Happy Taco Tuesday! I’m sorry I missed yesterday. I had my computer on, Chrome browser open, websites primed and ready, and as I searched for the Song of the Day, next thing I recalled was waking up at 0130 curled up next to my laptop. Yesterday was a long day, today will be much of the same. So here is the today’s devotion, followed by yesterday’s, with a great song inbetween.
November 17
13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (1 John 4:13-16)
Say these words out loud right now: Jesus is the Son of God. Say it loud and proud. Say them again. Feels good right. But would you say them in a very public place? Why not? Would you shout those words from the mountaintop? Do not feel bad, I probably would hesitate to shout them myself. The problem with our society is not that you or I would not shout “Jesus is the Son of God.” The problem is that the world would judge us for doing so, when this should be something we all should proudly proclaim. I am not saying this to get you to go out and shout this simple truth, I’m writing this to get you to want to change the world so you CAN shout those words and receive nothing but high-fives and thumbs up!
Reading plan: 1 John 5:1-12
Deeper reading plan: Nahum 1, 2
Prayer and meditation: Today we thank God for our medical professionals. We pray that they make the right choices for their patients and care for them and their best interests. Pray for peace, pray for calm. Pray the revival in your heart overflows to all those around you.
Fitness challenge: Day 78-78 reps.
- Hand-release Push-up
- Sit-ups
- Jumping squat
- Leg lift
- Burpees
Run: Tuesday is our interval running: Run four miles, jogging for one-minute, sprinting for 30 seconds.
November 16
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loves us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12)
I almost broke the verses above into two different devotions, because they are that good, especially when verse 11 starts just as verse 7 did. But this letter is filled with so much good teaching that I can’t waste a single day. So to look at this whole paragraph together, dear friends, love, LOVE, LOVE, one another as God loves us. God sent Jesus not because we deserved it, or as John pointed out here, because the world loved God. The world barely knew God when Jesus showed up. Only the Jewish people understood who God was, and as you have learned from the Old Testament, even they had a hard time consistently loving God. But despite all that, God sent Jesus to Earth to demonstrate His love for all of humanity. Because of that alone, we should love one another. What other truth, what other reason do you need? For me, this is enough. It always has been, it always will be.
Common Sense Reborn 