Tag: motives

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Deuteronomy Devotionals

Because we are God’s children

God's children

You are sons of the Lord your God…you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God.

The Lord has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 14:1-2)

Those are amazing words to reflect on. They were spoken to Israel, but they are now also spoken to us. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

The question is, how do we respond?

We are to be holy as God is holy.

For the Jews, that meant, among other things, rejecting pagan religious rituals (1, 21) and following a special diet (3-21).

Perhaps that diet was God’s way of daily reminding them they were not to merely live on physical food, but on every word he spoke. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

We are no longer bound by that diet (Mark 7:14-19), but it is still God’s desire that we be holy. To imitate him.

That means watching not what goes into our mouths, but what’s in our hearts. (Mark 7:20-23)

But what is our motivation for being holy? To impress God? To prove we’re worthy of his acceptance?

No, we are already accepted. We are already his children, his treasured possession.

Why then?

Because we want to be like our Daddy.

Is that your heart?

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Exodus Devotions

Let everything I do…

worship

Everyone whose heart was moved and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the Lord. (Exodus 35:21)

Moses then said to the Israelites, “Look, the Lord has appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

He has filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability…” (Exodus 35:30-31)

Father, let everything I do for you be from my heart. Not obligation. Not duty. Not others’ expectations of me. But from a heart that has been touched by your love and grace and is filled with gratitude.

So often I see mixed motives in myself. Help me to give my whole heart to you.

Father, you have appointed me by name.

I’m weak. I often feel inadequate. And yet you appoint me by name.

Fill me with your Spirit. Fill me with wisdom, understanding, and the ability to do what you’re asking of me.

Without you, I can do nothing. With you, I can bear much fruit. And I want to bear much fruit for you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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1 Thessalonians Devotionals

What drives me?

1 Thessalonians

We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you… (1 Thessalonians 1:3-4)

As I was reading Paul’s words, I thought, “What motivates me? Is it the fact that God loves me? That for some reason, he chose me to be his child?

“Why do I do the things I do? Is it born from my belief that God is good?

“As I serve the Lord, am I motivated by my love for God and for others?

 “Why do I endure when things get hard? Is it because I have been inspired by the hope I have in Jesus?”

Faith. Hope. Love. These are the things that make the Christian life a joy and not a burden.

Lord, increase my faith. Root me in your love. And when things get hard, remind me of the hope I have in you. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

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Acts Devotionals

What’s in our hearts

Acts

When I was looking at the story of Simon, it made me think about what’s in my heart. In my church, I have a very visible position when I teach. And so it’s very easy to desire honor and praise from people.

That’s what Simon wanted.

Before he became a Christian, he was famous among the Samaritans. He had won their accolades as “the Great Power of God.” Everyone paid attention to him because of all the powers he displayed.

And then Phillip came performing signs and miracles, and people were coming to know Christ. Simon himself made a profession of faith.

But when Peter and John came, Simon saw them laying hands on people and the Holy Spirit falling upon those people in power. And so he offered Peter and John money, saying,

Give me this power also so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:19)

But Peter rebuked him, saying,

May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven. For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness. (20-23)

“Your heart is not right. It’s poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness. Therefore, you have no part or share in this matter.”

Some people when they do “ministry” suffer from the same problem. Their hearts are not right. Their hearts are poisoned by bitterness.

Bitterness when people more skilled than they arrive in the church.

Bitterness when their position and “glory” is taken away by another.

Hearts bound by wickedness, solely centered on self, instead of God and his kingdom.

And Peter says of such people, “You have no part or share in our ministry.”

So I have to ask myself, what is in my heart? Where is my focus? On my own personal glory, success, and praise? Or on God and his kingdom?

How about you? Where is your heart? Are you truly serving God? Or yourself?

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1 Timothy

Failing as a teacher

1 Timothy

James once said,

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1)

Many Christians like the prestige that comes from being a Bible teacher. But there is real danger when they think they know what they’re talking about, and they don’t. That is only compounded when their motives become twisted.

Paul deals with both these issues when telling Timothy to deal with these false teachers. He said,

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. (1 Timothy 1:5)

In the NIV, it seems to say that the goal of Paul’s command to Timothy to warn these false teachers is that they would develop a heart of love, springing from a pure heart, good conscience, and a sincere faith.

It’s also possible, though, that Paul was contrasting the false teacher’s teaching with his, and he was telling Timothy that the goal of true teaching should be to produce love in its hearers, coming from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

Either way, it seems here that these false teachers were no longer operating out of love, and had furthermore abandoned a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

Many in fact seemed to preach out of a desire to gain money and ultimately, out of a love of the world. (6:3-10).

This ironically despite the fact that they were teaching a form of asceticism to their own people (4:2-3).

These men also seemed to take great delight in stirring up arguments and creating conflict, rather than promoting the love and unity of Christ that comes from the true gospel. (6:3-5)

And again, their teaching was corrupt, the reason being that they truly didn’t know what they were talking about. Paul said of them,

They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. (7)

For these teachers, they seemed to be turning to the law of Moses and teaching it to the Ephesian church, while failing to understand the law’s purpose.

The law, Paul says, is not meant for those who are righteous, that is those who have been made righteous by God through faith. Rather, it is for those who are unrighteous, to point out their sin and turn them to God. (8-11)

These teachers didn’t understand this however, and were leading people astray as a result.

Many people today have the same problem as these teachers. They confidently affirm and teach a lot of things concerning the Bible.

But the truth is, they have no idea what they’re talking about and people are being led into astray by their false teaching.

How about you? Are you a pastor or teacher in the church? Do you lead a Bible study? A Sunday school? What kind of teacher are you?

What are your motives? Pride? Respect? Or love?

And are you putting the necessary time into your preparation.

More importantly, is the Word an important part of your day every day? Do you truly know the Bible well, or are you confidently teaching things you truly know nothing about?

Not everyone should be a teacher. Remember, you will be judged for what you teach.

What will Jesus say to you when you stand before him on the day of judgment?

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Romans

Breaking conscience

Romans

There is one last thing that I should mention before leaving this chapter, and that’s the motivation of our hearts. Why do we do the things we do?

Paul makes it crystal clear here what our attitude should be. He said,

Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.

Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord.

So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. (Romans 14:6-9)

Paul’s reminding us here that we are not living merely for ourselves but for the Lord.

So when we regard one day as “holy to the Lord,” we do it not merely because of tradition, but because of our love for the Lord.

Whenever we eat or drink something, we do it not just to indulge ourselves, but we do it with a heart of thankfulness for God.

In short, whatever we do, we do it to the Lord. Paul wrote in another passage,

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

But if you are not doing things out of that kind of heart, that is sin. Paul wrote concerning eating meat offered to idols,

But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23)

Here, Paul is talking of a person who is bothered by the fact that the meat was offered to idols. They can’t get out of their head that it was offered to something spiritually impure.

And because of that, if they were to eat it, it wouldn’t be out of a heart of thankfulness to God. Rather it would be from a heart of, “I’m doing something wrong. I’m doing something sinful.”

If they were to eat from that kind of heart, it would become sinful to them. Because it would come from a heart of, “I feel this is wrong but I will do it anyway.”

And God is never pleased with that kind of attitude.

My point is, we should never break conscience. If our conscience tells us something is wrong, we should avoid it.

Even if we know other Christians think something like drinking is okay, if in our hearts it bothers us, don’t do it.

Even if we know other Christians sometimes watch R-rated movies, if it bothers us, don’t do it.

Everything we do should be done with a heart confident that we have God’s approval.

This is not to say that if we are confident that we definitely have God’s approval.

That’s why it’s important to read the Bible: to be certain.

But where the Bible is silent or says the choice is up to us, let us live by our conscience, asking God to continually shape it and mold it so that we can live in a way that’s pleasing to him.