“I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:2-4).
PROBABLY THE GREATEST NEED and challenge of committed followers of Christ is that, having a heart to give and invest in the lives of others, they end up spending an overwhelming amount to time and effort doing so—to the detriment of their personal walk with Christ. They love Him and are very sincere, yet their busyness often leaves little time for true fellowship with the Lord. They become stale and rely on redeeming coupons of time when they had a closer walk with the Lord. They are out of balance. Ministry precedes intimacy. We think ministry will produce intimacy—IT DOES NOT!
THE KEY: Followers need to rest from their work, join Jesus, and hear the Word. Make time with Christ. He is our life.
The challenge in life is our tendency to achieve rather than receive. We have received love, grace, life, fruit, wisdom. We don’t have to achieve them. We can only give from a full bucket, an abundant life. We need to APPROPRIATE this life of Christ.
Appropriating Christ begins with knowing who and whose you are (know by experience your new identity, new life). Next we take a step of faith (thankfulness in trials and pain, believing who you are) and give grace to those in need (as you give away, the abundant life comes back to you). Finally, we must keep refreshing ourselves in the Word, prayer, and fellowship.
“Nothing is of greater importance than loving God! If we fail to take this seriously, we may find at the end of our lives that all of our works counted for nothing. . . . [However] He wants us to be before we do. Love first!” — R. Kent Hughes
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Purchase the Entire Devotional – “Experiencing Christ as Life and Leader”
The devotion above was taken from the 52-week Devotional entitled “Experiencing Christ as Life and Leader”.
Many give a mental assent to this teaching yet are often asking, “What do I do? What does Christ as life look like?“ Too often Christians err by moving too far to one side or the other—reducing the Christian life to a list of do’s and don’ts, or they actually do nothing.
These inspiring weekly devotions are just some of the actions that reflect the life of Christ in each of us, and they explore four areas as we follow the One Leader, Jesus Christ –
- A Foundational Focus
- A Personal Focus
- A Relational Focus
- A Missional Focus
Be challenged, encouraged, and spurred on to a deeper walk with Christ.
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