My devotion on Hebrews 5 is up today at FBCN’s The Summit site.
My lovely wife nursed both of our daughters, so there was not much of an opportunity for me to feed them. I looked forward to the days ahead when I would be able to feed them some “real” food. Unfortunately for me, the child development process takes time. As much as I wanted introduce solids, we knew that feeding a baby solid food too early would make them sick. On the other hand, keeping them on milk for too long would mean that they wouldn’t get the nourishment they need to grow healthy. We patiently waited for the right moment to introduced solids and gradually moved forward.
Like human development, spiritual growth is a process - a process that should be moving forward towards maturity. In Hebrews 5:11-14 we see that God’s design is for a new believer to become grounded in the elementary truths of the faith. Once grounded, they should be growing towards maturity. We should not become stagnant or worse, regress. No, we should mature, teaching righteousness and helping others distinguish between good and evil.
Just as we all look forward to the development of our children we should be mindful of our own spiritual growth. Take a look at your relationship with God. Are you enjoying solid food moving towards maturity? How about your spouse? Your children? Your fellow Life Group members?
I am thrilled to see that Derek Webb is coming to play at FBCN in April!
Fellowship North is excited to welcome Derek Webb in concert! An accomplished singer/songwriter, Webb is a former member of the popular Houston, Texas-based Christian band, Caedmon’s Call. During his stint with the band, he experienced sales approaching 1 million records, along with 10 GMA Dove Award nominations and three Dove Award wins and six #1 Christian radio hits. In 2003, however, Webb left Caedmon’s Call to pursue a solo career. Since his departure, he has released three studio albums as well as a live album and a DVD. Webb is passionate for the Church and its ongoing need for the Gospel, and his authentic musical style and theology-based lyrics, have stirred both the hearts and minds of his listeners. He’s recently released two new albums which will be available for purchase at the concert. Don’t miss this inspiring evening with Derek Webb! Tickets go on sale this weekend after services, and will be available thereafter by calling the church office at 972.783.8800.
Ticket prices: $10 (adults), $7 (students), $12 (at the door)
Tape 2465.02, “Oh, My God!” Series
Senior Pastor, Jeff Jones
Props to the drama team for the wonderful tension that was created between the reading of news headlines against a little girl singing “He’s got the whole world in His hands“.
Why does God allow the hard stuff?
Our Assumption
If God is in control of my life, and He is good, then He will make my life easy. He will not allow hard.
We want safe, comfortable lives. A cosmic Easy Button. 
Reality
God is in the hard, and His goodness is often expressed in difficulty.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a great understanding of this and The Cost of Discipleship. I really want to read this book sometime soon. I can’t believe I never saw the Bonhoeffer movie that came out a few years back. I remember that it played at the Angelika for a quite a long time.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
- Hard forges our character.
Genesis 39:2-6 (the Lord with with Joseph is stated 4 times). Philippians 3:10. Colossians 1:24. Philippians 1:29. Jesus learned obedience through suffering and we can as well.
- Hard forces dependence upon God.
It will break our self-reliance. Jesus will only be strong in the lives of the weak. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Listen to God is Great, God is Good? with iTunes.
Tape 2465.01, “Oh, My God!” Series
Dr. Lanier Burns, Guest Speaker
We missed church today, thankfully there is a podcast!
Listen to The Greatness and Goodness of God with iTunes.
Michael Gregory has a very encouraging devotion today in reflection upon Acts 23 at FBCN’s The Summit site. Amazing how God guides us through all the ups and downs even though we often fail to see him at the time.
Side note: Anyone know a way to link to individual days? Flash®, drives me nuts! I’m just going to paste it below.
This chapter in Acts reminds me of a similar place in my own spiritual journey. I was in a place for a year where I really didn’t want to be. At the time I had this feeling that everything would eventually be fine. Looking back at the situation now, I realize that at the time I was hearing the subtle voice of Jesus encouraging me to be strong, and that the time would pass for something better, just as Paul heard the encouraging words of Jesus during his time of trouble. Things for Paul went from bad to worse, when Paul’s life was later threatened. Although, he trusted the encouragement from Jesus and knew that everything would be OK. Paul’s eyes were set upon Jesus. Paul had faith.
Like Paul, my journey has had its up and downs. I had the rug pulled out from under me and my family. It made the low year look like a cake walk. This time I knew it would be alright and that everything would get better, because of the encouragement I was hearing from the comforting voice of Jesus. My faith was stronger. I kept my eyes upon Jesus and never took them off of Him.
I now look back over the past several years of my journey and have a sense of why God sent me on that part of my journey. I may not know all the reasons for what has happened. But I know this much: He built up my trust in Him and my ability to listen to His encouraging words. God has me just where He wants me and for that I am thankful. With the encouraging words from our Lord, we can boldly go through the valleys, plains, and to mountaintops, just as Paul did on his journey while taking in the encouraging words from our Lord. With faith and the encouraging words from God, we can go through various situations in our lives even when we don’t know why we’re there in the first place. With God, we can endure anything.
Praise God for all He has done, is doing, and is yet to do.
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