ChristFit North Devotional – 6/15/2014

By Jordan Robison

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” – Philippians 3:7-10

I recently read a book called Intimacy with the Almighty by Charles Swindoll.  It is a quick read, only 77 pages, but is incredibly insightful in what it takes to have an intimate relationship with our heavenly father.  As Paul states in the passage above, his determined purpose is to become more intimately acquainted with Christ.  Over the next few weeks I want to hit on the four decisions and disciplines that Swindoll sets forth to cultivate an in-depth intimacy with the Almighty.

Reordering One’s Private World: The Discipline of Simplicity

“To reorder one’s own world, the need to simplify is imperative.  Otherwise, we will find ourselves unable to be at rest within, unable to enter the deep, silent recesses of our hearts, where God’s best messages are communicated.  And if we live very long in that condition, our hearts grow cold toward Christ and we become objects of seduction in a wayward world.  What perils await us in that condition!”

The tendency to be led away from simplicity is not something that is just taking places in the fast paced, complicated world that we live in today.  Paul had the same concern for the church at Corinth,

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 11:3

Thomas Kelly states that God, “never guides us to an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness.”  We must slow down our pace and simplify our lives.  God has given us everything that we need and all He wants in return is an intimate relationship with us.

ChristFit North Devotional – 5/25/2014

By Jordan Robison

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.  His understanding is inscrutable.  He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.  Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous men stumble badly, yet those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”- Isaiah 40:28-31

These verses are all about strength, specifically the attributes of strength that we desperately need in our lives.  They beautifully describe the strength of God, how He created the earth, does not grow weary and is inscrutable in His understanding.   We see how he gives that strength to the weary, those who lack might and stumble badly.  In addition to all of this the thing that really stood out to me was what we are called to do in verse 31 in order to receive this strength from God.

“Yet those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength…”

Other translations instead of wait use hope (NIV) or trust (NLT), but the message is the same.  If we are to receive the power of God then we must rely upon and trust in Him.

I read out of the NASB so when I was reading I was hit with “wait on the Lord.”  As someone who is constantly on the go and quick to act the idea of sitting back and waiting really hit me.  Sometimes we need to just slow down and wait on God to let Him show us what he has planned for us.  I love the way that Todd and JP put it up at WM in relation to getting away to spend time with the Lord: we need to divert daily, withdraw weekly and abandon annually.  We do this to intentionally stop and listen to God, to slow down the pace of our lives and wait on Him to guide us.

As we go through the workout today and head into next week try and think of a way in which you can slow down and wait on God to hear what He has to say to you.  Maybe it’s something as simple as waking up 5 minutes earlier and dropping straight to your knees in prayer to start the day or choosing to go a week without listening to the radio in your car but instead spending that time meditating on a piece of Scripture.  Whatever it is let’s figure out a way we can slow down and wait/hope/trust in the Lord so that our strength in Him may be renewed.

ChristFit North Devotional – 5/18/2014

By Jordan Robison

“As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging.  Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was.  They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’  Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’  And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ And he said, ‘Lord, I want to regain my sight!’  And Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.’  Immediately he regained his sight and began following him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.” – Luke 18:35-43

When it comes to this story of Bartimaeus receiving sight I think there are two main parts that we should look at and really take something from, what he did in order that Jesus healed him and what was his response to having regained his sight.

First off, on that day Bartimaeus did nothing but believe in the power of Christ, he did nothing but trust that Jesus could make him well.  We don’t know much about Bartimeaus’ life.  He could have committed an hour a week to going to temple and 15 minutes each morning to praying, we don’t really know.   We do know that he was a blind beggar on the side of the road that on the day Christ was walking by gave nothing but his faith…and that’s all that Jesus required.  “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”  Jesus didn’t say, receive your sight your discipline and deeds have made you well, your fasting and sacrifices have made you well, it was, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”

Now, the part that I really love about this story is the last verse…

”Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.”  (v. 43)

Bartimaeus immediately got up and began following Christ and glorifying God, there was no hesitation.  Because of his faith Jesus healed him, he began praising God and others began praising God.

We may not be blind beggars on the side of the road whom Jesus has restored sight to but we have been healed much in the same way.

Without Christ Bartimaeus was blind…without Christ we are dead in our sins.

Through faith Bartimaeus received sight…through faith we receive new life, eternal life.

Upon being healed Bartimaeus began following Jesus and glorifying God…upon accepting Christ and being healed, cleansed of our sins, what are we doing?  Are we following after Christ and glorifying God in everything that we do?  When people look upon us like they looked upon Bartimaeus are they responding by giving praise to God?

As we go through the rest of today and the coming week I have something for all of us to think about, a challenge if you will.  Think back to what your life was like before Christ, before He came into your heart and take some time to think about how that has changed…how you have been cleansed by God’s grace and how your life is different now because of that.  With those thoughts in mind let us be continually thankful for the gift that God has given us and do whatever we can to glorify Him.  Let’s not take for granted the incredible gift that God has given us by coasting through our day to day lives.  Instead let us acknowledge where we came from, where we are now, and follow Christ, glorifying Him in everything that we do.

ChristFit North Devotional – 5/4/2014

From “Power and Grace Performance” – By Spencer Arnold (www.powerandgraceperformance.com)

My favorite stories and characters in Scripture are found in the narrative and historical documentation of David and his mighty men. I am often engrossed by David himself throughout the books of Samuel and Chronicles. He pre-figures Christ in the way he loves God and the way he saves Israel from its enemies yet we see his humanity and can identify with his weakness through his affair with Bathsheba and ensuing family pains. A couple days ago I found myself reading through 2 Samuel again mystified by the works and accomplishment of such a great king and the miraculous victories by his men. The stories themselves are such impossible feats of strength and will that only God can be credited for the victory of his men and his army. With that background in mind, in 2 Samuel 22 David writes a song of gratitude to God for his accomplishments through David and his mighty men. David recognizes the true source for this victory and recognizes that without the equipping and preparation by the Lord, failure would have been his only end.

Check this out:
2 Samuel 22:34-40:

“He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.
He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your gentleness made me great.
You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip;
I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.
For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.”

If you read the scripture you notice that all credit goes to the Lord. David uses “he” and “you” throughout making sure that God gets credit and glory for the battles He equipped David to win.

I read songs like this and know David’s heart and I am mystified as to how I could ever look at my own accomplishments or success and attribute that work to my own development of talent or personally created skill. If God equips and prepares and trains David to accomplish a task for His own glory. How can I believe that He has not done the same for me?

David knows who deserves the credit for his victory. Do I? Do we in 21st century Christianity? We know God to be as intimately involved in our lives today as He was in David’s then (Luke 12:17, Psalm 139:14) and therefore He is as intimately involved in our equipping. I read David’s song of gratitude and his posture toward the Lord and envy that perspective.

How can we look at our own lifting, Open results, PR Snatch, or our success as coach and immediately assume we were the cause? Did not the Lord give us that talent? Were we not created at this time with our potential skills? Sure God called us to develop them as He did David’s leadership skills BUT was He not the cause and the equipper?

Reading David’s words and song, I long for that perspective daily. I wish I looked at my own success with regular remembrance and thankfulness for God’s equipping.

ChristFit North Devotional – 4/13/2014

You Cannot Lose in the End – John Piper

“You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”  – Matthew 27:65

When Jesus was dead and buried, with a big stone rolled against the tomb, the Pharisees came to Pilate and asked for permission to seal the stone and guard the tomb.

They gave it their best shot — in vain.

It was hopeless then, it is hopeless today, and it will always be hopeless. Try as they may, people can’t keep Jesus down.

They can’t keep him buried.  It’s not hard to figure out: He can break out because he wasn’t forced in. He let himself be libeled and harassed and blackballed and scorned and shoved around and killed.

“I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” – John 10:17–18

No one can keep him down because no one ever knocked him down. He lay down when he was ready.  When it looks like he is buried for good, Jesus is doing something awesome in the dark.

“The kingdom of God is like a man who scattered seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, but he knows not how” – Mark 4:26-27

The world thinks Jesus is done for — out of the way — but Jesus is at work in the dark places. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” – John 12:24. He let himself be buried — “no one takes my life from me” — and he will come out in power when and where he pleases — “I have power to take it again.”

“God loosed him from the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it” – Acts 2:24

Jesus has his priesthood today “by the power of an indestructible life” – Hebrews 7:16

For twenty centuries, the world has given it their best shot — in vain. They can’t bury him. They can’t hold him in. They can’t silence him or limit him. Jesus is alive and utterly free to go and come wherever he pleases.

Trust him and go with him, no matter what. You cannot lose in the end.