Archives For Jesus

The Biggest Loser and Four Keys to Increased Fruitfulness

Bruce Chant —  April 26, 2013 — Leave a comment

mental shift

I have written a guest post over at my friend Daniel Vogler’s blog “Revival Lifestyle”, called “Four Mind-Shifts for Living in the Fullness”. It touches on:

  • My love for “The Biggest Loser” TV show
  • The moment in that show that we are believers need to become more fruitful in our lives and ministry
  • My God-encounter will a bunch of heavily tattooed, heavy drinking petrol-heads
  • The four mental shifts I believe we all need to make to walk in the fullness Christ bought for us

Here’s an excerpt:

Here’s another interesting observation. Peter wrestles with what God is telling him to do. Can you relate to that? I can!

Often we wrestle with God because we take our eyes and trust off of God and begin to search inwardly for the resources, wisdom and strength to carry out the vision of God.

The bad news is, we won’t find what we need looking within! Countless hours, dollars, training has been spent on therapies, counseling and techniques to try and fix humanity’s brokenness on the inside, when the answer comes to us from above; His name is Jesus!

Check it out, I pray it is a blessing to you.

PS – Are you are interested in writing a guest post here at eDevotional? If you are, I’d love to hear from you! Check out our guest post invitation page for how you can share your devotional insights with the many fine people how read this blog. God bless!

 

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Everyone Loves a Winner (1 Corinthians 15)

Bruce Chant —  March 28, 2013 — Leave a comment

Victory

No one likes to be a loser

I remember growing up being told by well meaning teachers that when you play sport it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game that counts. Do you remember that?

Unfortunately, the more I played sport the less I found that line to be true! I played to win and it seemed most others did too!

Of course, there is more to life than winning and recent sporting scandals should tell us loud and clear winning has limits. But there remains within each of us a desire to win. We love to win. We want to go one better than the other person.

To be a winner though, there needs to be a battle.

A desire to win is not necessarily a bad thing. The problem for most of us, is that in order for us to be a winner, we choose the WRONG battles.

Wrong battles are the battles that don’t matter.

  • Being better than your neighbour
  • Beating the traffic
  • Racing the supermarket lines
  • Playing politics at work
  • Climbing the social ladder

Really, none of it matters. But in God’s economy, He reveals to us what truly matters.

Winning at What Matters

1 Corinthians 15:54-57

Continue Reading…

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A Devotional Life Like Jesus

Bruce Chant —  March 7, 2013 — 6 Comments

Sunrise

An Insight Into Jesus’ Time Alone with the Father

When I was a new Christian, all the cool kids were wearing bracelets with the letters WWJD stitched into the fabric. Of course, WWJD stood for “What Would Jesus Do” and it served as a reminder to believers to stop and model our lives on the One who came for us and gave Himself for us, Jesus Christ.

John Piper once said

“Imitation is not salvation. But salvation brings imitation”

There is a very important truth in the WWJD question; that we can look to Jesus, not just as our Saviour and Lord, but also as our example in life, seeking emulate His life, ministry, wisdom and most important of all His relationship with the Father.

Jesus had a Devotional Life

Do you realise that Jesus had a devotional life? You could say His entire life was lived in devotion to God and that would be true. But just as Jesus was 100% God He also came in the flesh of a man, 100% man, and so was subject to many of the same constraints in His life as you and I.

With that being the case, WWJD is a good question to ask in regards to how we cultivate an intimate devotional life with the Father like Jesus did.

Mark 1:35 says: Continue Reading…

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How to Protect Yourself from Becoming Cynical (Psalm 95)

Bruce Chant —  March 1, 2013 — 2 Comments
Dreaming

Dreaming

Being a Person of Belief, Not a Hardened Heart Cynic

Psalm 95:7-9 says:

Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

Dreamers and Cynics

Many years ago I heard a preacher say something that has stayed with me since. He said:

You are only as young as your dreams and as old as your cynicism

That quote has stayed with me because, let’s face it, we live in a cynical world. Cynicism means “An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others”

Many of us, probably all of us, have face let down. People we trusted, have not kept it. Authorities have failed us. People claiming to stand for truth, haven’t been truthful. Those we respect have not shown the integrity we had hope to find. The list goes on.

The Way of the Cynic

It is an easy response to suffering let down at the hands of others to resolve in our hearts to do something about, to not let it happen again. It is a natural human protective mechanism to use whatever we can to protect ourselves from being hurt again. Mostly, that is where cynicism comes in.

  • Cynicism stops taking things at face value, and starts looking for ulterior motives.
  • Cynicism starts on the back foot, protecting us from any unadvised movement forward.
  • Cynicism sees the glass as half empty, lest we get our hopes dashed again.

Whilst cynicism begins as an admirable trait — a guard against gullibility (“No one’s going to dupe me!”) — it also opens the door to a rising tide of negativity, distrust and unbelief. And it is these things we find ourselves grappling with in our relationship with God.

God is Trustworthy

We should never look at God will cynicism. Why? Because unlike humans and our failings, He is different to us and has none. Others might be untrustworthy, but God isn’t because He’s different. Others might lack integrity, but He doesn’t. Others might have ulterior motives, but our Father’s are pure and blameless.

Cynicism does something to our hearts. It is out of the heart from which belief and faith emanates (see Romans 10:9-10). And that is why we are told to “guard our hearts, for out of it come the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

That is why the Lord rebuked the Israelites for hardening their hearts as they did in the Exodus. A hardened heart — a cynical heart — is not a believing heart but a disbelieving heart. A hardened heart hears the Word of the Lord, but instead of receiving gladly, sizes it up with suspicion and ultimately rejects it.

If you want to be a person of faith, a person who truly is a “believer” in God and His abundant, eternal promises you can’t also be identified as a cynic.

The thing with cynicism is you can’t turn it on and off like a tap. You are either cynical about all or none. If we’re cynical with others, we’ll be cynical with God. And that is not what God wants for you.

Believing in a Cynical World

If I am honest, this can be a tough one to navigate through. There are endless opportunities in this world to work on your cynical side; you don’t need to go looking for them! But God is also gracious in His provision to overcome that cynical approach to life.

He promises us a higher way, a better way to guard against those that would seek to deceive us and that is a Spirit of discernment. How do we walk in that? By walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is the best safeguard any of us could have in this life against any one that might come at us with ulterior motives.

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VIDEO: Crowd Watching (Matthew 9)

Bruce Chant —  February 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

I am very privileged to have been able to collaborate with Lennox White of TGIM. Lennox has been putting out devotional videos each Monday for over 3 years straight.

The video production, music, voice-overs is all Lennox, using a script I wrote. It is based on Matthew 9:36 (one of my favourite chapters in the bible):

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

I pray the video speaks to you.

WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THE CROWDS AROUND YOU? Please leave a comment below and share!

 

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Children of the Day or Children of the Night? (1 Thessalonians 5)

Bruce Chant —  February 9, 2013 — 1 Comment

Sunshine

Stay Awake. Be Alert!

I live in a house with young children. And that means there is often things left on the floor that don’t belong on the floor.

Normally, this is not such a big deal. Except in the middle of the night. In the middle of the night, when you are dazed from interrupted sleep and not totally in control of all your faculties, you can be guaranteed to find some of those left behind toys with the soft soles of your feet.

To this day I am convinced that, behind diamonds, Lego is made of the hardest material known to man!

Walking in the day is different to walking around in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 says:

5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

Jesus is coming back. Continue Reading…

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Most Popular Devotional “How-to” Lists of 2012

Bruce Chant —  December 31, 2012 — Leave a comment

Most popular devotionsReflecting on the year just gone, here is another list of edevotional’s most popular posts – “How-to’s” and lists – for the past twelve months. Check it out!

1. How to Encounter God Ebook

The most popular page on the site. Don’t have a copy of my ebook? Get it, it’s free!

2. How to Have a Devotional Time with God

Many people know they should spend time with God, but don’t know how.

3. How to Hear from God through Bible Devotions

Hearing the voice of God is a Christian’s birthright. Find out how

4. Five Great Bible Reading Plans to Give Your Devotions a Lift

Get started here!

5. Start 2012 by Hearing from God

My prophetic devotional for 2012. I have one for 2013 coming out soon! Check it out.

 

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Five Steps to Crossing Over (Numbers 33)

Bruce Chant —  December 13, 2012 — 1 Comment

promised land ove the Jordan river

Numbers 33:51-53 says:

…pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.

God has a “promised land”, over the river Jordan, for each of His children. It is a place in the Spirit for us to live in where the promises of God for our lives, our callings and our ministries are made manifest.

The command to cross over and possess that land involves the following five steps according to this passage:

  1. “Cross over the Jordan” – Passing over the Jordan is symbolic of the baptism of the Spirit. We need to first pass through the waters of the river Jordan, exchanging the ways of the flesh for being filled with the Holy Spirit.
  2. “…drive out the inhabitants” – Who is possessing the arena of your inheritance? If it’s your family – what strongmen are present in your line? If it is business – what strongholds are at work? If it is an area of ministry – what spirit is opposing you? Discern it, ask God for His strategy and pray taking authority over it.
  3. “Destroy…” – By taking ground you will encounter new temptations and new battles. Identify the idolatry and remove yourself far from them. Renounce any rights they have over you in all humility and the fear of the Lord.
  4. “Take possession” – Once you have identified the land of promise and consecrated yourself to the Lord for it, claim it for the Lordship of Jesus. Not for yourself or your glory – but for His! Declare His Lordship over it!
  5. “Settle in it” – Now you are ready to make the shift, from the old to the new. You no longer live in the old circumstance, you are living in the dimension of the promise of the Spirit. Settle in it by aligning your thoughts and words to this truth in God.

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for my promised land inheritance in you. I thank you you are faithful and desire to lead me into it. I ask you for understanding and revelation for how I can possess it, in Jesus name, Amen

 

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The Temptation of Balaam (Numbers 22)

Bruce Chant —  December 7, 2012 — 2 Comments

fame temptation

Numbers 22 verses 15-17 says:

Once again Balak sent princes, more in number and more honorable than these. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Let nothing hinder you from coming to me, 17 for I will surely do you great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Come, curse this people for me.’”

The scheme of Balak is the same scheme that the enemy uses today. The enemy is not a creator, he is a copier. Because of this we can learn to identify how the enemy works from the examples in the Word.

The scheme of Balak is to appeal to the flesh that desires esteem and honour in the sight of others. This scheme seeks to woo the flesh. It appeals seductively to the desire for “fame”.

All of us want to do well in life. It is a normal desire to want to achieve and this in itself is not a bad thing. But it must be tempered by other, more important values and priorities. These include a love for God and for others. A desire to walk by faith in obedience to God. Humility and service. Faithfulness to the full range of our responsibilities.

Where things can go astray for us is when we are seduced by the promise of popularity, acceptance and fame and so compromise our other convictions.

The scheme of Balak says “Do what I want and people will love you, you will be thought of more highly, it will be great for you – BUT you need to do what I say”. This same temptation is found all the way back in the garden of Eden and is ever present today.

Resist this temptation by submitting to God, holding fast to your convictions and believing the truth of God’s word over the lies of the enemy.

PRAYER: Father, I choose to submit myself to you today. You are my Lord and my saviour. Lead me into all truth. I choose your way over the lies and temptation of the enemy. Thank you for your grace in Jesus name, Amen.

 

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Between the Living and the Dead (Numbers 16)

Bruce Chant —  December 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

fire

Numbers 16 verse 48 says:

 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.

The grumbling of the people of Israel had kindled the wrath of the Lord against them. As a result, a plague was sent against them.

But Moses acted as an intercessor for the people and told Aaron to take a censer full of the alter fire to the people to make atonement for their sin. As Aaron rushed to do this and avert the wrath of God, some were already dead as a result of this plague.

But then, the plague stopped.

Like Aaron, we carry the censer of the gospel that is able to stop of the plague of sin in the lives of people all around us. Like the people of Israel those all around us are oblivious to the seriousness of our predicament. People are under a curse of sin and, unless there is intervention, it will end in death.

But just like Moses intervened on behalf of the people, so too Jesus is our great deliverer.

Jesus, through His death, burial and resurrection, breaks the plague of sin and, in fact stands between us and the wrath of God.

Like Aaron, we are carries of the remedy and the intervention of God to man’s problem. Where ever you go, you carry that solution by the Holy Spirit.

Who is God send you to rescue from sin? Who has God surrounded you with, in need of salvation?

PRAYER: Father, thank you for your precious son Jesus who has rescued me from sin. Help me to see the plague of sin and those you have sent me to rescue in Jesus name. I ask for boldness, faith and strength to do your work, in Jesus name, Amen. 

 

 

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