Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: jesus

God’s Eternal Love

Encouragement

The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

We need people in our lives that love us regardless of our failures. We need people who will lift us up and encourage us when we feel like giving up. Do you have someone that can cheer you up when you are down?

You need to realize that God goes far and beyond what anyone else can do. God loves us no matter what we look like or what we have done in the past. God loves with an unconditional, eternal love that is just unfathomable. 

Today’s verse makes us realize that God is always with us in all of our circumstances and is in the very middle of what is going on in our lives. It’s comforting to know that the One who loves us the most is right in the center of our lives. Even though we may think He is not actively involved, He is actually the One who is holding all things together in our lives. 

It’s great to have people in our lives that will help us when we need help. But the One who we need the most is Jesus Christ. We need Christian people in our lives that will point us back to Jesus when we have turned away or have lost all faith. 

Remember that the next time you witness someone who has given up faith and hope. Point them to the One who loves the regardless of what they have done. Direct them to the God who can bring them out of their circumstances and give them a new beginning.

Never forget how much God loves and cares for His children.

Pray

Lord, thank You for loving me and holding all things together when I feel like it is falling apart. Help me to point people to You so they can have the same kind of hope and peace that I have. 

Worship That Matters

Encouragement

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
Isaiah‬ ‭1:16‬

In Isaiah chapter 1 God had enough of Judah’s meaningless worship. The evil king, Ahaz, and the evil leadership of the nation had spilt over into the mindset of the people. 

God said in verse 11 that their sacrifices and burnt offerings were dissatisfying to Him. They were meaningless and not from the heart. God said enough is enough!

Have you ever been part of something that seemed meaningless to you? Maybe it was a lame business proposal or even a job that was not giving you a purpose. Or maybe you’ve just been going through the motions but not connecting physically, mentally, or spiritually. 

Take note of what you’re doing because if you’re not giving your whole heart to it, you’re just wasting valuable time and energy. If your heart is not in it nothing great will come of it. 

God had a solution for Judah’s problem beginning in verse 16. He said the first thing they needed to do is to be washed and cleansed from all evil. Then their worship to Him would mean something special. Obviously their worship was so routine and ritual that they were just following instructions and not worshipping from the heart. 

It’s easy for us to follow the same behavior. We can get caught up in the routine, day in and day out, meaningless activities of life and lose the purpose of what God has set before us. 

We must live in this world but be different from this world (Romans 12:1-2). And our worship to God needs to be meaningful. We need to have our hearts renewed and cleansed from all evil to make our daily, living sacrifice mean something special to God. 

Going through the motions is not enough. Jesus said we need to be either hot or cold, but not lukewarm. Is your heart on fire for God? Is your worship to God straight from the heart? If not you have the solution. 

Pray

Lord, I live this day for You and for Your glory. I ask that you remove all evil from my heart and mind and give me joy to live freely in Your will. 

Closer To Jesus

Encouragement

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:5‬

Can you say you’re serious about following Jesus? Many people make a decision to place their faith in Jesus for salvation but few make a serious commitment to follow Jesus closely. 

Jesus doesn’t require you to follow him, it’s your choice. But when we whole heartily follow Jesus, we are part of the vine and we bear good fruit. People don’t have to wonder if you are a Christian because you reflect the light of Jesus Christ. 

Sometimes our words and actions do not reflect the life Jesus expects from his followers. This happens when we don’t put Jesus first. When we don’t take our walk with Jesus serious we allow the devil to step in. There’s no place for the devil when you’re filled with the Spirit. If you’re filled with the Spirit, where can the devil go? He has no place.

What’s keeping you from truly following Jesus? Make a commitment today to take your relationship with Jesus a priority. The first step is repentance. You must confess your sins. The next step is to yield. You can start by asking Jesus to guide and direct you today. I promise you will see a difference. It’s simple but not easy. You have to take the first step. 

Pray

Lord, I don’t want to just know of you. I want to be close to you. I want to feel you near me. Help me to remove anything that is keeping me from being a true follower.