Realized and Took Note

Regardless of the situation, try to live your life in a way that honors God, and that's the best testimony you could ever give. Humility is an important characteristic, and sometimes things like pride and selfishness get in the way of our good intentions. The pastor who preached today's sermon pointed out two things that are important for us, as christians to keep in mind:

1. We are sinners

2. We are saints

There's this song by Donnie McClurkin (i think) that has a line that goes like this: "a saint is just a sinner who fell down, and got up." Paul offers some advice in Philippians that can help us to be more humble: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves (phil 2:3). Think about your pastor, parents, professors, favorite singer, or anyone else you might admire and consider the way that you interact with these people (or in the case of someone you've never met, how you would act). We have a respect for their thoughts and opinions because there's some aspect where we feel like they're better than us. Don't get me wrong, that's not the only reason to have respect for someone, but it's often a factor. It doesn't take a degree to share Christ with others. Study the word, and especially the life of Christ to see how he responded in the same sort of situations we face today (phil 2:5-8). The more we think about ourselves the easier it is to fall away and to see that it's really nothing that WE do, but rather what God does through us that can touch someone else's life.

Have a blessed week! For those of you starting school on tues, good luck (and enjoy your last day off... I know from experience that it's not easy to motivate yourself to get back into work mode after a long summer, but I know you can do it .

-AMR

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The Daily Devo
by Pastor Steve Baney

Realized and Took Note

Acts 4:13 "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." (NIV)

What do people notice when they look at you? Peter and John were both ordinary people. But Jesus changed their lives. God turns us into completely new people when Jesus enters our lives. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says we are made into a new creation when we are in Christ. Are people seeing this in you?

Father, change me so that people will notice your work in my life.
Scripture quoted from
Holy Bible, New International Version.
Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1988.