Devotions (Page 54)

1 Timothy 1: 18-20 (NLT) Timothy’s Responsibility 18 Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles. 19 Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. 20 Hymenaeus and Alexander are two examples. I threw them out and handed them over to Satan…

Encouragement to Give Generously We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part…

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.“Because you have rejected knowledge,    I also reject you as my priests;because you have ignored the law of your God,    I also will ignore your children. – (Hosea 4:6 NIV) Return, Israel, to the Lord your God… “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely,    for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. – (Hosea 14:1, 4-5 NIV) Hosea prophesied during the time of the Divided Kingdom of…

The more we speak about maturing and growing in our spirituality, the more I see us being called to action! One of the most beautiful things about the Gospel – the Good News – is that it can/will look like so many different things! There isn’t just one way to live out and experience the Gospel. Good News to me might look a little different to me than it does to you… Even though it might be a bit of…

“But as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you – see that you excel in this act of grace also. –  2 Corinthians 8:7 ESV The “act of grace” that the Apostle Paul was referring to in this verse is the grace to give generously. Giving was definitely is not “second nature” to me. Giving money away for sure is not even “third nature” to me. And lets not even talk about “giving generously”. Over the years as I grew my “stone of the past” in my relationship with God, I was able to slay the “giant” of stinginess with…

SONG OF SONGS 8:5-7 Friends5 Who is this coming up from the wildernessleaning on her beloved? SheUnder the apple tree I roused you;there your mother conceived you,there she who was in labor gave you birth.6 Place me like a seal over your heart,like a seal on your arm;for love is as strong as death,its jealousy[a] unyielding as the grave.It burns like blazing fire,like a mighty flame.[b]7 Many waters cannot quench love;rivers cannot sweep it away.If one were to giveall the…

1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” In September we launched a new memory verse for the church family, 2 Peter 1:5-8. Before that, two of our memory verses were the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-39) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Look at parts of these verses and see if you can spot the theme: Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Matt 22:36-39)The…

This past Sunday we continued our series on Living Generously. Whenever I think of generosity I always think of finances – but there is so much more than just finances! TIMENot everyone will have $, but everyone is given time. We must look at our lives and ask God if we are stewarding the time He has given us to the best of our ability. Sometimes it is clear when our time is being robbed (aimless social media, facebook, etc.)…

Acts 20:35 – In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (NIV) Romans 8:32 – He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?(AMPC – Amplified Bible Classic Edition)…

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”1 John 4:18 There are SO many places in the Bible that God tells his people not to be afraid. When they are being visited by an angel, chances are good the encounter begins with “Fear not!” When they are heading into battle, he reminds them that he is with them and that they don’t need to fear. When they are about to begin following a new way of…

This year God has been pushing us to focus on Maturity. We felt that the Lord will help us to track our growth by the 3 Gs (Give, Go, Grow). Yesterday as we talked about Living Generously – we tackled why Living Generously is important Motivations for Living Generously Experiencing God’s love and generosity in our own livesWhen we experience the love, generosity, grace, compassion, … of God, we can’t help but share that love with others. Something so good…

When it comes to caring for plants, pruning has become one of my favourite things to do! It really used to freak me out… I felt uncertain about what I was doing and, if I’m being totally honest, every time I had to prune my plants, it felt like I had failed them! If I had only just watered more, or in some cases watered less, then the leaves wouldn’t have died and I wouldn’t need to cut them off!…