Devotionals for May 5, 2022
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READ
JOHN 1:4
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
EPHESIANS 4:11-16
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
EPHESIANS 4:11-16
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
REFLECT
It’s so easy to allow alternative worldly or cultural definitions of success to seep into our worldview and distract us from focusing on God’s definition of success. If we aren’t careful we can even conflate the two and begin to pursue a version of worldly success that has just enough of Jesus thrown in that we think we’re doing alright. Only to find out that after a while we’ve gone so far off-course that we have no idea how we even got to where we are now. But thank God that we have an ever-present standard to measure ourselves against! What is true success? It’s when we measure ourselves against the standard of Christ and find that we’ve made progress in becoming like Christ since last time. Less money in the bank account, but more like Christ? Less social status, but greater reflection of Jesus in your life? Less material convenience, but a better understanding of what it means for Christ to be your treasure? Congratulations! You’ve achieved a version of success in which the latter is far more valuable than the former.
APPLY
Q: What quality, usually ascribed to children, does the author of Ephesians say will decrease as we make Jesus the standard of our lives?
Q: Have you measured yourself against the standard of Christ lately? How does your life compare to how he calls you to live? Would you say you see real godly success present in your life, or a worldly, incomplete version of success?
Q: Who can you reach out to today to encourage in their walk with the Lord?
Q: Have you measured yourself against the standard of Christ lately? How does your life compare to how he calls you to live? Would you say you see real godly success present in your life, or a worldly, incomplete version of success?
Q: Who can you reach out to today to encourage in their walk with the Lord?
SING
PRAY
"Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."
Jesus, thank you for taking my sin and shame upon yourself and dealing with it on the cross. Because of you, I am able to be forgiven and set free from the life I lived and to live the life that you created me to live. Help to give the same grace and forgiveness to others as I have received from you. Amen.
Jesus, thank you for taking my sin and shame upon yourself and dealing with it on the cross. Because of you, I am able to be forgiven and set free from the life I lived and to live the life that you created me to live. Help to give the same grace and forgiveness to others as I have received from you. Amen.