Pastors Network Devotion

Many people put the scriptural teaching on hell in opposition to the love of God, but Jesus combines them. Here is an important truth: no one loves you more than Jesus Christ; and yet no one spoke of or taught on hell and judgment more than Jesus Christ. 

There is warning after warning, parable after parable, that warn and even shout judgment and the reality of hell. Although some say that a God of love wouldn’t allow eternal punishment, God’s justice demands it. 

Joy and gratefulness are two things that are eternally connected and inseparable. Gratefulness is the byproduct and the evidence of someone who is truly filled with the joy of the Lord. True thanksgiving comes from the understanding that we were rebel sinners scheduled for damnation, but because of what Christ has done for us in the gospel we as Christians have been pardoned from hell and have been adopted into the family of God.

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 (ESV)  

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,  who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
 

When witnessing to people you have to dig deeper than merely asking, “Are you a Christian?” The term Christian means different things to different people. Many people will answer yes to this question without thinking twice. 

Be cautious of preachers and teachers who only preach topical messages, and who rarely reference the Bible. These preachers use the Scriptures as a nice garnish for the meal of wit and well-stated personal opinions that they serve up on various topics. Be very afraid of preachers who do not encourage you to read the Bible for yourselves and test the messages they deliver.
 

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV) 

Christian discipleship doesn’t start with the idea that we should work at self-improvement to be better people. It starts with the supernatural idea that in conversion we have literally taken on a new nature in Christ. 

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (ESV) 

“A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to ‘accept’ Christ without forsaking the world.” –A.W. Tozer  

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12 (ESV) 

Personal holiness in our lives is evidence that the Spirit of Christ is truly living inside us. Jesus is the light of the world and in salvation through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that light lives in us. This is why Jesus said to us in Matthew chapter 5, “You are the light of the world.”

One thing that unites the church to Christ and believers to each other is the fact that, for the most part, the world will hate us.