by George Runyan | Oct 9, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Hebrews 12:11 – All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
In our devotion yesterday, we concluded with the biblical statement of Hebrews 12:11. What the writer of Hebrews is stating is so important that it requires we look deeper into the truth it contains.
The Almighty God, who spun off worlds with His Word, is our heavenly Father if we have trusted His Only begotten Son for our salvation. His Holy Spirit resides in us and bears witness to this fact. “You have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:15-17).
The child of God is not a slave, but an adopted son. The child of God can cry out Daddy and Father. My oldest son Paul is adopted. He has known this fact from his earliest childhood. Immediately, his mother and I thanked God for him and declared his adoption to legally settle his son-ship in our family. I declared he had a father and a mother who loved him and would never abandon him. Paul received the same blessings, but also the same discipline as our natural children. I can truly say we did not treat any of our children differently.
Paul the apostle said, “Indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17). The suffering is our identity with His cross. Because of the cross, God raised Christ up and glorified Him. Our access to the family of God is through the cross of Christ. We have been raised up in newness of life and as joint heirs of God’s grace. TO READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE. TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY CLICK COVER.
by George Runyan | Oct 8, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
1 Corinthians 11:31-32 – If we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
This is a very powerful and important portion of Scripture. Paul helps the church at Corinth to examine their approach to the “Lord’s table.” Every congregation should read and study carefully what Paul writes. Verse 30 answers the question why many are sick in the body of Christ and why some have died prematurely. Paul says it comes from three things:
Eating and drinking the bread and the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner
Failure to examine oneself, causing judgment on oneself
Not judging the body rightly
Close examination of these passages and, in fact, the entire book of Corinthians reveals how they addressed relationships within the body of Christ. When there is broken relationship among believers, it opens the door for the kingdom of darkness, reproach from an unbelieving world, and hinders the Lord’s purposes.
Jesus said, “If you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering (Matthew 5:23-24). The Lord puts a very high premium on relationship within His body. We must examine ourselves regularly to make sure our hearts are right toward our fellow believers. Paul informs us that not “judging the body rightly” causes sickness and even premature death. Our scripture today says that “if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.” The Father wants His children to learn how to examine their own hearts. The Holy Spirit enables us to do this if we will ask for His help. READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE.
by George Runyan | Oct 7, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Ephesians 2:19 – You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.
Within the body of Christ, our basic relationships can be expressed in terms of family. We are part of God’s extended family. God is our Father and we are brothers and sisters through Christ. There was a time in each of our lives that we were strangers and aliens to God’s household. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we were born again. He made us “fellow citizens with the saints.” The Spirit is the one who is charged with the work of connecting us in Christ’s body. If you have been born again, you are in the household of God.
As families join to families, a kinship is developed. People from many walks of life are joined together in covenant love. Covenant love is God’s kind of love and happens within committed relationships; Love which is rooted in relationship, established under pressure, and developed through servanthood.
This is God’s plan for maturing His sons and daughters. It all begins as “little children” (Matthew 18:3). Life in Christ grows inward to bring forth a “godly seed.” At the same time, new lives are added from without. While we grow in numbers and organizational complexity, we must also grow in our call to be family. If either of these is ever lost, we have missed God’s purpose.
Jesus said, “Come unto Me all you that labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.” As each one comes to Jesus, we receive forgiveness and acceptance from the Father. We in turn are to give the same to others. READ MORE BY CLICKING TITLE ABOVE!
by George Runyan | Oct 6, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 14:16 – I will ask the Father, and He will give another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth.
The Father sent Jesus to redeem mankind from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13). When Jesus fulfilled the Father’s plan, He then asked the Father for the Holy Spirit to be given to all those who believed on Him. Jesus refers to the Spirit as the “Helper.” Jesus and the Father have not left us alone to fend for ourselves. It is marvelous how the Holy Spirit has been given to indwell each believer. It is incredible to know that the Father and the Son are in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit who was given to be with us forever.
The Holy Spirit is our life source in Christ. The Holy Spirit is the one who continues to reveal the Father to us. It is worth our time to read through the gospels, paying special attention to what the Scriptures teach us about the Father. The more I have learned about the Father, the more I have grown in security, confidence, and faith. The Holy Spirit wants to help us be able to say from our heart, Abba Father or “Daddy, dear Daddy.”
When we learn about the “fruit of the Spirit,” we are learning about the very nature of God. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control all proceed from the Father. Each of these aspects of God is seen in the Lord Jesus. They can now be seen in our life as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s work. We know the Father is living through us by the evidence of the fruit. When Scriptures speak about maturing in Christ, they are referring to the development of the fruit of the Spirit. READ MORE BY CLICKING ON THE TITLE ABOVE. TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY CLICK COVER.
by George Runyan | Oct 5, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 14:9 – He who has seen Me has seen the Father
The four Gospels give us wonderful understandings about the Father. Today, we will devote our selves to the Gospel of John and examine what he reveals about the Father through the Son who is the expressed image of the Father.
Jesus is the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Jesus is full of grace and truth because the Father is full of the same. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand (John 3:35). The Father loves His sons and daughters in the same way He loves Jesus. The Father seeks those to be His worshipers (John 4:23). The Father knows that it is through worship we enter into His presence, His liberty, and His peace.
“My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working” (John 5:17). The Father has always been a worker. He worked the six days of creation and then He rested from His work. He created Adam as a worker in the Garden. Jesus relates the Father’s work with His work. He calls each believer to enter into the work of the Father and the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit.
“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel” (John 5:20). It is marvelous how the Father loves the Son and gave Him all things. Here, Jesus tells us that the Father shows Him all things. He also tells us that the Father will show greater things to the Son. The greater things are: READ MORE BY CLICKING ON THE TITLE!
