SDCCM Blog

2 Corinthians 3:18 – We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
While we are to accept each other as we are, we do not remain as we are. The Spirit of God is at work bringing change as Scripture reveals. The change into Christ’s image is an expression of God’s love to the world. You are sent to others as a love letter from God. The Father accepts us just as we are, but He is also at work to change us to be like Him. The change happens in the context of family and as we interact with those who are yet unreached for God’s kingdom.

Acceptance does not promote sin. Acceptance empowers people to risk facing and confessing their sin and moves us toward wholeness. It is important to realize that each person has the right to become who God intended them to be. At the same time, we must guard against selfishness, always putting the interest of family before the interests of individuals. Acceptance and opportunity to grow is what each of us needs most in life.

Our understanding of God’s will for the body of Christ is not centered around buildings or religious activities, but family relationships and environment—a relationship with God as Father, Jesus as our elder brother, and the Holy Spirit as the one who nurtures us by revealing the Father and Son in greater depths. Our commitment in Christ is to other believers to whom we have been joined. They are to be seen as our brothers and sisters in His family. As members of His family, we extend His love and power to the world. Our life in a church family is expressed in multi-dimensional relationships. READ MORE BY CLICKING TITLE ABOVE. PURCHASE YOUR PERSONAL COPY OF “A DAILY DEVOTIONAL” BY CLICKING THE COVER.

Romans 15:7 – Accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.
While we accept each other as we are, we do not remain as we are. As each one comes to Christ, forgiveness and acceptance are given by the Father. We then become part of one another on the very common ground of His power of love to forgive and accept each one as we are. For each believer, this is the starting point in Christ Jesus.

From this starting point, we grow together in an atmosphere of love, hope, and encouragement, no matter what difficulty or devastation we face. Of course, people enter the kingdom of God and are baptized into the body having come from many backgrounds. Our life together in the body begins a process of healing and growth which can take a very long time. An atmosphere of love, forgiveness, and acceptance is necessary to help in assisting people to receive, what in many cases has never before been communicated or experienced.

In the body of Christ, we esteem the covenant of marriage, we honor singleness, and we support the single parent. Marriage is under attack as perhaps it has never been before. The marriage covenant is the sure foundation we must build upon. If the marriage foundation is destroyed, the whole culture will collapse. We must first learn how to love, forgive, and accept in our homes before we will be successful in our relationships within the church. READ MORE BY CLICKING TITLE ABOVE. TO PURCHASE YOUR PERSONAL COPY OF “DAILY DEVOTIONAL” CLICK COVER.

John 7:24 – Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

“We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart” (2 Corinthians 5:12). Those who judge after appearance are judging from “pride” and not the Spirit of the Lord. The story above illustrates how both individuals and church bodies can be filled with pride and arrogance, rather than the love of God. TO READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE!

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.

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.

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!