DEVOTIONALS
Devotional 1
“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.”—Luke 10:34 (NIV)
You probably know the story of the Good Samaritan—the parable in which Jesus explained to the expert of the law what it meant to love his neighbor as himself. See, the priest and the scribe (both supposedly righteous and godly people) passed by on the other side of the road when they saw the Jewish man who’d been robbed and beaten and left for dead, but the Samaritan (whose people were not on good terms with the Jews) stopped to help him. The point of Jesus’ story was that loving your neighbor applies to everyone in all circumstances and not just those whom you like or situations that you’re comfortable with.
But let’s take a closer look at what the Samaritan did for his Jewish neighbor. First, he “went to him.” The Samaritan didn’t avoid the man in need, but instead went out of his way to help him. Then the Samaritan bandaged the man’s wounds and put oil and wine on them as a sort of salve to keep out infection and let the wounds heal. That oil and wine came out of the Samaritan’s provisions—the items he had packed for his own use on his trip. Yet, he willingly shared them with the man he found in need. Next, the Samaritan put the wounded man on his donkey—his form of transportation—and the Samaritan himself led the way to an inn. He didn’t leave the man there sitting on the side of the road, but he offered the man his donkey and brought him to a place where he could rest and heal. The Samaritan took care of the wounded man; he gave the inn-keeper enough money to pay for the man’s room and board while he recovered, and he even promised to come back and pay more if the man’s needs ended up costing more!
According to Jesus, this Samaritan serves as an example of a person who truly loves his neighbor as himself. It’s not about who the person is, how much you like the person, whether he or she deserves your love or not, or even whether or not the person would do the same for you. It’s all about treating the person like you’d treat Jesus as well as how you’d like to be treated yourself. Love like that extends to everyone, and that’s the love that we are to have for our neighbors, according to Jesus’ definition of the law.
-HK
Devotional 2
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”—Galatians 2:20
Wow! Now, that’s a testimony worth modeling yourself after! Well, yet another one, that is! I mean we can all model ourselves after a scripture. The old “I” who once lived under sin is now dead, and the new “I” is living in Christ, or, as the verse says, Christ lives in him. Isn’t that wonderful? Once we ask Christ into our hearts, and He has forgiven us of our sins, He then comes in and lives inside us! Every person that has accepted Christ into his or her heart lives in unity with the Son of God through faith.
Christians experience the crucifixion of the old “I” so that they can truly live. We have to die to live, interesting isn’t it? But you see, before we come to Jesus, we don’t really have a life. Sure, we may think we do, but it’s a life that is destined for death—spiritually anyway. That life is no good to us, and we have to put it to death so that we can live with Christ. It’s God’s will for a Christian to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus, so we take on His form when He comes to live inside of us. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus. He doesn’t see me and He doesn’t see you, but instead He sees His Son who is both holy and worthy. So because Jesus lives inside of us, we get to live eternally as He does. Isn’t that great? Jesus lives in our hearts. And, because he lives in our hearts, we are ever more alive to the awesome power of God!
-This devotional was written by Ashley K.
Devotional 3
“How can a young man keep his ways pure?
By living according to your word.”—Psalm 119:9 (NIV)
For such a heavy question as the one asked in the above verse, the answer is so very simple. How can we live pure? How can we do what is right? How can we live a moral and upright life? Maybe a little closer to home: How can we avoid sexual temptation, cheating and lying, gossiping and being prideful, and getting caught up in teachings that lead people away from God’s truth, when we face so many pressures in this day and age? Really! How can a young person keep his or her way pure in such an impure world?? Such a task may seem impossible to you, but there really is a way to do it. You have to live according to God’s Word—that is, the B-I-B-L-E.
What?! It’s that simple? Yes and no. Yes, the answer is that simple, but actually doing it is not so easy. In fact, living according to God’s Word is very difficult. It’s more than just reading God’s Word…more than just praying for God to reveal to you the meaning of the Scriptures…more than studying the Bible or even memorizing verses. To keep your ways pure, you have to sincerely live according to God’s Word. You have to apply it to your life, which means following what it says. So when you read in the Bible that no unwholesome talk should come out of your mouth (Philippians 4:29), then you have to stop yourself from saying things that only put people down. When you find that not lying is one of the Ten Commandments, you have to start speaking the truth on all occasions. Yeah, I know… I don’t always say things that could be considered “wholesome,” and I’ve broken the commandment about lying before too. And, I’m not perfect or pure. But, I am working on it! You can too; all you have to do is make up your mind to live according to God’s Word. Make it your goal, and keep working towards it even when you mess up and have to start over. And that’s the secret to living a pure life in such a corrupt world!
-HK-
|