Mark Roberts answers the questions of Why Love is Greater than Faith and Hope?
Category Archives: Devotionals
The Uniqueness of the Incarnation of Christ
These days many people regard all religions as being the same. If we speak of Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount then other religions may well say that they have something similar in their faith. However as Christians we believe that the Christian faith is unique and it is not just another religion. So what makes the Christian faith unique or different?
John 1:14 gives us a good answer:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (ESV)
Christians believe that Jesus, the Son of God came and lived on earth with man. And that He was both human and divine. No other religion can claim this astonishing truth.
Some might question if Jesus was really human. The Scriptures give examples of Jesus’ humanity:
- He wept (John 11:35)
- He slept (Luke 8:23)
- He eat (Luke 7:37)
- He drunk (Matthew 11:19)
Others might ask if Jesus was really divine. The Scriptures give examples of Jesus’ divinity:
- He preformed miracleous signs (Luke 8:24)
- He healed people (Luke 13:12)
- He raised the dead (John 11:43-44)
- God spoke to Him from heaven saying He was His Son (Luke 9:35)
These examples illustrate that Jesus was both human and divine. He lived and moved on this earth The incarnation is indeed unique to the Christian faith.
Heed the Warnings
Yesterday the sermon we heard was taken from Luke 16:19-31 which is about the Rich Man and Lazarus.
One point that struck me from the message was that God gives us warnings from His Word and it is important that we heed these warnings. Sadly in this story it seemed that the rich man knew his brothers would not heed the warnings from the Scriptures.
“Father help us always to heed the warnings from your Word and obey them wholeheartedly”
Protecting Our Souls
Whenever I switch on my computer at home one of the first things I do is to update my Internet Security software with the latest virus definitions that have been released. I have also just received a reminder from Adobe that my Flash Player needs updating, which I did. Additionally I received notification that the latest Windows Updates needed to be installed too!
I expect that at some stage whilst I’m on the web I will get told by Firefox that there are some new releases of the various plug-ins that I use which I need to download and install. I might even find that Firefox have released an updated version of their browser which upgrades itself automatically. And finally if I decide to use my email software I could find that it is automatically upgrading itself.
Any computer security expert will tell you that it’s essential to ensure that you do all of the above if you want to keep your PC protected. And whilst I 100% agree with that to be honest it can be very time consuming, especially when your computer starts to get older and slower. However it is certainly worth investing the time.
I wonder though do we put as much time and effect into protecting our souls as we do our computers? Do we consider prayer, Bible reading, worshipping God, confessing our sins and attending church to be important activities or do we only do them if we have the time or feel like it? They need to be disciplines that we all undertake daily.
I would never neglect or undervalue the importance of protecting my computer but to my shame I have not always shown the same commitment to protecting my soul.
“Dear Lord help us to see the importance of protecting our souls and to never neglect spending time in your presence. Amen”
Trusting God in Difficult Economic Times
On Saturday night the BBC News announced that the Treasury had told government departments to outline plans to show what 40% spending cuts would look like in their various areas. Humanly speaking this is a frightening prospect and one that will no doubt cause much anxiety to many people.
Interestingly yesterdays devotional reading from My Utmost For His Highest focused on Psalm 37:8 which tells us not to fret as it only causes harm. In particular the last paragraph spoke to me:
Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” ( Psalm 91:1 ). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.
The whole piece entitled One of God’s Great “Don’ts” is worth reading.
Godly Grief and Worldly Grief
There are two types of grief according to 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. One is described as Godly and the other is Worldly. However only one kind leads to repentance.
Trusting in God
I am currently reading through the Psalms and one of the themes that is occuring regulary is the psalmist saying that God is his refuge and the importance of trusting in God.
As our new government prepares to annouce its spending plans many people are nervous about how this will effect them. I think we need to learn from the psalmist and ensure that we take refuge in God and trust Him.
Trust in Him at all times , O people: Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. Psalm 118:8
It’s time for Change
Anyone who is following the current general election campaign will have heard that David Cameron is speaking a lot about change.
Whatever your political views maybe as Christians we all know that God will challenge us about the changes that are needed in our life. But are we willingly to change?
Here is a link to an article I previously wrote on change.
Watch Your Words
This morning I was reading Psalm 15 in which David asks the question “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” He lists some characteristics of such a person and then at the end of verse 3 says, “and casts no slur on his fellow man.”
According to the dictionary the word “slur” means: a disparaging remark, an insult or slight.
The Bible contains much teaching on the importance of the words we speak and James warns us that praising God and cursing men, who he has made, out of the same mouth is not acceptable.
Most of us no doubt have opened our mouths and said things that we later regretted. At work we can recall emails and resend them if we decide to rephrase something we have said. However you cannot do that with words that you speak. Once you open your mouth and say them it’s too late to recall them!
These days we also have to remember that we can slur someone by a comment we might leave on a blog or something we might post on any of the social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.
We need God’s grace to help us ensure that our words are honouring and pleasing to Him.
Prayer: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. O Lord. my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Act Like a Soldier of Christ
This morning I came across a posting entitled Act Like a Soldier of Christ which reminds us that we are soldiers of Christ and that we must not neglect the battle against sin, the world and the devil.
Being a member of the Anglican church I see a number of baptism and thought that it would be good to remind myself of the following part of the baptism service:
The sign of the cross
The minister will make the sign of the cross on the forehead of the child using the water. This is a sign to remind us of how Christ died for each one of us on the cross. As Christ died for us so we are now signed with the cross -the badge of our faith – to remind us that we must not be ashamed to profess our faith and fight against all that is evil.
Minister: I sign with the cross, the sign of Christ. Do not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified.
The congregation says: Fight valiantly under the banner of Christ against sin, the world and the devil, and continue his faithful soldier and servant to the end of your life.
May we all indeed fulfil these vows and be true soldiers of Christ!