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The Reward Of A Faithful Servant

7/31/2013

Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put
you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. - Matthew 25:21

This passage in Matthew was excerpted from the parable of the servants and the talents. This parable tells us two things. First it speaks to being responsible for the things placed in our care. Second, it addresses the consequence of being faithful, and of being unfaithful.

Being faithful to the gifts given to us by God will produce eternal rewards, being unfaithful will result in being separated from God and his blessing.

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In every devotion you also get a principle pulled from the devotion; an affirmation of the principle; a reflection on the devotion; and, in the printed version, an area to journal your thoughts on the devotion for that day.

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devotional.

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Paul - Faithfully Suffering For Christ

7/29/2013

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Devotional For Today:

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. - Philippians 3:10-11

There was no greater witness to the gospel of Christ in the first century than the Apostle Paul. He lived by this motto: I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

Paul was responsible for carrying the gospel throughout the region we now call the Middle East, Asia and Europe. In three missionary journeys he introduced the message of Christ to much of the world outside of Jerusalem and Judea.

Was it all glorious? Was he hailed as the great messenger? No, far from it. 2 Corinthians 11 chronicles much of the hardship and persecution he endured while preaching the gospel of Christ to a world filled with tradition and idolatry.....

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If you have enjoyed reading this devotion for today I have a free book I want to give you. This complimentary book is our way of saying thanks for reading the Daily God Walk daily devotional.

To get your copy of the free book, "Hope and Promises From God's Word" just complete the form below and include your thoughts on this devotion.

Your Thoughts: We would love to know your thoughts on this post. Just click on the the "comments" button at the top of the page. If you liked this post you may want to get the entire month. Get the entire month of the Daily God Walk as our way of saying thanks for following this blog. To get your copy JUST CLICK HERE

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The Daily God Walk now has a study guide edition. Readers are finding that having the study guide helps them internalize the messages in the devotions. It also provides a format for leading small groups. Check it out by clicking here

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The Lord Shows Himself To Faithful Servants

7/18/2013

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Devotional For Today:

If you love me, you will obey what I command… Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and show myself to him. – John 14:15, 21

I have learned by experience that those who fight the commands of God do not know God. In fact, they are at war against God trying to make their own will divine and themselves the god of their own creation. The result is that their god is so limited in scope that they cannot know the true God.

Without faith it is impossible to come to God (Hebrews 11:6) therefore, God will not reveal himself to those who do not believe. That sounds like a catch 22 doesn’t it? This conundrum of facts serves to reinforce what Paul tells us about how faith is acquired in his book to the Roman believers.

Romans 10 tells us that hearing precedes believing (“how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard”) and believing (accepting the truth) precedes faith (an active commitment to the truth). When we have heard the truth about Christ and have accepted what he has taught we are ready to receive the revelation that leads to salvation.

As we gain experience with God and his Christ, our faith and love for him matures. It is this growing love that moves him to reveal himself to us more fully. One song writer penned these words, “I keep falling in love with him over and over again.” As he shows himself to us we have a growing appreciation of his loveliness.

It is not impossible for an unbeliever to develop faith in God, but they must be willing to listen in order to hear his word of faith. All too often the greatest hindrance to unbelievers gaining faith is their own preconceived ideas that they are not willing to reexamine. A person must be willing to hear the words of Christ so that the power of those words can be released to them and faith can grow up in them.

Prayer: Thank you for showing yourself to me. Grant me the grace to live in obedience to your will and to walk in your love. In Jesus name, amen.

The Lord Shows Himself To Faithful Servants

Principle: As we gain experience with God and his Christ, our faith and love for him matures. It is this growing love that moves him to reveal himself to us more fully.

Affirmation: I make a conscious daily effort to experience God and as a consequence I am maturing in my faith and his faithfulness is being made more real to me.

Reflection: We gain faith by hearing, listening, believing and then committing to what to what we have come to believe is true. Reflect on how that has worked in your life and take it a little deeper; how is that process helping to mature your faith?
If you have enjoyed reading this devotion for today I have a free book I want to give you. This complimentary book is our way of saying thanks for reading the Daily God Walk daily devotional.

To get your copy of the free book, "Hope and Promises From God's Word" just complete the form below and include your thoughts on this devotion.

Your Thoughts: We would love to know your thoughts on this post. Just click on the the "comments" button at the top of the page. If you liked this post you may want to get the entire month. Get the entire month of the Daily God Walk as our way of saying thanks for following this blog. To get your copy JUST CLICK HERE

Check out our other website at www.biblestudydevotions.com

The Daily God Walk now has a study guide edition. Readers are finding that having the study guide helps them internalize the messages in the devotions. It also provides a format for leading small groups. Check it out by clicking here

To get more information about the Daily God Walk or the ministries of New Hope Ministry Resources, or if you just want to make comments on what you read, please fill in the form below.

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Faithfulness Is Single-Minded Service

7/16/2013

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Devotional For Today:

http://http/www.biblestudydevotions.com/devotional.html

If any lack wisdom, he should ask of God…But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man… is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. – James 1:5-8

I have a friend who pursues life with gusto. When he has a goal he goes for it with all that he has, for a few days. Then he sees a flaw in his plan so he revises it and again goes after it with abandon, for a few days. In just a little while he revises his plan again and goes after the new and revised plan with passion. Everyone around him stands scratching their head wondering what in the world he is doing, but it is perfectly clear to him, for a few days anyway.

Most of us know someone who is that way. They are good people, but their plans change so often that they rarely achieve anything lasting or notable. James calls this kind of person double-minded. Their relationships are rocky at best, their walk with God is hot and cold and their service to others is sporadic.

James is trying to tell us that single-minded service requires wisdom and we must seek God for his wisdom. When we have God’s wisdom the winds of new ideas won’t shake us. We will be committed to the task before us and we will not look at the waves which rage around us. Our hope is anchored in God and as we faithfully pursue his wisdom we are faithful to follow his direction without turning to the left or to the right.

I have noticed that some people appear to be double-minded, but in reality they are just desperately trying to find the one thing they can identify as God’s will for their life.. For those people I have some simple instructions; just be faithful to do what you know to do and God will honor your faithfulness by giving you clear direction when your faithfulness and his plan intersect.

When our purpose is to do his will we will seek his wisdom and once he has revealed himself we will hold to that wisdom without wavering, without doubt, and without changing it.

Prayer: Father, grant me the grace to be single-minded in my pursuit of you. In Jesus name, amen.

Principle: Single-minded service requires wisdom and we must seek God for his wisdom. When we have God’s wisdom the winds of new ideas won’t shake us.

Affirmation: I make it a daily practice to seek God's wisdom so I am not enticed by shiny new ideas and drawn away from single-minded commitment to God's purposes for my life.

Reflection: What is the difference between one who is constantly chasing something new and the one who is always seeking God's best? Reflect on this: When our purpose is to do his will we will seek his wisdom and once he has revealed himself we will hold to that wisdom without wavering.

If you have enjoyed reading this devotion for today I have a free book I want to give you. This complimentary book is our way of saying thanks for reading the Daily God Walk daily devotional.

To get your copy of the free book, "Hope and Promises From God's Word" just complete the form below and include your thoughts on this devotion.

Your Thoughts: We would love to know your thoughts on this post. Just click on the the "comments" button at the top of the page. If you liked this post you may want to get the entire month. Get the entire month of the Daily God Walk as our way of saying thanks for following this blog. To get your copy JUST CLICK HERE

Check out our other website at www.biblestudydevotions.com

The Daily God Walk now has a study guide edition. Readers are finding that having the study guide helps them internalize the messages in the devotions. It also provides a format for leading small groups. Check it out by clicking here

To get more information about the Daily God Walk or the ministries of New Hope Ministry Resources, or if you just want to make comments on what you read, please fill in the form below.

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Faithfully Serve The Lord

7/15/2013

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Daily God Walk Devotional For Today:

It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him . - Deuteronomy 13:4

Deuteronomy is a book of promises and warnings. The Ten Commandments are repeated in Deuteronomy as well as instructions about loving God and our neighbor. Also there is warning about listening to those who would claim to be a prophet but who preach another god.

Our verse today is taken from a passage that is warning about false prophets who would lead Israel to follow other gods. Israel is warned that they are to follow the Lord God and him alone. They are admonished to obey the commands of God and to “hold fast to him.”

We are faced with the same challenges today as Israel faced thousands of years ago. There are still people trying to convince us that our way of life and faith is outdated and that there is a new and better way to live. We are encouraged to abandon the restrictions of an oppressive religion and be free to express ourselves.

Unfortunately, Israel was not faithful to follow the Lord and him alone. Their history records many times that as a nation they turned to serving other gods. The gods they invented to follow allowed and promoted lifestyles that were contradictory to what the Lord had commanded.

Things aren’t much different today than it was then. Many in the church have traded the commands of the Lord for license to live as they choose without restriction because, after all, we are under grace now.

The Lord knew how difficult it would be to hold on to him in the face of the temptations we would have and that is why he said to “hold fast to him.” The Hebrew word translated “hold fast” is daw-bak. It means to pursue hard and be joined to. Being faithful to God in this time of compromise and easy living is not easy but we must pursue him hard and be joined with him,.

Prayer: Lord, It isn’t easy serving when the world calls so me to follow the way of folly. Grant me grace to be faithful to you. In Jesus name, amen.

Principle: Being faithful to God in this time of compromise and easy living is not easy but we must pursue him hard and be joined with him,.

Affirmation:. I choose not to listen to the voices of the world which call me away from being a faithful servant of the Lord.

Reflection: It would be good to reflect upon what is so attractive about the voice of the "false prophets" of this world who proclaim the value of pursuing your own destiny over trusting the tried and true word of God. How are we to resist such appealing voices?

If you have enjoyed reading this devotion for today I have a free book I want to give you. This complimentary book is our way of saying thanks for reading the Daily God Walk daily devotional.

To get your copy of the free book, "Hope and Promises From God's Word" just complete the form below and include your thoughts on this devotion.

Your Thoughts: We would love to know your thoughts on this post. Just click on the the "comments" button at the top of the page. If you liked this post you may want to get the entire month. Get the entire month of the Daily God Walk as our way of saying thanks for following this blog. To get your copy JUST CLICK HERE

Check out our other website at www.biblestudydevotions.com

The Daily God Walk now has a study guide edition. Readers are finding that having the study guide helps them internalize the messages in the devotions. It also provides a format for leading small groups. Check it out by clicking here

To get more information about the Daily God Walk or the ministries of New Hope Ministry Resources, or if you just want to make comments on what you read, please fill in the form below.

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Hope Produces Faithfulness

7/10/2013

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Daily God Walk Devotional For Today:

We rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. – Romans 5:3-5

The fifth chapter of Romans has wonderful teaching on being justified by faith. It also teaches us that faith In Christ will take us to a place of suffering with Christ. It is of this suffering that Paul writes, “We rejoice in our sufferings because we know” what suffering produces.

Suffering gives us perseverance which builds character and gives us hope. And hope does not disappoint us because we know God has put his Spirit into our hearts and the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. Can you see the correlation? Faith leads us to Christ; we share in his suffering; our faith enables us to stand fast which builds character; character then gives us hope for the future.

It is this hope for the future which gives us the motivation to be faithful. I have noticed that people who have no hope are not faithful to anything. They have no reason to persevere. Life for them is just suffering without the faith. Life for them is a series of sad events which lead to further loss of hope. How sad it is for people who do not believe in a power that is greater than themselves.

What is even more sad is to see people who have claimed a faith in Christ and who fall back when the going gets rough. Their faith is not strong enough to endure suffering and they surrender their hope for something less than adequate.

No one promised us that the road to heaven would be a path of ease, but we were promised that if we walk this path we will be given the ability to stand against anything that comes against us. Hope gives us the courage to faithfully endure the trials of this journey of faith.

Prayer: Lord, I am often frustrated with trials that seem so unnecessary. Grant me the faithfulness necessary to endure. Amen.

Principle: Enduring suffering produces perseverance and perseverance produces character. Character gives us faithfulness and faithfulness produces hope - it's a cycle.

Affirmation: I am willing to endure suffering, persecution, and adversity because I know that it is a part of the cycle of faith which builds faithfulness in me.

Reflection: To suffer without hope is miserable, but to suffer because of our hope strengthens our hope. Think about how faith and hope give you the ability to stand firm in the face of opposition. Remember: Hope gives us the courage to faithfully endure trials on this journey of faith.

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The Daily God Walk now has a study guide edition.
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Hope Is Our Motivation For Faithfulness

7/6/2013

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Our Daily Devotional:

We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure… We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. - Hebrews 6:11, 19

I have counseled with people who have said this, “When I wake up in the morning I have no reason to get up. I have nothing left to live for.” There may have been times when you felt that way too. When we get to the point that we have no hope we do not have a reason to go on. Hope is our motivation for continuing in our journey of faith; hope motivates us to faithfulness.

Not too long ago when my heart was really sick and I needed physical healing there were times when I felt my work for God was over. My regular prayer as I went to sleep was, “Lord, it seems my work is done so just take me home.” I felt that my life was over.

Many of us have felt that way. We have lost something that was as important to us as our very life and we just didn’t feel like going any further. It may have been a spouse, a job, a child or a ministry, but we just didn’t see the use of continuing on. Then we are reminded of the purpose of our hope.

Paul is reminding us of the value of being diligent to the very end so that our hope is sure. All that we hope for must be based upon the promise of God and our faith in Christ as Lord. Anything else will leave us alone and hopeless. We are faithful because we are motivated by hope.

If our relationships are based upon faith in the promise of God we can rest assured that he will be faithful; l live not only for this life but for the life to come. If our work, or ministry, is based upon faith in the promises of God we can rest assured that whatever happens is according to his divine purpose.

We have learned that he is faithful and because we know that he is faithful we have placed our hope in his promise. It is this hope which becomes the anchor that holds us steady and gives us the courage to be faithful.

Prayer, Meditation, Reflection:
Prayer: Lord, grant me the grace to stay focused on the promise and the hope that is in Christ my Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

Principle: When we get to the point that we have no hope we do not have a reason to go on. Hope is our motivation for continuing in our journey of faith; hope motivates us to faithfulness.

Affirmation: I am continually motivated by hope in what God has promised and the reality of his presence made manifest in my life by faith in him. Faith produces hope and hope motivates me to faithfulness.

Reflection: In our Scripture passage Paul speaks of having "diligence to the very end in order to make your hope sure." Reflect upon how daily diligence builds faith and inspires us

We offer you a complimentary book as our way of saying thanks for reading the Daily God Walk daily devotional

Your Thoughts: We would love to know your thoughts on this post. Just click on the the "comments" button at the top of the page. If you liked this post you may want to get the entire month. Get the entire month of the Daily God Walk as our way of saying thanks for following this blog. To get your copy JUST CLICK HERE

Check out our other website at www.biblestudydevotions.com

The Daily God Walk now has a study guide edition.
Readers are finding that having the study guide helps them internalize the messages in the devotions.
It also provides a format for leading small groups
Check it out by clicking here

To get more information about the Daily God Walk or the ministries of New Hope Ministry Resources, or if you just want to make comments on what you read, please fill in the form below.

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