Christian Devotions: Family First! - Hebrews 7:25

Hebrews 7:25              Therefore Christ is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. 

Today, we come across one of those verses which reminds us that Christians are not Universalists. It’s important for us to remember this, because it will affect our daily lives, as well as our relationships with our families and friends.

I love my family deeply, but I worry over them constantly. Out of all of our brothers and sisters, children, nieces, and nephews – which adds up to 28 people in all – only Evelyn and I are regular attenders at church and Bible believing Christians.  2 out of 30 people! This means that 28 people whom I love deeply, but who haven’t committed their hearts and lives to Jesus, may not ever be saved.

Now, if I were a Universalist this wouldn’t matter to me. I could around with the notion and belief that everyone is saved and that after death, we all get to be with Jesus. But the First Christians, who wrote the Gospels and New Testament that we read, study and apply, never once believed that everyone was saved. They went out into the world, putting their lives on the line to spread our Faith, so that as many people as possible could be completely saved by coming to God through Jesus. Their mission was to convert the entire world from taking spiritual and religious paths that would only end up in death. They wanted everyone to be saved, but this could only be achieved through the preaching of the Gospel, the sharing of their faith, and inviting others to come to Jesus for salvation.

What they did then is not any different from what we should be doing now. Instead of worrying about 28 loved ones, I need to be praying, reaching out, and sharing the Gospel with them. Instead of keeping my faith to myself and hoping that things will turn out for the best, I need to express my faith in ways that will make my family review their own lives, face their own mortality, and get their souls right with God through Christ. I need to both minister to them without anxiety and be a missionary to them without being forceful. And I need to do it now before time runs out for all of us.

Perhaps you have people in your life who need to come to the Lord. Pray for them, but don’t preach to them. Reach out to them, but don’t harass them. Express your faith in Christ to them in attractive, compassionate, and sincere ways. Let Christ use you as His vehicle of faith to those you love dearest. Then when all is said and done, you will know that you have fully tried to inspire faith in the hearts, minds, and souls. In the end, that’s all we can ever hope to do.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, You know how much we love our families and, because of this, we are sometimes fearful of upsetting them with our faith. Help us to find opportunities and ways that will enable us to express our Christian faith without offense. Give us the courage and the compassion to share You with our dearly loved families and friends. In Your Holy Name, we sincerely pray. Amen.

John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment or ask questions of today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Today’s image is one of my Easter 2011 drawings. It’s called “The Empty Tomb” and depicts the dawn’s early light streaming into Christ’s empty tomb on that first and glorious Easter morning. If you would like to view a larger version of this drawing, please click on the following link: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5265/5651798294_83f8e7f0c6_b.jpg

Daily Devotions: Face to Face

3 John 1:14     I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

I enjoy using Facebook each day on the computer because it let’s me see what other people are thinking and doing. I can keep in contact with my family in Scotland and share their celebrations. I can see how my daughters are doing at college and empathize with them. I can also keep up with church families and friends and share prayer requests, thoughts, and jokes with them. It’s a wonderful invention and I think that the Apostle Paul would have put it to good use in reaching out to churches across the Mediterranean had Facebook been available to him.

Now it’s not all that good at times. There are too many silly quizzes and games – some with computer viruses attached – that fragment our leisure time. When I first start using Facebook this year, I did a lot of quizzes, but these days I’m beyond that. I’m more interested in the lives of the many people who use it to upload photos, comment on current issues, and share some good ideas about faith, family, and fun.

When I first started these devotions, it was to build up spiritual connections with our church staff and elders. Over the years, this has become a multi-national ministry with hundreds of thousands of readers in any given year. It’s amazing what God can do with so little to turn it into so much. I hope that one day, when we all get to heaven, I’ll get the opportunity to meet those people from other places in the world who read one of these devotions, which helped them to draw closer to God. Now that’s a face to face meeting that I will really look forward to!

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, help us to develop news ways of using the new media to share our faith. Give us opportunities to send words of comfort, sympathy, and prayer via email, Facebook, blogs, and texts. Thank You for this wonderful way of reaching out to the world from our churches and homes. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Daily Devotions: Real Results

1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?

Podcast version here:

The apostle Paul went through some really tough times. Apart from being persecuted and hunted down by his enemies, he was also heavily criticized by members of the churches that he had established and developed. It must have been hard for him to receive such complaints, especially when he believed that the Corinthian church’s strength had much to do with his own work for the Lord. I guess that they must have forgotten how much they owed to Paul for bringing them out of obscurity and into the light of steady growth.

This passage makes me wonder what are the results of our own work in the Lord? How many people have been blessed or touched by our words and acts of Christian faith? If we were to take the faith component out of each of our lives, what kind of gaps would there be? We will probably never know, but it is perhaps something that we each should personally ponder: how effective and influential is my faith? What are the results of my work in the Lord?

Yesterday, I received an email out of the blue which touched my heart and reminded of the importance of this devotional work that I do for the Lord. I’d like to share the email with you. I’ve left the spelling and grammar uncorrected because I want you to experience the email the way I did.

Dear Sir John Stuat,

Thank you for your message in Hebrews 10:33 which conforted me

I have read this in Uganda/ Africa having fled my country due to insecurity but am alive with my wife and children now refugees many things have been destroyed but we were not distroyed.

God bless you

Kakule Kisunzu

I do not know who Kakule Kisunzu is, but I am both humbled and delighted that something I wrote a while back has helped him and his family. To me, that is a wonderful result in this work that I try to do for the Lord.

So the question for all of us is this: what are the results of our work in the Lord?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, through Paul’s ministry You have reminded us that our faith is not something that we keep to ourselves. As Christians we are meant to share Your teachings and influence others to come to You. May we take the opportunities that You give us each day to reach out to those who do not know You. May we also see the results of our work in You. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.