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The Benefits of a Wholly Devoted Heart (1 Kings 8)

Bruce Chant — October 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

God is looking for disciples whose hearts are wholly devoted to Him.

Too often in the modern church, we convert people to the name of Christ and neglect making wholly devoted disciples of Jesus.
Too often we start strong and finish poorly, as our hearts are woo-ed by other interests and desires.
Too often we find Christians sitting in church services but whose hearts are somewhere else because they are separated from their first love.

God wants people whose hearts are wholly devoted to Him.

And he tells us what you can expect IF you give your heart completely over to Him in the verses preceding this one (1 Kings 8:57-60):

1. LIVE IN GOD’S REST

56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel

A fully committed heart to God enables you to live in the REST of God. A divided heart creates a tired, weary life. It is unnecessarily complex. Jesus said “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

2. KNOW GOD’S PRESENCE IS WITH YOU

57 May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us

If your heart is fully committed to someone or something, you become very attentive to them / it. So it is with God. When we wholly devote our affections and desires to Him, we become acutely aware of His presence. And that He will never leave or forsake us.

3. SO THAT ALL MAY KNOW

60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else.

The Lord desires a people in the earth that He can point to as those that reflect the character of God in creation. A people wholly devoted to God is God’s advertisement to rest of His creation – I love you and want you to call my own! Harvest happens with wholly devoted hearts.

PRAYER: Father, I recommit my heart and my way to you. I love you and ask you to take all of me for your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

In 1 Kings, Devotions

Hope vs. Lies (Exodus 5)

Bruce Chant — October 15, 2012 — Leave a comment

Exodus 5 verses 1 and 9 says:

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”…

9 Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

Israel was in slavery in Egypt. But God had a plan.

God’s plan was to jailbreak Israel out from Pharaoh’s clutches and make them a free people, free to worship Him.

But Pharaoh was not going to have any part in that! He ordered the Israelites back to work, upping the ante in his brick making demands.

Pharaoh is a type of satan. We learn about the nature of our enemy by surveying the nature of Pharaoh.

Like Israel, God’s desire is to release us from bondage and slavery and make us free to serve and worship Him. That is His desire and plan for us.

What we see hear is that as the people of God gain hope, the enemy comes along just a quickly to snuff it out. Do you notice that? Have you ever experienced that?

Note how the enemy tries to do that:

1. Difficulties Escalate – when you are within arm’s reach of hope, the enemy will work over time to escalate the trying nature of your circumstances.

2. Increased Labour – the enemy will love to bump up the load your carrying to discourage from believing for breakthrough

3. Lying to you – Pharaoh calls God’s promises “lies”. The enemy would love you to doubt God. He slanders God by calling Him a liar. Ironically, satan is the “father of lies”.

Whenever you notice any of these occurrences follow a glimmer of hope, a breath of breakthrough or the sighting of the new day, tell yourself it is the enemy trying to spoil the good that God has planned!

Reject it, renounce it, call it out! And let the God of Hope flood your heart and life.

PRAYER: Father, I recognise you as the God of Hope. I choose to position myself before you to live in the freedom that Jesus bought for me. Thank you Lord, Amen.

In Devotions, Exodus

Two Paths (Proverbs 4)

Bruce Chant — October 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

Proverbs 4:18-19 says:

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble.

There are two ways, two paths in life.

One is bright and gets even brighter still. As time passes, the brightness and the light shines ever more and in greater intensity. This is the way of the righteous person. This is the way of the Lord.

The other is the way of the wicked. It is shrouded in darkness and that darkness causes people to lose their bearings, and dull their senses as to what is around them. The way of darkness causes people who walk in it to become completed blinded and unaware of their true condition, and to stumble and fall.

Too often we complicate life. We love to debate various shades of grey. We love to look for loopholes and ways around what God has said. We love to justify why it can’t be “that simple”.

But God says there are two ways. The way of light – the way of the righteous. And the way of darkness – the way of the wicked.

A person of faith understands to take this simple truth, to believe it, to discern what is light and what is darkness and to choose the light.

PRAYER: Father, I choose to walk in the light, your light. Reveal darkness in my life. Show me that I may repent of it. Illuminate my way. In Jesus name, Amen

In Devotions, Proverbs

And Pray (Ephesians 6)

Bruce Chant — October 11, 2012 — 5 Comments

Praying Hands

Ephesians 6 verses 18 – 20 say:

18 And PRAY in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of PRAYERS and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on PRAYING for all the Lord’s people. 19 PRAY also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. PRAY that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

This passage follows the famous passage on the “armour of God”. It’s not just a fun excuse for church kids to dress up as medieval knights, it’s an important passage!

But right next to that vital discourse on spiritual warfare, we find the above three verses and the overwhelming exhortation to PRAY! Five times we read the word “pray”.

Appearing right after the account of the spiritual armour it couldn’t be coincidence, could it?

Prayer

We need to armour of God for the battles we find ourselves in as believers. But without prayer our armoury is incomplete. Prayer and warfare and inseparable!

We are implored to pray. Make today a day of prayer!

PRAYER: Father, thank you for gifting me with prayer. Make me a man / woman of prayer. I choose to believe in the power of prayer and the importance of prayer in my life. Forgive my unbelief. In Jesus name, Amen.

In Devotions, Ephesians

How to Live Life in Two Verses (Proverbs 3)

Bruce Chant — October 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

straight paths

Proverbs 3 verse 5 and 6:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight

These are two incredible verses! So incredible, if you were to base your life upon just these two verses, you would be doing very well!

1. TRUST in the Lord – First and foremost, do you TRUST Him? He is trustworthy. Do you hold him number one in your heart, in your affections, in your decision making? Do you know his goodness and grace? The first thing you absolutely NEED to have a conviction about is that God is good, He is FOR you, His ways are best and you can TRUST Him!

2. Don’t Lean on Your OWN Understanding – This is contrary to everything you are taught in this world. You don’t know best. You can’t trust yourself. But there is one you can trust. Obeying God and leaning on His wisdom and strength does not necessarily involve you understanding everything in this life (see point 1). We need to exchange self-sufficiency with faith and Spirit led living.

3. In All Your Ways Acknowledge Him – You don’t live in a vacuum. You don’t live according the “hat” you are wearing. Whether you are at work, with friends, at home, or church – live your life in such a way that you faithfully represent the King of Kings. From the biggest decisions to the smallest habits, you’re representing the name of Jesus.

4. THE PROMISE! If you do these three things, there is a pay-off. A promise to this way of life. It is that God will make your path’s straight.

Straight paths take you directly to where your destination is. Straight paths do not involve long and winding detours. Straight paths are easy to follow and hard to get lost on. Straight paths direct you to where you need to step next.

This is the way of God that He has for those that trust Him, lean on Him and acknowledge Him. Let’s live it!

PRAYER: Father, I choose to make this my prayer. I trust you. I choose not to rely on my own abilities. I will acknowledge you in all things. Direct and guide me Lord, in Jesus name Amen.

In Devotions, Proverbs

Meeting Us Where We Are At (1 Kings 3)

Bruce Chant — October 9, 2012 — Leave a comment

seven deadly sins 20/52

1 Kings Chapter 3 verse 5 says:

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

God will meet you where you are.

Solomon was in Gibeon when he encountered God here. What was he doing in Gibeon? He was offering sacrifices to idols. He was in outright sin and rebellion. And yet God met Him there.

God is not intimidated or threatened by your sin. It grieves Him, but His arm is not too short to reach out to you, even when you’re in the midst of the pigsty of sin.

It was in this context that God clearly appears to Solomon and says, “Ask me for anything. And I will give it to you”.

This is the grand-daddy blank cheque of all prayer. God says, name it, it’s yours!

Now remember that Solomon is offering sacrifices to idols. He is not in a “good place”. His heart is inclining towards all sorts of sin and folly.

Doesn’t it say something about the ways of God, that this is how He would encounter Solomon? God is not one who is afraid to take risks!

But what I love is that Solomon’s answer (verse 9) – wisdom to lead the people well – pleased God. Solomon, in spite of his sin and in spite of where he was, got the answer “right”.

In a single moment Solomon went from the basement of debauchery to the threshold of stepping into his destiny in God. Wow. It’s not how we would lay the story out. But it is how God chose to. What an amazing portrait of the grace of God!

Wherever you are, you are not too far from God. God is just a prayer away and an encounter away from stepping out mess you’re in and getting right back on track with your future in God.

PRAYER: Father, forgive me for my folly. Cleanse me and meet with me. I want to realign myself with your Word and purpose for my life. Thank you for your Grace, in Jesus name, Amen.

In 1 Kings, Devotions

Are You Living in the Dark? (Ephesians 5)

Bruce Chant — October 8, 2012 — Leave a comment

Living in the dark

Ephesians 5:3-5 says:

3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

No one likes to think that we could be living a life that puts our lives in eternal danger. Especially, those of us that call ourselves Christians.

“I’m ok. It’s other people who are really bad, right?”

Here the Apostle Paul gives us a checklist. Verse 6 tells us of “No immoral, impure or greedy person”.

Here he gives three areas you need to avoid if you want to walk in the light and avoid becoming an idolater, who won’t see the “kingdom of Christ” (v6).

Are you living in the darkness?

1. Sexual Immorality – Our sexual life is a gift from God, created by God for intimacy with one person, for life. Anything outside of that is to use the gift of sex for the wrong purpose. Whether you are married or not, it is all to easy to use sensuality as an alternative for true intimacy with God.

2. Impure Talk – What comes out of your mouth is an indicator of what’s in your heart (Luke 6:45). Talk is never just talk. Words have the power to create and to abuse that gift with debased talk is grievous in the sight of God.

3. Selfish Greed – Greed is excessive desire or consumption of something. Anytime we overindulgence in anything our flesh desires, we are pulling in the opposite direction of the Spirit. And a life that is governed by the flesh, leads to death! (Romans 8:5-6)

Are you walking in darkness?

PRAYER: Father, I ask you to forgive me. Cleanse me as I renounce the sins that have kept me in darkness. I ask for your grace to make me new. Thank you Lord, Amen.

In Devotions, Ephesians

The Open Hand of God (Psalm 145)

Bruce Chant — September 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

Psalm 145:16 & 18 says:

You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing…
18 The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.

Everything you need in life is found in the hand of God.

Stop, and read that again. You need to believe it!

There is nothing we need or desire that can’t be met from what we find in the open hand of God.

The Lord opens His hand to us. That means, He is willing to give. He’s not reluctant. His hand is open to you.

But for us to receive from Him we also need to open our hands. If we hold too tightly to what we have in our lives right now, how can we receive anything further for the future? If we are clinging to what we think will fulfil our desires, how can we receive that which truly will fulfil them?

How do we attain this?

Verse 18 says “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him”. If you want what God has in His open hand, you need to call upon His name.

There is no good waiting for God to drop what you desire into you lap, when He says He holds it out for you to grasp. What you need is right there! Just call upon Him, ask Him, enquire of Him, and see Him fulfil it.

What is it that you truly desire? And what is the deep need that is behind that desire? Let the light of God reveal it. Now, do you believe you can find that in God – or do you need to go hunt for it yourself?

God is not a scrooge reluctant to give you that which will satisfy you. Our problem is what we believe will satisfy us. We seek the wrong things, when God promises all that we need and all that will satisfy is in His open hand.

PRAYER: Father, I renounce every lie that says you don’t have what I truly desire. I chose to believe your word and align my heart and soul under the leading of your Spirit. I ask you for everything I need to be truly and deeply satisfied. In Jesus name, Amen.

In Devotions, Psalm answered prayer, bible devotional, bible devotions, Christian devotional, christian devotions, Holy Spirit, intimacy with God, Jesus, provision, spiritual growth

The Nature of God’s Power (Ephesians 3:16-19)

Bruce Chant — September 27, 2012 — 1 Comment

Power On Button

Ephesians 3:16-21 says:

that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Many of us love the demonstrations of God’s power at work in our lives or in the lives of others in the church. But do we understand the nature of God’s power? Do you comprehend clearly the purpose and work of the power of God?

1. The Power of God is for strengthening the inner man (v16)
The power of God is always redemptive in nature, never is it demonstrated just for show. When a Christian is strong spiritually (inner man), then they are able to effect maximum redemptive benefit for the Kingdom.

2. The Power of God is so that Christ may dwell in our heart (v17)
The work of salvation was performed by Jesus. But we experience the living reality of salvation by the work of the Holy Spirit. It is His power that works within us, transforming our hearts.

3. The Power of God enables us to comprehend the incomprehensible love of God (v18-19)
The love of God is not an idea to be understood it is a truth to be supernaturally known. Our minds can’t comprehend all that God has done for us. But by the power of His Word and Spirit we can KNOW the God who is love.

4. The Power of God enables me to go beyond me (v20)
When the power of God is at work within my life I have a power working in me that is greater than my own abilities and strength. God’s power enables me to exceed my earthly limits, beyond even what I can imagine!

5. The Power of God brings glory to God (v21)
The working of God’s supernatural power in my life elevates and amplifies the magnificence of God. It is not about making me look good or for my profit alone. It is about Him getting His glory through my life.

PRAYER: Father I ask you for a fresh infilling of your power in my life. I rely on you Lord for your strength to be made known in me. Thank you Lord I receive it by faith, in Jesus name, Amen.

In Devotions, Ephesians bible devotional, bible devotions, Christian devotional, christian devotions, Holy Spirit, Jesus, power of God, spiritual growth

God’s Heart of Kindness (Psalm 68)

Bruce Chant — September 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

Kindness

Psalm 68:4-6 says:

Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him.
5 A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
6 God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads out the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

Many of us begin our worship services in our churches by singing. But how often do we take time to think about the God about whom we are singing?

“Sing to God, sing praises to His name”. This is the God to whom we are singing. He alone is the Lord and His is amazing!

He is a Father to those without a Dad and His heart is for the defenceless and the unloved and uncared for. God puts the lonely in families.

Why? That is His heart and His intention for how we should live; loved and loving.

He leads those who are enslaved out of bondage, and brings them incredible joy.

This is the God we worship and this is the God who we sing to. Let’s PRAISE Him today.

PRAYER: Father, these words are so lovely and moving. Praise your name Lord for your kindness and grace.. In Jesus name, Amen.

In Devotions, Psalm bible devotional, bible devotions, Christian devotional, christian devotions, Jesus, spiritual growth