by George Runyan | Nov 15, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
1 John 4:12 – No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
The subject of the love of God is enormous. John reminds us that no one has seen God at any time. Jesus was the manifestation of God in human form. “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9). John goes on to say that “God abides in us.” If we have repented of sin and received God’s love in the person of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is abiding in us. If that is true, then His love is being perfected in us as well. In Christ, we are in a state of growth and development that has its manifestation in God’s love. He gave us the Holy Spirit for the purpose of developing in us the same love of Christ revealed in Jesus’ earthly life and ministry.
John writes, “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” How can we reconcile the divisions and sometimes mean-spiritedness seen in the body of Christ? First, we need to understand that John is giving us the ideal. The goal of maturing is the “love of God” manifested in a believer’s life. God’s love is being perfected in us. Second, it is understood that believers are in a state of development, “working out their own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). There are some who deal with the brokenness of their lives for many years. The important factor is an effort to press into God’s love and allow His love to be expressed through the stages of growth. TO READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE. TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL BOOK, CLICK COVER.
by George Runyan | Nov 14, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 13:3-4 – Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.
The thirteenth chapter of John brings together a number of important insights for our own development in the love of God. Before the Feast of Passover, Jesus knew His time had come to die, passing from this world to the Father. The Scripture says of Jesus, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1b). As Jesus partakes of His last meal with His disciples, He knows that the devil already put it into the heart of Judas to betray Him. He knows, that the Father had given all things into His hands. With that knowledge, He prepares to wash His disciple’s feet.
Once again, Peter becomes an example for us. His human nature is so much like all of ours. I thank God for Peter. Jesus came to Peter to wash his feet. Peter responded in a way which was typical for him when he said, “Never shall You wash my feet!” (John 13:8a). Jesus was very clear with Peter, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (John 13:8b).
The love of God was being demonstrated in the upper room toward these disciples. Jesus the Servant, modeled the love of God to each one of His disciples, even with the knowledge that one of them was about to betray Him. He told His disciples, “You are clean, but not all of you” (John 13:11). The love of God was about to be demonstrated to the whole world as Jesus, God’s Servant, hung on the cross for our sins. He took the punishment for sin and death. He went to hell in our place. He overcame death and hell and now reigns in victory over all. By faith, as we embrace what the Lord accomplished for each one of us, the love of God is born in our hearts. TO READ MORE CLICK TITLE ABOVE.
by George Runyan | Nov 13, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Romans 5:4 – The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Imagine, the God of all creation has poured out His love in the heart of every believer. The Lord does this through the Holy Spirit when He is given to the believer. We have been devoting ourselves to the subject of faith and hope. We now will consider love and how it is the foundation to faith and hope.
“In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). A major issue which Paul had to address was the question concerning the need to be circumcised in order to legitimately be a Christian. Paul is clear on the subject. Only faith working by love matters.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians and listed many things that confirmed his calling and apostolic ministry. Within the list he cites, “. . . in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love” (2 Corinthians 6:6-7). Every believer has been called to freedom in Christ. This freedom empowers us to serve others. The heart of the gospel of the kingdom is in “serving others.” This involves reaching out to another who is hurting, broken, and trying to find their way to God. We are to use our freedom for their benefit. We are to never take advantage of a brother or sister to benefit ourselves. Paul says, “Through love serve one another.”
The love of God is difficult to grasp. It is foreign to the various types of human love. The love of God requires one to give up their life for the sake of another. It is impossible to operate in God’s love without the Holy Spirit’s participation. He has to impart the Love of God and then we must receive His love. Finally, we choose to administer His love to another. CLICK TITLE ABOVE TO READ MORE.
by George Runyan | Nov 12, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Romans 4:18 – In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So Shall Your Descendants Be.”
This is an interesting scripture. Abraham “hoped” because he believed. All the evidence was against such a position. The Scriptures indicate that Abraham gave consideration to his body and his age, but he did not become weak in his faith. Abraham trusted the “promise” of God. At age 100, He did not waver in unbelief, even though all evidence suggested he should just accept his physical condition. Physically speaking, he could not produce children. “Abraham grew strong in faith giving God the glory” (Romans 4:20). Abraham was fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was able to perform. Is it any wonder he is called the “father of the faithful”?
As believers in Christ, it is important to realize that we received our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. Our greatest expectation is hope of the glory of God. At the same time, we glory in tribulation. The reason we are to glory in tribulation is because it produces a number of attributes. “Tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5). CLICK TITLE ABOVE TO READ MORE.
by George Runyan | Nov 11, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 lays the foundation for faith. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews has been called “the honor role of faith.” Note how the writer begins verse 1, “now faith is.” What a powerful expression of absolute trust. The writer does not say faith might be, but is! Is what? It is the assurance of the things hoped for. I like the way the King James expresses this passage. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (KJV). I appreciate the word “substance” because it speaks of the spiritual material from which hope is formed. Material objects have “molecules”, whereas biblical faith is the spiritual molecules of “hope.” This expectation of hope means “an absolute confidence.” It is so real it is made of the “evidence of things not seen”.
The rational mind has great difficulty with this kind of thinking. The spiritual person knows this kind of thinking is what causes miracles to take place through a believer. As a believer in Christ, our hope is in His resurrection power. “We had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. He will yet deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:9-11). This is New Testament Christianity! Listen how Paul expresses hope to the Roman believers. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). TO READ MORE CLICK THE TITLE ABOVE.
by George Runyan | Nov 10, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Psalm 31:24 – Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.
Strength and courage come from a “hope in the Lord.” This is because the Lord never changes. “I the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). We can have confidence because the Lord is the hope of our salvation.
Our minds need to be trained in a hope that is rooted in God the Father. The world teaches us to hope in ourselves and become self-reliant. David learned to hope in the Lord. “For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth. By You, I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You” (Psalm 71:5-6). This is the kind of mind-set we must develop in this matter of hope. It begins by knowing the Lord had an important part with our birth. Before we were converted, the Lord was already at work in His purposes for us. Some of us experienced times when our lives might have been shortened, except the Lord “sustained” us. I am grateful to have the same testimony as David, “You are my confidence from my youth.” Regardless of what stage of life we came to know the Lord, it is important to understand He had His hand upon us.
Hope is developed from a love for God’s word. “I hope for Your salvation, O Lord, and do Your commandments. READ MORE BY CLICKING TITLE ABOVE.
