Binoculars

Luke 9:62
I was out with family today enjoying the desert and often we pulled out binoculars to see subjects off in the distance. As Christians we need to be focused on what we are moving towards as well, the Kingdom of God. We need to see past all the temporary trappings of this world and into the eternal future. We must set our sights on what the Lord is calling us to and not look back. But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62 NLT).” Being a disciple isn't easy, we're expected to leave the old life behind, abandon it, say farewell to it. It has been crucified with Christ on the cross. Yet we look back out of our fleshly desires and even return to the things of the world. Fortunately, God is merciful and isn't likely to turn us into a pillar of salt, like he did to Lot's wife after telling the family not to look back at the city of Sodom as they were fleeing it. She looked back - end of story (Gen. 19:26). We have to let the past be the past and with our eyes fixed on Christ, press on, erasing from our minds the burning wreckage we were saved form. As hard as it is we can't have it both ways, we can't serve two masters. The only way is to say never again to who we were and live for Christ and him alone. We must pray hard and have great determination to stay on task and fight the pull to go back to the old self and the old way of living life under our own mismanagement. Seek God hard each day and it will be a whole lot easier to keep your sights set on the right path.

Today I'm providing both a soft and hard rock video to go with this devotion, so take your pick of either So Long Self by MercyMe or go hardcore with Sincerely, Ichabod by Project 86.

A Pitcher

Romans 5:5
You could devote an entire blog on the subject of God's love for us, so one post on will barely do it justice. The first thing to understand is God is love (see 1 John 4:16); he should be next to the definition of it in the dictionary. If love is all about finding joy in making another person happy then God is like the ultimate at this. Romans 5:5 states, "Such hope never disappoints us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." A big endless pitcher of God's love is constantly being dumped on us. God has given everything, he didn't spare his Son, and as if that weren't enough he gave us the Spirit to live inside us. I don't have a clue how many times the word love appears in the Bible, (I'm sure one of my friends in seminary would know) but it's a lot. With God being all about love it is necessary for us to be all about that as well. Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the second to love your neighbor as yourself." As the Beatles sang, "all you need is love, love is all you need." Feeling warm and fuzzy yet? With us feeling lovestruck now, it is important not only to think about how we can love God more, but to reflect that love in our everyday lives. We need to be about dumping that pitcher of God's love onto everyone around us, especially unbelievers who could definitely use some of that joy in their lives. We need to pursue God's love more, meditate on it, breathe it in, and worship him. Let that be your focus today. There are so many great songs and books on God's love I could fill this page with links so I'll keep it to one of each of my favorites. Enjoy the song Love of God by MercyMe today during your quiet time.