize it to its fullest. In scripture we see the Spirit move as a mighty wind. How much more could I be used by God if I allowed the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to fan into flame the gift(s) and the blessings He has generously given me to serve others in His name? It is so easy to complacently allow a spiritual gift to burn slowly down to a comfortable glow of soft embers. But embers serve only those who sit nearest to them. My prayer is that I might have a far greater reach of impact than just within my closest circle of family and friends. As we enter a new chapter in the life of our church, how much more can we be used by God if we commit to asking the Holy Spirit to infuse our embers with a fresh wind? More wisdom, more mercy, more discernment, more giving, more healing, more encouragement, more serving, more faith! May the Father ignite in us a newfound desire to listen to the Spirit’s direction so that we can be a glowing source of Christ’s light and love to our community.
Kelly Mayotte
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Friday, September 27
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (NLT) Philippians 4:13
“Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird? It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” These familiar words (well at least to many of you first servicers!) are some of the opening lines from the 40s radio and the 50s TV show, the “Adventures of Superman.” Is the apostle Paul telling us we can have super powers when he wrote in Philippians 4:13: “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (NLT)? Is leaping tall buildings in your future? Well, probably not! A look at the context of the passage may be helpful to get a better understanding of this often quoted verse.
In verses 11 and 12 Paul says “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” (NLT) Paul is not telling us that we can do anything we want through the strength that Christ provides for us. No, he is assuring us that whatever situation we are in, whether mountain tops or valleys, rich or poor, healthy or sick, God will provide us the strength we need to make it through any situation! We can be content and rest in His promises that God loves us, and will provide us all we need in every circumstance.
A good alternate translation for this verse is found in the J.B. Phillips’ translation, which reads: “I am ready for anything through the strength of the one who lives within me.” May God bless you as you rest in His provision!
Steve Rick
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Saturday, September 28
“and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20
Jesus told us “to obey everything I have commanded you.” What did Jesus command us? When specifically asked, in Matthew 22:36, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
What an incredibly important concept! Jesus teaches us to have a dynamic, living relationship with the one true God, to pray all day, as we go through each day; asking God to feed us His daily bread of life. If we are seeking God with all our heart, He will let us find Him! And that means to carry out these critical commands of Jesus – if we are doing these things, we are truly living the Gospel. Those around us will see Jesus in us, and we will earn the right to speak into their lives. How? By loving God, loving your neighbor, and bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This includes denying the things of the flesh (such as not getting angry at that driver that just cut you off), laying down your life for others (such as being kind to your family and friends instead of having to always be right), humbling yourself (such as not considering yourself more important than the people you bump into all day), and making peace with all men (such as being a buffer in all your conversations).
As we obey Jesus’ commands, and become more like the image of God He intends, He says He will surely be with us, now and to “the very end of the age.”
Richard Hintze
Sunday, September 29
“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.”
Isaiah 58:6 NLT
Have you ever found yourself doing something good for the wrong reasons? Maybe you wanted to feel more confident in your abilities, so you did something impressive to earn the affirmation of a boss. Or maybe you felt neglected by a loved one, so you did something “sacrificial” to receive their affection. In times like these, it’s easy for us to justify our hidden pride for the sake of our righteous actions.
In the book of Isaiah, God has a lot to say to His people about their selfish motives. Chapter 58 begins with God recognizing Israel’s desire to please Him through prayer and fasting, but ends with Him rejecting them for the wickedness of their hearts. They complain that He hasn’t noticed their piety in the temple, yet they spend their days oppressing their workers in the fields. He calls out their pride because He would rather see them loving, serving, and freeing the oppressed than using religious practices to earn His favor. Renewal and healing would have to come from humble hearts.
As we enter into this new season at the Arbor Church, it is crucial that we understand what kind of fasting the Lord wants from us. For us to see Him move in a new and powerful way, we must be careful to check our intentions often. And we must be willing to lay aside what we think is best to fully experience the life-giving power of His Spirit at work in us.
This is how we will be renewed.
Alanna Nelson
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