8 DEC 23 Friday: Coffee with Chaps Devotional

 8 DEC 23 Friday: Coffee with Chaps Devotional

SOAPS (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer, Share) 

Reading Plan: Psalm 16, 17; Amos 5:1-17; Jude 1-16; Matthew 22:1-14

The first week of Advent 

Question of the day: What are you pouring your life into that is eternal?

S- “For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.  You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” Psalm 16:10-11

O- Our future is set, is good, and beyond imagination for those in Christ.  We sometimes worry about the return of Jesus, for the wrong reasons because we are attached to this world and the things in it.  Everything you see before you is temporary and will come to an end.  Many of the people of this world are suffering or in poverty, so this is good news.  Those who are comfortable and have riches find it difficult to let go, but being with Jesus is greater than everything else.

A- I will reflect on my life this week and look at my family, career, and stuff, and compare it to being with Jesus. I will reset my daily rhythms to focus on eternal things versus the temporary.

P- Heavenly Father, as I read the passage from Psalm 16 today, it sparked feelings of thankfulness and joy that your Son Jesus’ future return.  It also made me feel like I have put things in my life that I don’t want to lose or let go of.  I know that in your presence everything else fades to black in comparison to the satisfaction that is found in you.  So help me Lord, to set the right perspectives now as I look to a future with you. Amen.

S- My Five.

7 DEC 23 Thursday: Coffee with Chaps Devotional

 7 DEC 23 Thursday: Coffee with Chaps Devotional

SOAPS (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer, Share) 

Reading Plan: Psalm 18:1-20; Amos 4:6-13; 2 Peter  3:11-18; Matthew 21:33-46

The first week of Advent 

Question of the day: Are you and the people around you prepared to meet their maker?

S- “Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced.  Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!” Amos 4:12

O- Advent speaks to the anticipation of Jesus’ second coming which is a beautiful and wonderful thing for believers since we are in right standing with God. We look forward to it with joy, desiring to see Jesus in all of his glory and spend eternity in his presence.  It is not something that an unbeliever wants to see.  It is the end of mercy, grace, and love because God’s patience is completed and his justice is unleashed because they rejected Him. 

A- I will pray for those around me and share the good news of Jesus with them.  I will live my life in a manner that keeps the tension of Jesus’ return tight.  I will give thanks for Jesus saving me and forgiving me of my sins thereby making me right with God.

P- Heavenly Father, today I praise you for your goodness, love, and faithfulness to me and my family.  I look forward to seeing the return of your Son Jesus, but my heart breaks now for those who do not know you and are not saved.  So God, help all the believers, especially me, to be about sharing the good news and prepare the hearts of those who are to hear.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

S- Who will share the gospel? A, M

3 DEC 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 3 DEC 23 Sunday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.  So be on your guard, not asleep like the others.  Stay alert and be clearheaded.” 1 Thess. 5: 2, 6

Today marks the first Sunday of Advent, bringing excitement and joy as we prepare for Christmas.  As a child, I would start preparing my Christmas list for what I hoped Santa would bring me.  Taking the Sunday advertisements, the J. C. Penny, and Sears catalogs  I would highlight, and make a list of items wished for the jot them down on a piece of paper.  Anticipation was further fueled by all of the things that my family and church did in preparation.

It is a wonder that my head didn’t explode with all the stimulation of the season.  I love this time of year because it is about wonder excitement and joy.  It is not about the gifts, activities, or family, but Jesus.  Advent means coming and as we approach Christmas we remember the first coming of Christ, but also look forward to the second.  For hundreds of years, people expected and desired to see the coming Messiah who would be King.  They wanted to be a strong and independent Kingdom free of their oppressors.

When Jesus came though, they were surprised so much so that most didn’t recognize or rejected him because he didn’t meet their expectations.  Those who received him also received the best gift of all, God himself.  When we receive Jesus we are eternally connected in a relationship with God, the creator of all things.  Jesus stated that he would return to gather his people when both the time and the number were right.  We don’t know either of those factors.

What we do know is that Jesus will return like a thief in the night, in an instant, and at any time.  As we enter the Advent Season, it allows us to pause and look forward with great expectation and anticipation.  The times reveal the great possibility of his coming maybe sooner rather than later.  That being said, he tells us to be on guard, alert, and doing the Father’s business until he returns.  Don’t get caught asleep doing your own thing, but be ready!

Are you anticipating Jesus’ second coming?

Reading Plan: Psalm 146, 147; Amos 1:1-5, 13-2:8; 1 Thes. 5:1-11; Luke 21:5-19 

30 NOV 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 30 NOV 23 Thursday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” 1 Peter 2:13-15

Do you ever find it difficult to live and work under leaders or authorities? Peter, Paul and Jesus, all tell us to submit to the authorities around us because it is God who places them there.  At any given time, God can raise a nation to predominate or take one down and destroy it.  Think about when they were writing and the governors and institutions that were in charge.  Those religious institutions and the government were brutal to Christians and often hunted them down, lit them on fire, or killed them in a horrid manner.

Yet, Peter, Paul, and Jesus say that we are to submit or be subject to these people.  Peter in the verses following the ones above, reminds us that we are ‘slaves’ to Jesus and his will for our lives is to submit.  We are no longer living for ourselves, but living for Jesus and in doing so we will face persecution and suffer because of his name.  Jesus also expects governments to do something, punish those who do evil, and praise those who do good.  When governments don’t fulfill their mandates, then God punishes them.

One thing we can consistently do no matter the institution or government is to do good and be torch-bearers of the gospel.  The Lord expects us to fulfill the mission mandated to us in Matthew 28:19 regardless.  Our good works will be the judge of wicked people, leaders, and rulers.  If they harm us, God will not let them off the hook but give them punishment.  Jesus himself warned the people that if anyone hurt one of his followers, it would be better to have a millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the sea.  God will deal with them.

Are you submitting to earthly authorities?

Reading Plan: Psalm 131, 132; Zeph. 3:1-13; 1 Peter 2:11-25; Matthew 20:1-16

29 NOV 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

 29 NOV 23 Wednesday: A Closer Walk Devotional

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who call you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

I often ponder the relationship that God has with Israel and why he is selective in choosing people to be his possession.  If you look back in the Old Testament, you find people who aren’t too smart or big, just nobodies in the world.  If there were a bunch of kids on the playground and you were choosing players for the team, they would not be on yours.  They didn’t bring anything to the table that would warrant attention from other nations or even God.

But God.  God has made plans so detailed that it will blow your mind.  Most of the world can’t deal with the fact that God created our world, the stars, the planets, the solar systems, and the universe.  He chose to put life on this planet and sustain it even putting a creature that is made in his image above all other creatures.  Humans are the only creatures on earth that can be in an eternal relationship with God.  That is being very selective and people even in the church get offended by this.

Israel was chosen by God to be his people, he will be their God, and he expanded that people group when Jesus came by adding Gentiles from every nation, tribe, and tongue.  God decided to do this before the world was created knowing that he would save some and not all.  The same way he chose Israel initially, is the same way he chooses who will be his today.  It is his secret will and no one comes to faith or is saved without him deciding who that is.  We do not bring anything to the table that will make his team better.

His mercy and grace are amazing; he would pull us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.  Peter says that knowing and understanding this will give a passion to worship him and share this good news with others.  While we do not know who his people will be, we do know his lost sheep are out there ready to be found.  We need to get busy doing search and rescue.

Have you been brought into the fold of the family of God?

Daily Reading:   Psalm 119: 145-176; Obadiah 15-21; 1 Peter 2:1-10; Matthew 19:23-30